What's important to remember here is that I've done a fairly long exposure at a high ISO to get this shot. To the naked eye this was pretty much a vague tint in the sky, barely noticeable.
This is what it looks like when the sky catches fire for you!
The aurora make for a cool picture, but it's nothing like being there in person when something like that is right in front of you. I had no trouble staying up last night to write a blog post because I was still buzzing with excitement just from getting to see the aurora.
Now, on to our regularly scheduled programming.
We got on the road right after breakfast today and headed to Haines Junction, a small town east of Whitehorse that acts as a gateway to Kluane National Park. Kluane is a massive covering the southeast corner of Yukon Territory. It's mountainous and mostly inaccessible by road. Gray and Susan did a hike to get in to the park proper, but it was a serious bit of hiking that I wasn't prepared to attempt. The rest of us went on our own to Haines Junction, just to see the sights. If you find yourself in Whitehorse and have access to a vehicle I'd highly recommend heading to Haines Junction. Even if a hike isn't on your to-do list, the drive alone is stunning. The highway winds along, skirting mountains to either side, while in front of you much larger, snow-capped peaks loom into view. If I'd turned around and headed immediately back to Whitehorse it would still have been worthwhile.
Fortunately we stuck around for awhile and got to see some incredible landscapes. We started at the Da Ku Cultural Centre which provides information about the local indigenous peoples and their culture, as well as activities around Haines Junction and ways to access Kluane.
Also, they've got an awesome floor.
A look at the area we were exploring.
There's a ton of information to be found at the Cultural Centre and I feel like this is a logical first stop for anyone exploring the area. There's a representative from Parks Canada there to give you information about the park, and she had a binder full of bear encounter reports to let you know if you're about to enter a hot spot of activity. They are also set up like a small museum, with lots of interesting and informative exhibits. There's a scale you can step on that will let you how much you weigh in terms of local wildlife. Apparently I clock in at 0.6 of a grizzly bear and 0.13 moose.
Admittedly I could stand to lose a few pika.
After getting a bit of local info we headed down into the town to explore a little bit, and find some lunch.
Why head to Haines Junction? Because this is the view from the parking lot.
After grabbing some lunch we headed to the south end of town, along the Alsek River. There's a 5 km trail that runs out from a small parking area on the north side of the river. I'm not sure if we made it into what's considered Kluane proper, but we were at least skirting the edge, and got a good view of what makes it worth exploring.
I totally would have climbed one of those if I didn't have a toddler on my back. Totally.
Just a reminder of whose house you're in.
The fall colours are in full effect right now and made for a stunning hike.
I feel like you could come here and spend an entire vacation just exploring this small corner of the park.
Finn was captivated by the natural beauty.
It was a great hike, and I was happy we got the opportunity to do it. After we got back to the car we made the beautiful drive back to Whitehorse. It was late afternoon by the time we got back, so we just focused on getting some groceries and making dinner. We've spent a relaxing evening around the house and I think I'm actually going to get to bed at a decent hour tonight. Have a great day everyone, and I'll talk to you all again tomorrow.
3 comments:
Sounds like another fun and eventful day. I'm curious what kind of car did they give you for those nice driving roads?
I'm in a Ford Escape. I can't remember exactly how they described the categories, but I seem to recall asking for a larger SUV since they didn't have minivans. It was a problem getting here from the airport since the Escape couldn't hold all of us plus our luggage.
Yeah it may not be a small vehicle but I certainly wouldn't call it large either.
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