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Amy Phillips

Joined April 2019
  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day165

    Happy thanksgiving!

     October 12 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

    Happy thanksgiving from Canada!! We had a few of the residents at the ranch who brought some family and friends for the weekend. They put on a huge turkey dinner and invited the volunteer crew to join them. Wow...what a feast!! There was about 30 of us and we had 3 turkeys, a ham and all the trimmings! Myself and another of the volunteers made (way too much!) dessert! Needless to say we’ll be eating leftovers for days!

    We also went to an Indian Reserve to watch their annual round up. Every thanksgiving weekend, they roundup as many of the wild horses as they can to separate them and brand the new foals amongst a few other things. They have over 500 wild horses on their land and were out for 2 whole days trying to find them and bring them in. They didn’t get nearly all of them but there was still a fair amount. It was hard to watch some aspects of it, but it was also interesting to be welcomed and be a part of this tradition.

    We’ve ended our thanksgiving weekend with some drinks and music around the campfire.    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day161

    What happened to Fall?

     October 8 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ -2 °C

    A few of us went to our first hockey game in Merritt to support the Merritt Centennials! It was great, and they won!

    I think we’ve skipped fall and gone straight into winter here on the ranch! We woke up the other day to lots of snow and minus temperatures!! The snow is now slowly melting but we’re still waking up with around -10C each morning! The ranch is at quite a high elevation (approx 3600ft!) so we’ve had it pretty bad!Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day154

    Last trail rides of the season

     October 1 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 0 °C

    We managed to get on another 2 trail rides before the snow came which were great, both for us and the horses! We went to Loon lake and back both times which was about 2/2.5 hours. I’ve really been enjoying the trail rides and working with the horses.

    The first time I took Shorty, but with his short legs he was struggling to keep up with the others, and all he wants to do is eat the grass!! So the next time I took Buck who was a better fit for keeping up with the horses but he ended up losing a shoe! All good in the end though!Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day144

    Last day in Whitehorse :(

     September 21 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    I spent my last day in Whitehorse enjoying nature in a slightly different way - on a horse trail ride! It was so much fun, and I was the only one there so had my own private guide! It was with a wilderness ranch, who also have over 100 husky’s that they train year round for dog sledding.

    Then I went to Yukon Brewing for a tour and tasting...a great end to my time in Yukon!

    It will be an early night tonight ahead of an early start tomorrow for my journey back to the ranch in Merritt!    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day143

    A slightly easier day

     September 20 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    I took it a bit easier today and went to the MacBride Museum of Yukon History and then the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre. Yukon is very proud of its First Nations history and you see that all throughout Whitehorse. They still keep their traditions alive and pass them down the generations, even the Native languages which are all so different in the different communities.

    I took a stroll around the city and did a bit of shopping before heading to the Klondike Ribs and Salmon for dinner. I’m told it’s thee place to eat in Whitehorse and tonight was the last night before they close for the season. I went for the house special - ribs and salmon - but I kind of regretted it as soon as it arrived at my table. Well, it did taste good!! I only managed half of it though, so the other half will be dinner tomorrow! 😊    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day142

    Miles Canyon and a few beers!

     September 19 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    I had a lazy morning and dropped the hire car off and stopped by a bakery on the way back to my hostel. Then I set off with someone in met in the hostel to walk the Miles Canyon loop. I naively thought the 15.4km loop would be a flat and paved trail....it wasn’t! But it was still a really enjoyable trail and took us about 4 hours! After a bit of chilling out, a few of us went for a beer, had some dinner and then went for a walk up to where we could see the whole city. We were hoping that the slightly clearer skies would make good northern lights viewing but it was not to be. I don’t think I’ll be lucky enough to see them on this trip.

    I think my steps for the day has to be a record!!    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day141

    Skagway, Alaska

     September 18 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    I continued my journey through British Columbia, crossing the border into Alaska and onto Skagway where I spent the day. It was very busy, and turned out there were 3 cruise ships all in dock. Now, it is more of a tourist destination, especially for the cruise ships. But previously, Skagway was the gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush. It was fascinating to learn all about the gold rush which brought around 100,00 people from all over the world to the Yukon in search of their gold. I treated myself to a yummy lunch in the Skagway brewing company - I had Alaskan Salmon - before heading back to Whitehorse through more clouds!Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day141

    Carcross

     September 18 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Today I set off in the car with my destination of Skagway, Alaska. My first stop along the way took me to Carcross, about an hour away from Whitehorse. It’s a very small village but there’s still a few things to see. The first, Carcross Desert - the smallest desert in the world! Well, it’s not officially a desert...the sand once lay at the bottom of a glacial lake. I went into the visitor centre, grabbed a coffee and took a wander around Carcross Commons before anther 2 hours in the car to Skagway. Also along the way was Emerald Lake, another of Canada’s many beautiful lakes!Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day140

    Kluane National Park

     September 17 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Today I drove a couple of hours through the clouds to get to Kluane National Park. On my way there, I was considering turning around because I literally could not see a thing with it being so cloudy!! I arrived at the visitor centre to get a map of the hiking trails and the lady told me a certain trail to do because it was in the forest so didn’t matter if it was cloudy or not. I stopped by a hostel to rent some bear spray for the day and they told me to do the King’s Throne hike...so I headed there and as if by magic, there were clear skies and sunshine!! Boy, it was a hard hike though! Very steep, and mostly shale/rock underfoot so a bit of a scramble most of the way up! Made it tough coming down. But the views... wow!! After the hike, I spent some time sitting at Kathleen lake before I headed to my next hike.

    The next hike I did was Rock Glacier. It wasn’t so long or steep but as it was an old glacier, underfoot was all rock again so kind of tricky. On the way down, I thought I was going to have my first bear encounter. Turns out, it was just a bear shaped thing ..phew!!!

    Headed back to my hostel and the drive was amazing because I could actually see what was around me! An early night tonight again I think, and expecting my body to feel the hikes in the morning!    Read more

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  • Amy PhillipsCanada
    Day139

    First day exploring the Yukon

     September 16 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    I started my day early to pick up my hire car...a nice upgrade again! This time I got a Ford Edge! It’s big, but not as big as the Chevy I’ve been driving on the ranch so should be all good!

    I spent a good few hours wandering around the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. There’s so many animals to see there - mountain goats, muskox, moose, Caribou just to name a few! Then I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the Takhini hot springs...it was just what I needed! Off for an early night before some hiking in the Kluane national park tomorrow!

    Love this territory already...can’t wait to see what the rest of the week brings!    Read more

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