The wrongs of north of north were piling up. Broken rigs, broken teeth, broken shins (another story!), and broken patience were stealing our mojo. It felt time to get right with the world again. When you are north of north, that means dropping hundreds of miles south to Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon, where the last outpost of civilization has welcomed the north of north explorer since 1897.
Just outside of town is the Hi Country RV Park. It’s stacking grounds for the giant RV caravan North, a dozen or so monster rigs thunder along the Al-can, led by a tour guide. The sales pitch presentations are popular at the major RV shows. HighC also has exactly the right amenities to recover from 12 days on the ass-kicking Dempster. There is electric and water … $52 a night; showers … $1 for 1.5 minutes; laundry … $5 per wash and $2 per dry; RV power washing station … $1 for 2 minutes. We quickly blew through our loonie stash but got super clean and charged up in the process!
With a dental dilemma, Sheri was sidelined from anything hot, cold, sticky, crunchy, or edible. She was forced to resort to straws and mush for sustenance, that is until Dr. Rim Jaji (Gee-Gee) came along. The internet finds choices, allocates stars and it’s up to you to accept or reject the scraped wisdom it provides. In this case, 5 stars with specialty practitioners and an attached lab sounded the most promising for emergency care. One email and a reply later and Sheri was reclining in Dr. Jaji’s chair, mouth wide open, having a tooth rebuilt and a permanent crown installed. Trained in Montreal, experienced throughout Yukon and Northwest Territories in indigenous clinics and now practicing in the capital of the Yukon, Dr. Jaji drilled, molded and capped over the course of a day til Sheri was snacking on peanuts and drinking an icy cold Wily Wolverine Beer at happy hour.
In the meantime, Eric was running his own missions to repair T@G door handles, plug T@G leaks, investigate RV wash stations, buy duct tape and, most importantly, find breakfast and coffee. McDonald’s provided the combo because it was co-located at Walmart for duct tape. NuCamp was no help on the door handles, referring us to Thurmont RV in Maryland where we bought the rig. “Ya know we’re 5,000 miles from there, eh?” “We only work with dealers,” they responded. OK then.
Fraserway is the RV dealer in the North of North. Whitehorse is their most remote outpost. Almost every C class up here is a Fraserway Adventurer, if it’s not a rental from Canada Dream. The small parts department offered exactly one choice in door handles, which was not exactly compatible with the hole already in the T@G’s door; but Eric MacGyver made it work by supplementing the opening with a cut up Sterilite wash bin. It’ll hold ’til Florida – and at least we can get in the T@G without contorting through the back hatch.
Neighbors at the Hi Country kept stopping by to tell us about the RV wash station in town. “It’s only $3 a foot,” they suggested, grimacing at the caked on Dempster mud, wishing we’d do something about it. We had to agree and at 35 feet truck and trailer, it was not a big number. Every time we touched the rigs our hands and clothes got dirty. But the DIY in us prevailed and the Hi Country high powered wash got the job done enough for $94 less, plus we got to control how much water was being forced through the leaky doors onto the mattresses. Time to go shop-shop!
With clean clothes, bodies, and transportation, we hit all the art venues in Whitehorse in search of a memento that felt north of north. The Northern Arts Gallery offered arts from around the globe. The Yukon Artists at Work and Arts Underground galleries offered local art, also available at Northern Arts. And the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Center and its advertised Big Bougie Earring exhibition is closed on weekends – not exactly tourist friendly. What?! We considered a class at Lumel Glass Blowing Studios but didn’t book in advance and the hotspot restaurant next door, Gather, is closed on weekends. The 2 community thrift stores had no art and the 2 curiosity shops were way way overpriced. In the end, we settled on the artisan special from Bullet Hole Bagels in the form of a fresh baked everything with roast beef, cream cheese, cucumbers and tomato. It may not have been fine art, but it was a fine lunch.
As the hub of the north, Whitehorse is busy. There is something here for everyone passing through whether it be a Motorcraft battery at the Ford dealership, an immersive cultural activity at the Kwalin Dun, or groceries at the Save On. After 12 days north of north on the Dempster, we needed all of it. Somehow the mosquitos know not to bother travelers in Whitehorse, it never rained, and the temperatures were perfect. Inuvik it was not.
We spent two days with ready access to power, water, laundry, and groceries. Like odd ducks in the land of monster RV’s, we dined at our exposed picnic table (no CLAM), changed clothes (modestly) behind the T@G, and relaxed in our lounge chairs at the entrance to our site like zoo animals on display for the good folks that never exit their rolling condos. The Eagle Plains lounge where truckers and bikers trade intel on weather and ferry was replaced by a very nice camp store full of tea towels and fridge magnets. No one gathered there.
There is something about shared adversity that builds bridges among strangers. The 12 days north of north felt like half a lifetime, and in terms of the intensity of the experience, it probably was equivalent. We definitely are not going back north of north ever again, but it will always be ours to miss.
