Writing With Abandon

This evening, at the end of our last full day in the Yukon, Quinn read Robert W. Service’s poem, “The Spell of the Yukon,” to the 37 students we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know this week.

Everyone was silent as he read in his booming voice, taking us through the mountains and valleys we’d become familiar with in our short time here.

“There’s a land—oh, it beckons and beckons,

   And I want to go back—and I will”

What can I say about my time here? About this place that can absolutely spellbind you.

I think I’ll borrow our debrief structure: Rock, Stick, Leaf.

What rocked?

The views. Mountains everywhere, blue sky, frozen river, deep canyons.

The weather. We got lucky and the sun came out every day except today, which was a snowy wonderland. It reflected off the white snow and made it glitter. It showed a different side of the mountains with each passing hour.

The hikes. I love sweating in the cold. It’s why I liked training for a half marathon in the winter. Start out cold and end up warm. We hiked Miles Canyon, we hiked Kluane National Park in the Alsek River Valley in Haines Junction, we hiked the trails by an off-grid lodge camp at Marsh Lake.

The people! Our local guides. Harold, the Champagne Aishihik elder in Long Ago Peoples Place. Keith Wolfe Smarch, a Tlingit master wood carver, whose workshop in Carcross we had the privilege of visiting. Lu and Mel from Lumel Studios, where we each got the chance to work with a glass blower to make our own piece to take home. The 18-year-old kid at Mount Logan who chatted with me the whole way back about philosophy and what it’s like for him to live in his own off-grid cabin, alone.

What will stick with me?

The silence and vastness. It’s so quiet out here when you get out of town. Incredible and powerful.

How important it is to connect with people and nature. How nature can heal you. How hearing others’ stories can make you feel more connected to yourself and each other.

A desire to come back, like Service’s poem says. “I will.”

The importance of learning from First Nations people, especially Yukon First Nations. “Together Today For Our Children Tomorrow.” The Yukon as the bottleneck through which all the ancestors of the Indigenous groups in the Americas had to pass in order to find their way elsewhere on the continent.

How much I love my person and my pup and how I’d like to share this beautiful place with them on a trip one day.

What will I leave behind?

My long johns.

My snow pants.

Martha’s boots (though they were AMAZING! Thank you, Martha!).

Hat hair.

Wearing a backpack all day every day.

Hotel pillows.

– – –

Anyway, just feeling very grateful as I rest my feet up at the end of the night before I pack my things for our departure tomorrow. Next stop: Atlanta for a conference, and then home on Saturday!