Reflections on the Far North

During our journeys in the Yukon, we immersed ourselves in the writings and history of the far north. Reading such books as Pierre Berton's Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush and Jack London's Call of the Wild left us quite amazed by the hardships that the gold seekers suffered. Some of the hardships were due to their lack of preparation and knowledge; the Far North is not a place to fool with. We discovered this in a small way while in Tombstone Park. We took a hike into a high and windy area, and had to turn back when our hands became numb.

Overall, we gained a great respect for the people, animals and plants that have learned to live in this harsh and spectacular place. We met First Nations people who still live off the abundance of the land, catching and drying salmon every year, hunting, and using the native plants for medicinal purposes. Museum displays taught us about the dangers of travel in the far north, whether on the river, by dog sled, or by airplane. Animals, too struggle to survive. The caribou, who eat the tundra plants, have found it more difficult to get to their food because the warming climate has caused freezing and thawing cycles that turn the snow to ice. We walked on those delicate tundra plants, sinking in to the soft spongy medium. We counted rings on a two inch diameter tree in the Boreal forest; 140 years old! We enjoyed the brilliant but short displays of fireweed which covered entire hillsides. We observed the shoreline trees torn up like sticks along the Yukon where the ice had scraped past.

The Far North: a land of rich resources, stark beauty, fearful barrenness, wide open wilderness that is Bigger than Life. It is hard to miss the hand of the Creator.