Just looking for some knowledge of daily life and outdoors in the Yukon. GF and myself are thinking about moving up there in a year or two.
I'm interested to hear back from someone that is living there or has in somewhat resent years.

Thanks
CM

I havn't been there recently, but I used to have an office in Whitehorse where I spent a few days each week.

First off, the area immediately around Whitehorse is not as cold as one might think. It is just over the hill about 90 miles from Skagway, Alaska, an Alaskan seaport. The ocean acts as a big "heat sink", so it seldom goes very much below zero in Whitehorse. Whitehorse is by far the biggest city in the Territory....being well under 100,000 souls but still having about half or more of the population of the whole Territory. (Imagine Texas, with about half the population of the whole state represented by Denton - without the University there, and less than 50,000 people in the whole rest of the state....)

There are only two major highways through the Territory, both going NW from BC to Alaska. There is a third highway, actually, which runs NNE from the Alaskan highway starting maybe 40 miles NW of Whitehorse but it is built for big rigs running up to the Arctic ocean in an area mainly useful for petroleum and mining. NO true cities or even towns either along it or at either end of it.

There is good hunting in the Yukon, but much of it is not very accessable physically, even if you are in extremely fine physical condition. The bush is thick, too dense to walk through in many places without fighting your way along very inch of the way. Much of the other ground is either permafrost hich makes it almost impossible to dig in it with a shovel alone, or muskegg, where you sink to your knees or deeper with every single step. Imagine quicksand made of bark and water or peat and water, instead of sand and water.

You need real survival skills to make it through the winter in some parts of the Territory. At Skag, where we had a pumping station, it once reached -83 below zero with NO wind chill factor figured in. That's one reason most folks live in Whitehorse, which seldom gets much colder than -10 below for a whole day at a time.

Some of the less desirable wildlife, because of the proximity to the ocean and the dampness, and the relatively warm (for western Canada) winter temperatures, are the mosquitos. I haven't seen any of them hijack and carry off any tanker trucks or other heavily laden semis, but to be honest it wouldn't surprise me!

My view of the province was somewhat tainted by the federal government's administration of it. Their PC mania of "native rights" gives the natives a huge political domination over other ethnic groups (like "whites") and absolute preferences for jobs and just about everything else.

Medical care is limited because of the small population, and in the winter everyday things like edible greens are made of unobtanium for weeks at a time. The government and larger business offices used to close when Safeway got in a shipment of cabbage, so the employees could get there and find any left to buy! You can imagine the prices...

Housing is difficult to find, and the quality of it is variable to say the most for it. It is also extremely dear for what you get.

It is NOT a comfortable place to live and just go out and "appreciate" wildlife. In the bush 100 miles from Whitehorse, you ARE part of the wildlife for much of the 10-month annual winter. You have to make it through with little more than thewild animals have to ensure life unless you plan well, spend carefully, and work HARD. Two people who haven't lived together for years and accomodated to each other's idiosyncracies are apt to either drive each other crazy or kill one another in less than one winter there.

Clothing, tools, food, entertainment, parts for almost anything, are on a "catch-me-as-you-can basis and most have to be flown in to anywhere excpt right on the two highways. Because the weather can be so variable, flying isn't cheap either.

If you like true "primitive" and can improvise to meet ALL your needs, a person can do and live well there, but it is no place for cheechakos.

Anyway, it is more than worth your money to pay the $3,000 to $5,000 (including airfare) to make a couple-of-weeks visit,long before you actually consider trying to move there permanently.

This is very close to what I had pictured in my mind. Main differences are ten months of winter? Like true winter with snow for 10 months strait? Wow. Well all I know is I must at the least go up and see it for myself.

CM

quote:

Originally posted by Canadian Mulie:
This is very close to what I had pictured in my mind. Main differences are ten months of winter? Like true winter with snow for 10 months strait? Wow. Well all I know is I must at the least go up and see it for myself.

CM

Well some years there is only 9 months of snow....that is, snow stuck to the ground. Depending on where you go there and how high up you are living, it is possible to have a little snow fall on you very month of the year, but it probably won't stick in July or August, maybe not even in June. And in Alberta at least, for the last few years they've even had brown Halloweens. Never saw one of those all the years I lived in Canada. Maybe there IS something to global warming, though I'm sure it is a natural cycle and not man-made.

I didn't notice before that you are from Saskatchewan. Imagine a whole Territory that is pretty much like the area from just north of Lac La Ronge and on up to Uranium City, except far fewer lakes and pot holes. And there are a lot of real mountains and big glaciers tossed in to make up for the lack of lakes. As you are already an experienced Canadian, you'd probably love it. I did when I was young (up until my 40s...)

I just like to tell the full truth to the dreamers that come to Canada imagining its kind of like a humongous Yosemite National Park in California. Saves them a ton of disillusionment.


