Confessions of a Yukon Greenhorn
Essay by Liz Hardwick, NOLS Instructor |
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There were also some less idyllic
things about my first summer in the north: the swell
of bug bites making my neck thick and my eyes puffy,
bailing water out of our tent at night and forcing
feet into frozen morning boots. These things, too,
shaped my first experience in the Yukon. By the end
of the summer, I wasn’t ready to leave. I stayed
a few weeks more until the sky darkened enough to see
the Aurora Borealis.
© David Anderson |
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My highlight of this past summer
was another person’s first Yukon experience.
She was an amazing woman on a Yukon Outdoor Educator
course. The north wasn’t new to her; she was
from Labrador in north-eastern Canada. She already
had the passion about where she came from that many
northerners have. Her landscape was similar to the
Yukon, though much flatter, and when she climbed her
first peak ever on the course, she could not contain
herself. She burst into tears mixed with laughter and
awe. That’s the kind of effect the Yukon can
have on a person.
© touryukon.com / Richard Hartmier |
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