From Yukon down to Vancouver Island

On our way back south, we indeed met some old friends again. The bison herd was still relaxing on and off the street. Also Jake got to know those big friends and even greeted them by “barking”. But that barking was so quiet that I would describe it as an air blast coming out of his mouth. Is it possible that someone was scared?

We now took a slightly different route back to Vancouver that is to say via world-famous Whistler at the Pacific Ocean with its ski resort. In summer you can do anything there, including hiking, sledding and…hiking. Staying there costs a fortune, but for just looking around it is worth it.

Our joint time was coming to an end on Vancouver Island which we arrived by ferry at Nanaimo. There is a beautiful road from there through a rain forest called Pacific Rim National Park. At the end of the road is Tofino, where parts of “Free Willy” was filmed (the movie with that little kid and the orca). I am sure that there are countless more boring places when you hike through a rain forest or walk along coast promenades with your dog.

Vancouver Island and its captial Victoria – also the capital of the federal state British Columbia – was an absolute highlight again regarding its architecture, nature, artistic diversity and flair.

A farewell with obstacles

Unfortunately, my girlfriend Lena had to leave us and go back to Germany, because she started her voluntary social year couldn`t wait longer. As we got ready in the morning of the flight`s day, Jake came back to the car with blood in his face. A big shock! In the days before, his right cheek became thicker and thicker after getting stitched by a bee and now it literally burst open.

We raced to the next possible veterinarian, who luckily could care for him. She told us that Jake had an allergic reaction to the stitch and that was the reason for his cheek getting thicker and thicker. With a funnel made out of plastic we could take him along shortly after and drive to the airport.

Our last weeks in Canada

Jake and I spent our last weeks on a horse ranch in Chilliwack, a two-hours drive from Vancouver. The ranch was guided by two lovely ladies.

I had a nice and small room in the horse stable. But in contrast to the stalls of the horses, I had an own bathroom, a sleeping couch, a table and a real floor, like a “normal” room. It was great, in particular because those horses were successful competitors at canadian championships in dressage. The two ladies also had three dogs and for the first time, I learned to understand social interactions between dogs, rank orders between them and in general how to deal with dogs.

We made several trips such as to “Hell`s Gate” close to a town called Hope. I was there already at the beginning of the journey. My girlfriend and I had no idea back then when we were looking for the next place to sleep and ended up in Hope, where we were looking around a bit. In the town hall, there was nothing but a brochure and lots of DVDs of the first “Rambo” movie. Interesting. It turned out that the movie was filmed here and in the close surrounding (and not as suggested in the movie, in a US-American town). Now on the second trip, Jake also came along. The imagination that my dog Jake was walking through the same streets as Sylvester Stallone when he wrote film history is kind of funny.

Furthermore, a very special event was a small barbecue. It was organized by some friends who belong to the Native Americans. The special thing was not only watching the traditional preparation of salmon, but also the fact that this regular event is organized to improve the exchange and communication between Native Americans and all other population groups.

Bye-bye Canada!

Our journey was coming to an end and after we finished all our preparations for the flight, we were ready to start. It was indeed a weird feeling when I checked in the transport box with Jake inside and to hope that everything goes well. Small dogs normally are allowed to go along the passengers, but bigger ones have to stay in an apart room at the baggage area. My nervousness reduced when a kind neighbour gave me some of his gin. The effect of alcohol is much stronger up in the air and I could think of something else.

We arrived in Frankfurt and after I got my luggage, Jake was coming on a different belt shortly after. He was really confused, but that`s not surprising after a sixteen-hours trip. I was just happy to be back safely at my family.

A dream came true. I got to know the country Canada and felt in love with it. But an even longer-lasting impact on my life was the adoption of a dog. We now had a new member in our family and everybody was already excited to get to know that dog from Canada!

Der Beitrag The Jake Story: A road trip through Canada | Part 3 erschien zuerst auf Cosmopolidog.

A dog as a new travel buddy

The adoption was quite cheap, because the price was 130 dollars including all vaccinations plus a small “starter package” like a leash or collar. What made our decision to adopt him pretty easy was not only his charismatic appearance. Also, we thought that we couldn`t do anything wrong. If everything works well, we keep him. If not, we would bring him to another shelter. That would not have been bad, because he would have seen so many different places and the next owner would not have had any concerns about vaccinations or papers.

The one employee asked us, if we ever made any experiences with a dog. Of course. Not. Absolutely not. But I said yes. What else should I say in such a situation? Imagine, you see some young (20 and 19 years old) tourists from Germany that look more like potatoes than dog experts entering your shelter and who want to adopt one of your dogs. Would YOU say okay? In particular, when the two never had a one? This could bring you to the limits of your tolerance. But it worked and that`s great (a few years later I let her know about Jake and she was really happy). We couldn`t believe it, but now we had one more little bread bin in our car.

With a short-legged Husky through a crazy Alaska

In my opinion, you should never take any route twice when you travel. That`s why we decided to take a detour via Alaska before going back to the south of Canada. We left Jake`s hometown where the Klondike River flows into the Yukon River and took the ferry to the other side.

