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So, I’m back home! Today after checking out of the hotel in Whitehorse, YT, I went for a walk downtown, which is about a 5-10 minutes walk from the hotel. However, before that I did something else! The window of my hotel room overlooked into and RCMP station’s parking lot. And in that lot they had an interesting cruiser! I directed myself to the front desk, but the detachment was closed, or at least the officers were out on the field. So, I went around the complex, and I let myself into the parking lot, which was wide open and not gated.

I wonder if that car has ever seen any action! After that, I went for a short walk downtown along the now partially frozen Yukon River.

After a quick-lunch, I stopped by the local book store, and purchased a book about auroras, along with the usual souvenir stuff! And with that; my trip was coming slowly to an end. I headed back to the hotel; for the shuttle but to take us to the airport.

While in the plane, I obviously had to take the mandatory “random view from an airplane window” shot 🙂

And it’s over! The first night remains the best night, in terms of aurorae activity. We virtually had no aurorae on the second night. And while on the third night, there were some, but there were far less intense, of smaller sizes, and just far away above the horizon; compared to the beautiful first night. Some people in the group were up here in Whitehorse, only during my second and third night. I felt bad for them because they’ve missed out on what seemed to be a great show. They were disappointed. And I totally would be, if I were in their shoes.

Due to quieter second & third nights, people have spent more time around the camp fire, or inside the cabin, munching on snacks, and sipping on hot drinks. People shared their stories; where there are from, their lives back home, and how & why they came to see the aurora borealis. There even was a couple from Australia, in which the lady was named Aurora. There was this young South American guy who was trying to pick up this young (but older than him) Japanese girl. Let’s just say it was sad to watch!

Overall, I’m very happy with this trip. I’m very happy with the travel & tour company. If one wanted to do a little more activities during the day time, then I would highly recommend staying there for a couple more days. I had wanted to do snowmobile driving, but there was no interest in the group; to fulfill the minimum requirement of 2 persons. I also would’ve liked to go skiing at Mount Sima, but… not enough time. I’m checking out in a few hours, with my flight back home later in the afternoon. I suppose I could take a walk around downtown and the Yukon River trail; to kill time. For now… off to bed.

I just got back from dog sledding. I must admit, it was more fun than I had anticipated. The site is about 30 minutes away from Whitehorse, which is basically a family owned type of dog sledding business. Once we were inside the dogs’ owner’s house, one would get fitted for some warm clothes; if they determine that what one is wearing might not be warm enough. I came prepared, the temperature was fine though, just ~0C. I did need boots however. So after we were all suited up, we headed out to the field, where there was may be close to a hundred dogs.

The group was given instructions on how to brake (which one needs, because those dogs can run!), how to turn and such, and how to not get close to the person ahead, as the dogs may try to fight, and then all the ropes would get tangled. Basically, the dogs’ default instinct is to run, unless one is stepping on the brakes which basically makes it impossible for the dogs to pull on the sled, so the dogs would stop. But, every once in while the dogs would try to run again to see if they’re free from the brakes. The other way for the dogs to stop, is if their owner tells them to. The third way (which didn’t always work) is if the sled tips over. Each one us had their own sled, and their own set of dogs. This is cool because we each get to drive our own sled. Some other dog sledding businesses would actually have you just sitting in the sled, and a guide would be driving the dogs/sled.

The number of dogs per sled depends mainly on the size of the person the dogs are trying to pull. Also, the sled is empty in our case, but it could be filled with supplies or camping materials, or another person. A regular dog sled day is a full day (7-8 hours) with a lunch break somewhere in the middle. However, a member of our group had a flight to catch, so we went for more like half a day, and we skipped on lunch to get some more time out there. And off we went!

At first it’s very stressful (like with anything else new, I suppose). However, you’d pick it up pretty quickly. We went through a frozen lake, where it’s open and easy to navigate. The dogs basically follow in the tracks of the leader (their owner). I was the sweeper in our formation. Let me tell you those dogs are strong. They can run, and they can pull quite strongly. The surroundings are just unreal. We were on a frozen lake away from everything. The guide said that a lot of people would get brought here (or in other similar areas) in the middle of nowhere, and they would camp alone; for the guide to come back for them in a week or two to pick them up.

