Exactly two years ago my Mom and I were in Canada. It happened to be over my birthday! We decided to take a trip all the way up to as far north as we could handle to try to see The Northern Lights. We threw in all the cold weather clothing we had, heat tech undershirts, fleece leggings, thick fleece socks, and any hats and scarves we could grab! We met up in Chicago and flew from there to Winnipeg where we would spend one night before heading up to Churchill.
Once we arrived we immediately felt the cold air brush up against our faces and eat through our jeans. Any words you spoke were accompanied with steamy hot air leaving your mouth in a cloud then dissipate as the cold broke it down. We couldn't even imagine that it would be colder where we were heading!
Our first night in Winnipeg we met the other people who would be on our tour group while in Churchill. Everyone was very kind and were mostly older couples. After dinner we all went into one of the hotel rooms where the company we went with had set up a winter closet full of all the cold weather gear you would need. We picked up a coat, fleece scarf, fleece hat, gloves, snow shoes, and snow pants. Obviously any clothing my Mom and I brought was not going to be enough.
The very next morning we hopped on a small propeller type plane to Churchill with all our new gear. Once the plane got closer to Churchill the view out of the window was absolutely incredible. Looking down and only seeing snow and ice was a very unique experience. Not a scene that I usually am accustomed to seeing. I felt like an explorer about to discover a new land!
That first day in Churchill was mainly used to get accustomed to the cold and see a little bit of the town. We also met up with our photo expert on the trip, Mike Macri. He gave a little bit of a lecture and gave some advice on taking photos in below freezing temperature. All of the tips he gave were great! The one that stuck with me was putting your camera in a plastic bag with silica gel bead packets so that it sucks the cold moisture out of your camera.
The next day we got up early to explore the town. It took my Mom and I an extra 20 minutes to get ready. We had to put on sock liners, toe warmers, thick fleece socks, snow-boots, fleece leggings, snow pants, long sleeve undershirt, sweater, fleece jacket, parka, scarf, beanie, fur lined hat, glove liners, hand warmers, and then mittens! We were not used to this kind of layering! Luckily we knew to go to the bathroom before putting all of that on! After all of that layering we went to where the Hudson Bay is and were able to see what it looks like completely frozen.
We got around in this great school bus! It was quite an experience to see a bus this frozen and have to scrape your window to get the ice off so you can see the snowy white landscape that's outside!
One of my favorite things we saw on this excursion was the Inuksuk. I loved the idea of making a marker to show where home is. It is this big rock formation out of dark colored rocks that sticks out in the snow. When everything around you is white with no defined differences in the landscape these inuksuks help differentiate your surroundings. There is something strong and romantic about them.
After our view of the Hudson Bay we went to The Northern Studies Center for lunch and to learn how to build an igloo! Building a proper igloo was not something I ever thought I would ever do in my life. Let me tell you right now it was not at all easy. In fact it was very difficult! There was thick densely packed snow that you used a saw to cut into to create the cold ice blocks. I didn't think it was possible to sweat in below freezing temperatures, but boy did I sweat trying to saw that block out! We ended up building the igloo as a team, which is great, otherwise I think I'd still be there two years later!
That night we went to a local's cabin for stories of Churchill throughout the years. He had built this cabin, it is what is called a dry cabin, which means there is no running water or pipes. But it was a beautiful home! They had built a massive bonfire outside, my Mom and I decided to see if we felt warm by the fire. We also thought we would be able to see the Northern Lights this night, but it was too cloudy.
The next day we went to where these cabins were lined up near a frozen river. We were able to walk on the river and feel the ice beneath our snow boots. The scenery was gorgeous. Everything was a snowy pure white.
We also got to meet this little Husky who was outside her owner's house. She was very sweet and a nice introduction to true northern huskies!
After exploring and some lunch we went to Dave's Kennel. He is a Dog Sled Racer. It was great listening to him talk about how much he loves his dogs and how well he treats them. He gives them hot soup and does doggy yoga with them. Seeing how much the dogs loved the outdoors and racing was so great! Dave was telling us about the Hudson Bay Quest, which is a 400km dog sled race that people come from all over to compete in.
After seeing the dogs and petting them I was so ready to get into the sled with my Mom and go racing off with a pack of dogs and a well-trained sled leader of course!
I apologize for the bad photo below, it is a screen grab of the go pro video we took while on the sled ride. The ride was absolutely amazing! The cold air sped passed our faces and there was a sense of calm and peace as the snowy scenes on either side blurred passed. I loved watching the pups bark and be excited to run down the trail.
Again this night we went to try to see if we could see the Northern Lights, but it was too overcast again. We only had one more night left to see them and the weather was not looking too great.
On our last full day in Churchill after we had breakfast a few of us went with the photographer Mike to an area where we could ride down a smooth path on a snowmobile. It was something I had never done before, and was an interesting experience, especially when trying to drive it! I didn't realize how much like a motorcycle it was and had to keep leaning into all the turns. After riding around for a little we went to the Eskimo Museum. There were a lot of beautiful artifacts and stories.
This night was our last night to see the Northern Lights, all the other nights had been too overcast to see any stars let alone any lights. The group decided to go to this place called Kelly's Tent to see the lights. The forest surrounds the tent and it is far enough away from the town that there is no light pollution to affect the sky. When we arrived the sky was still cloudy but looked like the clouds wanted to clear away. We set up our cameras on tripods, ready in case anything happened, and then went into the heated tent and had some hot chocolate with Bailey's. I decided to go outside around midnight to see if the lights were ready to come out yet. There was a faded cloudy band that was forming across the sky, but really didn't look like much. Our tour guide whistled me "Happy Birthday" because by midnight it was my birthday! As soon as I went back into the tent everyone had surprised me with a cake! It was so sweet! I made a wish on the candles for the Northern Lights to dance and light up the sky and then quickly blew out the candles. Everyone had a piece of cake, then I decided to check the sky outside to see if my wish worked. Guess what!? 5 minutes after I stood out there the sky started to glow!
It intensified as the night went on. The sky did literally dance, it was putting on a performance to music only it could hear. There were waves of light moving across the sky like someone was playing a giant piano moving their fingers quickly across the keys. I was standing outside in the cold next to my Mom and soaking in every second, every moment of this night, as I turned 25. I decided to lay down in the snow and watch the beautiful show nature put on for us in celebration. It truly was a spiritual moment that I will hold onto forever, and only made better by experiencing it with my Mom.
Photo by Mike Macri - http://macriphoto.smugmug.com/
Photo by Mike Macri - http://macriphoto.smugmug.com/