We could approach this question literally or figuratively or both. The literal answer is that we drive just eve 130km from our home to the trail head (which is a seasonal road that is only passable by snowmobile or dogsled). From there, once the snowmobiles are ready to go and only if all of the trails in our trapping area are operational, we cover around 180kms of trail in a single weekend. At the end of a busy weekend of trapping, we return our snowmobiles to their storage shed and drive another 130km home. So the math of the actual distance covered is 440km (approx 275mi.)

But does that come close to illustrating the full extent of time, planning, packing, transportation, and then the huge workload that awaits if furs need to be processed after we get home from the trap line? Heck no. Let me tell you a bit about that.

During trapping season, it’s a bit like a merry-go-round and the only way to get off is to wait for the trapping season to end or pull up traps and end the season early. First of all, the territorial laws indicate that we must check our traps every 5-7 days (depending on the type of trap used). This means that for us, having a trap line we can access more easily that some, we drive out every weekend to load up snowmobiles and trailers for a weekend. But that’s not the beginning. The beginning is the gear check - ensuring that garments are all on hand and in good repair. Having a zipper fail on a parka at -30 is not a good time nor is it safe. We also check first aid kits, make meal plans, grocery shop, charge comms devices, check batteries in head lamps, communicate our trip details to someone staying in town, do laundry to ensure we have extra warm clothes. Right before we head out, we pack everything up. We do this in a systematized way to ensure nothing gets missed. We load the vehicle in the same way every time to make sure that all gear is packed. We drive to the trail head and change into our warm layers including fresh dry socks. Feet get sweaty in the truck on the drive out and sweaty feet can quickly become cold feet so we come prepared with a new pair of socks for the snowmobile ride.

Once we’re dressed for packing the snowmobiles (sleds), we fasten the toboggans to each sled for hauling all of our carefully packed gear. We line the toboggans with large tarps, set every bin, bag, cooler into the tarp, wrap it up carefully so as to keep the snow out and get on with securing the load with strategically placed ropes and bungee cords. Depending on the point of the season, this work can sometimes be happening in the dark but in the months of Feb and March, we are more likely to be working in the late afternoon sun or twilight. Once our loads are secured and we’re bundled up with fur and wool, we fire up the sleds and start down the trail. George often leads and he checks all of the traps en route to the cabin. Sometimes we have fur to collect which is a really exciting way to start a weekend. The fur we’re most likely to obtain in this early portion of the trapline is marten (sable) and lynx. Yukon furs include myriad species but these two are mainstays for most traplines.

The way our trapline is currently set up, we have one main trail which is on the seasonal road that connects the Alaska Highway with Ross River. This main trail takes us to our cabin which has been in George’s family for decades. He remembers building the cabin as a young man. In the summer, staying at the cabin is restful and easy. In the winter, there’s usually a bit of work to do before we get to the restful and easy part. It snows out here and it often snows a lot so when we arrive, the first things we do are start a fire in the cabin, shovel out a path to the cabin, outhouse, and woodpile. Then we open the shutters and bring in gear. The cabin can sometimes take quite a while to warm up so we keep our warm gear on until the indoor climate demands that we layer down. Once the cabin is at the temperature we want, we’ve usually got food in the oven and a drink in our glass. We usually play a few games (dice or cards) and fall into bed tired from all the fresh air.

Assuming we’ve gone out on a Friday night which is the best way to do it, our Saturday morning is often slow to start. We like to sleep in until our body’s need for caffeine inspires us to get up. The cozy cabin and hot coffee make for a wonderful start to the day. We have a big, hot breakfast (usually blueberry pancakes and bacon) and get ourselves ready for a full day on the trails. There are three side trails that we have to check when the full line is open. In those instances, we get the two biggest side trails checked. This takes all day! We always bring along smokies, tea and cookies so that when we get hungry, we can turn off the sleds and build a fire in the snow to enjoy a hot lunch. We find willows to roast our smokies on and take a short rest. Once we’re done eating, we bundle back up and continue driving the trails, checking every trap that’s set. All of this gets slowed down when we have to collect fur and re-set traps and we never know what we’ll get, if anything. If there are furs to collect, we store them in dedicated bags for each species and they stay frozen until we get them home for processing.

Our second night at the cabin is often cozy, slow, and very restful. We eat a hot dinner (sometimes a roast chicken!) and repeat the games from the night before. It’s somewhat of an unspoken rule that at the cabin, we work hard and we rest hard, too. Also on our second night, this is when we’ll sometimes fire up the sauna and really take resting seriously - so much so that we break a sweat! LOL

Our second morning is bittersweet. It’s less lazy than the first night because we have to pack up and prepare for the trip home which includes checking our traps. I often stay at the cabin to do the clean up while George runs the short sideline that we call The Wagon Trail. I sometimes go with him because I really enjoy the winding trail and the mid morning sun when it comes streaming through the snow covered trees. But sometimes, he likes to run that trial alone. When I stay behind, I take that time to clean up and pack. I do always manage to find a little time for reading or napping too, so I don’t really mind staying back. When he’s back from that last line, we load up the toboggans again just like we did at the beginning. From this point, everything that happened at the beginning of this story is happening again, just in reverse.

I never could have imagined what it would feel like to be both tired and rested at the same time but when I go out trapping with my husband, that’s exactly how I feel. For two full winters, I trapped with George every weekend for the duration of the season. I learned so much found parts I loved and parts I hated. I acquired skills I never imagined I could have and I also affirmed my preference for doing indoor stuff when it’s cold outside. These days, with the demands of our current scale of production, I’m mostly home on the weekends making jewelry and I don’t go to the trapline. I do miss being out there and I’ll probably find myself back there sooner than I think.

I’ll stop here with my description of how far we go to get our Wild Yukon Furs. There’s SO much more to the story but I think you have a good look at the initial part of what’s involved. Suffice to say, it’s a lot more work than most folks realize. It’s an incredible practice to be part of and I’m so glad I did this for as long as I did. I appreciate that those experiences allow me to speak about trapping in an informed way and based on my own first-hand interactions with the land and animals. My appreciation for all that goes into the making of our jewelry is so much greater than it could have ever been without my time on the trapline.