On our way back, the guide opted to take us through the woods. Now, that was fun. It’s a bit more difficult as now there are trees that you have to navigate through, and you would have to turn more often, so one needs to be quick on the brakes and on shifting one’s weight around, to not tip over. I was lucky to not tip over, only because I was the sweeper. As I would see someone ahead of me tip over, while taking a curve too fast, so I would immediately adjust my speed! Also, some of the turns are very close to trees and bushes, so you kind of need to move your body to the side, or protect your face from branches. There were a couple of instances where the people ahead of me got thrown off their sled, while taking a turn a bit too fast, and the dogs just kept running with the tipped-over sled. It was funny to watch. I had a GoPro mounted on my chest. I’ll upload snippets of the videos some day.

Eventually we made it back to the ranch, and the owner and his wife had some snacks, fruits, and drinks for us to have. Overall, I was happy with the experience. The owners were very friendly and hospitable. (I’ll link up their contact info, if I can’t find their business card!).

I’m back at the hotel, I’ll get some rest now, so I can stay up for my third and final night of aurorae viewing here in Whitehorse.

Well, let’s just say that I’m so glad that I was here the night before. Tonight, we had virtually no aurorae at all. I mean there was a few, but they were very very weak. Just to show that no matter how much you plan for a trip of the sort, you’re never guaranteed that you’ll get the chance to see any aurorae. So, never book for only one night, try to book for as many nights as you can afford (time & money). This way you can increase your chances of getting a show! There were some people who were not present the night before, and were there for only a couple of nights. One could see the disappointment on their faces! I only hope that tomorrow (my third and last night) would be better. Nevertheless, here are some pictures, so you can see the difference between the two nights’ showing.

I had to set the exposure to 30 seconds with a wider aperture to be able to capture the very weak aurorae of the night. Note again, that the pictures are in the middle of the night, the clear skies that appear on one of the pictures is due to the long exposure and wide aperture and the light from the full moon.

Tomorrow, I should be going for some dog sledding. I would still have preferred to go snowmobile driving instead, but nobody else in the group was interested, and they require two people minimum; for snowmobile driving.

After grabbing a quick lunch @ Tokyo Sushi in downtown Whitehorse, I headed back to the hotel, where we were meeting to head out to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. Honestly, I had wanted to go snowmobile driving, but at least two people are required for this activity. Nobody else from the group was interested. They wanted to see the animals! Sure, let’s see the animals! Meh… it was an alright afternoon!

There was more wildlife, I just didn’t bother taking photos of everything! After this we headed to the Takhini Hot Springs. I didn’t have my swimming trunks on me, and I didn’t really want to use their rental swimming trunks!

On our way back to the hotel, our tour guide took us to see the Douglas DC-3 weather vane that’s located near the Whitehorse airport, outside the Yukon Transportation museum.

On a different note, I’m looking forward to the second night of aurorae viewing later on!

Whitehorse is rather a small city. It has definitely seen better times; during the Klondike Gold Rush. Nevertheless, it’s definitely one of the places to be, if one chooses to spend some time away from everyone and everything in untouched natural surroundings.

After being up most of the previous night, viewing the aurorae, and sleeping for ~5 hours, a city tour guide was waiting for us in the hotel’s lobby. This time the guide was a German-Canadian who visited, with his wife, the Yukon some time ago, and just fell in love with the place, and decided to move to Whitehorse. He then started his own tourist oriented business from guiding tours, to canoeing, to taking groups to remote lakes & parks, and such.

Our first stop was the Yukon Visitor Information Center. There they have the typical historical info about the city, how it came to be and all the wildlife that exists there, with a large map showing all the major cities & towns, and the routes between them, and how some of these routes are only open starting late Spring, due to the heavy snow. We also watched a short video in the amphitheater about the Yukon, which was quite warm and makes you want to just drop everything in your life and just move to the Yukon!

After that, we headed to the national historical site of the SS Klondike II. Ships have come a long way since then I suppose.

