Cheechako no more!
Hiking in Carmacks. Photo taken by Adam Luciano
There’s a saying here in the Yukon that until you have lived a whole year in the Yukon, you are a Cheechako. Once you have survived all four seasons in the territory, you are now called a Sourdough. I arrived in the Yukon March 5, 2020, so as of last week- my status has changed to Sourdough! To be honest, it wasn’t that hard to survive a year here. I wouldn’t call living in the Yukon “roughing it”. We have all the amenities you could want or need, tons of locally produced products (stay tuned to our Buy Local blogs) and the weather isn’t nearly as bad as what you expect for north of 60. There were countless kms of hiking, biking, paddling, waking and kicksledding done this year- we love to stay busy. Here are a few of my accomplishments this year:
1- Drove the South Canol Highway (Blog coming out soon)
2- Did the gross Sourtoe shot (Mentioned in this Blog)
3- Went Heli-camping with the dogs (Tombstone Blog)
4- Saw a ton of wildlife (Mentioned in this Blog)
5- Picked wild berries (Wildflower Blog)
6- Visited the SS Klondike, Transportation Museum, Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre and MacBride Museum
7- Went gold panning and actually found a few flakes (Gold Blog)
8- Got to go dog sledding nine times! (more sessions already planned)
9- At least a dozen trips to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve
10- Observed the Aurora Borealis on a few occasions (mentioned in this Blog)
11- Enjoyed a couple winter campfires
12- Volunteered at Yukon Rendezvous Festival (Rendezvous Blog)
13- Ate countless Braeburn giant cinnamon buns
14- Played Friday night Radio Bingo a few times
15- Tried our hand at glass blowing at Lumel Studios
Even with Covid going on this past year, we were still able to really enjoy our first year in the Yukon. The only problem is there’s still way too much left to do! Here are my personal hopes for this coming year:
1- Drive the Dempster Highway to the Arctic Circle and Arctic Ocean (if we are allowed into NWT)
2- Way more camping all over this gorgeous territory
3- Stay in an off-the-grid cabin (ideally in winter so you can really appreciate the off-the-gridness)
4- Re-hike Goldenhorn mountain on summer solstice
5- Collect more gold flakes from the free panning in Dawson City
6- Get into Diamond Tooth Gerties
7- Drive the North Canol Highway
8- Take a flightseeing tour of Mount Logan
9- Visit Old Crow (if they are welcoming people from outside the community)
10- Pick my own juniper berries to make my own gin
11- See a Wolverine (super rare, but I’ll try hard!), an owl (haven’t seen one in the territory yet), wolf, sheep and a lynx in the wild
I know it’s a tall list, but with a bit of planning and a lot of determination, I will hopefully check most of these off. When you are planning to come to the Yukon, it’s important to give yourself enough time to get into the activities that are highest on your list. The Yukon is a huge territory with so much to see and do. We are more than happy to help you plan your dream vacation in this wonderous place. Bring on another year of exploration!
