Wild Yukon - Driving to The End of the World

As we began our journey in the Yukon, we imagined wild rivers, endless forests and an abundance of wildlife. While most of it came true, we didn't expect the intimate wildlife moments we experienced and the breathtaking landscapes at the start of our trip to the Yukon. Without any exaggeration, the Yukon showed us its beauty and hardships, and we absolutely loved it. The Yukon is not an easy province to travel in and we wouldn't recommend heading here for a two-week vacation (unless you stick to the South only), but if you have the time and convenience you can find yourself in one of the wildest places on earth.

What's in this update

• Rare melanistic arctic ground squirrels
• Great moments with wildlife on the top of a mountain
• Breakdown...
• The (in)famous Dempster highway
• What's next?!

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Atlin lake and the south Canol road

First things first. Yes, we went to Lake Atlin and although the stories online told us it would be fantastic, we weren't exactly blown away. We came across one black bear along the road, but it was no different than in the rest of Canada. Beautiful in itself, but not worth driving 10 hours for it. Before heading to the south Canol road we stopped at an intersection to look for the rare melanistic arctic squirrels that are said to live there and we found them on our second try! They were super skittish compared to the “normal” brownish ones, but a joy to watch. We enjoyed their presence and took some photos before heading to the start of the Canol Road, one of the less traveled dirt roads that would take us through the heart of the Yukon. While some parts were nice and we didn't see many people (maybe 10 cars on the 8 hour drive), we also didn't see any wildlife or the presence of wildlife. As we neared the end of the road we spoke to some locals and understood that the road was used for a lot of hunting. Hopefully this meant that the animals had already left and retreated far away into the wild before the hunting season starts. At that point we were unsure whether we would see any more wildlife in the coming days, but the Yukon delivered in an unexpected way…

A rare melanistic arctic ground squirrel

Wild rivers near the Canol road

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The high mountains of the Yukon

One of the small animals we wanted to see was the pika; a small mountain mammal that maybe can be best described as a cross between a rabbit and a hamster. They live high in the mountains above the tree line and are incredibly well camouflaged. Although the roads you can drive on in the Yukon are very limited, we found an old mine road that would take us to a mountain top. We drove all the way up and walked around a large pile of rocks, when suddenly we saw a little creature on top of a rock. Shortly afterwards we heard 'beeeeep!'; the alarm call of the pika. Before we knew it, we spent three days at the top of the mountain, surrounded by pikas, arctic ground squirrels and hoary marmots. We were lucky and the weather was fantastic, so we photographed well into the night under the midnight sun, surrounded by golden hour light, fantastic views and the many crazy mammals. This is what we had hoped for and we were lucky to find it. Surrounded by the small wildlife in one of the most remote places in Canada (accessible by car) under the midnight sun. The Arctic at its best!

An arctic ground squirrel alarming

A pika snuggled up on a cold night (taken at 1am)

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The Breakdown

The drive to the top of the mountain unfortunately had an impact on our car. Luckily, we decided to drive to Dawson City to stock up on supplies before heading far north on the (in)famous Dempster Highway. Just 15 km before the city we heard a loud hissing noise from our engine bay and we immediately knew what was going on. We had heard the same sound in Slovenia last year, which turned out to be a huge crack in our intercooler. This time we found it was coming from closer to the engine itself (our stress levels went up). We went to the first garage and were greeted in the Yukon way: “I don't have time for this, go to the other garage in town. They probably can't fix it and you have to transfer your car to Edmonton (20 hours drive) and that will take a few weeks.” So we went to the other garage: “We don't have time, come back tomorrow.”. We barely reached a campsite and went back the next day: “We don't have time, come back tomorrow”. Okay... so this wouldn't work. We went back to the other garage, spoke to the man and were greeted again with: “What the f***, they didn't help you?”. After some small talk he wanted to take a look and indeed we had a rupture in one of our air intake hoses. It seems our EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) is really giving us a hard time because the little bit of oil that gets in the pipes is destroying the tubes from the inside. He told us he could remove all of this (the “Yukon way”) as well as our DPF (diesel particulate filter) but this would mean our car would be illegal in many countries due to the higher emissions (although everyone seems to drive here like that). Even though it would solve our problems, we decided to keep everything as it should and will figure it out as we go; a problem for later. He agreed to help us and let us camp on his property while we waited for the specific part to be flown in to Dawson. Just three days and an overpriced tube later, we left our new friends and headed for the Dempster Highway. A stretch of 900 km into the wilderness, without any form of services. If we were to break down here again, we would be in big trouble; it's all part of the adventure!

The issue

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The (in)famous Dempster Highway

We left the town of Dawson behind and headed towards the Dempster Highway: the only highway leading to the shores of the Arctic Ocean. A journey of 900 km (one way) towards the north, into complete wilderness. We drove for hours without seeing anyone, surrounded by endless forests, beautiful mountain ranges and incredible landscapes. We camped in some places with views that I cannot do justice by describing, all alone and completely without sounds. Silence and solitude, surrounded by extreme beauty. Without any exaggeration, it will be very difficult to beat the beauty we saw on this drive north. After 750 km we were greeted by the friendly people of Inuvik. We had entered the North West Territories and it felt like we had entered another country. We enjoyed a tour where they explained their history and customs before heading to Tuktoyaktuk; Canada's northernmost city accessible by car. The last part is difficult to describe, but we drove through the permafrost area with thousands of lakes and small bushes full of wild berries. During the day we saw long-eared owls flying, numerous bird species we had never seen before and a lone caribou wandering onto the plains. Reaching the shores of the Arctic Ocean felt surreal after driving through so much wilderness and ending up in a small village bustling with life. We have never been so far away from civilization and cannot even imagine what life must be like in winter. We slept at a campsite in town before driving all the way back the same way. It didn't bother us at all, because this time we knew what beauty awaited us!

Endless forests and mountains as far as the eye could see

A pingo at the Arctic Ocean, formed by the permafrost underneath

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  What’s next?

Alaska! We drive another scenic road, the Top of the World Highway, to Alaska and travel from the scenic Denali highway to the coastal areas and national parks. One of our goals is to (finally!) meet our Atlantic puffin counterparts; the tufted puffin and the horned puffin. With only a three-month US visa, we will hit the road soon after, but not before visiting Vancouver Island before heading to the US. Exciting weeks ahead, hopefully filled with ancient forests and great wildlife encounters!

 

Until next time!