Jodie Ponto Photography

Welcome to Chez Porcupine, a spike camp made by the ever crafty Yukon Stone Outfitter crew somewhere along a trail in the Pelly Mountains next to (you guessed it) Porcupine Creek.

Chez Porcupine

Mandatory Morning Snuggles

The Breakfast Club

The Commute To Work

The Kitchen

The Bakery

The Bedroom

The Guest Room

The Workshop

The Laundry Room

The Ladies Sanctuary

The Shower Room

The Makeout Room

The Playroom

The Music Room

The Night Club

The Backyard

Some of you have expressed the desire to see images of rugged & handsome mountain men (yes, I’m talking about you Pratt). Hopefully the following photos will satisfy that ogling desire.

In this post you’re going to meet the crew of Yukon Stone Outfitters, who are some of the most hearty, handy, and competent folks I know. Quite a few of them have been spending time out in the mountains since the moment they were conceived in their parents’ bedrolls, and as such they possess the sort of skills that knock my clumsy self right off its feet.

Mac

This is Mac. He’s what makes Yukon Stone happen. He’s good at wearing any set of shoes he’s handed – hunting guide, pilot, outfitter, bossman. Really, he’s just the whole shebang.

Jamie

This is JC. And by JC I mean Jamie Connors, not Jesus Christ. I’ve been told Jamie is to hunting guides what Brinjamin Porter is to bass players. For anyone who that comparison sounds like gibberish to, it means he’s so talented it hurts and if you ever go hunting you’d be fortunate to have him guiding you.

Skyler

This is Skyler. He’s perhaps the most stylish hunting guide you’ll ever meet and camp’s resident entertainer. If you keep an eye out in upcoming posts you might meet his trusty companion Bucksnort.

Jody

Depending who you talk to, this is Jody, JP, Cookie, Old Peck, or Miss Quincy. Whatever you want to call her, she is without a doubt the best straight up cook I’ve ever met. Seriously, how many people do you know who can bake bread, buns, cookies, granola bars, date nut loaf, and black forest cake all in one afternoon over one little mother effing campfire? I can’t even do that with a new fangled electric oven.

Clayton

This is Clayton. He can most often be found snuggling with his greatest love, the chainsaw. He also climbs a mean tree. He is the camp’s wrangler, which means he has to do things that would make me curl up in the fetal position. For example, go out before anyone else is awake into the sort of darkness that houses bears & witches & werewolves and find 20 horses who could potentially be anywhere in the whole mountain range.

Ponies

These are a few of the Yukon Stone horses. Without them mountain life would be miserable because you’d have to traipse through rivers and mud bogs yourself and pack more pounds on your back than is humanly possible.

Puppies

This is Arrow (first photo) and Pelly (second photo). They are quite possibly the happiest canines I’ve ever met. I guess I would be too if I was a dog whose life revolved around eating lots of meat, having free run of an entire mountain range, lounging by the campfire, and sleeping in my best human friend’s bedroll.

One Final Photo

Although some people could make a case for cruising around with a giant set of mountain sheep horns riding shotgun in your truck, my favorite part of my job as Yukon hunting outfit expediter is the days I get to hang out at the base camp cabin at Lapie Lake. It’s even better if it’s the beginning of fall, and even better still if it’s sunshowering.

Lapie Lake By Sunshower Light

The cabino.

The flaming lakefront.

The lake.

The dock.

Post Sunshower Sunset

Once upon a time the hunting outfit I’m working for in the Yukon thought it would be fun if I trailed in halfway from base camp to mountain camp with the crew. I’m suspicious they were desperate for entertainment and just wanted to see me, who had never really ridden a horse before, bucked right off the mountain pass. In any case, I saddled my trusty steed Banjo (or rather, I had someone else do it for me) and off I went on a 5 hour trail ride.

They were right, it was fun … Except for the part where I couldn’t walk for 2 days afterward.

This is Banjo. Thankfully during the 5 hours I spent on him he was too busy making sure no other horse got near his ladyfriend Dixie to bother bucking me off.

This is Ty doing whatever it is you have to do to a horse before you can ride it because I certainly couldn’t be trusted to do it myself.

This is me changing my middle name to Practically-An-Old-Ranch-Hand.

On the dusty trail.

Somewhere in the beeeyoootiful Pelly Mountains.

Somewhere else in the beeeyoootiful Pelly Mountains.

Beer of triumph at the end of the trail.

Maybe you’re wondering what exactly it is I’m doing up in the Yukon. Even if you’re not I’m going to tell you anyway. I’m working for a hunting outfit (Yukon Stone Outfitters, if any of you have a hankering for a hunt). Since I’m an embarrassment to my Northern roots and possess the outdoor competency and skills of a city girl, my job is to do what I’m good at. That is, to stay in the city and get shit done. Like pick up hunters, groceries and other supplies and get them out to the mountain camps, do paperwork, answer phone calls, deliver animals to the taxidermist, and so on and so forth.

After the long trip up the Alaska Highway I erroneously assumed I was going straight to my post as errand wench in Whitehorse. Turns out I was going to Lapie Lake with the rest of the crew, which is Yukon Stone’s base camp. This is particularly funny because expecting to be city bound all I did to prepare was not unpack my tour suitcase and bring it along. And this is when I learned my first lesson in outdoorsiness – a polka dot raincoat may be stylish at a music festival, but it’s not so handy when you’re chopping wood and fetching water in the rainy mountains.

Home sweet cabin at Lapie Lake.

An extra bunkhouse.

Outhouse and showerhouse where a gloriously hot splish splash can be enjoyed if you know how to properly hook the propane tank up. I don’t.

Ponies snacking outside the powder room.

Dinner cooking on the outdoor stove in the almighty cast iron frying pan.

Enjoying a nightcap around the outdoor stove. Yes, despite the bright light this is nighttime … Somewhere between 9-10pm, to be exact.

JP standing over her kingdom of kitchen goods to be hauled on horseback to mountain camp. Or, the day I was schooled on the art of packing horse pack boxes.

Sunrise over the dock at Lapie Lake. Or, where teeth are brushed and water is fetched for cooking, washing, and drinking.

Lapie Lake.

Oh look, it’s another picture of how gorgeous Lapie Lake is.

The sun finally setting.

Click on the picture for a better look at sunset panorama action.

Oh look, it’s another beeeyoootiful sunset over Lapie Lake.