And anyway, the first 29 months I lived in Alberta, it snowed every single month. Again it never "stuck" in July or August each of those years, but it did snow, in Edmonton. I got there at the end of August of one year in the '60s, it started snowing early in September and snowed about a foot or 18" which DID stick. and went went thru the winter, the next summer, that winter, the next summer, and a third winter before I ever saw a month where it didn't snow in Edmonton.

Saskatchewan winters were even worse the 5 years I lived there because of the prairie winds, but at least the summers were nice and hot in southern Sask.

I have been away for a while and am just seeing this post. We have lived in the Yukon now for 27 years. I will add comments at the end to the posts below...


I havn't been there recently, but I used to have an office in Whitehorse where I spent a few days each week.

First off, the area immediately around Whitehorse is not as cold as one might think. It is just over the hill about 90 miles from Skagway, Alaska, an Alaskan seaport. The ocean acts as a big "heat sink", so it seldom goes very much below zero in Whitehorse. The temperature in whitehorse does go often below zero. It is not generally as cold as some other towns in Yukon but 20 - 40 below zero happens each winter for varies lengths of time...... Whitehorse is by far the biggest city in the Territory....being well under 100,000 souls but still having about half or more of the population of the whole Territory. (Imagine Texas, with about half the population of the whole state represented by Denton - without the University there, and less than 50,000 people in the whole rest of the state....) The population of Yukon is about 32,000 people. 24,000 live in Whitehorse and area. The other areas of Yukon have good representation in the legislature and a fair distribution of money. the government budget is a little over 1 billion dollars with no defecit..

There are only two major highways through the Territory, both going NW from BC to Alaska. One highway is the alaska Highway which is very good and the cassiar highway which is very good too...There is a third highway, actually, which runs NNE from the Alaskan highway starting maybe 40 miles NW of Whitehorse but it is built for big rigs running up to the Arctic ocean in an area mainly useful for petroleum and mining. NO true cities or even towns either along it or at either end of it. This road I am sure the writer is refering to the Dempster highway which starts 35 miles south of Dawson city. The dempster takes off from the Klondike highway which begins just a few miles north of Whitehorse. The demster is all gravel. From Whitehorse it is approx 100 miles to Carmacks, then on to Pelly Crossing, Stewart Crossing, Dempster cut off. Yes all small places but gas is available. From the dempster turn off it is on to Eagle plains. I am not certain of the distance. I have driven up there many times and never had to take extra gas. It has been a number of yrs since I last drove up there but I think about 4 to 5 hours to eagle plains. 2 hrs past eagle plains is fort mcpherson then another 2 - 3 hrs is inuvik.

There is good hunting in the Yukon, but much of it is not very accessable physically, even if you are in extremely fine physical condition. The bush is thick, too dense to walk through in many places without fighting your way along very inch of the way. Much of the other ground is either permafrost hich makes it almost impossible to dig in it with a shovel alone, or muskegg, where you sink to your knees or deeper with every single step. Imagine quicksand made of bark and water or peat and water, instead of sand and water. There is good hunting for caribou, moose, sheep, bison which is accessible. Permafrost is pretty well in the north part of yukon. there are pockets south of Dawson city but not much...

You need real survival skills to make it through the winter in some parts of the Territory. At Skag, where we had a pumping station, it once reached -83 below zero with NO wind chill factor figured in. That's one reason most folks live in Whitehorse, which seldom gets much colder than -10 below for a whole day at a time. Not true....

Some of the less desirable wildlife, because of the proximity to the ocean and the dampness, and the relatively warm (for western Canada) winter temperatures, are the mosquitos. I haven't seen any of them hijack and carry off any tanker trucks or other heavily laden semis, but to be honest it wouldn't surprise me! Mosquitos overstated. Not to say there are not mosquitos..

My view of the province was somewhat tainted by the federal government's administration of it. Their PC mania of "native rights" gives the natives a huge political domination over other ethnic groups (like "whites") and absolute preferences for jobs and just about everything else. Yukon is not a province. We are a territory. the Federal government does not administer the Yukon. We are on our own. The natives do have preference for some things but not for jobs, etc. Most first nations are now self governing so they are on their own....

Medical care is limited because of the small population, and in the winter everyday things like edible greens are made of unobtanium for weeks at a time. The government and larger business offices used to close when Safeway got in a shipment of cabbage, so the employees could get there and find any left to buy! You can imagine the prices...Most places would die for the medical care we have. Our town of 800 has 5 doctors. No wait time for an appointment. For serious problems it is on a plane and you are taken to vancouver or edmonton and to the front of the line for care..
Groceries are no more expensive in Whitehorse than in edmonton or vancouver. We have added federal tax breaks too of 5400.00 a year per houshold and no sales tax except for the federal GST. 5%

Housing is difficult to find, and the quality of it is variable to say the most for it. It is also extremely dear for what you get. The average house price in whitehorse is 395,000 now. Housing is very good and lots of new. our house 2100 square feet, 1/2 acre lot large shop, landscaped, paved drive, cost 125,000. In watson Lake.

