Dawson City is backed into a corner of the world. What I mean by that is, there's one and a half ways to even arrive. What I mean by THAT is, one road takes you a whole day's drive from the next major city, the other is considered a seasonal, rough highway passage that takes you to the Alaska border which is only certain times of day and only seasonally. The highway is also known to see snow year round and is notorious for gobbling up tires.
Dawson city is a small place. Your tour gide or gas station clerk? You're going to see them at the saloon later. Don't get in a fight with anyone here either, learn to play nice-- if you have car trouble down the road they may come across you on the side of the highway. You may need them to survive.
Dawson City is also a rough-and-tumble place. People know how to get by with less. The very essence of this town was founded in the Klondike gold rush, a major migration of thousands of men to one of the most remote, harshest environments on the planet. It was the last gold rush of the 19th century and it was so big, the Canadian government had to split the Northwest Territory into two, creating the Yukon Territory, a brand new federally-ran geographical unit.
There's a lot of things here that would be considered a major inconvenience to us "cushy southerners":
-You're at a festival and order a hot dog? It was cooked 1-2 hours ago and it's cold.
-Spelling errors pop up everywhere, from your emails and texts with local hotels and mechanics to the "coffe" machine in the "lobbie"
-The festival literature says you can hike back to town through the wilderness, but you find all the routes have been washed out for months.
Of course, I know a very 'Yukonian' response to each of these ailments:
-Hot dog was cold? You should've been here when they were cooked! Gas doesn't grow on trees up here.
-Coffe? Lobbie? You still know what they mean right? What's the big deal?
-Hiking trails washed out? Took you an extra hour? You should've known, it's the YUKON! BE PREPARED!
I participated in a once-in-two-year 1st nation's festival.
I drank a shot with a severed human toe in it.
I panned for gold in a creek.
I shared beers in a brothel-turned-saloon.
I talked mining politics and issues with miners.
I saw a western can-can dance in a gambling house theater like the good ol' days.
Next I head out to Alaska, back to my home country, but also far from home. It may as well be another nation-- the way of life there may be similar to here in the Yukon but with lower taxes.
JT - 7/31/2022