Striking Gold in Canada's North

The above article written by me was published in the Ottawa Citizen Travel Section on July 17th.Striking gold in Canada's North

By Hazel Johnson, Citizen Special July 17, 2010

One of my fondest memories is of travelling through our incredible Canadian North with my husband in our truck and fifth-wheel camper five years ago, when I was 69 and he was 76. Two weeks after leaving Ottawa, we had reached Dawson Creek, B.C., the beginning of the Alaska Highway. As we drove along this famous highway lined with aspen and evergreens, I was beginning to feel the excitement of this new venture into a land of few people and unimaginable beauty.

The northern Rockies, particularly in B.C.'s Muncho Provincial Park, were a prelude to the impressive landscape we were to witness during the next five weeks as we rambled through the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and southern Alaska. Not only were the Muncho Park Rockies intriguing, they came with Stone sheep licking salt on the road, bison grazing by the roadside, elk standing on the road and black bears running across the highway. True, the wildlife sightings decreased steadily the further north we drove, but other equally delightful sights replaced them.

Whitehorse, the capital and largest city in the Yukon, fascinated us with its historic artifacts and the plentiful walking paths. Dawson City was a close second with its boardwalks and 1900s false-front buildings, all reminding us of the Klondike Gold Rush. Other small villages had their own charm -- for instance, Haines Junction has a lovely church built from a Quonset hut, ingenious yet beautiful. We were thrilled with the lovely high-quality museum at Burwash Landing.

Almost all the villages sit in valleys surrounded by attractive mountains. There are exceptions, of course, like Inuvik, which sits on the east channel of the Mackenzie Delta.

Between scarce villages lie many kilometres of territorial parkland of mountainous terrain, layered green valleys, teal blue lakes and rivers and stunted spruce forests. Most of this landscape is available for hiking, canoeing or fishing.

Our hike up Goldenside Mountain, not far from Tombstone Territorial Campground in the Yukon, was memorable. The panorama was extraordinary as we viewed two different valleys, four ranges of mountains, the end of the treeline and the Dempster Highway as it curls its way through the valley.

This sort of experience would repeat itself many times during our trip. Our drive on the Top-of-the World Highway from Dawson City into Alaska was another highlight, with amazing scenic views into the valleys below on both sides of the mountain.

But it was not only the scenery that intrigued and impressed us -- it was also the human inhabitants. They are the stalwarts of the North; they have settled for less comfort and harsher weather, but they are more self-reliant, friendly and live a more relaxed leisurely lifestyle. I remember the young lady, originally from Germany, at the Faro Information Centre, who let us use her computer to pick up our e-mail messages and her phone to call our family. The spacious, clean, scenic landscape seems to attract people like her to this area.

Campgrounds were another place where we met friendly interesting people from many places across Canada and the U.S., as well as cyclists from Europe.

We met a retired California couple who had been living in their camper for two years; they went north in summer and south in the winter. We also met a man from Sudbury, Ont., who, with his wife, had been coming to Dawson City every summer since 1979. They live at the Dawson City RV Park & Campground and he pans for gold at several claims he had staked. He said the gold provided enough income for them to live on.We met a couple from Holland who would be cycling in the North until September; they will then head south and eventually cycle into South America within the next two years.

At the end of our trip, we had travelled 20,210 kilometres and had been away from home for 83 days.The worst problems that we endured on this trip were five flat tires on the camper and some lost keys.

There were times of exasperation and fatigue, but it was a rewarding, enjoyable and enlightening experience that convinced us that one is never too old to travel or learn.

Hazel Johnson is the Ottawa author of RV-ING and Other Adventures North of 60.