Cycling the remoteness of the Yukon

Entering no man’s land in a different time zone

leaving the land of Donald Trump, we entered a stretch of 27kms of no man’s land… A bloody hard ride uphill, swirling roads and nasty gravel patches led us to the Canadian border. One eyebrow was raised, but this civil servant gave us the look that he had seen much crazier things, so we could “Right on”! Yihaaa, our first border and time zone crossing was a fact! We wolfed down a meal at Buckshot betties in Beaver creek (the most Western community in Canada) and came back for breakfast to battle the Alaskan highway further down into Canada. After a couple of kilometers the road turned into gravel and we were treated on multiple stretches of road construction. If the roads would be like this in all of Canada this would get tough! On one of these stretches we even had to load our cycles on the back of a pilot car to escape the mud, so we had to cheat for some 10kms.

What to do when you’ve cycled 120km, you’re cold, its getting dark and you’re in a hurry to find a good tenting spot?

Ask around! We were lucky to run into Mike and Jody at Burwash Landing. They showed us their home for the summer and the unlocked ice rink and gym next to their camper van! A hot shower awaited us and even a fun night playing cards in the heated gym followed. Saved us a night freezing our asses off in the tent as the clear nights dropped the temperature below 0 degrees Celsius.

We had a few beautiful days with clear blue skies, enjoying the beauty of Kluane lake and its Sheep mountain! Here we met Bill and Maureen, a sporty couple that we ran into a few days later at a bakery as well. We visited them in Nanaimo and found out they made a great picture of us on the whikes (see blog header). We took in the view of the amazing blue lake which is overlooked by some dramatic snowy peaks, while eating our daily freeze-dry lunch. The vastness of the country is just astonishing and makes us feel tiny. We could really recommend to visit the Yukon if you are willing to explore and experience real wilderness and remote beauty of nature. Entering fall season in this region was a colorful experience. Where we had seen the fire weed in purple bloom, this flower was now going bright red and as it is scattered across the landscape, gave the surrounding a surreal fall effect. Snow was peaking the highest mountain range of Canada, and every corner would reveal another clear blue lake which attracted moose, bears and other large wildlife.

Rushing South to stay ahead of snow

We were warned though that snow was early this year, so we started wondering if we should take the longer route through Canada while trying to stay ahead of snow or if we should cut it short and head for an early ferry down South. We kept this in the back of our mind while we continued our trip to Haines junction. Here we enjoyed the stay at a hostel (we now eat a dozen eggs for breakfast + lunch) and a bakery that was too hipster for this small town. The great coffee made it difficult to leave early and we only continued cycling at 4pm. Jakoba did not feel so strong that day and it turned cold quite fast. Luckily we were rescued by Wally Bootsma, a Canadian with Dutch/ Frisian roots. He saw that we might have difficulties reaching our destination that day and let us stay for free in a construction shack. So nice to have a warm spot to stay as it was already freezing at night. The next morning was a fresh start to ride the remaining 125km. On the way we visited the ‘Long ago peoples place’ where we met Harold and learned more about the native way of living back in the days. The circumstances up in the North are really harsh with little daylight in winter and freezing cold that can go down to -40 degrees Celsius. It is mind boggling to see how the Southern Tutchone natives were so resilient to sustain in this area and how they were able to gather enough food to get through the winter. Surviving was a full-time job of trapping, hunting, logging firewood and tanning hides, while moving from place to place to follow game and trade between tribes at regional markets. They developed very smart trapping devices to catch furry mid-sized animals, like wolverines or foxes, that they could eat and use for warm clothing.

From this remote place called Champagne we rode on to Whitehorse, the ‘cosmopolitan’ capital of the Yukon! This 25,000 people town let us indulge in Caribbean fusion food at Antoinette’s, some good Sushi and local brewed beers that are everywhere in Alaska and the Yukon. We meticulously planned the trip along the ‘road less travelled’… The outdoor store provided Jakoba the opportunity to buy some thick mountaineering socks and an extra fleece in which she thought she would survive and we decided we were going for it. We had come this way to experience an adventure and here it came – albeit a little colder than expected.

Off we rode with a 17 day schedule of 1,400 km to arrive at Prince Rupert’s ferry on the 21st of September.