Nature's Grand Show: Exploring a Season of Wonder in Canada | National Geographic
In a world that often feels consumed by the rush of daily life, there's something profound about standing before nature's grand show, experiencing landscapes that leave us with this humbling sense of scale. It nurtures our souls and heightens our senses. That's why I'm headed to the Yukon in Northwest Territories in Canada during the season of wonder. I'm starting my journey outside Whitehorse, where Deb is taking me to experience a new perspective of the Yukon on horseback.
We are going up Flat Mountain, Pilot Mountain, Grizzly Mountain area. It'll be a beautiful day. The First Nations of the Kwanlin Dün and Ta'an Kwäch'än Council have inhabited these regions for thousands of years, using the trails for training and seasonal migrations.
"Oh, this is awesome! Look at that!" I'm in awe of how Deb's horses navigate this landscape with such care for their riders. It's a reflection of her bond with these animals. I think everyone should take time in the wilderness to get back to their real self. Open your arms to the sky and take it all in; it's worth it.
I love traveling in remote places because they fulfill my sense of wonder, and the people who live here share a heartfelt connection to these wild places. It's an eight-hour drive from Whitehorse up to a float plane base. We're going to fly over to Glacier Lake in the national park with outfitter guide Joel and Ted, river guide Bobby Rose, whose people have been living on these lands since time immemorial.
"Up here, the land is the boss. When the land makes decisions, we go with it." Everything is majestic—the mountains, the vegetation, the water. "Beau, this landscape just feels alive."
"Wow, this is beautiful! No, I'm going to cry 'cause it's so beautiful. There's like a few places in the world that do that. Why is that?" My dad started bringing us here when we were little kids; I was five the first time we went down the river. From that time, it's just kind of been like a constant part of our lives.
You start to realize that to maintain the place, you need to really be actively involved in conservation, the conversations that go on around its promotion and celebration. "We're probably the luckiest people in the world to be able to travel these lands, and you're not going to find places like this in other parts of the world."
It's an honor to work up here, to help guide people through this land and to be able to teach others about the people and the history. So, on the outside, this place is really rugged; the people, there's a softness in their heart that is the really wonderful part of it all.
"I mean, for a photographer, it's a dream. There are landscapes that connect us to the Earth and remind us to live with our eyes wide open and our hearts full of wonder."