And to conclude the city tour, our guide took us to see the log skyscraper. Which is a four-storey (maximum allowed by the city building code) wood frame building.

At this point, the group separated for a lunch break, to reconvene after lunch at the hotel’s lobby; for the Yukon Wildlife Preserve & Takhini Hot Springs tour.

Wow! I’m back at the hotel after my first viewing experience of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). It was amazing! The whole group gathered at the hotel’s lobby @ 9:30PM, then we were transported in two vans to the viewing site about 30 minutes away. The viewing site; called the “Northern Lights Trading Post” is composed of a cabin, a very large tipi tent, a camp fire, with logs substituted around the fire; for sitting,  what I believe was an outhouse, and the viewing site which is a very large empty field, the size of two or three football fields. All of this being surrounded by trees. The cabin is very warm (in both senses) and cosy. A wood fired barrel stove keeps the cabin at a comfortable temperature, while hot drinks and snacks are available for everyone, that could sit down and chat with others on the benches lined-up along the wall tents. There are also framed pictures, on the cabin’s wall tents, that showcase a variety of pictures of aurorae, historical photographs, and the wildlife in the surrounding area.

As we arrived there, everyone grabbed a tripod (available near the empty field) and rushed onto the field (me included) to set up their cameras. We were all looking skyward and searching for the aurorae. After about an hour or so of nothing, we slowly started to get discouraged and cold, the temperature was around -10C. So, one by one, we headed back to the camp fire or the cabin, to warm-up, have some snacks or some hot drinks, and to chat with others. Then again, slowly, one by one, we headed back to the vast empty field. Around midnight, I started noticing some very faint discoloration in the sky, directly above me. It was so faint, I couldn’t tell whether is what just my eyes, some clouds, or some light reflection from trucks from the near-by Klondike Highway (or may be it’s the Alaska Highway, as I’m not sure of the exact location of the viewing site). Nevertheless, I kept staring at that discoloration and it seemed to be moving. So, I pointed my camera towards the spot, and I’ve set the exposure time to 30 seconds. Lo and behold it was a very faint green aurora!

At this point, it seemed that the show had finally started! Slowly, over the next couple of hours or so, the intensity, and the shapes of the aurorae started to increase. Mostly they were above the horizon (northward), and spreading horizontally. Sometimes they would spread vertically across the sky. By this point you could hear the excitement from everyone on the empty field enjoying the show and trying to capture it on cameras. The aurorae are slow to appear and move ever so slowly, smoothly and majestically. At one point when the aurorae seemed to reach their peak (around 2AM), they were moving relatively faster, and where they were mostly green in color, some aurorae had a pinkish edge. At some point, they were happening so fast and all over the sky, that I was unable to keep up with capturing them on camera. My exposure time was set to 15 seconds when they were intense, and set to 30 seconds, when they weakened.

Note that this is happening in the middle of the night, and it’s pitch black, some pictures seem as if it’s almost daytime. That’s due to the long exposure time, and due to having a full moon, even casting shadows on the snow!

There was a group of Japanese students, mostly female, that were screaming quite loudly in excitement as the aurorae danced in the sky. At times it was quite odd & funny to see their reactions. When the aurorae would quiet down a bit, people would go inside the cabin, or gather around the camp fire for some snacks and to warm up. But once they hear these Japanese girls scream, they would know that the aurorae are back, and would run back onto the field! As some point, when the aurorae peaked, one of the Japanese girls even started to cry!

As time went by, it was nearing 3AM, the show seemed to have finished for the night. Everyone gathered back in the cabin, then got in the vans, and back to the hotel we went.

One has to keep in mind that the Northern Lights vary in intensity from night to night, depending on the solar activity, and that they occur year long, and even during the day, and that we just don’t see them during the day, well, because of the sunlight. Also, one is not guaranteed that the aurorae would manifest themselves every night, or that they are magnificent every night. I really enjoyed tonight’s show. However, I wonder how would tonight’s show rate compared to other nights. Was tonight’s manifestation good, great, average, or below average? I guess I’ll know after the next couple of nights that I’m spending here in Whitehorse. But, what a great start!