Soon, we already arrived the US-American border of the most northern federal state, Alaska. Surprisingly, the border control was quite relaxed (okay, what kind of terrorist conquers the border from Canada to Alaska to blow a tree?). In contrast, the street was anything but relaxed. You can rarely drive faster than 30 km/h, because otherwise you would destroy all axes of your car. But who cares about the speed when you drive on the Top of the World Highway. Its endless views definitely feel like you were driving on the top of the world.

Sometime we made a break in the middle of nowhere. Far and wide no civilization, so I just walked down the street to spend some fluid to the plants. I do that and want to turn around, when someone from a hill calls “What ya doin here?!“. In Alaska, “someone” isn`t just someone. This “someone” was an older man with a shotgun in his hands. Or was it a hunting rifle? Well, I didn`t give a shit, because I just wanted to leave. I just said something like “nothing, nothing, sorry” and turned around in order to get back to the car. While doing so, I just hoped to not get shot in the middle of nowhere. But as you assume, everything went well, because I am just typing those words into my laptop. Generally, I am an open-minded person and like people, but after pissing on someone`s land I prefer to not have much to do with the owner.

One night in Alaska…

We continued our journey and sometime it took hours, until we saw another car. It turned night and we moved on contrary to our self-imposed rule to only drive during the day, because

a) you wouldn`t be fucked completely when your car has a breakdown and

b) you could marvel at the beautiful landscapes.

The reason for our night trip was that we had to be in Whitehorse the next day in order to get Jake`s necessary vaccinations and papers. At around 3 am in the morning, we saw a transporter lying skewed at the roadside. The scenery now was very flat, like a stone desert. No tress, no animals, nothing. The transporter got closer and I assumed that someone`s car had a breakdown. As I was driving slowlier, I saw around 10 men standing behind the car. I lowered the window and stopped behind the car and discovered what was in it. While I was realizing that there was a whole weapon arsenal in the transporter, I asked them like a stupid moron if they need help. One of the guys replied quite clearly that I should leave now, which I did with joy. Just to be sure, I tested how good the acceleration of the 190 horsepower was.

But what has happened here? In the middle of nowhere in Alaska, 10 men stood behind an apparantly broken car that was filled with so many weapons that even John Wayne would have applaused. Was it an illegal arms deal? If so, how are you making an appointment where you have no point of orientation? And why were there more people than one van can transport? This was surely one of the weirdest experiences I ever made and I still cannot explain myself what was going on there.

The king of the wilderness

The tour in Alaska came to an end, but there were two more highlights to follow. At dawn I discovered something in the bushes close to the street. We already saw some animals like elks, bisons or black bears, but this moment beat all previous ones. It was a grizzly bear! He was a bit away but still recognizable.

A little bit later, Alaska showed us its true beauty. Big lakes with mountains in the background, like one pictures Alaska to oneself. On that route, there was something like a cyclepath between the road and lake. Nothing special, until we saw another grizzly. It just walked along the cycle path and parallely, I could film from like 10 meters away (Caution: never use technical devices while driving!). The pictures speak for themselves, but still it is so much more intense in reality. So close to the king of the wilderness.

Right after the boarder to Canada, we saw another grizzly and consequently, that trip was an unbelievable and intense experience. By the way, so was it for Jake, who stayed awake for the whole trip from Dawson City via Alaska to Whitehorse.

Der Beitrag The Jake Story: A road trip through Canada | Part 2 erschien zuerst auf Cosmopolidog.

In 2011, my school life came towards an end and I more and more asked myself what to do now. Like many other young adults I felt the urge to make a long journey. For years, I already had in my mind to go to Canada one day, far into the wilderness.

After school life is one of the few moments to make dreams come true, so it didn`t take me much time to decide to just do it. I took all my savings, sold my beloved small car and with the support of my family I had an amount of money that was enough to survive. Luckily, my girlfriend Lena also came along.

Let`s go to Canada!

With a Work and Travel Visa we went to the West of Canada for three months, more precisely to Vancouver. In my opinion, this city is really impressing and – besides Sevilla – one of the most beautiful ones that I have seen so far. The cleanliness, friendly people, the sea, the snow-capped mountains and the diversity of cultures make Vancouver one of the most liveable cities all over the world.

We both were yet too young to rent a car (20 and 19 years) and that was the reason we already decided to buy a car before we went to Canada. A car where you can sleep in. Because it`s much cheaper than always sleeping in hostels. We know that very well, since we slept in one of them for two nights. Accordingly, we bought a very nice Chevrolet Astro Van on the second day. You just go to some car salesmen, decide and on the next day you got a car.

We started our trip up country via the touristic highlights Banff, Lake Louise, right through the middle of the Rocky Mountains. It is indeed interesting to see those attractions, but actually it was also disappointing. For me, a large number of tourists stands in contrast to the idea of Canada with its loneliness, tranquillity and wilderness. What does it matter when I can say that I canoed on Lake Louise? I think it`s also a good story that I was too stingy to pay 35(!) dollars for canoeing for 30 minutes. After let`s say one minute, we already left the place, but there was time enough to take a souvenir photo.

