Hunting for grizzly bears with a teen in the Yukon

Sarah Tucker is an award-winning travel journalist, novelist, producer and broadcaster. She describes an adventure trip that satisfies even her teenage son.

We’re going on a bear hunt. I remember reading that book to my son Tom when he was a baby, until I knew the words to the story by rote. He loved the idea of an adventure through different terrains and the sounds the characters made in search of the bear they eventually found in a cave on page nine.

Six foot one and fourteen years of him, I decided to take Tom on a genuine bear hunt, to the Yukon, human population 36,500, wildlife population (bear, moose and caribou) 136,000, where there are more grizzly bears per square mile than anywhere else on the planet.

Harsh but beautiful scenery that inspires poetry

The last time I visited this territory, I presented a documentary for the Discovery Channel, following in the footsteps of the gold-rush stampeders travelling from Skagway Alaska to Dawson City. The frequently uncompromisingly harsh as well as effortless beautiful Yukon scenery inspires people to tears. I experienced the same emotional impact this time as well.

This place tears away the unimportant diversions of everyday life — making the basics of having something to eat and drink and somewhere warm to sleep the only things that matter. Robert Service, the Scottish poet, famously wrote of how the Yukon strengthens the spirit and touches the soul, but even he can’t put into words its overwhelming enigmatic healing energy.

Those who originally came in search of gold had a far more challenging and perilous journey. Many died in the process, having to build their own boats to cross the lakes, which appear so serene on clear days but turn in a breath when the wind changes, sending many to a watery grave. Bennett – once home to over 15,000 – is one of the stopping-off places en route to Dawson City, where the gold was found only a striking and somewhat haunting wood church remains, and there’s a graveyard with the names of some of those buried there. Although many died, few were given actual graves.

The ground is strewn with the remnants of the settlers. Bottles, tin cans, tin plates, old lamps. Bennett is literally littered with history. The national historic site charter dictates the tin cans must be left where they sit as a record of the incredible journey undertaken by the thousands of goldrushers.

A region of storytellers

Everyone you meet in the Yukon has a story to tell. They are all natural born philosophers on life, love and how to deal with bears. Park rangers, trail leaders, even the woman selling local coffee (grin ‘n bear it coffee) talks bear encounters with locals who have defended themselves with nothing more than pepper spray and their dog (usually little).

There was the story about the man who walked along the path and a grizzly bear was lying still. As the man drew closer he realised the bear wasn’t sleeping but was dead. They later found out that there was moose calf in the bear’s stomach and two large moose print hooves on the bear. The mother had stamped on the grizzly, obviously annoyed the bear had eaten its calf.

Then there was the one about the little dog called Charlie – a little terrier who frightened a full grown grizzly away. Everyone tells that story, only the name of the dog changes.

Where to find the best storytellers

You’ll find some of the best storytellers in Lake Laberge. The Cathers family (Ned, Mar and Jennine) (www.cathersadventures.com), organise and personally guide hiking trips with huskies, and canoe trips in summer, and dog sled trips in winter.  They have a phenomenal knowledge of huskies, the area they live in, local history and dog sledding. Ned’s daughter, Jeninne is the youngest person (either male or female) to have completed the Yukon Quest, an uncompromising 10- to 14-day feat of endurance which entails taking a team of 14 huskies over a thousand mile trek in frequently minus-50 degree temperatures in February from Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks Alaska. She has completed six times, her father, 10.

You sleep in nearby log cabins, and breakfast, lunch, and supper is cooked by Mar in the summer by Laberge lake.  We had bannock and smokies and pasta and bean salad and marshmallows for toasting as we listened to more bear stories told by Mar, Ned and Jennine, which were utterly enthralling.

Jennine told me one story when she was running her dogs across the lake. The lead dogs decided to go south instead of west. She climbed over, never letting go of her sled, and pulled herself along the gang line until she reached the leaders. All this time the dogs continued running over the ice. She stopped the team, turned them in the correct direction and crawled back along the gang line and onto her sled. And then the dogs headed south again and she had to repeat the process. The people of the Yukon are as inspiring as the landscape.

Trying his hand at native wood carving

On our last day, we met another inspiring Yukoner – native wood carver and trapper, Keith Wolf Smarch, who is something of a local celebrity, as he made a mask and presented it to Prince Charles 10 years ago. He has given his talent and time to his local community by building many buildings which bear his striking carvings, including a totem pole.

While we were there he was working on another totem, and allowed Tom to help him complete a section. Even my hard-to-impress teenage son thought that was incredibly cool. We didn’t see any bears on our adventure, or perhaps I was so intent on reaching the next campground, I missed them as I looked out for petrol stations and admired the scenery, but the riches of the Yukon have nothing to do with the stuff that glitters.

The unique Yukonic experience is designed to nurture and strengthen the free spirit in those who visit and create poets and storytellers of us all.

Sarah Tucker and Tom flew courtesy of Air Canada (www.aircanada.ca) and the Canadian Tourism Commission. Ground arrangements courtesy of Tourism Yukon and a wonderful array of product suppliers in the Yukon.

Where to stay in the Yukon

Fraserway RV, www.fraserway.com – motorhome rentals

What to do in the Yukon

Husky Bus, www.husky-bus.ca – Dredge #4 National Historic Site and goldfields tours

Gold Bottom Tours, www.goldbottom.com – Authentic gold mine tours, Dredge #4 National Historic Site and goldfields tours

Cabin B&B, www.wdavidporter.ca/b&b/index.html – Cabin rentals and guided hiking / snowshoeing tours in Kluane National Park

Kluane Glacier Tours, www.yukonairtours.com – Glacier flightseeing tours in Kluane National Park

Kluane Museum of Natural History (Burwash Landing), yukonmuseums.ca/museum/kluane/kluane.html

Cathers Wilderness Adventures, www.cathersadventures.com – Escorted canoeing, husky hiking and husky sled dog tours

Wood carving

Keith Wolf Smarch, http://keithwolfesmarch.com/ – Tlingit artist and carver

Historic sites and parks

Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site, http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/yt/chilkoot/index.aspx

Kluane National Park and Reserve, http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/yt/kluane/index.aspx

Klondike National Historic Sites, http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/yt/klondike/index.aspx

Klondike Visitors Association (Dawson City), http://www.dawsoncity.ca/

 

For more information on the Yukon, Canada’s Larger than Life destination, visit Tourism Yukon at www.TravelYukon.com.