It is NOT a comfortable place to live and just go out and "appreciate" wildlife. In the bush 100 miles from Whitehorse, you ARE part of the wildlife for much of the 10-month annual winter. You have to make it through with little more than thewild animals have to ensure life unless you plan well, spend carefully, and work HARD. Two people who haven't lived together for years and accomodated to each other's idiosyncracies are apt to either drive each other crazy or kill one another in less than one winter there.

Clothing, tools, food, entertainment, parts for almost anything, are on a "catch-me-as-you-can basis and most have to be flown in to anywhere excpt right on the two highways. Because the weather can be so variable, flying isn't cheap either. We have air canada and air north which fly to vancouver, edmonton, calgary with yes real jets. also return air direct from whitehorse to frankfurt germany is generally 1200.00 return. we have walmart, canadian tire, home hardware, and most other national chain stores.

If you like true "primitive" and can improvise to meet ALL your needs, a person can do and live well there, but it is no place for cheechakos.

Anyway, it is more than worth your money to pay the $3,000 to $5,000 (including airfare) to make a couple-of-weeks visit,long before you actually consider trying to move there permanently.

My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still.

With tongue in other side of cheek...Cause some would believe the stuff written..

Watson Lk..

It appears that the territory's population hasn't grown much since I left. When I left the combined populations of YT and NWT combined were estimated at 60,000 souls, with something over half living in the two capitols, Whitehorse and Yellowknife.

As to preferences for natives, among other things my office in Whitehorse was responsible for the hiring and training of all personnel in the territory for our major company. You would not believe how many caucasian applicants we turned away in favor of MUCH lesser qualified natives...due mainly to behind the scenes pressures from the Canadian federal government.

I briefly considered going to work for the Territorial Government as head of the civil service human resources division (as Director of the Public Service Commission), but didn't when the politicos asked if I would agree to give whole-hearted support to a program which gave native peoples absolute preference on hiring lists. That was our deal-breaker as far as I was concerned. I insisted I would do hiring based on merit or not at all. The YT government was not willing to agree to that.

As to availability of goods, tools, etc., it should be noted that Watson Lake IS on one of the two major highways through the Yukon (and just barely out of BC near the southern border of YT). It was to areas other than on those two highways that my post referred regarding their availability.

Just out of curiosity, where does the majority of the money spent by the Yukon Territorial Government come from? I ask because it has always been my experience that he who pays the piper calls the tune...whether overtly or covertly.

As to permafrost, my office was also responsible for determining the route for and the geographical difficulties to be faced by running the proposed Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline project along the Alaskan Highway from the BC border to Tok, Alaska. When you have to bury and maintain a 65" diameter, 1,100 ppsi pipeline, permafrost is a real concern. From just SE of Whitehorse clear to the Alaskan border there is a LOT of permafrost ranging on average from 2-6 feet below the surface of the earth. There are also a lot of glaciers along the way, the Kluane possibly being the best known.

The Dempster Highway IS the third highway to which I was referring, but we always considered the part beginning at the Alaska Highway just NW of Whitehorse to be its true beginning....kind of like for many years Edmonton was considered to be the true beginning of the Alaska Highway. (Not by all those in BC, many of whom considered Prince George to be its start.)

Anyway, everyone is welcome to his own views on everything, based on his own experiences. I liked the territory, but it isn't all roses.

I don't think anywhere on earth is all roses. Not that I have found anyways.

Thanks for the replies guys.

CM

AC probably best you did not "move" here. I am thinking you were here when the first pipeline was to be built? In the 70s?
Oh how we have changed? Ever been back?
Watson Lake?

Actually I was there well into the '80s, off and on. And when I was there, I was often in Watson Lake.

Although some things may have changed (the government may have become less coddling of the natives in its ways, for instance) the geography has not changed, nor has the perma-frost. Granted, the winters may be a bit warmer now.

I also note there was no response as to my question about the primary source of the revenue the Territory spends. I doubt the federal government granted a great deal of autonomy in a genuine sense or YT would have been made a Province. And to the extent the feds financially support YT, I'm sure they also influence its actions at the territorial level, one way or another.

Anyway, you are now there and apparently enjoying it, so I say "good on ya". I very much liked the territory as long as I had as little to do with its government as possible. I doubt that will ever change on my part. I had enough of the territorial legislature and bureaucracy the first batch of years I was there.

i live here and not working for gvt and very happy.

but this is not for everybody ...

didmt remember seeing all YTG employees making a queue at the shops with the ration tickets like in Russia ...

for access in the bush maybe not easy but not undoable .. there is rivers access, hiking and like any northern parts of our emisphere there is less game than in the Serengenti but in the same time outside the parks or preserve in Africa there is not that much game ...

last winter we had two days at -40°c and three weeks in a row at -30°c and less so if you can stand that easy ...
despite the proximity of the ocean we re not overcrowded by snow ...

all the best.

winter sounds quite similar to Sask.

Cheers CM