In contrast, the car journey was worth every second. Just turning on the speed control and watch.

When we just got past the Rocky Mountains, the alternator of the car broke and we had to stop just before Calgary. That was the first time we got to know the friendliness of Canadian people. Two older guys gave us enough power to start the van up again. The did not left us before one of them came back, only to give us a bag full of cherries. A small, but quite “refreshing” gesture. Sadly, the alternator forced us shortly after to stop again and so we left the highway and wheeled to a small industry park. We were extremely lucky, because we wheeled directly to the parking lot of a garage. They changed the alternator and we could continue our ride.

The breathtaking landscapes at the beginning now changed into boring, flat areas – Alberta. It sounds like the name of a German cow, but in reality it is the federal state directly next to British Columbia. It is so flat that even German cow Alberta would love it here.

No Money, but a lot of cherries

After some detours, we came back to the South of British Columbia in a small village called Okanagan Falls which is placed at the beautiful Skaha Lake. Our travellers cheques were all redeemed and a bank transfer of the rest of our money from Germany did not work. As a consequence, we had no money for a whole week (okay, that was a lie. According to our travel book we still had 2,37$). It turned out that this place was in the middle of a wine-growing region (!) and it was time for the harvest of cherries.

We just asked some random people and ended up on a research facility and untreated fruit, where we helped out for two days. Unfortunately, they didn`t have more work, but luckily, their neighbors needed all the help to pick their cherries. You should know that a neighbor in Canada is not just a neighbor with a garden. It is more a neighbor with a big garden. A very big garden. Or even a whole plantation or farm. We had enough work for a whole week, earned a few hundred dollars and with a succesfull bank transfer we now could continue our journey, but where should we go to?

Into the Wild…

One option in the beginning was to travel the whole way from western Canada to eastern Canada, but flat Alberta kind of deterred us. Spontaneously, the idea came up to do something quite crazy -> driving from the most southern point close to the US American border up to Alaska! After I have watched several films, documentations, books and in particular the movie “Into the Wild” and read the book of the same name, Alaska became some sort of place of longing. The story is inspired by the true story of a young man who made a long journey to Alaska, self-discovery and stuff. I don`t wanna say too much, but the whole story was kind of cool. Wilderness. Nature. Loneliness.

No sooner said than done: In the first place, the destination was Dawson City, the famous and formerly biggest gold mining town all over Northern America. One way: 3200 km north.

By and by, the distances between the places and towns got longer and longer and the civilization appeared to be removed. After a couple of days, we reached the Alaska Highway. A tarred road, far off the big traffic. You really appreciate that, if you find yourself in such regions. What you now see more and more, are wild animals like caribous, black bears and one in the middle of the road chilling herd of bisons.

After around one week we reached Yukon. The federal state equals Germany`s area four times, but only contains 35.000 inhabitants. It corresponds the real imagination of a lonesome, wild life in the North of Canada. Right at the beginning there was a touristic attraction, the Signpost Forest at Watson Lake. Throughout the last decades, more than 100,000 signs were brought here from people all over the world!

Now, there were gas stations every few hundred kilometres, some with showers for the travellers. The petrol price now has doubled compared to the South and was more expensive than in Germany – What cheek! We took the last section with around 600 km via the capital Whitehorse.

Just a few villages were indicated in the map. Okay, actually it was a couple of houses. But the houses had names like villages. Meaning that the there were villages consisting of a single house. You find that out first when you drive endless distances and at one point you ask yourself if that village should have come already since long. Well, it doesn`t matter, since at every stop there was “World Famous Chickenburger/ Pizza/ Steaks/ Fries“. Main thing, something full of fat. Yummy!

The North of Canada, gold diggers and the animal shelter

At some point, the forests changed to a barren landscape and the North Pole was in reach (just another 2895 km) – Dawson City. Here, my life should change long-lasting, but let`s have a look at the “town” first. During summer, Dawson has around 2000 inhabitants, during winter just one half. Only because the temperature is around minus 50. Wimps. Every corner of the village reminds one of the legendary gold mining time. Saloons, the architecture, a steamship, everything that history teachers would love. The famous Jack London, well-known by literary scholars and alcohol abusing, lonesome backwoodsmen (“The Call of the Wild“, “White Fang“), lived not far from here and still today, you can visit his former accomodation.

Everything blended into the picture, except the cars…but, well. We had one ourself, so. On the next day I googled, if there wasn`t an animal shelter by accident. Of course every dump has one…not. But Dawson indeed had one. So, why not just going there and adopting a dog? 🙂

By that time, I didn`t know yet, what consequences this idea would have…

To be continued in the next part of the Jake Story!

Der Beitrag The Jake Story: A road trip through Canada | Part 1 erschien zuerst auf Cosmopolidog.