2010

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Yukon: ‘the wild child’

This land is our land: the culture, the clichés and the eternal truths of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories.

by CTC News Staff 13 February 2010

Consider this as you double down at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s during one of its summer Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments. In 1898, in this selfsame Dawson City, rather more would have been at stake. You were here ‘cause you bet the farm that you’d find gold and escape town alive with your fabulous riches.
The Yukon remains the risk-plunging wild child of Canada’s brood—wild in spirit and swarthy in details. If you live here, chances are you’re running from something or seeking something, trying to disappear or reinvent yourself. Of course, it could be that life on the frontier of everything just agrees with you. And why not? There’s lots to enjoy and not much to hinder your enjoyment. Sergeant Preston doesn’t much make it “Up Here” anymore.
Gone, of course, are the teeming rows of saloons and brothels and gambling halls—except as historic recreations. But the wagering spirit remains. In spring, locals place bets on when the ice on the river will bust up.
Why visit? For the most beautiful easy canoe trip in Canada—easy because you can just float on the Yukon River current if you like, all the way from Whitehorse to Dawson City. (That’s a ride long enough to commit “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” to memory.) On the flipside, feeling fit and brave, you can still hike the Chilkoot Trail, following in the bootprints of 30,000 prospectors up the gruelling Chilkoot Pass—a marathon’s distance exactly, but straight up. The great thing is, unlike those mostly hard-luck sourdoughs, you can’t lose. Because what you came looking for, you’ve already found.
Yukon in a nutshell:
Historic homesteads: Robert Service’s cabin, Jack London’s cabin, (Pierre) Berton House
Attractions: Dawson City Museum, Kluane National Park and Reserve
Pilgrimage: F. Ladouceur’s Discovery Claim at Bonanza Creek—which ignited the gold rush
Must-try drink: Sourtoe Cocktail (yes, there’s a real human toe in it)
Primer: I Married the Klondike by Laura Beatrice Berton (Pierre’s mom)
To-do list: Walking tour of downtown Dawson City, attending The Robert Service Show, golfing under the midnight sun at Top of the World Golf Course, dogsledding with famed musher Frank Turner
Best vantage point: “Midnight Dome,” a small mountain 7 km (5 mi) out of town
Best time to go: Summer, for sure: Canada Day (July 1) for the Yukon Gold Panning Championships, Discovery Days Festival, poker tournaments at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s and all that interminable sunshine; there’s killer mountain biking out of Whitehorse.
***Yukon Day at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is Feb. 20.
www.travelyukon.com
video:
The Chilkoot Trail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H0ZLdW2jIA
Historic Dawson City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwODnynTnt8
The Sour Toe Cocktail in Dawson City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGzfENx7I-U
Discovering the Yukon River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFiyLR-NL0w
Read about Canada’s 13 provinces and territories

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Usage guidelines

We welcome you to use these story ideas as inspiration for your own stories about Canada. The CTC owns all rights worldwide. (Our images are also royalty-free and available for editorial print, broadcast and electronic use.) If you choose to reproduce these texts for editorial use only, please include the author's byline and "courtesy of the Canadian Tourism Commission." If you cut, edit or modify the text in any way, please include this note: "The text has been modified from the original." Thank you.

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Prince Edward Island, Credit - Mandatory Tourism PEI/John Sylvester - Background Image