Yukon Breakup –Johnny Caribou

Yukon Breakup –Johnny Caribou

Rating***

Johnny Caribou lives in a two-storey log cabin in West Dawson, Yukon. For a month twice a year, Mr. Caribou is physically cut off from the rest of the world. He lives on one side of the Yukon River, which during the summer, there is a ferry to bring him and his 20 neighbours into Dawson. In the winter, the ice is secure enough that they can cross it. He stores water in his loft in his cabin, pantry is fully stocked, and a 200-litre drum of gas, which his two generators run on. During “freez-up” in the fall, and approximately a month in the small during “breakup” crossing the Yukon River is very dangerous because the thickness of the ice can vary. Johnny Caribou talks about how his neighbour, Dorian Amos, one day set to test it out and started walking to Dawson to visit his wife in town. On his way back, he stepped into a crack and fell into the water. Luckily at this time, Mr. Amos was wearing a rucksack that was carrying 48 beers. The rucksack caught on to a piece of ice and kept Dorian Amos’s head above the water. He then managed to get himself back onto the ice and his way to shore. I found this article very interesting considering that there are people who live far from civilization and enjoy it especially in the cold Yukon.

Caribou, Johnny. “Yukon Breakup.” Canadian Geographic
March/April 2003. Print.