It’s warm in Whitehorse!

After being in the extreme cold for the last few days, anything hovering around 0C is actually quite pleasant. It has warmed up in Whitehorse – unseasonably warm, sunny and hovering around 2C yesterday.

Jeff and I had time to kill, so we visited the McBride Museum of the Yukon. The museum is relatively small but had some interesting things.

In the afternoon we headed off to Takhini Hot Springs. It was an enjoyable soak but unfortunately the weather was mild and Ashleigh and I could not enter the frozen hair contest :(. You need it to be way below 0C for that to happen.

Takhini Hot Springs

Happy soakers

When we felt too warm, all we had to do was roll in the snow to cool down and then back into the water again. It kind of hurts when you re-enter the water, only to feel good once the shock is over. The hotsprings was not too busy, just a couple locals and some travellers from China and Korea with their local Yukon guide. They have travelled long distances to see the Northern Lights, but you know many leave without seeing it…

Last night we drove to Fish Lake, which is about 20km from the city. It is far enough to get high and away from the city lights to try and catch the Northern Lights again. That was an wasted effort as it was quite cloudy.

We’re now at the airport waiting for our flight back to Vancouver and I’m trying to finish this blog entry.

Final Thoughts:

We have been very fortunate in this trip as we were able to stick to our travel plans. We made it through the Dempster without incident. Driving the Dempster in the winter is unpredictable. Quite often a section of the highway by the Yukon – NWT border is closed due to drifting snow, high winds and poor visibility.

The weather was good to us and we had a clear window to drive all the way to Tuktoyaktuk and back. It was closed the day before we left and the day after we completed it – talk about good planning and collaboration with Mother Nature! We saw a lot of wildlife, the Aurora Borealis, Sundogs, drove the Ice Road before it is gone.. a very good trip indeed. Oh by the way, thanks for driving hon!