THE SUMMIT AND BEYOND

A first person account of close to forty years in the Yukon is weathered by all kinds of rugged experiences, tempered by Margaret Shand's resilient and plucky temperament which was at all times equal to the hardships faced. Interestingly enough, a gypsy forecast in her childhood that she would spend her life amid snow and ice; and a longstanding joke she had with her husband, Davy, that a missing nephew would turn up both proved to be true-for when she was widowed, ill and alone after Davy's death, a nephew did appear and offered her a home for her late years. It is to his wife that she has told this story of the Klondike- of the icebound journey there and the terrifying experience of Davy's snowblindness, as well as wolves and bears and Indians. They settled on Stewart Island where they ran a small hotel, four times threatened by floods and finally destroyed by fire. They prospected for copper further north; they survived a volcano's explosion; the years added few comforts- but the satisfaction of friends made and hard work- its own reward. It is an authentic story, and has genuine human interest as such.