First off, I cannot believe we were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights during our very first trip to the Yukon, and on the very first night we went looking for them (our friend Craig could not believe it either)!
As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, we always speak to locals about recommended activities in the area, and we definitely made a point of asking them about the best way to see the Northern Lights (in addition to getting extremely lucky). One of the best tips we received was downloading the Aurora phone app. This app provides information on the best viewing spots, and even the likelihood (as a percentage) of seeing the Northern Lights in all parts of the world. The day that we got to see the Lights, the app was indicating over an 80% chance!
The app also indicates specific viewing locations. The spot that continually showed on the map near the Whitehorse area was Upper Laberge, which is where we ended up!
There are two main things we learned through this process about what you need to keep in mind when trying to see the Northern Lights:
- You need to leave the city area – otherwise, there are too many competing lights (homes, businesses, street lights)
- It needs to be mostly clear – if you cannot see the stars due to cloud coverage, you will not be able to see the Northern Lights
Another interesting piece of information we received from a tourist we met was that you have a better chance of seeing the Northern Lights if there is a new moon – I guess this is because the moon also gives off light (that makes sense, right?). Anyway, this tourist (Ash), had actually signed up to see the Northern Lights via a bus tour. I made a quick joke that if there is a car following the bus, it is probably us, at which point she offered up the exact time and location of her pick-up: 11:20pm from the Raven Inn. Well, pretty safe to say that by 11:15pm, Justin and I were outside the Raven Inn waiting for the bus to leave.
We followed the bus to its next hotel pick-up – I felt like a stealthy, under cover detective. But after just a few minutes of waiting, I will tell you that I started to get quite restless and was ready to go. The reason we had decided to follow the bus in the first place was because the app was telling us to go to Upper Laberge, meanwhile another local had suggested viewing the Northern Lights from Fish Lake. These two locations were in the opposite direction, and we wanted to see which direction the bus would choose.
I am happy to report that I managed to stay patient long enough for the bus to complete its last pick-up and finally be on its way to the Northern Lights! At one point we got stuck behind a red light while leaving the city and thought we were going to lose the bus, but not to worry, we managed to get caught up.
We followed the bus for about 20 minutes, driving past Upper Laberge, which – remember – was the app’s suggested viewing point. It was incredibly dark on the highway, and once we lost cell service, we decided to abandon our plan and instead, turn around and go back to Upper Laberge… and I am so glad we did.
As we approached the road to turn off towards Upper Laberge, we could already see the Northern Lights dancing in the sky. We turned left onto a very dark road, found a spot to park, and enjoyed the show. I will never forget this special moment, and I hope to be lucky enough to see the Northern Lights again one day!
Always grateful,
Michelle
PS – I should also let you know that we tried to find the Northern Lights again the following night, but we were not as successful. While there was still a bright green glow in the sky, it was not the same light dancing we experienced the previous night. But that is okay – after all, we cannot be too greedy ツ.
Exploring With Gratitude 