November 19, 2009 by Rae

Discovery Fireweed Honey Ale

Back in early September, I posted a review of the mostly fabulous beers of the Yukon Brewing Company and when I left Yukon later that month, I made sure to stock up on their offerings, bringing south with me one six-pack each of Yukon Gold Pale Ale, Espresso Stout, and Discovery Fireweed Honey Ale, the latter of which I had not sampled yet.

Over the past two months, I’ve finished the pale ale and made a serious inroad into the stout and fireweed ale. The latter has turned out to be yet another incredible offering by the Yukon Brewing Company. It is strong and flavourful, with a hint of sweetness and a hoppy finish. I haven’t had a bad pairing yet with this beer, whether I’ve had it on its own, with a slice of pizza, in beer bread, or with popcorn (a risky pairing that paid off). The website claims that this beer tastes different from other honey ales and I have to agree. I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t tell in a blind taste test whether I was drinking a Belle Gueule, Rickard’s, or Sleeman, but I’d be able to recognize the YBC’s honey ale.

If you’re ever in Whitehorse, be sure to check out their free brewery tour. I haven’t done this yet but I look forward to doing so in the spring!

September 21, 2009 by Rae

En route due south to Watson Lake

I’m back in Teslin, being too exhausted to make it all the way to Nugget City tonight.

My departure from Dawson was the easiest departure yet, ironically enough. Everything was so under control that I partied hard at Gerties my last two nights, stumbling home in the wee hours of the morning. That happened to be past two yesterday, with departure slated for hopefully no later than noon. Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting to make it to Whitehorse till late, if at all!

To my surprise, I was up at about nine, had everything packed and ready to go by ten, took some things up to a storage locker by eleven, and was on the road by quarter to twelve. Shocking! 😀

The goodbyes were heart wrenching, but it’d be a lie to say that I wasn’t happy to be back on the road. I stopped at Mackenzie Petroleum for gas, 1.20$ per litre and then drove long and hard. The weather alternated between sun, rain, and mist. The mountains were covered in bright yellow leaves surrounded by lush evergreens. I have yet to tire of the Yukon landscapes.

I only had a quarter tank of fuel when I hit Carmacks, so I decided to gas up there, but was thwarted at both gas stations by selfish idiots parked in front of the pumps while they ate a meal! At neither location was anyone inclined to move until they were good and ready and staff didn’t care about the loss of a 200$ sale. Braeburn Lodge, a short ways down the highway, was happy to have my business. *shrugs*

Whitehorse was a welcome sight after 530km of driving. I was bone tired and just wanted to crash with a movie. I pulled into the Walmart and unhooked the toad so that I could park away from the road, went in for a movie, got some dinner, and I was done for the night. I went to bed at 10 and slept solidly until 7!!!

Today was nuts. Oh, everything went smoothly, but I had a million things to buy and it was unnerving to spend so much money! I had breakfast at Starbucks and then drove Miranda over to the Shell station for propane and fuel. The propane pump is oddly located, forcing the owners of longer motorhomes to park with their ass end in the laneway. Just that made it sensible for me to have unhooked, even though I don’t like to unhook when I’m Walmarting it. But I had a ton of errands to run, so it made sense to be parked centrally (the RV parks are all on the outskirts) and to have my car accessible. Propane was relatively cheap, 83 cents per litre, if I recall correctly, and gas was at 1.03$. I’m already under budget for gas, which is awesome! Once everything was topped up, I had to deal with my propane tank, which was leaking from the Extend-a-Stay opening. I quickly ascertained that this was because the opening was dirty. A quick swipe with a cotton swab solved the problem and allowed a proper seal with the cover.

The rest of my day went something like this, but not necessarily in this order:

I stocked up on a mega ton of groceries and a ton of beer, did some banking, and hit up Canadian Tire (found another oil heater on mega sale!), Staples (found an external hard drive on mega sale!), Shoppers Drugmart (for the generator…), and Home Hardware (for something I’ll reveal in a later post). And let’s not forget the Walmart shopping spree for all the luxuries I’ve been rationing for two months, like toilet paper.

By the time I got home for the last time, it was mid-afternoon and I was sorely tempted to just stay the night in Whitehorse. But I had had my fill of that city with little charm and just wanted to get away from all the people.

50km shy of Teslin, I knew it would be my stop for the night. It would be dinner time by then; a push to Watson Lake would take me to at least 8pm. I was famished and exhausted and knew that by the time I said all my hellos and settled into a back in spot in Nugget City it would be past 9, maybe later.

As a compromise, I’m not on hookups tonight, paying 15$ to dry camp with access to the showers (which I’ll use seeing as I remember how clean they are) and the internet. I had a quick, but well-balanced dinner, and in short order I’m going to curl up with a good book and a mug of tea.

Tomorrow, I’ll be able to sleep in, enjoy the morning, and still get to Watson Lake at a reasonable hour.

Tired as I was last night, I still managed to find the energy to pen a few words in my journal, which I’ll quote verbatim as I tend to find myself funny when I’m this tired. 🙂

Back on the road!!!!!!!!!!

With Yukon plates!!!!!!!!!

With a Dawson City address!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going to Vancouver Island!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With a guaranteed job next summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

September 5, 2009 by Rae

Yukon Beers

I’ve had the pleasure of sampling many local brews in my year-long cross-country journey, but it’s the beers of the cleverly named (note the sarcasm) Yukon Brewing Company that have succeeded in ‘wowing’ me the most by surpassing the excellent offerings from Quebec’s Unibroue (located in the town where I grew up!).

