Back in the Yukon, home of Father Winter

Posted On March 22, 2013

I flew home from Kelowna a couple of days ago, on Wednesday, going from temperatures as high as +15°C (59°F) back to nights down to -32°C (-26°F)

The weather forecast called for clouds and showers for the entire trip except for the last hour into Whitehorse, but Vancouver was lovely. That’s the Vancouver airport in the centre of this photo looking south.

I arrived at the Kelowna airport almost 2 hours early so my sister, who gave me a ride, could get to work. That gave me time for breakfast there, so I had a lot more free time between flights at Vancouver. I checked out some of the small regional carriers, Hawkair and Central Mountain Air…

…then went over to an area I hadn’t been to before, to see the construction going on there. This is part of a $1.8 billion renovation of the domestic terminal area. That’s billion with a “b” – a hard number to wrap my head around! The work is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2015.

B-2055, a Boeing 777-21B (ER) operated by China Southern Airlines, taxis for takeoff on a flight to Guangzhou, China.

C-FMXC, a Boeing 767-333ER, lands in a crosswind.

Bought new by Iceland Air in 1990, this Boeing 737-408 is now operated on VIP charters, mostly to sports teams, by Swift Air.

In the air headed north at 2:15, we were quickly into clouds as expected. The clouds cleared as we passed over Iskut Lake, on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. I saw the perfectly-shaped volcanic Eve Cone right below us, then we crossed over the Stikine Plateau where I shot this photo. I’ve never forgotten this incredible area since I first saw it from my own little airplane in 1985.

This photo shows the view to the north down the Gladys River valley – I’ve labelled some of the main landmarks.

Surprise Lake, northeast of Atlin, is an area I want to seee a lot more of this coming summer.

This is the military cadet camp a few blocks from my home, as we were on our landing approach.

Macrae was a major camp during the construction of the Alaska Highway, which is running across the bottom of this photo. It’s now a particularly unkempt industrial area.

Despite the frigid temperatures, it’s great to be home. I’ve got lots of catching up to do now.