2015/02 Yukon trip - Mushing |
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Mushing |
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The area gets about two hours less daylight than Hope, and sun up is much later, but when it came it was an absolutely gorgeous morning, with twinkling snow crystals falling out
of a blue sky. The sun was evaporating the snow and the vapour was hitting the colder air just above us and coming back down as crystals.
We walked over to the dog mushing operation next door. Jean Marc and his helper Gail introduced us to each of his twenty sled dogs, including this one with the luminous blue eyes. He said that those spooky eyes are quite common in sled dogs but they’ve mostly disappeared from the pet breeds. He also told us about the tons of dog food he buys each year and the thousands of dollars it costs.
Jean Marc took each of us out on his sled, with five dogs providing the power. He was the musher, giving the dogs commands and steering the sled; all we had to do was lean 
into the corners and on some sections where the track was angled. He took us on long loops around their property, from the entrance road, past the lodge, and deep into the woods.
The others were off on a snowshoe trip up the closest mountain. We opted for a lazy afternoon in the hot tub, out on the deck. It was still around -25 so getting in was a swift operation. Soon we both had a buildup of ice on our hair; we called it the “flocked” look. Unfortunately the camera lens had the same problem so the pictures were mostly fogged. Getting out was not as much fun, and had to done slowly to cope with the buildup of ice on the decking and in 
our shoes.
A younger couple from Hiroshima, Japan joined us that evening. They were friendly but the language barrier kept conversation to a minimum. There was little happening in the sky so the others went to bed, leaving us on aurora watch. Within a few minutes the sky lit up and Sandie was pounding on bedroom doors. By the time we got dressed and outside the best was over, but we still had an arch, low above the horizon. The Japanese were lying down in the snow in front of their tripod, trying to get a selfie with the aurora overhead.
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Mushing, tub, and aurora |
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The arch faded and it was all over. There was still a strange orange flickering light on the southeast horizon. I suggested that it was the cremation of Sam McGee; Sandie 
thought that was funny, but the others weren’t into Yukon poetry.
The Japanese seemed happy with what they’d seen but they’d earlier watched our slideshow from the previous night so they knew it could be a lot better. They still had a couple of nights to go though. After midnight the stars disappeared, so we knew for sure we now had cloud cover; it was time for bed.