Tag Archives: Grey Mountain

Young Chronicles: Rocks from Across Canada

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I collected a rock from every province/territory on my Cross-Canada Hitchhiking trip in 1983 and described each one briefly in my journal.

Rock #1 Cavendish Beach, Prince Edward Island: Smooth and rounded, a single white stripe down the side and bit of ocean scum

Rock #2 Cornerbrook, Newfoundland: Jagged, almost gold, sparkling, a 3-D trapezoid

Rock #3 Sydney, Nova Scotia: Small, white polka dots on white, a few glitters

Rock #4 Kouchibouguac National Park, New Brunswick: Orange and broken, rectangular

Rock #5 Metis Beach, Quebec: An unfinished sculpture, black with streaks of green; looks like a bird, jagged and rectangular, when stood on one end

Rock #6 Wawa, Ontario: Dark, weathered and a broken top

Rock #7 Regina, Saskatchewan: Yellowish white of small proportions, chipped

Rock #8: Edmonton Fort, Alberta: Rounded, light brown with white streaks. Pock-marked and lop-sided

Rock #9: Grey Mountain, Yukon: Egg-shaped and worn. Covered in moss shit.

Rock #10 Wreck Beach, British Columbia: black, warped, dent in one side, speckled with grey.

I failed to get to a rock from Manitoba. Not sure why. There were plenty of rocks there.

My backpack at the base of a Trans Canada Highway sign in Manitoba

Canada’s Soul: Whitehorse to Vancouver

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I took a bus up to Whitehorse, Yukon. (I didn’t hitchhike because I was scared of being left in the middle of nowhere and getting eaten by a bear.)

July 20: A 24-hour delay seems possible due to the massive bridge washouts – sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Throughout the journey, women – making up the majority of the population – sleep, smoke and drink without complaint. So I’ll smoke my way to sleep.

The silhouettes of the great mountains dominate the scenery. A dark black storm cloud approaches; hell is bound to break loose. The trees await in silence as the silver bus rushes on.July 22: I hiked alone up Grey Mountain, on the outskirts of Whitehorse, and wrote at the top: Humanity – a definition. Impossible. It is so assorted. There are some with no legs, some with no eyes – mentally and physically – and some with no heart. Some cloud their eyes with darkened glasses and some wear not what they need but what others say. (It goes on.)

July 24: I took a 26-hour bus ride down to Vancouver. Graffiti on Pink Mountain Inn: #1: Why did God give seagulls wings? So that they’d be able to beat the Indians to the dump. #2 Toking is like working here. The harder you suck, the higher you get.

Arrived in Vancouver where I stayed at the hostel for five days and saw Peter Gabriel and David Bowie and the newly-opened BC Place Stadium.