Welcome to Yellowknife, Dene Ndilo First Nations
I don’t like cities, although I live in one and appreciate the amenities it offers. I don’t pretend to know Yellowknife, but I like it. It’s the capital of the Northwest Territories and its only city.
Four days between rafting trips gave me time to do laundry, plan a couple of hikes (mosquitoes quickly suggested a different itinerary) and visit the old town, which was a pleasant 30 minute walk from my hotel. First Nations, ravens, bedrock, quirky buildings, and Great Slave Lake: those are the images I remember. But even more, I remember how everyone I met while walking smiled and said “Hello.” That doesn’t happen in my city, where people seem afraid to look you in the eye.
From my hotel, I could see the lake in the distance, a generous swatch of the huge northern sky, and one of the brightly coloured buildings that are plentiful in places like Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Inuvik, but sadly lacking in Canadian cities farther to the south. When snow covers the ground for much of the year, what’s wrong with some blue, red, green, purple and yellow to break the monotony?
View from my hotel room.
The historic old part of the city is especially colourful, with new beauty every few steps.
Art works abound.
Add some flowers.
Or just paint your house blue.
Quirky houses are everywhere.
One of my favourites.
Then I began to get quirky.
And then there’s the problem of building on solid bedrock. No basements here.
You do what you have to do, and if the rock isn’t level, neither is your house.
But the real beauty of Yellowknife is the lake.
Boats and float planes
As December snow swirls around my window, I like to imagine that I’m sitting in one of those chairs.
I never did the hikes I planned. Just walking around the city, chatting with the friendly locals, including some who were down on their luck but no less friendly, was enough for this visit.
Will I be back? Of course. The North is a magnet that keeps reeling me in. And this trip, which began on the Nahanni, was not at an end. From Yellowknife I flew to Inuvik and a rafting trip on the Firth. That’s for future posts.
A Life of Adventure 