This past week, I flew to Whitehorse, rented a car, and began a five-day Yukon road trip. This was in lieu of the NYC trip I cancelled.
This was one of my favourite adventures.
Whitehorse
I arrived in Whitehorse on Sunday evening, flying in from Ottawa via Vancouver. As I flew over Kitwanga, I was now the furthest north I’d ever been in Canada.
As I disembarked my vehicle at the hotel, I shouted “hey Fae!” – it was my neighbour and pal from Ottawa walking along the sidewalk. They happened to be in the city at the same time for work, and we had scheduled dinner together. She was leaving the next day.
After dinner I stayed up late, so that I could see the midnight sun. I’d never been in a place without a night before.
On Monday morning, I did a trip to Carcross. More on that later. Monday afternoon I checked out Whitehorse, it’s various art galleries, and ended up buying a small Inuit sculpture of a seal.
Tuesday morning I headed to Haines Junction for another day trip. This one was further out than Carcross, getting me ready for the eventual big drive out to Dawson City I was anxious about.
On Tuesday afternoon, I hit up a hot spring for the first time of my life. This nordic spa just outside Whitehorse was openly trans friendly, and there was only a handful of patrons. It was so nice to be there, in an outdoor pool, looking at the mountains.
In the evening, I attended the premiere of the Kluane Compositions, which featured airlifting a grand piano into Kluane. The crowd was super into it, and I befriended two people while waiting in the line. One of them had just done an exhibit involving blowing glass of beetle genitalia. That’s the thing that really stood out about Whitehorse – it was like an artsy nature haven.
On Wednesday I headed to Dawson City where I stayed the night, retuning the next day. Thursday evening I set on finding a special bench a pal and Whitehorse-native told me about. There in suburbia, it had an incredible view of endless trees and mountains.
Then came my last day with Friday. I met the girlfriend of a pal for a ramen lunch. She was a transplant from Alberta, and had made this her home. This was a common refrain with folks I talked to. I could see why.
Carcross
Carcross was my first trek out, just south of Whitehorse. I was awestruck on the drive. Other than the road I was on and hydro poles, it was trees and mountains. No signs of humans at all. I had never seen this in North America safe for in Newfoundland.
The air smelled so fresh.
On the way to Carcross, I stopped at Miles Canyon, the Carcross Desert, and various rest stops for photo opportunities. Carcross has a population of 300, so other than the tourist spots serving Americans coming up from their cruise in Skagway, it’s pretty quiet.
I checked out the beach, the cultural center, the “general store” (really a souvenir shop), and Caribou Crossing Coffee.
Haine’s Junction
Haine’s Junction was my second day trip, and a longer ways than Carcross. This helped build my confidence for the upcoming 6 hour drive to Dawson City.
This drive was also the first time I saw a grizzly bear outside captivity, meandering just outside Haine’s Junction. Once in town, I stopped at the Village Bakery to enjoy the view with an earl grey tea, and drove around a bit to get a better view of the Kluane Range of the St. Elias Mountains.
Dawson City
The contract with the car rental agency stipulated a $1,500 surcharge for driving on the Dempster Highway, where Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean are at the terminus. So Dawson City was the furthest north I’d go; not that I’d want to go beyond in the SUV I had. A full-size spare is a necessity for something like that, and an auxiliary fuel tank wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
There was three stretches of construction on the highway between Whitehorse and Dawson City where it felt like I was off-roading, weaving around large rocks. I’d never seen a haul truck in person before, yet they were driving past me here. So cool.
Many of the gas stations along the route just looked like this – cardlock gas stations that also accepted credit cards:
The drive was beautiful; I spotted red deer and a moose with a juvenile on the side of the road.
Once I got to Dawson City, I found that it was again an artsy/nature haven, albeit one that was much more tourism-oriented given its population of 2,300. Despite the modest size, I ran across at least four francophones – this was a trend in the Yukon for me. I ate a quick bite at the Red Mammoth Bistro, and spoke to the Swiss owner and the only customers – a recently married elderly British pair – as I sipped on a London fog.
On the recommendation of an acquaintance in Dawson City introduced by the friends I had made at the Kluane Compositions, I went to the can can show over at Diamond Tooth Gerties. The room was packed with white-haired Americans courtesy of Holland America Line, the cruise ship company. But I spotted a gender diverse worker and a few younger queer patrons.
Walking around town, I admired the preserved gold rush era streets and buildings, and the sights including Jack London’s Klondike home.
Back in Whitehorse
Back in Whitehorse, it felt like I was in a big city again. More than that, I also felt like this might be where I want to live.
I’d been searching for a place to move that was away from Ottawa. I had been prepping to emigrate to New Zealand, but the country’s shutdown of immigration during the pandemic terminated my efforts. With the borders open again, an out-of-country move is a lot less compelling. In the intervening five years, I’ve collected a bunch of things and licenses that bring me much joy that I can’t take with me.
Vancouver was also a contender, but the rents are unaffordable as a single person. I also don’t like competing with a million other people for access to nature. I think part of that is that the population has significantly grown for our cities over the past two decades, but the places people go to to be in nature remain fixed in size – so overcrowding is increasingly a problem. Ottawa has this problem too, but you can get out of it if you either go first thing in the morning or you find a new place over an hour away and not in the direction of Montreal. Everywhere I went in the Yukon by comparison was so quiet.
Whitehorse might be it folks. The francophones, the artsy culture, the incomparable nature, the long summer days, the quiet, those are all really strong draws. The downsides I can tell right now are that it’s colder for longer and some things are less readily accessible.
Things to ponder.
Anyways, this was a trip of a lifetime. I will come back, perhaps in winter next time.