|
Although much
of Canada still has the flavor of the "last frontier",
it's only when you embark on the mainland push north to
the Yukon that you know for certain you're leaving the
mainstream of North American life behind. In the popular
imagination, the north figures as a perpetually
frozen wasteland blasted by ferocious gloomy winters,
inhabited – if at all – by hardened characters beyond
the reach of civilization. In truth, it's a region where
months of summer sunshine offer almost limitless
opportunities for outdoor activities and an incredible
profusion of flora and fauna; a country within a
country, the character of whose settlements has often
been forged by the mingling of white settlers and
aboriginal peoples. The indigenous hunters of the
north are as varied as in the south, but two groups
predominate: the Dene, people of the northern
forests who traditionally occupied the Mackenzie River
region from the Albertan border to the river's delta at
the Beaufort Sea; and the Arctic Inuit (literally
"the people"), once known as the Eskimos or "fish
eaters", a Dene term picked up by early European
settlers and now discouraged.
The north is as much a
state of mind as a place. People "north of 60" – the
60th Parallel – claim the right to be called
northerners, and maintain a kinship with Alaskans,
but those north of the Arctic Circle – the 66th
Parallel – look with light-hearted disdain on these
"southerners". All mock the inhabitants of the
northernmost corners of Alberta and such areas of the
so-called Northwest, who, after all, live with the
luxury of being able to get around their backcountry by
road. To any outsider, however, in terms of landscape
and overall spirit the north begins well south of the
60th Parallel. Accordingly, this section includes not
just the provinces of the "true north" – Yukon
and parts of the western Arctic and Northwest
Territories – but also northern British Columbia,
a region more stark and extreme than BC's southern
reaches.
The Cassiar and Alaska highways
converge at Watson Lake, a weather-beaten
junction that straddles the 60th Parallel and marks the
entrance to the Yukon Territory (YT), perhaps the
most exhilarating and varied destination in this part of
the world. Taking its name from a Dene word meaning
"great", it boasts the highest mountains in Canada, wild
sweeps of forest and tundra, and the fascinating
nineteenth-century relic, Dawson City. The focus
of the Klondike gold rush, Dawson was also the
territory's capital until that role shifted south to
Whitehorse, a town booming on tourism and the
ever-increasing exploitation of the Yukon's vast mineral
resources.
Road access is easier
than you might think. In addition to the Alaska Highway,
which runs through the Yukon's southern reaches, the
Klondike Highway strikes north to link Whitehorse
with Dawson City. North of Dawson the Dempster
Highway is the only road in Canada to cross the
Arctic Circle, offering an unparalleled direct approach
to the northern tundra and to several remote communities
in the Northwest Territories. The Yukon's other major
road is the short spur linking the Alaskan port of
Skagway to Whitehorse, which shadows the Chilkoot
Trail, a treacherous track taken by the poorest of
the 1898 prospectors that is now a popular long-distance
footpath.
Combining coastal
ferries with the Chilkoot Trail makes an especially fine
itinerary. Following the old gold-rush trail, the route
begins at Skagway – reached by ferry from Prince Rupert
– then follows the Chilkoot to Whitehorse, before
heading north to Dawson City. From there you could
continue up the Dempster Highway, or travel on the
equally majestic Top of the World road into the
heart of Alaska. However, many people coming up from
Skagway or plying the mainland routes from British
Columbia head to Alaska directly on the Alaska Highway,
to enjoy views of the extraordinary and largely
inaccessible mountain vastness of Kluane National
Park, which contains Canada's highest peaks and most
extensive glacial wilderness.
Click
here to go to Yukon web site. |
