Watson Lake to Whitehorse (Takhini Hot Springs)

Day 12 (15 Sep) — A hot spring in the far north

Watson Lake to Whitehorse (Takhini Hot Springs)

We set off for Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. Good weather again today, following yesterday.

As far as the eye could see, magnificent scenery seemingly untouched by people. Beyond the coniferous forest was a shapely mountain. And a river flowing slowly through the forest. The autumn colours grew even more vivid, and the trees glowing orange were so beautiful we couldn't stop staring.

Before the town of Teslin we crossed a big river. A scenic place surrounded by autumn leaves.

Driving further on from Teslin, I wanted to take a photo of the endless straight road, so I stopped at the roadside and set up the camera on a tripod. Just then I suddenly needed to pee, so I left Mao asleep in the car and went a little way into the conifers beside the road. When I came back a few minutes later, Mao was outside the car crying. She said that when she woke up nobody was there, with only the tripod left outside, she thought I had been eaten by an elk or a bear and cried from fear. From now on I'll have to be careful not to do confusing things.

We arrived in Whitehorse. Relief at a city with buildings for the first time in a while.

We stocked up at a big supermarket in town. We'd be camping more from now on, including tonight, and thought there wouldn't be many shops, so we bought in bulk. We wanted to make curry rice, but searched everywhere and couldn't find roux. After a while we found Japanese curry roux. The thought of enjoying a Japanese taste for the first time in ages was exciting. Around this Glico curry roux were other Japanese products too, like wasabi and Pocky. They had sushi vinegar, but no ordinary vinegar.

Takhini Hot Springs is in the outskirts, about 30 minutes' drive from downtown Whitehorse. Our scheme was to watch the aurora while soaking in the hot spring. There is a campground on the hot-spring grounds, and tonight we pitched our tent and stayed here. Today's campground was spacious too, a peaceful place surrounded by trees like birch. Many people in Canada travel by camper van, and at the campgrounds so far, including this one, there were sites with power outlets for them. You can't leave your engine running all night, so camper-van people run a cable from their vehicle and take power from the outlet to run the heating or cook. It's like taking your whole house with you. You do see it in Japan too, but in Canada there really were lots of camper-van travellers.

Tonight I tried to make something like a cream stew with what we had bought at lunchtime, but I messed up the cooking and burnt it, and it tasted terrible. It was my own fault for turning all the burners to maximum.

After dinner we pulled ourselves together and got in the hot spring. You wear a swimsuit, so it's mixed, with a cooler area you could stay in for hours and a hot area like a Japanese hot spring. Stay in the hot area too long and you get dizzy, so we went back and forth between the two, enjoying a hot spring in the far north and waiting for the aurora. But having come to such a high latitude, the days are that much longer. It stayed light until after 9 p.m., and in the end we couldn't see the aurora. Even if it had been out, I think the surrounding lights would have got in the way a bit.

Back at the tent we looked up at the night sky several times, but the aurora didn't come out for us.