Three Days in the Land of the Midnight Sun

Ah, the land of the midnight sun! The days in the Yukon are already getting longer, and will continue to do so until there are 24 hours of daylight at some point during the summer. This photo of the Yukon River was taken after dinner one night, and the light was still amazingly good. During my time there I could see the days getting slightly longer as my 10 days passed.

Remember that I hinted in my last blog post that I really went to the dogs in Whitehorse?I "Lucky" was the second dog I met. He is a part Pomeranian, part Corgi mix, and belongs to Maria, who invited me to stay with her and let her show me around the Yukon. Lucky is adorable, personable, and smart, and sat on my lap in the same way that my cat Peekaboo does in a Lazy Boy. If you put opera music on, he will sing opera. If you'd like to see that I have posted a one minute video on my Facebook page.

My workshops finished last Sunday, so on Monday morning Maria and I slept in. After 5 days of teaching I was exhausted, but apparently so were my students! We started our day with a visit to the Bear Paw Quilt Shop. It is a lovely shop and a Bernina dealer to boot. Second from left in this photo is Ruth, the owner, who attended all five days of my workshops for the Kluane Quilters' Guild.

The store is well-stocked and well worth a visit if you are in Whitehorse.

I had hoped to go dog sledding during my visit, but sledding tours wrapped up at the end of March. We did, however, visit Muktuk Adventures anyway.

I had no idea what to expect, but found A LOT of dogs there! The gentle, the old, and those with medical problems tended to wander freely.

The rest of the dogs each have their own doghouse with straw inside, and are chained near it. At first glance it may seem like not much of a life. However, I did observe that the dogs were socialized, friendly, and loved to be petted (the more dangerous ones are housed in large pens). The owner also takes each dog to a large fenced in field at least once every two days where they are able to run off leash. And boy do they ever run! I also made a one minute video of that and it is posted to my Facebook page.

The dogs that aren't chained tend to follow the owner around, and the ones that are chained seem to enjoy a belly rub!

On Tuesday we went on a road trip to Tagish and Carcross, in the Southern Lakes region, south of Whitehorse. We stopped at Marsh Lake to observe the Trumpeter Swans, who were stopping off there on their migration route to places further north.

Of course this red canoe caught my eye.

I had my mid zoom lens with me so was able to zoom in on the swans, although it would have been better if I had taken my full zoom lens. Some of these photos are a bit fuzzy.

It is always cute to see waterfowl tuck their head into the water, with their butts sticking in the air. Many species do this.

We stopped off at Emerald Lake, which appeared a beautiful aqua colour at this time of year.

When the ice is melted, the lake will actually be an emerald colour as in the photo below, where you can read an explanation for the colour.

The world's smallest desert is found at Carcross. It was once the bottom of a lake.

We stopped in the village of Carcross for coffee. Everywhere I went in the Yukon I was able to find good coffee. The buildings here that house shops and restaurants feature First Nations symbols of the Tlingit group.

 

On Monday and Wednesday we visited galleries, artist co-ops and shops. This one was clearly my favorite.

Look what I came home with. A beautiful wire sculpture of a gnarly tree. It is actually made by an artist in Manitoba but I am fine with that. It is now hanging on my studio door.

At a jewellry store I found this stunning silver raven pin, made by an artist from British Columbia.

We also enjoyed some time at Takhini Hot Springs on Wednesday afternoon. We soaked away all our aches and pains.

That night we enjoyed some beautiful views over the city.

I took a parting shot from the plane. I loved the Yukon and hope to return again one day.