Things to be aware of for safety out hiking or even in town
Walkers get to go lots of places and because they are going relatively slow, they spend more time in places and are often more aware of problems. This is a page in development.
Smart Travel Plan Print out a Yukon Smart Travel Plan, and leave it with a friend, family member, co-worker or other responsible person who will notice if you don't return back on time. It will capture the most pertinent information on your trip, such as where you went, who you went with, what equipment you took with you, and your expected return time.
Help, emergencies • Safety • Ethics, respect• City • General
Help, emergencies
- Emergencies: Dial 911 for RCMP, Fire, Ambulance
- Fire Department: Spring Ice Safety
- RCMP detachments
- Getting Lost
- Safe Travel Plans
- Yukon Amateur Radio Association
- Dial 811 for Yukon HealthLine - The Yukon HealthLine is a free, confidential 24-hour service; staffed by registered nurses who can answer your health questions or direct you to someone in your community who can assist you. Also visit Yukon Healthguide
- Are Yukon residents covered hiking in BC or Alaska?
- How to use your Smartphone as the Best Backpacking GPS
- How to perform self-rescue if you fall through the ice
- Conservation Officer Southern Lakes 667-8005; Twitter
- Cougar safety
- Bear incident map: Bears can be anywhere in Whitehorse or the Territory. Plan to carry bear spray when biking or hiking on trails.
- Human-Bear Conflict, Whitehorse and Southern Lakes, April to October 2012
- Turn in poachers & polluters 1-800-661-0525
(TIPP Line); If you see a suspected violation or know of one, contact your local Conservation Officer Services office, or call 1-800-661-0525 as soon as possible.
- Canadian Wildland Fire Information System
Daily fire weather and fire behavior maps year-round and hot spot maps throughout the forest fire season, generally between May and September. - Reporting a wildfire 1-888-798-3473 (FIRE)
- Bylaw (867) 667-2111 - 24/7. ...responsible for animal control, all-terrain vehicle and snowmobile education and enforcement, bicycle safety, ....
- Trails: trails@whitehorse.ca or call 668-8325.
Safety
- Always a thing to be aware of.... bear encounters, by wildwise Yukon
- You are in bear country
- See Environment Yukon for wilderness safety such as :
- Be bear aware
- How you can stay safe in bear country
- Into the Yukon wilderness Traveling safely and gently through the Yukon wilderness.
- Cougar safety
- Be bear aware
- The risk of the lonely distance runner
- Yukon Search and Rescue provides tips and guides to stay safe during the winter time in the Yukon.
- It's Your Health > Environment: Extreme cold
- The cold hard facts of freezing to death
- How to survive 40 below
- Yukon Avalanche Association safety and education for winter backcountry users, has forum, on-line course
- Yukon Avalanche Association weather
- Here's a new Zealand on-line avalance course; and an American one
- How to walk on ice.
- Be safe on ice
- How to survive a fall through the ice
- How to survive falling through the ice
- How to perform self-rescue if you fall through the ice
- How to Build an Igloo
Lightning safety: Tips: If you are caught outside with no safe shelter anywhere nearby, the following actions may reduce your risk:
- Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks
- Never lie flat on the ground
- Never shelter under an isolated tree
- Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter
- Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes and other bodies of water
- Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.)
Drowning doesn't look like drowning In many child drownings, adults are nearby but have no idea the victim is dying. Here's what to look for.
The truth about bug spray. Not all insect repellents are created equal. Here's how to avoid getting eaten alive.
Ethics, respect
After the two recent motorized vehicle task forces and their emphasis on education and codes of ethics as a way of resolving conflicts, I keep looking, unsuccessfully, for a code of ethics on local vehicle club sites. Hopefully it doesn't take a bad accident before trail safety, trail ethics becomes a topic of discussion.
September 24, 2013. Under the not too smart heading.... Mountain bikers have reported that there were incidents where people are placing obstacles on the trail, and if all trail users (runners, walkers, bikers) work together to keep the trail safe, we can avoid unnecessary injuries. "We hit it at the end of a ride with the darkness setting in. Luckily it was light enough to see the first log before anyone went flying. "
Bicycles
We were on the ski club trails the other days and almost had heart attacks as a bike suddenly appeared behind us. Bikers, if you hear people ahead, a little 'ding" on your bell or a hello would help the situation.
When we walked on the Grey Mountain trails a couple of weeks ago, at times we'd be going up a blind hill and I wondered what move I'd get to make if a bike was suddenly to appear heading fast downhill. It seems that some of the trails need some warning signage.
Here's a video of mountain biking on city trails. Obviously one can meet a bike coming at high speed on trails, particularly on Grey Mountain and Mt. McIntyre.
After reading When the bad guys ride bikes, I went to look at local bike sites to see what was happening on trails here and found Contagious Mountain Bike Club. "And, most importantly, Be an ambassador for the sport – stay polite, educate other bikers, discourage bad behavior, follow the rules, and we'll all have a good time this winter."
Wild Whitehorse – Mountain Bike Trails shows the focus on calling our trails mountain bike trails and talk of "swooping along high cliffs and bluffs, cutting across hillsides, climbing to lofty viewpoints and then bombing back down." There's never, that I've seen, any reminder of meeting walkers possibly walking up the trail they're bombing down.
Here's another Recreational pathways: A false sense of security
And another idea: slow walkers; we were walking on the ski trails the other afternoon and a couple of people had a bear bell style bell on their bikes and they constantly jingled. Worked very nicely I have to say.
Motorized vehicles on trails
- The City's ATV and Snowmobile by-law updates are done. While ATVs must stay on motorized trails, the concept that snowmobiles must stay on motorized trails was defeated. They are encouraged to use motorized trails, i.e., you could meet a snowmobile almost anywhere.
- In spite of the new by-laws, some trails are continuing to be chewed up. Signage could be sponsored by motor vehicle groups; peer pressure is one simple way problems can be addressed. See above in bicycles for an example for peer pressure.
Groups involved:
- Klondike Snowmobile Association: Snowmobile code of ethics, snowmobile safety, and responsible snowmobiling
- Trails only Yukon: ATV Phases in North America
- Yukon Cross Country Motorcycle Club: photos
- Yukon Off-Road Riders Association: Responsible riding
- Yukon Conservation Society: Off road vehicle Trail discussion and ORV Working Group Recommendations
- Trent University's Trail studies unit
- Trail ethics - Wilderness Tourism Association of the Yukon
- Code of Conduct
- Best environmental practices
- Best environmental practices on Yukon Rivers - Leave no Trace and the international organization
City of Whitehorse
- Burning permit You need a permit to light an open fire anytime between April 1 and September 30. There is a fee for City of Whitehorse permits, issued by the Whitehorse City Fire Department or City Hall. Whitehorse 456-3877
- Bylaw (867) 667-2111 - 24/7. ...responsible for animal control, all-terrain vehicle and snowmobile education and enforcement, bicycle safety, ....
- Trails: trails@whitehorse.ca or call 668-8325.
- Active Transportation
General
Surviving in Whitehorse. Where to get free or low cost goods and services in Whitehorse, Yukon, by the Yukon Anti-poverty Coalition