Yukon Impressions

Whitehorse was our base, and not the focus of the trip. It is a frontier town with squat buildings and vast expanses of pavement. Truckloads of federal infrastructure money have been dumped here. The two museums we visited - Yukon History and Transportation - are among the best we've seen anywhere. The imposing Canada Games Centre is the citizens' pride and joy.

Whitehorse is bursting with tourists, at least mid-summer. The stores know their market well, and business is booming. Around the corner are little gems undiscovered by the cruise ship crowd (e.g. a really good cheap meal at New Asia Restaurant).

There are huge tax incentives to live in the Yukon, especially for seniors. Residents reportedly have the best medical care in Canada, as they are medevacced south to the head of the line. Despite inducements, everyone we met in Whitehorse is there because they love it. Even the young hotel workers living in staff housing talk about returning north after university.

It is easy to see the pull of the north. The landscape has a stark beauty that needs no adornment - like a fine main course without a garnish, or a quilt without embellishment. The nothingness of it all fills the space. Vistas take your breath away.

As we first flew into Whitehorse, I noticed "the light". I flashed back to that magic April day in Stockholm each year when Swedes on park benches with faces to the sun would exclaim "the light has changed!" It is indefinable, but the North appears bathed in a translucent pale blue cast. Perhaps it is too soon replaced with the gloom of an 8-month winter, but that makes it all the more special.

The flying locals turned themselves inside out for us, visiting all the little airstrips and tamping down the gopher holes. Boy, were there gophers! And dust. But very few bugs. Does anyone want some unused bug net hats? On second thought, we'll keep them because I suspect we will return.

In the meantime, our feet are back on the ground, the garden beckons, the lake is warm, and family arrive for a visit next week.

Thanks for following along. Now it is Over and Out!