The Perilous Sweet Wilderness of the Yukon

Hayley Jessup
Oct 4, 2017
7 min read

After many delayed flights and a very cold and interrupted nap on some seats in Vancouver airport I finally got on board the small aircraft to Whitehorse. I sat next to a very nice man who offered me his window seat, and there it was Canada living up to the stereotype of ‘nice’ people and a window seat of mountainous landscapes. With so much excitement in my heart I couldn’t take my eyes away from the window noticing we were landing in a city that looked like maybe 3 people lived there. Once in the airport my luggage was alone and waiting next to what seemed like the only person in the airport.

Next stop was Tagish Lake to head to Southern Lakes Resort, a lovely man named Rick picked me up from the airport and offered me home made muffins, which I munched on as he named all the mountains, lakes and hiking trails that were along the very scenic Alaskan highway. I remember this as being the first time I had ever seen the earth look so powerful, like a type of lovely beast that kissed the clouds above as they floated by. Being September, it was coming into the Canadian fall and the evergreen trees completed the typical autumn pallet of red, yellow and green.

Once I arrived at Southern Lakes I met with Bruno the chef, Gebherd and Sarah the owners, who invited me to do a work for stay at Southern Lakes. Southern Lakes Resort consisted of a teak restaurant overlooking the surprisingly large and what I thought at a tranquil Tagish lake. Bruno the chef had a delicious menu, which many locals and tourists enjoyed a Swiss-Canadian inspired feast. After a few days I was helping by serving customers or throwing pieces of rye or sourdough bread at Bruno so he could make sandwiches. The resort had lake front cabins for tourists to stay, I however got to stay in the downstairs part of the restaurant with my own shower, bed and two great books to read-The Alchemist and Jurassic Park, both compelling reads.

BUT! The whole reason I came to the Yukon- THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!! Each night I would sleep with my curtains open so I could fall asleep looking over the lake where the moons twin slept. The stars were so perfect, so many constellations, even without seeing any aurora’s, that night sky was something that’ll be embedded in my memory for a lifetime. During the first week of my stay there was a couple that flew from Melbourne Australia because they too had a dream of seeing the Aurora, and after two nights there was no light display. So, on their last night I woke the couple up at 1am with a tasty hot chocolate and warm blankets. We gazed in the northern direction at the clouded sky in hope of seeing the lights. After an hour, they had given up on hope and told me they were going to go to bed because they were too cold and tired, but sometimes just loosing that hope on something is going to make you feel like giving up. I told them to wait 10 more minutes, for some reason I just had a gut feeling or maybe it was just my typical optimistic mind that always tends to show up unannounced. And there it was I could’ve sworn it was exactly 10 minutes and the clouds cleared in the north and the magic started happening. Goosebumps took over my skin and my eyes may have watered a little, I literally could not believe that the already beautiful sky could become more than beautiful. I had no words, but the couple had all the words they were yelling and screaming and full of joy. It was a short display because of the clouds, but it was magic with the way the solar green linear flares danced around the night sky.

I spent some weeks at Southern Lakes, meeting many amazing locals who would arrive to the restaurant via their sea planes, which landed right at the restaurants doorstep. Although I met many different people I felt so alone at this point, I only had myself to entertain and so much free time and no phone or social media. This was the first time I truly started questioning a lot of things about who I was and what I wanted in my life because when you have no distractions, no ego, nothing to attend to, you become so curious of the natural world around you and what you are to this universe. We all find such comfort in talking to others, showing videos, photos, sharing our lives with others, and I’ve always believed that sharing our memories with others ultimately gives us life meaning, makes us feel that maybe we might live forever. I soon discovered that this is not always the case. We can be alone and have purpose because ultimately, we are a piece of this earth and we can find peace in this natural world, but I still believe true happiness is incomparable when its shared, nothing beats a belly cramping laugh with another human. Although Moose are hilarious creatures, great to laugh with or at. if you ever get the chance in this lifetime you must listen to their mating calls, I burst into tears of laughter every time my ears overheard their beastly voices.

After a few weeks at Southern Lakes I was off to the Wilderness Lodge which was about a 30 minute boat ride across the very choppy sea sickening Tagish Lake. Now this place was remote, so far out of civilization and I loved every part of it. When you are put in a place that is unfamiliar awareness becomes a huge survival mechanism in your life. I found I was constantly questioning my surroundings, the types of nature around me, what I could do or where I could go. Usually the internet or other people where the ways of questioning the world, but here I found it was all trial and error, instinct and curiosity. Each night I would chop fire wood so that I could warm my room at night. It took me a while to get the fire perfect, sometimes I would wake up freezing to find the fire was out. Other times I put an excessive amount of wood on the fire and the bears, squirrels and other wildlife outside my room got a lovely visual of me swinging my door back and forth in my underwear trying to cool my sauna of a room. Let’s just say by the end of a month in the wilderness I could make the perfect fire.

I had so much free time here at the Lodge and spent so much time reading, walking, kayaking, meeting crazy mountain men and of course nature watching! Most mornings a mother moose and her calf would be feeding on all the trees around the lodge. Being mating season there was a very determined bull watching her in the hopes of finding a mate. Battle of the fittest became preeminent when the below average sized bull was left waiting waiting the entire month I was there. Never have I seen a male try so hard to be with a female, but I guess moose world is a lot different to human nature! The family of moose would get so close to the lodge that one day they even drank from a water log out the front, which many squirrels had done before. I felt like I was in a real-life David Attenborough documentary about moose. I was watching and reading their behaviours and really reflecting on the world in the true present that relied purely on my own senses. One morning as I was chopping fire wood I heard barking in the distance from the dogs, this usually meant one thing… some sort of animal was nearby. I looked left, then right and felt the piercing sensation of a creature staring at my backside. I turned to see a towering moose standing only a few metres behind me, her calf next to her and her eyes piercing into mine without a blink. As I held the axe closely I walked backwards literally talking to the moose asking her very nicely, ‘please don’t hurt me’, until I reached the back door. Moose are on average 400-700kg and are known to be very territorial creatures, they have killed people by trampling them so you could imagine how much adrenaline was running through my veins. It was incredible to see animals in their natural habitat not in captivity because there is so much more you can learn about them and the feeling you get when you see them in this environment is truly special and unforgettable.

The Yukon taught me a lot, it taught me about how appreciative I am of being among friends and other humans because it constantly helps me discover so much about myself and this world through their knowledge and their inspiration. Sometimes company is the best method for survival in this world, but we need to work with nature too and be within it because it brings that ultimate love of oneself and helps us understand the entirety of this complex universe. It taught me about wildlife, from the trees and plants we can forage around us, to the types of Canadian animals and their habitats and threats. Most of all the night sky; that incredible, dancing sky, sometimes I could lay in bed and watch the green and purple display from the warmth of my room and sometimes I would lay on the dock and see the dancing reflections on the lake. One of my favourite Aurora Borealis displays was right out front of the lodge where the electrically charged green linear solar flares basically fell and danced on top of me! It was as if the lights were trying to pull me off the ground and take me to another magical undiscovered place in this universe. And that was it, the perilous sweet wilderness of the Yukon.