Notes From The North

Driving for miles,
Through no-mans land
I just don't understand
Why its not more in demand

Clear, deep, blue lakes
And high mountain passes
Its good for the soul
To get away from the masses

The true North, strong and free
It's what I've always rehearsed
But as for actually experiencing it
Well this is a first!

We drove North through Alberta
Then into BC
And from there on up
It was all new to me!

We hit Watson Lake, Yukon
Then turned to the west
The great city of Whitehorse
Was our next stop for a rest.

We stayed two days in Whitehorse
(We were fixing a leak)
Driving an old Westy
Is surely not for the weak!

Once again we turned North
'Til the road turned to gravel
The infamous "Dempster
Was the next highway we would travel

With no idea what to expect
No pre-concieved notions
Except that we hope to see the Arctic ocean.

The Dempster blew us away
With its wide open spaces
You could tell straight away
With one quick glance at our faces

We drove with the fall colours
Fiery reds and yellows
And felt at home with the pace of life
Which was really quite mellow

We saw prancing cariboo
And had dinner with some First Nations
They related stories from their childhood
And described life at the whaling stations.

In the end we never made it...
The Arctic ocean, I mean
But the time we have spent here
Was like living a dream

From here we head South
And we worry a bit
Why leave the North
When we're such a great fit?

But there is people to meet
Amazing places to travel
I can't wait to see
How this trip will unravel

And as for the North?
Well I promise I'll be back
It has a certain 'nothing'
The most other places lack

Until then I will leave it
For other sould to find
And believe me when I tell you
It truly is a gold mine.
       -shona rubens



A little silly poem of mine inspired by being in the home territory of Robert Service. We spent the day in Dawson City today and checked out the old log cabin that Service lived in while living in the town. It was not much bigger than our van!!! But very "homely". Dawson City was also home to the authours Jack London and Pierre Burton... There must be something in the water.
It is an amazingly quaint little town that had its boom during the gold rush of the 1890's. It has since become a World Heritage Site and brings you back to the 1800's while walking down Front street or checking out the Dancing ladies at Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall.

The last few days on the dempster highway were incredible. We nailed our timing with the fall colours and saw the hills come alive with incredible reds and yellows. We stopped off in the small native town of Tsiigehtchic to check in with Craig Scott who was there doing some environmental research on the melting permafrost. It was really interesting to spend some time with his crew scoping out the unfortunatel slumping of the ground around the towns historical church.
The town is at the junction of the Canadian Historical Arctic Red river and the mighty MacKenzie river. A stunning backdrop to the small town of about 100 people.
Thanks to Craig for welcoming us into his crew and cooking us a wicked roast!!
Now we are heading out of Dawson City towards Fairbanks over the Top Of The World Highway and looking forward to every minute of it!
Also thanks to Bertha and her family for inviting us for dinner with her family and sharing some amazing stories of life in the Arctic before the white man came and changed everything. My favorite story was about her as a child when the Beluga whales had just been brought in. The kids would run down to the ocean and just slice off a flipper and gnaw on it because it was like chewing gum... Ill take your word for it Bertha.