After my initiation into foraging for firewood I had caught the bug and we stepped up our firewood harvesting
It’s not lost on me at all, that those lessons were given out of friendship, safety training and practicality.
That winter was a blast – Shultzie in his big 3/4 ton four-by-four with his wife and little girl and me in my little S-10 with my wife and two little girls. We’d head out to Kusawa Lake Road about every two to three weeks to stock up on more wood.
I bought a secondhand saw and he taught me how to safely knock down trees, how and where to land them, how to deal with ‘hangers’ that didn’t want to cooperate, plus how to maintain my saw and, as he put it, “Keep the chain out of the dirt!!”
At the end of the day, after filling both of our trucks we would head down to the Takhini River campground, throw a couple of sticks in a firepit and roast weenies and marshmallows with the kids. They absolutely loved it. Bundled up in their snowsuits and playing in some of the most gorgeous countryside that any of us had ever seen.
That campground is still my favourite in the entire territory and every time I go there, whether to camp or just do a quick trip from home, it reminds me of Shultzie and the awesome memories come flooding back.
It’s not lost on me at all, that those lessons were given out of friendship, safety training and practicality. He didn’t have to share them with me. But as he said, “Shitterie Man, if you’re gonna be a Yukoner, you’d better learn how to be a Yukoner!”
Solid people. Work hard, play hard. Your handshake is your contract and be impeccable with your word. Be generous when you can with your time, your help and your giving. Enjoy and respect the beauty of the land and the people 12 months a year.
IMHO, that’s what I was taught about ‘how to be a Yukoner’, and we embrace everyone on that basis.
Ironically, over the years, those things that Shultzie taught me that winter out in the bush have not just kept my house warm, but they’ve fed my family and me. I’m very lucky to have never hurt myself or left a ‘hanger’ out in the bush to hurt someone else.
I’ve delivered firewood commercially for years, hundreds of cord. I’ve had woodlots in the Marshall Creek burn, Fox Lake burn, down the Robert-Campbell Highway and recently in the MacKenzie East lot out behind Pine Lake in the Junction.
Heck, one summer in late August, Pam and I were camping up in Dodge at the River campground. It had been raining for about a week and what was left in the compound for firewood was all soaked and end-of-season punky. Nobody could start a fire.
I went into the local Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR) office and picked up a personal use fuelwood permit for up the Dempster. I also told them what I was about to do and they thought that it was pretty cool and a good ‘Yukon’ thing to do.
I headed out in my truck with my saw and found three absolutely beautiful ‘dead ones’, knocked them down, bucked them up and brought them back to the campground. I handed most of it out to tourists who were amazed. Some of them even called me Santa!
I’ve watched the rules and regulations change over the years and I do support the new regulations and the Fuel Wood Licence (FWL) requirements. I’m getting too old to go out and cut a cord a day and deliver it anymore but I do support our new woodcutters.
I always tell them when I order the wood that I’m an old cutter myself so, “Don’t be shortin’ me or bringing any of that punky or green stuff!” When they show up to deliver I always go out to check the load and say “Shitterie, man! That’s a nice load of wood!”. Then I help them unload it.
Shultzie was a great man with a heart of gold. Everybody who ever knew him loved him and misses him. It’s these memories and the kindness of Yukoners to share, that make me proud to carry on the torch and pass it on.
I mean, “Shitterie, man! It don’t cost a dime to be a caring neighbour.”
