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| A crisp January morning at Southern Lakes Resort, located two hours south of Whitehorse. |
I’d go outside, but that requires effort to
put on several layers of clothes to brave the -20C on this January night. I’m
saving that ordeal until the big show starts, the main reason people from all
over the world come to the Yukon in the dead of winter – to see the northern
lights.
But the show isn’t always reliable. Despite
clear skies and a favourable aurora forecast, I see nothing but the twinkling
stars, leaving me slightly disappointed as I crawl into bed at 1 a.m. Perhaps I’ll
have better luck tomorrow – the final night of my three-day adventure in and
around Whitehorse.
I’m not the only one drawn to the Yukon in
January. According to Tourism Yukon, winter tourism is significantly growing in
popularity. From January to March 2018, the Yukon received approximately 7,500
overnight visitors – up 26 per cent during the five-year average. Those visitors
are mainly from Australia, Mexico and Japan, and they all want to see the
mysterious band of glowing green and yellow light dance across the sky in the
middle of the night.
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| One of the lakefront cabins at Southern Lakes Resort. |
“It’s something you get to see once in a
lifetime,” said Australian Violeta Malliotakis, as she sat in a yurt near Whitehorse
for the third night in a row, patiently waiting for the lights to appear. But
they never did. “We finally saw them last night so that was exciting. It didn’t
come out as well as we thought, but it was still amazing to see.”
Experiencing the magic of the northern
lights is a good reason to come to the Yukon during the winter, but it
shouldn’t be the only reason to visit a part of Canada that has 10 times more
moose, bears, wolves, caribou, goats and sheep than people.
Almost 80 per cent of the Yukon is pristine
wilderness, making it an outdoor lover’s paradise. It’s also home to Canada’s
highest peak, Mount Logan (5,959 metres) in Kluane National Park and Reserve – a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Exploring
Whitehorse
A visit to the Yukon should start by
wandering around the bustling streets of downtown Whitehorse, the capital city
of 30,000 people, situated beside the mighty Yukon River. Lined with cafes,
galleries and shops selling locally made products, the colourful buildings have
retained their heritage charm. Many have large murals illustrating the region’s
past, which is brought to life at the MacBride Museum.
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| The colourful buildings in downtown Whitehorse. |
Through photographs and artifacts, the
museum tells stories of the characters and events that built the Yukon and
Whitehorse. The Klondike Gold Rush brought floods of people and technology to
the north. Almost 50 years later came another pivotal event – the construction
of the Alaska Highway, which influenced the decision to move the capital from
Dawson City to Whitehorse in 1953.
The Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre is
also worth a visit, diving further into the region’s past – the last great ice
age. As the rest of Canada was frozen under massive sheets of ice, a region
encompassing eastern Siberia, Alaska and Yukon remained untouched by glaciers,
supporting a mix of animals, such as the wooly mammoth, giant beaver, caribou
and muskox. Placer miners in central Yukon have been digging up ice age bones
and fossils for decades and continue to make exciting finds.
Winter
adventures galore
Just outside of Whitehorse there’s a lengthy
list of fun winter adventures, from downhill skiing, ice fishing and cross-country
skiing, to snowshoeing, hot pools, dog sledding and snowmobiling, which I try
for the first time.
Following my guide Kieran Kelly, I cautiously
head onto the ice of the glistening Fish Lake, where a few people are fishing
and cross-country skiing in the winter wonderland. I hit the gas and float over
the snow at speeds of 40 km/hr, causing me to giggle with delight.
Heading into the forest, we start the
gentle climb up Mount McIntyre, where we soon kill our engines to learn about
wildlife in the region and take in the sea of mountain views.
“See those tracks over there? Those are
moose,” says Kelly, his eyes lighting up as he talks about moose he’s seen in
the area. “I’m a huge fan of the wildlife here. This really is a special
place.”
If
you go:
A trip to the Yukon would not be complete
without staying in a log cabin for a night. Nestled in the woods five minutes
from Whitehorse, Yukon Pines has two beautiful custom-built cabins, which start
at $200. For a true wilderness experience, head two hours south of Whitehorse
to Southern Lakes Resort and stay in a lakefront cabin for $240. A half day of
snowmobiling with Up North Adventures is $210. For more information about
things to do in the Yukon visit travelyukon.com
As for getting to Whitehorse, Air North,
Yukon’s airline, offers flights from Vancouver for less than $500. There’s no baggage
fees and passengers are served tasty food like hot sandwiches and deli plates.
-- published by the Vancouver Sun in February 2019: https://vancouversun.com/travel/local-travel/three-days-in-whitehorse-what-to-do-in-and-around-yukons-capital-city
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| One of the custom built cabins at Yukon Pines. |