On March 11, 2016 we flew into Whitehorse, Yukon Territory with stops in Montreal and Vancouver. It was a long day of over 20 hours for us. We checked into the Best Western Gold Rush Inn as part of a package tour for the Aurora borealis sponsored by Brewster Travel and subcontracted by Northern Tales.
We arrived at the hotel around 9 pm and were treated to an all out party in the Gold Pan Saloon that lasted well after midnight. We didn’t get much sleep.
The next night we had our first Aurora viewing. We all got on an old fashioned yellow school bus at 10 pm and headed north of Whitehorse about 30 km to get rid of light pollution from the town.
We offloaded at a frozen lake that had tent cabins (heated) and fire ring with outdoor privy. After a few simple instructions (don’t touch the hot stove), we were ready to view the Aurora.
The guides suggested using the very lowest f/stop on your camera with an ISO of 1600 and with an exposure of 20 seconds. Strangely, early stages of the Aurora are not visible with the unaided eye but the camera exposure allows you to pick it up.
You can track Aurora activity through various websites and the night's activity was rated moderate. It was pretty good but not great.
We stayed until 2 am and therein lies the tale. It was also time to change to daylight savings time so we left at 3 am and had to get up an hour earlier the next day.
Northern Tales provided a complimentary tour of Whitehorse the next morning at 10 am and it was very sparsely attened. However, it was fun, albeit a little chilly. Our guide Yoshito provided an interesting historical perspective on the tour.
The next night’s viewing was again rated moderate but that was negated by a snowstorm begining in the late afternoon and continuing unabated all night. Not one wisp of activity could be seen through the snow and cloud cover. That’s why, if you go to view the Aurora, do at least three nights in case of cloudy skys on one of the nights. However, the snow was neat and it wasn’t too cold. The average temperature for the three nights was 24ºF.
The next day was a tour of the Yukon Wildlife Preserve which was begun as a private organization to research ungulates (any animal with a hoof). After the original owner of the land died, the people of Whitehorse convinced the Yukon Territory to purchase the preserve. Not only do they have ungulates, but the preserve has expanded to include other forms of wildlife in need of rehabilitation.
Afterwards was a trip to Takhini Hot Springs for a dip in very warm water. This is a very nice hot springs with heated dressing rooms, heated showers (from the hot springs) and indoor plumbing. Never underestimate indoor plumbing in the Yukon.
We were all a little exhausted by the third night of Aurora viewing so we canceled the third night. The Aurora was rated as low activity in any case.
We flew out of Whitehorse the next morning with a stop over in Vancouver on our way to Denver. We rented a car in Denver and drove to Louisville, about 45 minutes out of Denver, where we spent two nights at the Residence Inn.
Our goal was to go to the Rocky Mountain National Park and do some snowshoeing. We rented snowshoes in Estes Park (one of the entrances to the park) for approximately $8 a person. The rate included ski poles to faciltate your walking.
We drove into the park, up mountain roads towards Bear Lake where we were to meet the ranger-led tour. About half way up to the lake, we encountered snow, then snow on the roads. I switched to four wheel drive and we plodded along.
After we reached Bear Lake, even though we made reservations, we were not on the list. The ranger decided to let us go anyway.
Bear Lake is at an elevation of 9, 475 feet. We were to eventually climb to 9, 635 feet. At that elevation, breathing is difficult much less hiking in snowshoes. We throught we were going to die after the first 10 minutes.
However, we soon settled in on a slow pace, caught our breath, and completed the hike even though there was a 160 foot climb with no switchbacks to aid us. It was pretty much a continuous 160 foot uphill climb. For us flatlanders, it was a challenge. However, I noticed that even for some Coloradoans it was also pretty tough!
The views were spectacular. Halfway up the steep trail, a gust of wind came roaring down the trail empyting the trees of their snow and putting us in a temporary white out. It was exhilirating!
Another neat thing on the trip was to walk across a frozen lake in snowshoes. The ranger made sure everyone understood how to do this and why it was safe at this point.
In reality, snowshoeing is a perfect way to hike in winter. The problem is, with all the winter clothing on, bending over to fasten the snowshoes is very hard. It takes a great deal of effort!
We flew back to Fort Lauderdale nonstop from Denver. That night, I slept 12 hours!
