YUKON TERRITORY
BY BOAT, TRAIN, CAR AND PLANE

Story and photos by Barb & Ron Kroll

Canada's highest mountain. The world's largest non-polar ice fields. Tranquil lakes and fast-flowing rivers. Boreal forests, tundra and wildflowers. Moose, bears, 224 species of birds and six times more caribou than people. If you love the great outdoors, you'll love the Yukon.

Tutshi River, viewed from Yukon Suspension Bridge.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

How could we sample the vast and diverse Yukon wilderness, with only one week in the territory? Four fascinating excursions and 24-hour daylight left us captivated.

Cruising the Yukon River to Fort Selkirk

A bald eagle, its white head feathers glistening in the sun, observed us from a cottonwood tree, as we cruised down the Yukon, North America's fifth largest river. High above, white Dall sheep, with massive curled horns, walked along precarious cliff-side trails.

“The river draws birds and animals as well as people,” says Heinz Sauer, an experienced river man and owner of Big River Enterprises, as he piloted our boat.

Our 40-kilometre journey began at Minto, halfway between Whitehorse, the Yukon capital, and Dawson City. It ended at Fort Selkirk, where we explored the abandoned historic buildings of the Yukon's earliest permanent settlement. Its archaeological discoveries and poignant cemetery make it a cultural heritage site for the Selkirk First Nation people.

Heinz Sauer, owner of Big River Enterprises, brings visitors on Yukon River cruises to Fort Selkirk.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Canada's second-longest river is 3,018 kilometres long and as wide as two football fields. Heinz pointed out remnants of the Dawson Trail, travelled by prospectors to Klondike gold fields in the late 1890s. During our trip, canoes and kayaks in the Yukon River Quest, the world’s longest paddling race, were the only signs of civilization.

Scenic train ride between Alaska and Canada

Built in 1898, the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad climbs 915 metres through tunnels, over bridges and trestles, to the border between Alaska and Canada.

During the two-hour journey, we inhaled the pollution-free air and photographed cascading waterfalls, turquoise lakes and snow-streaked mountains. The announcer pointed out the gruelling Trail of '89 used by prospectors on their way to Klondike gold fields. Nowadays, the train brings hikers to and from the 53-km Chilkoot Trail, as well as camera-toting sightseers.

White Pass and Yukon Route Railway travels between Alaska and Canada.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

We expected breathtaking views from the narrow-gauge rail cars of the White Pass & Yukon Route. What we didn't expect was the beautiful drive from Whitehorse to Skagway, where we boarded the train. (The Alaskan coastal town is only 180 kilometres south of the Yukon capital.)

From the Klondike Highway, we viewed Emerald Lake and its backdrop of bristly pines and mountains. The nearby 260-hectare Carcross Desert was straight out of the Sahara, with sandy dunes that were originally a glacial lake bed. A bit farther, the 65-metre Yukon Suspension Bridge offered jaw-dropping panoramas of the raging Tutshi River, prized by whitewater rafters and kayakers.

Wildlife competed with the scenery. We photographed a black bear romping through the greenery. A friend spotted one lolling along the roadside, his mouth full of dandelions.

Yukon Wildlife Preserve photo safari

The 300-hectare Yukon Wildlife Preserve, just 25 minutes northwest of Whitehorse, is a snapshot of Yukon wildlife. A massive moose sipped water from a pond. White mountain goats climbed a narrow ridge. Shaggy wood bison grazed on lush grass. Muskoxen rested under shady trees. Undeterred by their size, an Arctic ground squirrel stood on its hind legs, and uttered a high-pitched cry.

Moose. Yukon Wildlife Preserve.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Large fenced habitats, ranging from bogs to boreal forests, shelter 60 species of birds and ten species of large mammals. Many were rescued, like the orphan moose whose mother was killed in a forest fire. Others, like the baby mule deer, were born here.

During our 1.5-hour interpreter-guided van tour, we learned how to tell the age of Dall sheep by the rings on their horns and how to identify antlers of elk and woodland caribou.

To prevent diseases, visitors can't touch the fences, but the openings are large enough for cameras to capture spectacular images, especially with telephoto lenses.

Flightseeing over Kluane National Park

The Kluane, St. Elias and Icefield mountain ranges in Kluane National Park are massive, rugged and breathtaking. Our two-hour Alkan Air flight, from Whitehorse, brought us deep into the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We swivelled our heads to take in IMAX-film views of snow-streaked saw-toothed mountains and turquoise lakes, some with icebergs from calving glaciers. For mile after mile, our small plane skirted between peaks, over ridges and glaciers.

Flightseeing offers aerial views of mountains and glaciers in Kluane National Park. Yukon.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Some of these Ice Age relics, looked like elongated ski runs. Others, like Kaskawulsh Glacier, resembled curving superhighways, connecting the ice fields. We glimpsed menthol-blue ice in the crevasses. Several mountains, higher than 4,000 metres, poked their rocky heads through snow that blanketed their flanks like downy comforters. Clouds flowed like Champagne foam between their peaks.

Our jaws dropped as we circled Mount Logan, Canada's highest mountain, at 5,950 metres. Its massive peaks are only the tip of the mountain. The rest is buried in 1.5 kilometres of ice.

We searched our minds for the right words to describe the 360-degree panorama around us: pristine, uninhabited, awesome. None sufficed. The Yukon describes itself as “larger than life.” Now we know what they mean.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Tourism Yukon: www.touryukon.com