whitehorse top 10 - number 8

sourdough rendezvous (with a mummified cat)!

on the last weekend in february every year, whitehorseans and yukoners gather for a celebration of heritage day and a festival of drunken debauchery to stave off the remaining few weeks of winter.

this year of course was our first rendezvous experience. tom the 3 year sourdough veteran was our guide as we navigated the twisted streets of intoxication and impersonation. we had our garter. we had our hat. we had our boa and we had feathers in our hair. we looked like real old time locals. all we needed to do was get wasted and we'd fit right in.

right then, on to the spirits. we made our way to one of the finer drinking establishments in town and proceeded to make friends with the mummified cat, preserved for all eternity in the bar (they found it under the floor boards several years ago while rennovating). we were there for the coup des gras, the big dance, the main attraction...the beard growing contest. i had managed to grow quite a mane of facial hair over the past 6 weeks and was pretty confident that i could out-testosterone the best of the best in this annual competition of manliness. daily applications of rogaine with monoxodil didn't hurt either.

much to the crowd's dismay some greek guy showed up (with a beard emanating from his chest) and took the prize right from under my nose (literally!). following up on the beard contest was the "hairy leg contest". the woman who won had more hair on her legs than i had on my face. it reminded me of going in to MEC in vancouver.

although we lost the beard growing contest there were still many things to see and do over the weekend. we also took in the log saw and chop, the chain saw chuck, the one-dog pull, the airshow, the flour packing contest, the sourdough pancake breakfast and the cabane a sucre and last but not least the fantastic filipino BBQ.

february is a great month to visit with so much going on. it beats a vancouver february anytime! bring on spring!

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