Yukon and Yellowknife: Northern Lights, Dog Sledding and Kluane

Arrive in Whitehorse

Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport to your hotel in downtown Whitehorse

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Whitehorse
• Environ 12 min de route

Soir

After a short briefing on how the week runs, with late mornings, daylight outings and night skies, we walk to a welcome dinner in town. Around 10 pm a licensed aurora operator collects the group for the first night out, at a dark site away from the city lights with a heated cabin, hot drinks and a fire. If your flight was long, sleep instead: there are five more nights.

Compris

• Pick-up at Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport (YXY)
• Winter clothing fitting: parka, insulated pants, boots and mitts on loan for the trip
• Welcome briefing and welcome dinner
• Aurora outing with a licensed operator, about 10 pm to 2 am

Dog sledding and the hot springs

Whitehorse to a kennel north of town, the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and the hot springs at Takhini, then back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Whitehorse
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

A late breakfast, because in midwinter the sun only clears the hills around 10 am. We drive about half an hour north into the spruce forest to a mushing kennel, where the dogs are barking before the sleds are even out. The mushers teach you how to stand on the runners, brake and call the team, then you set off two to a sled, taking turns to drive and to ride, on a forest trail of an hour or more.

Après-midi

Lunch is hot and sit-down, at the kennel or nearby. In the early afternoon we visit the Yukon Wildlife Preserve on Takhini Hot Springs Road, where moose, wood bison, caribou, muskox and lynx live in large enclosures. As the light fades we drive a few minutes further up the road to the hot springs at Takhini for a soak; on a very cold day your hair frosts white while you sit in the warm water.

Soir

Dinner in Whitehorse is your choice, then the second aurora outing.

Compris

• Half-day dog sledding with a licensed kennel north of Whitehorse
• Sit-down lunch
• The Yukon Wildlife Preserve
• Entry to the hot springs at Takhini
• Aurora outing with a licensed operator

Kluane and the St. Elias Mountains

Whitehorse west on the Alaska Highway to Haines Junction and Kathleen Lake, then back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Whitehorse
• Environ 4.5 h de route

Soir

We leave around 10 am, after a late breakfast so last night's aurora outing still leaves a proper sleep, and drive west on the Alaska Highway as the light comes up over the Takhini valley. If you are tired, take the Whitehorse free-day option instead. Around noon we reach Haines Junction, where the Auriol Range of the St. Elias Mountains rises straight behind the village. Kluane National Park and Reserve is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared with Alaska and British Columbia. After a sit-down lunch in Haines Junction we drive about 27 km south on the Haines Road to Kathleen Lake for a short snowshoe walk, conditions allowing, then turn back while the light lasts. We are back in Whitehorse by about 6:30 pm, and tonight's aurora outing is yours to take or skip.

Compris

• Drive on the Alaska Highway to Haines Junction with viewpoint stops
• Sit-down lunch in Haines Junction
• The Da Kų Cultural Centre in Haines Junction, when open
• Short snowshoe walk at Kathleen Lake in Kluane National Park, snowshoes provided
• Aurora outing with a licensed operator

Fly to Yellowknife

Whitehorse to Yellowknife by air, then to your hotel in downtown Yellowknife

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Yellowknife
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

A slow morning in Whitehorse, then we fly to Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, on the north shore of Great Slave Lake. Depending on the day's schedule, the flight is direct or connects in Calgary, Edmonton or Vancouver; we confirm the routing with your final itinerary, and your guide handles the bags and the connection. On the short drive in from the airport we stop at the Bristol Freighter, an old cargo plane mounted on a rock beside the road, a monument to the bush pilots who opened up the North; the plaque records that in 1967 this aircraft was the first heavy wheeled plane to land at the North Pole. Yellowknife is colder than Whitehorse, and sits under the band where the aurora is most often overhead.

Soir

Dinner is your choice. Late in the evening an aurora operator takes us out to a camp outside town, with heated cabins or tents, hot drinks and wide views of the sky.

Compris

• Transfers to Whitehorse airport and from Yellowknife Airport (YZF)
• Flight from Whitehorse to Yellowknife
• Stop at the Bristol Freighter monument
• Aurora outing at a heated camp with a licensed operator

Old Town and the ice of Great Slave Lake

Downtown Yellowknife to Old Town, then across Yellowknife Bay on the ice road to Dettah and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Yellowknife
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is sit-down in Old Town. In the afternoon we visit the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, the territory's museum, for the history of the Dene, Inuit and Métis peoples and the bush pilots and miners who followed. On departures before the ice road opens, we walk the Frame Lake trail instead.

Soir

The evening's aurora outing follows dinner on your own.

Compris

• Old Town and the Pilot's Monument with your guide
• The Dettah ice road across Yellowknife Bay, when open
• Sit-down lunch in Old Town
• The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
• Aurora outing at a heated camp with a licensed operator

A free day on the lake and a last night out

Yellowknife, at your own pace

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Yellowknife

Après-midi

Others prefer a walk through downtown, a look inside the Legislative Assembly, whose round chamber reflects the territory's consensus government, or an afternoon with a book. In March, the Snowking Winter Festival builds a snow castle on the bay ice in Old Town, and it is worth an hour.

Soir

In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner together, then the last aurora outing of the trip, the sixth, at the heated camp outside town.

Compris

• Farewell dinner
• Aurora outing at a heated camp with a licensed operator

Activités en option

• Ice fishing on Great Slave Lake from a heated hut
• Snowmobile tour on the frozen lake
• Dog sledding with a Yellowknife kennel

Leave Yellowknife

Downtown Yellowknife to Yellowknife Airport (YZF)

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 12 min de route

Soir

A late breakfast after the last night under the sky. Your guide collects the loaned winter clothing at the hotel and gathers anyone who wants a last walk to the lakeshore before checkout. Then we take the short drive, about 5 km, to Yellowknife Airport (YZF), where your guide checks your flight and sees you to the departures area before saying goodbye. Flights south leave for Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, where you connect for home. Because the aurora outings run until about 2 am, book a flight leaving after about noon so the morning is not a rush. If you would like more time in the North, ask when you request to book and we will quote extra hotel nights in Yellowknife and further aurora outings or activities. No transfer or activity on this day starts before 8 am.

Compris

• Drop-off at Yellowknife Airport (YZF)