Published on Feb, 2024
I love being out under the night skies. In February, I had the pleasure of taking a Northern Lights tour with Kyle at North Country Outdoor Adventures. Even though only a light wave of green teased us on the horizon, I had the best time. The few hours on the lake were a highlight of my Yukon visit.
Kyle drove us about 40 minutes out of town to Lake Labarge, the lake mentioned in The Cremation of Sam McGee. Then we drove out on the lake. On the ice! You cannot get much more Canadian than that. The skies were clear and full of stars above us. I got out of the truck, and said hi to the Big Dipper hanging right above of me. The northern lights were elusive, but the stars were not. We stood outside, I lay on the ice for a while in my warm winter coat staring up, Kyle cooked up hot chocolate on a tiny stove, we ate popcorn with birch syrup (local, and less sweet than maple), gazed at the stars, and exchanged stories of travel, the Yukon and life in general.
I'm so glad I picked a private tour with Kyle versus a big bus tour with a crowd of people. Kyle knew the lake very well. There were few other people around us. Maybe about five people also parked near the lake and walked out on the lake, but the lake was big and they were a distance away. It was so quiet, so beautiful.
The Northern Lights may have been absent, but between the stars in the clear sky, driving on the frozen lake, Kyle's travel stories and the calm dark quiet remoteness away from everything, the night was a memorable favourite experience. There were no mosquitoes, that’s a bonus! Kyle also gives ice fishing tours at night. Next time, I'm going ice fishing at night, under the stars. Northern Lights will be a bonus but I know the experience can be amazing without them.
