Blog

Stories and practical advice from under the auroral oval: aurora nights, dog teams, ice roads and life in Yellowknife, grounded in local guiding, the operator listings, and primary sources.

Green aurora curtains overhead on a frozen northern lake, far brighter than a mid-latitude horizon glow

2026-08-04

Can You See the Northern Lights From Vancouver? An Honest Answer

Can you see the northern lights in Vancouver? Sometimes, during big storms. A Yellowknife guide explains why latitude decides it and what actually works.

Golden pan-fried lake fish and potatoes served at a rustic wooden table inside a warm log cabin restaurant

2026-07-28

Eating in Yellowknife, From the Wildcat Cafe to a Great Slave Fish Fry

A guide's honest food tour of Yellowknife: the 1937 Wildcat Cafe, the famous Bullocks' fish fry, which lake fish to order, real prices, and the one lunch you catch yourself.

Heavy truck headlights glowing through ice fog on a plowed white ice road at dusk near Yellowknife

2026-07-27

Yellowknife on Screen, What Ice Road Truckers Got Right and What TV Got Wrong

A local guide sorts Yellowknife's screen legend from reality: where Ice Road Truckers really filmed, why the Liam Neeson movie was not shot here, and the ice road you can drive.

Brightly painted houseboats anchored in Yellowknife Bay on calm summer water below the Old Town rocks

2026-07-26

The Houseboats of Yellowknife Bay

About 50 houseboats float off Old Town Yellowknife, off-grid on a lake that freezes solid. How the bay community lives, commutes, and how to see it respectfully.

Carved snow castle with towers and flags standing on the frozen surface of Yellowknife Bay in March sunshine

2026-07-24

The SnowKing Winter Festival, Yellowknife's Ice Castle on the Bay

Yellowknife's ice castle is the SnowKing snow castle on the frozen bay, rebuilt every March. What it is, going inside, and the 2026 and 2027 dates.

Plowed ice road stretching across frozen Yellowknife Bay toward the far shore under a low winter sun

2026-07-22

Driving the Dettah Ice Road

Driving the Dettah ice road, Yellowknife's public road across a frozen bay: how it feels, when it opens, ice-road etiquette, and respect for Dettah.

Floatplane taxiing across Yellowknife Bay below the rocky outcrop of the Bush Pilots Monument in Old Town

2026-07-20

Old Town Yellowknife and the Bush Pilots

A guide's walk through Old Town Yellowknife, from the Bush Pilots Monument and Ragged Ass Road to gold-rush shacks, floatplanes and houseboat views.

Green aurora reflected in a mirror-calm lake near Yellowknife on a September night before freeze-up

2026-07-18

Yellowknife in September, Aurora Over Open Water

A Yellowknife guide on the autumn aurora season: northern lights doubled in mirror-calm lakes, jacket weather instead of parkas, and tundra colors by day.

Ice fog and low sun over a frozen Yellowknife street with frost-covered trees at minus 30

2026-07-15

What Minus 30 Feels Like in Yellowknife

A Yellowknife guide describes real minus 30: the nostril freeze, eyelash frost, squeaking snow, dying phones, and how visitors genuinely learn to enjoy the cold.

Cameron Falls pouring over pink granite ledges into a pool ringed by spruce on a bright northern summer day

2026-07-14

Cameron Falls and the Ingraham Trail, the Road That Leads Nowhere on Purpose

A guide's day on the Ingraham Trail: the drive past Prosperous, Madeline and Prelude lakes, the Cameron Falls hike, and why this dead-end road becomes aurora country after dark.

Heated ice fishing hut on frozen Great Slave Lake with a truck parked beside it under a pale winter sun

2026-07-12

Ice Fishing on Great Slave Lake, a Morning on the Deepest Lake in North America

A Yellowknife guide on ice fishing Great Slave Lake: driving onto 614 m of water, jigging in a heated hut, the CA$15 licence everyone forgets, and lunch on the ice.

Sled dog team running across a frozen lake near Yellowknife pulling a wooden sled in low winter sun

2026-07-09

Dog Sledding in Yellowknife, What It's Really Like

A Yellowknife guide on a real morning of dog sledding: the noise before harnessing, 25 minutes of trail silence, Dene sled-dog stories, and warm bannock after.

Green aurora arc over a frozen lake beside the Ingraham Trail with a tour van parked at the shoreline

2026-07-06

What an Aurora Hunt in Yellowknife Is Really Like, Hour by Hour

A Yellowknife guide walks you through a real aurora hunt hour by hour, from the 10pm hotel pickup to lake-hopping the Ingraham Trail to the 2am drop-off.