The "Spell of the Yukon Is Alive"

In 2018 we spent almost a month living and traveling in the Yukon Wilderness aiming to recreate Alex Van Bibber's 1943 Canoil Expedition from Mayo to Norman Wells. During our stay in Betty's Cabin away from distractions of modern life with emails, calls and other elements I literally had 2-3 nights where i awoke with poetry and verse flying around my head. With a pencil and my journal this is what i managed to jot down by headtorch. There are three poems about the Yukon that i am publishing on my website.

Of course i am not the first to experience such inspiration as the famous Yukon poet Robert Service bears witness to the creative and spiritual nature of this wilderness. One of his poems is called "The Spell of the Yukon". Hope you like it...

The spell of the Yukon is alive for all to see

With its echoing silence that has truly captured me 

This wilderness is one of a kind 

Vast vistas and breathtaking views that blow the mind 

How would you find words to describe this magical place 

A second home , a spiritual bolt hole or a glint on your face 

Living history offering a sense of Indiana Jones 

The gold rush of course offering golden tones 

Of a time when folks staked their lives on a claim 

Canoeing the river, rapids galore anything but tame 

Just getting to Dawson was incredible toil 

Chilkoot trail, miles canyon and waters that boil 

So why risk it all for a faraway land 

Gold folks but now it deals a different hand 

The best starry nights that I’ve ever seen 

Galaxies and planets appearing like a dream 

The aurora borealis doing its thing 

Like mum and dad dancing or a highland fling 

I’d never seen animals like these except in a zoo

For the price of a plane ride you can too 

Bears , wolves , beavers and plenty more 

Seeing them at wild ,nature untapped ,raw 

There’s so much to do here that’s simply the best 

Hot springs , cold beers or maybe the quest

I’ve kept coming back hungry for more 

A sour dough until a freeze and a thaw 

But be warned as I’ve shared with you the key 

That the spell of the Yukon is alive for all to see 

It’s an addiction, a habit , a bucket list place 

Where pioneering people escape the everyday race 

Cos the people who live here sparkle and shine 

Making a living at the end of the line 

The more I witness here the bigger my goal 

To embrace the spell and nurture my soul