We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
“Big sky country”, “land the the midnight sun”, these are a couple of references you may hear when talking to someone about the Yukon Territory.They say everything is bigger in Texas right? Well, I would one up you on that and challenge you to come take a look up here just south of the Alaska border. You’re gonna find a lot of everything likes to be on the big side. Whether that’s the sun, moon and stars. The animals here or ego people carry, you’ll find it all. Along with that, you will find big, rugged beauty of a country. Mingled with the stories of the people who have loved it and conquered it, but also the blood and ghost of those it overcame.
A deep respect for the land and its ability is needed to live here. If the sun and long heated days don’t kill you, the eight months of winter will. This is not a place to challenge or fight. You must learn the ways of the land, the harshness, and the life giving aspects. And with that, learn to balance them for your own benefit…your own survival.
If you have ever lived in Kansas or Texas, you know heat. The kind that stifles the air so hot you have no relief breathing it in. The only way I can describe the heat here is; “intense”. How is it that way up here in the North, the hottest days of summer remind me more of Texas heat, than anywhere else I’ve been, I don’t know. But you better not doubt it, the cool breeze that can come along at any given time will only deceive you more into thinking the sun isn’t beating down on you when really, that is its sly tactics to get you. To throw you to the ground with heat stroke without you even knowing it. But the next thing you know, it’s raining for a couple weeks and now you’re trying to keeping the flood waters from washing out your home, your roads, your work place. Your fording a swollen and raging creek that you crossed this morning but failed to get your vehicle back across. It sits stalled in the water, moved by the merciless pressure, sweeping away whatever precious contents you may have left in there. Mud and gunk cling to everything and make the mosquitoes, bigger than you’ve seen, only multiply with every passing day. Once too hot to work through the 23 plus hours of day light, now cold, and damp. Drenched down to your bones.
But you wake up, the birds are singing and the air is clean, clear and crisp. There’s something different that captures you here. A little bit of your soul maybe. You can’t place it, but you’ll never be the same.
The land is vast and rough, but the sunrises surround you, the darkness of night, so thick in winter that you could cut it. Then come the northern lights, dancing all around you, brighter and more active and straight above you as though they might come right down to you. You see, for such a harsh place, the charm of it has to be engulfing, breathtaking…capturing a little piece of you forever. Or else you would never stay or come back.
I’ve learned, through gathering info and stories from the locals and “sourdoughs”, little tips and tricks and downright survival skills to at least start off. I by no means would go out and try to rough it in the middle of no where by myself. But you gotta start gathering the info for when you do. If you stay here for any length of time, there’s a high change you may have to. Prepare, or prepare to fail. And failing here, very well could cost you your life.
The interesting thing about this land is its spirit. That’s the only way I can describe it. Its almost like it has a personality of its own and that’s why it fights everyone and everything so hard. The animals have had to adapt to it, becoming tougher, rougher and being able to withstand the polar opposite effects of the weather.
You kind of have to be ready for anything, no matter where you’re going. Number one; you WILL need multiple tires for your vehicle, and you’ll probably get stuck on the side of the road at least once. There probably won’t be any cell service and you will have to wait for someone to stop. Unfortunately not a lot of people do that anymore, so you could be there a while. This has happened to me twice, both times trying to leave the Yukon. Once for my brothers wedding, and another time to leave for the winter. What to take away from that? Well, make sure that in the summer, you have extra clothes, water, fire starter and snacks. And ALWAYS have blankets in your vehicle in the Yukon. Even in the dead of summer. Two spare tires are not a bad idea either. Some of the local people believe that once you’re here, the Yukon will try to keep you here. That there is a curse to keep you away from the rest of the world and a tie to pull you back if you do go. I don’t know about the curses, but I do know that the spiritual activity in the country is thicker and more prevalent than any place I have ever been. If you aren’t a believer in that kind of thing, you will be after spending any good amount of time here. It is extremely interesting, caution calling and life changing.
I appreciate this place and what I have and am learning from it. To step back and be present because you actually have to in the weeks of winter that can be anywhere from -10 to – 60 Celsius. I have experienced -54 at it’s coldest. All I can say is believe the thermometer because also unlike anywhere I’ve been before, the cold is different. It’s so dry that -54 doesn’t actually feel that bad. Or so you think. Then, you take your dog out to go for a walk and pee, and before you know it, you’ve only walked a half a block and you’re having to tell your brain to make your legs move. You got that cold and didn’t even know it. That is how easy it is to die in the cold here. My advice would be not to push it. You cannot be a smart ass and make it here. And if you do, it will be after you’ve had a couple harsh learning curves from the weather itself. Unless it’s warmer than -25, If I’m going out for anything more than an arm of firewood, I have found it’s best to bundle up. The other thing is that the weather can change so quickly here that it’s better to be prepared than surprised.
So there are a couple things. Important things. There are multiple others, probably that I could make a long list of. Maybe I will one day. I find that if your are looking for it here, this land will teach you something new every day.
