Comment by thisacctforreal | Hacker News Reader

Comment by thisacctforreal | Hacker News Reader

thisacctforreal

Carcross is cute, it's an hour from the capital city, Whitehorse Yukon. Carcross recently built about 6 or so small buildings, mostly occupied by art shops and one cozy cafe. The new plaza is across from the semi-restored frame of the SS Tutshi, but if steam boats are your thing you'll want to check out the SS Klondike.

It has a historic general store, complete with old trapping equipment. Trapping is still practiced today, but the equipment and licensing is much more humane.

The White Pass & Yukon Route railway also ends in Carcross, as of 2007 they restored that part of the railway. https://wpyr.com/sights-sounds/places/carcross-yukon/

If anyone is considering a trip here, the website and guides at https://yukoninfo.com/ are a good resource.

There's also a small makerspace that is in the process of moving to a brand new space, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukonstruct-makerspace-y...

And lots of guiding places to help you get outdoors, in case you are considering a trip here :) https://www.kanoepeople.com

Also, if you make it that far, don't miss out on Dawson City!

It's an old gold mining boomtown with dirt streets, saloons with swinging doors and dancing girls, and brothels converted into bed & breakfasts. Super cute and feels like the set of a movie, only it's "the real deal" (albeit now mining tourists). Dawson is also where Robert Service wrote much of his work, including The Cremation of Sam McGee.

My wife and I rode through on a motorcycle trip some years back. We immediately altered our itinerary to stay a few days, and I wish we could have stayed longer!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lhoriman/3747251310/in/album-7... https://www.flickr.com/photos/lhoriman/3747272684/in/album-7...

Oh my god. NWT/Yukon, Dawson City, and Nahanni National Park have been on my list for years!

Did you drink the toe?

Drink - the toe?

For those of us thousands of kilometers away, can you explain what strange and probably amazing Canadian tradition this is, please?

An alcoholic drink with the toe of some famous dead person in it.

You don't eat/drink the toe - you give it back after you are done with the drink.

Google "Sourtoe Cocktail" for more info (or maybe don't :)

From what I searched, it seems to be the toe of a random person who donates it. Not quite the same allure but still a cool idea.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sourtoe-cocktail

Toes have been stolen or swallowed (yup) over the years and replacements have been donated. There's now a hefty fine for anyone who wants to swallow the toe.

Thanks for the reply... I googled. Amazing tradition. Not sure I'd like to participate ;)

Slightly out of context but I want say that Canadians are the most friendly people I have ever met.

Where are you at, if you don't mind my asking? I'm in Sitka, and I'm always curious to see people from the far northwest on HN.

I did the Klondike relay a few times in the mid 2000s, and I really miss getting up that way. I hope to do that race again in the next few years, and to spend more time in the Yukon.

What do you do in Sitka? I've thought and still think about moving up to northern BC (Prince Rupert/Terrace) or the Yukon, but I can't square it with the lack of tech work up there...

I've been a high school math and science teacher most of my life, but I've also been a programmer on the side all my life. I few years ago I wrote a Python book that's doing well, so I'm slowly transitioning away from classroom teaching and into more technical work.

There are definitely not many programmers in small towns up here. But I'm not sure how many people are doing remote work, that's really hard to tell. It would be hard to get established in tech up here, but once you've got enough experience to work remote you can figure something out. Travel isn't cheap though, and it does take a bit longer to get most places. But living next to true wilderness is just amazing.

My contact info is in my profile if you've got any more specific questions.

You're speaking my language now. That's the dream right there. However Canada's tech market has me planted in Toronto for now.

There are some increasingly northerly-creeping companies, though. While it may not be the preferred field or quite far enough north, the work of Hinterland Games has struck me as well polished and carries a distinctly Canadian flavour:

http://www.thelongdark.com/

And apparently they're hiring... my girlfriend's mom lives out in Comox which is right down the road... now I'm thinking...

https://hinterlandgames.com/career-opportunities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comox,_British_Columbia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtenay,_British_Columbia

I'm too late to edit:

but it looks like Hinterland Studio has moved to Vancouver. They were located in Cumberland previously which is located in Comox Valley. Damned shame. Maybe they had a hard time convincing talent to move to that area... but it would have been pretty damned near ideal for me!

They have a two year old video extolling the virtues of the area: https://youtu.be/ft_Ar0QDjSc

I'm kind of disappointed they moved

Ugh, what a bummer. For me personally, I'm not young or crazy enough to work in games professionally...but I love the island (especially up-island) and would love to see its tech scene develop - and every little bit of momentum helps, so that's a blow.

There is a decent amount of stuff going in the south island, even up to Nanaimo. Tech is actually Victoria's largest industry! https://www.viatec.ca/

(by the way - it's probably at least a couple years off and might just be a pipe dream, but nevertheless I've been dreaming of some kind of hardware startup either near Nanaimo or Terrace. I took a peek at your website and saw that that might be up your alley...so if that's something you'd like to chat about feel free to drop me a line at unfactorablepolynomial at gmail)

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