The Yukon Brewing Company has seven beers, of which I’ve tried four (so far!). They are:

Chilkoot: this is a lager, quite acidic with a spicy finish. I don’t care much for it for sipping on its own, but it’s fantastic when paired with food, from simple burgers or pizza to salmon and rice. Appropriately enough, it is the beer I’ll always associate with my Klondike summer. Ordering it with dinner has become such a habit that I ordered it without thinking the night we came off the Chilkoot trail!
Espresso Stout: this is a dark ale and my best beer discovery ever! It matches two of my favourite things; a dark ale and coffee! It has replaced Guiness as my beer of choice for pairing with fish ‘n chips or just for sipping on a lazy Sunday afternoon while curled up with a good book. It is incredibly smooth and creamy.
Yukon Gold: this is a pale ale that is perfect for sipping on a patio. It pairs itself well with Yukon Jack whisky, another find this summer. This smooth ale is slightly spicy, but does not have the palate cleansing acidity of the Chilkoot. The finish is rather ‘hoppy’, which in my beer world is a good thing!
Yukon Red: this is an amber ale and my least favourite of the four as I find the finish too bitter. Ambers are usually my go-to beer when I’m not feeling too adventurous, but my two consumptions of this one have left me disappointed.

Still left to try are:

Cranberry Wheat Ale: someone would have to buy me this beer for me to try it as I have yet to find a wheat beer I like. The cranberries in this one do make me optimistic about it…
Discovery Ale: this honey-brown ale is made with honey from Yukon’s territorial flower, the fireweed. I’m looking forward to trying this one seeing as I recently discovered just how much I enjoy honey-brown ales… especially in beer bread!
Lead Dog Ale: this is another stout, which I’m sure I would enjoy. I’ve just been lured away from plain old stout since discovering stout with coffee!The inside of the bottles isn’t the only great thing about Yukon beers. Some of the labels are also works of art! Check them out, as well as the story behind each beer, on the Yukon Brewing Company’s website.(no, this post was not a paid advertisement for the YBC :D)

August 10, 2009 by Rae

Another Cross-Canada Difference

I’ve encountered yet another difference in how things are done in this part of the country vs. in Quebec or Ontario.

In Quebec, if there is a chip in your windshield, the repair is free with comprehensive insurance. If your windshield needs to be replaced, the insurance will cover the work, less your deductible. Glass claims are pretty much routine and rarely affect your premium.

In Yukon, there is no such thing as a glass claim. Insurance doesn’t exist for it and a lot of people drive around with cracks in their windshield. Chips are generally repaired to prevent worse damage, but that’s it.

I learned this when I went to have a windshield chip repaired in Whitehorse. I decided to pay out of pocket rather than make a claim in Quebec and was surprised by how cheap the work was (40$) when I know that in Quebec it’s closer to 100$. I was told that this is because here people pay for chip repairs themselves while insurance companies out east generally pay so the market can support the higher cost.

At any rate, this issue came back today when the Yukon insurance people questioned the two claims on my insurance record, both for glass. The second claim doesn’t seem to be an issue as it was pure vandalism (someone threw a rock onto my car from an overpass), but the insurance agent seemed to find my first claim frivolous. I explained what I stated above, that such claims are routine in Quebec, and added that I would not make such a claim in Yukon. I sent this to her by email, so I don’t know what she thinks. Hopefully, that will mollify her and I will be able to get my Yukon insurance tomorrow!

July 22, 2009 by Rae

Bareloon Lake to Bennett and Out

The meanest miles didn’t give up once. The final stretch of the trail is uphill through sand. Never was I so happy to see a church steeple as I did when we reached Lake Bennett, our final campground!

We stopped just before the campground to look out over the lake. There were two floatplanes there. Flying out is another option when finishing up the Chilkoot and the one chosen by a family of 8 (including two young children) who had paralleled our trip, but pushed on to Bareloon when we stopped at Lindeman. We took a moment to wave them off as they flew into the wild blue yonder. Clichéd, I know, but the pictures will prove the cliché true.

We were met just before Bennett by another Sea to Sky guide who kindly brought in our last dinner, breakfast, and lunch so we’d have less to carry. Dinner that night at Bennett was an event, with caesar salad, mini-pizzas (assembled on site), pasta, wine, and cheesecake!

There is a lot to see in the Bennett area, so I explored a bit during the evening. What struck me the most was the amount of debris, mostly glass and rusted cans, which cover the site. They are all that remain of the hotels and saloons which covered this site during the gold rush.

Bennett is a strikingly beautiful location, a turquoise lake resting against grey mountains and rimmed with purple fireweed. Lake Louise doesn’t hold a candle to it! Mark was right when he said that hikers who take the shortcut from Bareloon miss out on something extraordinary.

We had another leisurely morning the next day and the guys made us pancakes for breakfast, a real treat after almost a full week of oatmeal and breakfast bars! We then went for a walk, sans pack, to check out the Bennett cemetery and also to look over the rapids that separate Lindeman and Bennett Lakes.

Lunch was veggie quesadillas and then it was time to start getting serious about packing up as more hikers were coming off the trail and in need of our sandy tent sites.

We left Bennett at 3PM on a train headed for Skagway that would drop us off in Fraser, where we’d left our van. It was strange to move forward without effort and I actually felt a bit queasy on the hour or so ride!

En route back to Whitehorse, we stopped briefly in Carcross to pick up our trail completion certificates and to poke around the tiny community. Our day, and our journey together, ended in Whitehorse, at the High Country Inn, where we had dinner without even changing or showering first. We ate out on the patio. 😀

My journey over the Chilkoot Pass is one I will carry in my heart forever. It was a week that blended history, ecology, and exercise; one that took me from lush Alaskan rainforest to British Columbian desert in the footsteps of men and women who shaped the modern Yukon territory. It was the trip of a lifetime.