Holloway Bar Placer Mine - Picture of the Week

The deHavilland Otter is one of the classic Canadian-built bushplanes of the last 50 years or so. Only 466 of these workhorses were constructed from 1951 until the last one rolled off the assembly line in 1967. The big brother to the Beaver of the same era, the Otter could pack almost twice the payload - but many suggest one of the biggest advantages of the Otter over the Beaver is its ability to carry full sheets of 4' x 8' plywood and any other bulky objects that could fit through its rear double doors inside the cabin. Shown here on wheel-skiis for landing on snow and ice, the Otter was also frequently outfitted with floats for landing on lakes and rivers. It's thick wing and big flaps allowed it to fly at slow airspeeds, so it was the perfect airplane for flying into short dirt bush airstrips. It's 600 horsepower radial engine made it very loud and sometimes uncomfortable for passengers, but its ability as a freighter made up for any discomfort.

Part of the Otter's value to the Canadian bush pilot is its ability to operate into unimproved areas. This Otter has just dropped its load of fuel barrels on the top of Hart Peaks, an old volcano between Dease Lake and Atlin. The aircraft is operating on skiis into a makeshift airstrip marked with small evergreen trees flown in during a reconnaissance flight earlier in the spring. Although this mountain top is at 6,000' above sea level, the Otter's supercharged engine allows it to safely land on an uphill slope with its payload and take off again down the mountainside. Many mining exploration companies chartered the Otter and other similar Canadian bushplanes to fly non-perishible supplies, such as the fuel seen here, to remote locations in support of their summer exploration programs. The Otter's ability to operate "off-airport" often gave it the ability to land off-load very close to the planned camp site, saving money and time later later on.

This picture proves that trumpeter swans have indeed made a remarkable recovery. Once hunted to near extinction, their North American populations once dipped as low as some 130 breeding animals in the 1930's. As you can see here, hundreds or thousands of trumpeter swans have gathered in the fields near Vanderhoof this winter and spring to feed on leftover farmers' grains hiding beneath the snow. They're joined by hundreds of thousands of other water fowl such as geese and many varieties of ducks, all competing for the same food but coexisting in the surrounding fields. Large gatherings of birds such as these also attract many different predators; the photographer also reported seeing eagles, hawks, and even lynx within a several day span in the general area. A large bird in its own right, the swans would be safe from all but the biggest of the predators, but nature is all about the survival of the fittest.

Photo courtesy of Bob Wall.

The adventures first started in the early 1970's when my family moved to the Yukon. For me, the 12-year-old standing on the dock waving at the Beaver taking off, there was no way of knowing of the future and of the lifelong friendships that were to be forged in the coming years. 1972 was my first full summer in the Yukon - I lived on one side of the lake and Scott (of Holloway Bar fame) lived on the other side at the base of the ski hill - the clearing you see beneath the Beaver. We've had many adventures over the years - a camping trip at the end of the dangerous Telegraph Creek road, a 2,400 mile flight from Toronto to Watson Lake in an Otter, scuba dives into the cold, clear Yukon waters, -40 bus trips to remote mining towns, self-piloted helicopter flights in our Bell 47 and many more. The Holloway Bar project is just the latest adventure that we "big kids" have embarked on. But you're invited along on this one, because on www.hollowaybar.com, we're Bringing our Northern adventure to your home...