Travel  in  the Yukon  - A Case for Getting Back to the Basics

"Travel" in the Yukon is at best a mischaracterization of the word - at least in the conventional sense and it perhaps explains why the 
sled dog was for decades the preferred mode of transport for getting from point A to point B.



Spending all these months up north has provided me a unique opportunity for studying the cultural differences between those who live in
the frozen tundra and the rest of us who reside in the lower 48 states.

What have I learned?   Other than the fact that those up north are in love with the word 'Aye?', there is not much difference at all.

Except for when it comes to mechanized transport and therein lies the great cultural divide.

The United States, specifically the southern half, has produced some of the finest drivers in the world.

It is in the blood.  

It is that extra something, a primordial spark if you will, which forms a psychic bond between man and machine.  

It is found nowhere else on the planet.

It is a birthright and its celebration is NASCAR.

Those in the Yukon have been trying to work this out for years and one thing I must say is, they are a stubborn bunch.

We in the states generally know when to cut our losses and that is when it starts affecting our pocket books.

Those who live in the Yukon............well............. be it  Spring,  or Summer, or  Fall, or  Winter,  how does one define insanity?

I think it has something to do with performing the same task over and over again and expecting differing outcomes.

Perhaps one day and certainly not in my lifetime,  'Aye?' will  only be footnoted as an archaic colloquialism in a tourist guide.



'Mush!' will rise from the ashes of history and once again become the method of transport,  of choice.