Yukon part 2

The Yukon has a way of making you feel like you can do anything.  I climbed my first mountain there under the midnight sun.  We laughed the whole way.  We started our trek around 8pm laughing about how the warnings always say you should head back from mountain climbing before dark.  When we did head back down at about 11pm the sun was still shinning on us.

The constant daylight became one of my favourite things.  I got so accustomed to taking naps in the full sun like a cat.   Everyone told me it was going to be a struggle to adjust to the light but I had the opposit problem.  We went down to Skagway, Alaska for a couple of days and found the town surrounded on all sides by mountains.  I experienced full darkness at night again and became so disoriented that I had to fall asleep with a light on or I felt like I was falling out of bed.

Back on the farm, after about 4 days, the woman we were working for asked me to stay on as the farm intern and help her run things for the rest of the summer.  The pay would just about cover my flight home!  I accepted.  I fixed eavestroughs and a few other things around the house, I did some weeding and harvesting of the gardens and helping out wherever I was needed, but mostly it was tending animals (lots of chickens and 2 small pigs).

We went to weekly farmers markets where I met more organic farmers from the area and was invited to see some of their operations.  I went out a couple of days to a goat farm that made their own cheese.  Learned to milk some goats which was a lot of fun after I got over my initial feelings of unease at having those alien goat eyes watching me. Went to another farm that focused on turkeys and some 400 pound pigs.  Everyone really cared about their animals and shared stories of how they protect their farms from the grizzly bears in the area.

I took some time to go to Dawson City during the Dawson City Music Festival.  By this time Estelle was wwoofing elsewhere but we met up with all the thousands of people who had come for the big party.  With my first impression of the place being so packed with people it was intriguing to watch the numbers trickle away back to the regular population.  After the crowds had left I went on several tours of the famous town and for one I happened to be in the same tour group as Audrey McLaughlin.  It was a huge thrill to meet her.  She was humble and charming.  At one point our guide left us in Mrs McLaughlin's care who promised to not let the power go to her head.

On that same tour I met a gold prospector and inventor, from Northern Ontario.  We chatted a good while and it felt like I had met a kindred spirit.  I felt like he would have been my uncle had my family been from Ontario.  It worked out that after getting back from my run to Chicken, Alaska (on the Top of the World Highway) I met up with him again.  We went panning for gold together.  I now have a small speck of gold to call my own.  The Saskatchewan northern lakes trained me well for wadding into the icey creek water to dig up dirt to pan.  I gave him a ride back to Whitehorse, we talked about his inventions and swapped crazy stories the whole way.  

He gave me some of the best advice for how to deal with the little black flies! Skin so soft lotion from Avon.  Use it. Love it.  Flies will avoid you and you'll have soft skin, best of both worlds.

I went back to work on the farm.  When I got back there was a new addition to the farm.  Another wwoofer, this time from Germany.  The hay was harvested, the chickens were slaughtered and I watched as the Fireweeds slowly opened all the way, signaling the end of summer.  I loved my time there. I got to meet so many wonderful people, learned so much, and really left feeling like my 12 year old self could very happily put a check mark next to that dream.  

I am really looking forward to going North again.  Next time I am definitely going to make it all the way to Inuvik!

Yukon part 1: The start of the journey

So I talked about in my last post how I looked after some pigs.  That could have done with some explanation but I felt it needed to have a lot more space.  I'm going to write a series of experiences I had around looking after those delightful pigs.  I'll be writing in chunks every day for the next few days.

In the summer of 2012 I went to the Yukon with my friend Estelle and volunteered on an organic farm with the wwoofing program (The World Wide Opportunity on Organic Farms)  Essentially you work in exchange for a place to live and food to eat. It is a really good deal for the people volunteering.  As I learned from my host if the volunteers actually do some work then it's great for the farmers involved as well. I had wanted to try out the wwoofing program for several years.  What I had heard was it was a great chance to learn and see new places, but I had been hesitant about going alone (As a side note I've also been really interested in the Yukon since I was about 12 and read White Fang by Jack London for the first time).  So when Estelle sent me a text asking if I wanted to join her on a trip to do both I jumped at the chance.  It really did feel like a dream combination.

The Yukon for me up to that point was nothing but vague ideas.  Books by Jack London, the song Long Gone to the Yukon by Stompin' Tom and Google Maps street view of the Top of the World Highway.  That's all I really knew but I with each new tidbit I also knew I wanted to go there badly.

I had experienced some bad luck the summer before when trying to get to England so I was owed a fair bit of money through an airline.  My reward was getting a $40 ticket to Whitehorse - unheard of!

Suddenly I found myself boarding a plane to a wonderful place where people of such diverse backgrounds come to make it their home that it is hard to find someone who is originally from there.  First day there I my cab driver was originally from my province and the first person I met had driven there from Ontario with his cat.  The Yukon seems to have a way of catching the people who visit.  Everyone I talked to about going North demanded that I promised to come back.

Locked doors

Nothing catches hold of my attention like a distinctive locked door.  There is a good reason for this.  In my experience locked doors usually lead to the most interesting rooms filled with odd equipment, roof access points, and offices with great views of the city.  While I usually like to let my discoveries and invitations to these places unfold purely by chance, I often long to be able to pick up the phone and get through any door at a moment's notice. 

While a locked door adds a certain flare for the dramatic reveal I have noticed that just being introduced to something new in the city is where the real excitement comes from.  Several of my friends have been great for showing me lots of interesting places.  Either to explore together or because they have special access that they want to share.  I love being invited somewhere that has been around for years but I've never had a reason to see inside before. Riding up old fashioned service elevators and finding surprisingly elegant places. Even just being in a store after hours energizes me. I always jump at the chance to see the restricted areas; even when the ceiling looks like it is going to come crashing down at any second.

The more I can learn new and interesting things about my city the longer I find I can fight off the travel bug that is constantly pulling at me to explore other parts of the world. Some recent ones have been:

1) finding the giant koi fish unexpectedly swimming in a classic restaurant here in the city, a couple of them having been here for 20 years now.
2) wandering around in the various tunnels that connect the buildings down town trying to see how long we could stay inside and warm.
3) going shopping in a giant warehouses that is by invitation only.

It all comes from being with the right people at the right time.

However one door in particular was made all the more fascinating because I couldn't get in.  For years.  It became my favourite locked door to the point that I would bring it up in conversation from time to time to see if anyone I knew could get me in.  It has a combination lock with a red sign, almost the length of the door, pointing at the door reading "Archery". I was instantly hooked. I walked past there once a week for a while, knocking to see if anyone was there by chance. I talked with the people that owned the building above and they said to just keep trying. I enlisted the help of other people to walk by and knock each time they did too. People laughed about it but I would get the periodic text saying "no luck with the door". Eventually it paid off and I did manage to make contact, joined and now have access to an archery range 24/7.

Each door seems to open onto a different world in the city that I was not aware was a part of this small section of prairie life. I want to be the person to appreciate what is behind all these closed doors, package them up in a blog, and share the experience with others.

What is your favourite hidden gem in your city?
What is the most interesting place you have found either away or at home?