Chadburn Lake: The Story Behind the Painting

Chadburn Lake is my most favorite place in the entire Yukon Territory. The striking, turquoise waters gently lap at its shores against a backdrop of Grey Mountain. It’s an excellent place for canoeing, paddle boarding, and even swimming if you can brave the cold water. Surrounded by woodlands and hiking trails, the lake is the perfect place to spend a summer day.

My First Time Orienteering

It was a sunny and warm day last May when I arrived at Chadburn Lake for my first-ever orienteering race. For those of you unfamiliar with orienteering, it’s a sport where you receive a topographical map of an area. There are various checkpoints marked on the map that you have to go find in the wilderness as fast as possible. The checkpoints can be right on the trail, or far, far off the trail. Your success depends on your ability to read the map. If you know me well, you know that it would behoove me to improve at map reading!

I remember my dad would often talk about orienteering and how he took a class on it in college. He loved solo sports. Besides orienteering, he did a lot of cross-country skiing, biking, and camping. I think I inherited these interests from both my parents. I’m an absolute embarrassing failure at team sports like basketball and volleyball, but give me skis or hiking boots and I’m good to go!

So, it felt good to be trying a new sport, especially one my dad enjoyed. Due to the pandemic, the races took a different approach than normal. Instead of everyone starting at the same time, you could go and complete the race on your own at any time during the span of a week. You would just time yourself and then enter your details on the club’s online document. I rather liked doing it this way.

The Start of the Race

When we arrived at the parking area, there was a dad talking to two little boys, who were each holding their own map. I was surprised when the dad sent them off into the vast woods to do the race by themselves. I guess that’s the Yukon for you! They must teach map reading and wilderness survival at an early age. The boys sprinted off and must have been way ahead of us the whole time.

Jeremy and I were doing the intermediate level, which was very off-trail. It was exhausting! But, it turned out that going off trail led you to some amazing views. In fact, after scaling an incredibly steep, prickly shrub-covered hill, we came to a view that I thought was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen.

We quickly took pictures and proceeded onwards. There were about 12 checkpoints in total that we needed to find. I felt especially close to my dad during this race, running through the woods with a topographical map. He would have loved it here at Chadburn Lake, with the quiet, pristine woods, gorgeous lake, and bush planes periodically flying overhead.

At the Finish Line

We finally pressed on toward our final checkpoint. The moment we crossed the finish line, the air was filled with the hauntingly beautiful cry of a loon. Loons were my dad’s favorite bird, and mine too. Up until that point, I hadn’t seen a loon in the Yukon and didn’t even know if they lived here. To have them at my favorite lake was very special, one of many small blessings God has given me in the year since my dad died. We walked down to the lakeshore and found two loons just feet away from us.

I immediately knew I needed to paint the scene as a way of showing my dad the beauty of the Yukon, and to remember a hug from God during a time of grief. This painting is a symbol of the healing that can come from the peaceful wilderness.

I started painting as soon as I got home. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been more inspired. The painting was finished in a matter of days, and I do believe it’s one of my best. Prints and cards are available at the links below. Scroll down for more pictures as well.