Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/753864
V olcanic rocks rush toward you; they form a narrow canyon over- head. Eddies form, fighting you for control as you dip your paddle into teal- coloured waters. "Just relax," yells your guide, piloting his own canoe toward these historic rapids. You're plying a stretch of water upstream of Miles Canyon, water plied by thousands of prospectors during the height of the Klondike Gold Rush. Water plied by author Jack London himself. "He stayed less than a year but the rest is history," says the docent at Dawson City's Jack London Museum. "Make sure you listen wherever you go," she adds, referencing both his best-known novel and the essential char- acter of this primordial paradise. "That sound you hear is the Call of the Wild." The sound you're hearing is equally evoca- tive: whispering waters, wind in the jack pines. Listen to the Call of the Wild. The Call of the (Yukon) Wild. ADVENTURE EXPERTS Enter an aptly named consortium of wilder- ness tourism companies committed to providing a complete, interactive and seam- less adventure experience. Enter a marketing collective called Yukon Wild. "If you want to truly experience the allure of this special place," says Yukon Wild Marketing Committee Chair, Kalin Pallett, "we should be your first stop. We offer hiking, canoeing, lodging, fishing and rafting in the summer." He pauses. "Aurora viewing, dogsledding, snowmobiling and more, come winter." Come winter indeed. SNOWMOBILE TRAILS Fast forward to a February afternoon. Snowmobile engines purr, the yellow Polaris 500 right in front of you a stark con- trast to a black-and-white vista of trees, slopes and leaden skies. Now your mechanized parade rises and falls along rollercoaster trails, roaring across DREAMSCAPES WINTER 2016/2017 16 Call of the Y UKON WILD WHITECAPS LOOM DEAD AHEAD, HISSING AT THE HULL OF YOUR CANOE AS YOU NEGOTIATE THE YUKON RIVER CURRENT, ADRENALIN FLOODING YOUR ENTIRE BODY. EDITORIAL BY MARK STEVENS PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHARON MATTHEWS-STEVENS