‘God brought us here’: American couple check off bucket-list trip to Yellowknife

‘God brought us here’: American couple check off bucket-list trip to Yellowknife

Published 4:50 pm Monday, February 9, 2026

After the guides maneuvered the tour bus and then her wheelchair as close to the stairs as possible, Myra Camp had to shimmy 25 or so steps up to the lodge at Madeline Lake on her behind.

It took time – a slow, methodical process for this handicapped visitor to the NWT — and the temperature had dropped to -39 C, but she was determined after her long trek from Louisiana with husband, Blaise Camp, to see the Northern lights.

Seeing the aurora for this retired couple, now in their late 60s, even saddled with health challenges, topped their bucket list. They know that each day is a gift and seeing the lights was a must-do while they still had some time on their side.

As important as seeing the aurora three times during their week-long visit, said Blaise, was being exposed to Northern hospitality, the likes the couple had never experienced on other trips.

Planning for this Northern adventure, said Blaise Camp, started in his youth at camp where he was star-struck by pictures of the lights and the North in Scouts picture books he was exposed to in his home way back then.

There, he said the temperature hovers around 100 F most days with humidity at 100 per cent as well. The frozen lake, the ice caps, and the magic of dancing lights were a fantasy come true for this Louisiana boy.

With a laugh, he said he also wanted to be a tough-guy Northerner, if only for a week, a change of pace from the quieter life he lives in the southern U.S.

The greatest challenge back home, he said, is warding off bugs. Apparently, no one has yet told him about Northern mosquitoes and black flies.

While this Northern experience was the fulfillment of a dream for Blaise, it took a little convincing of his wife of 45 years, who suffers from a severe case of brittle bone syndrome. Myra Camp underwent more than two dozen surgeries by age 15 to deal with damaged and broken bones, so coming here was a risk.

A break for those with this condition could prove fatal, but she was determined to see her partner happy and realize his ambition.

This is especially true now, said Blaise, with Myra’s deteriorating health, coupled with age taking its toll, thus making every day a gift.

He isn’t sure how much more time they may have, but spending some of those days in Yellowknife under the glow of the lights was how the couple had chosen to spend a few of the days they have left.

Since there were high health risks involved, planning started months ago, said Blaise.

They considered four destinations in Alaska, Yukon and Manitoba before settling on Yellowknife. The lights, dog sledding, fishing and many community sites and activities convinced the couple there would be lots to do.

Indeed, when he wasn’t on an organized tour, Blaise said he was walking the streets all over Yellowknife on his own with his bright pink hat he won in an inclusion athletic event with his wife. One of those forays took him to Old Town and a conversation with a local barge owner that gave him the confidence to walk on a frozen lake.

“Can you imagine? How many people get to walk on frozen water?,” he said with a laugh.

Next to being awed by the lights, Blaise said he was humbled by Northern hospitality and the kindness of locals with everyone going out of their way to help him and his wife, who could only go outside for 10 minutes at a time during the aurora tour.

The guides and fellow passengers wheeled her in and out of the lodge as often as she wanted until she soaked in what she came for: that magical light display which the heavens gifted the couple with during their seven-day stay. The effort, the frozen fingers and toes, cold nose and head, the discomfort, was all worth it.

Blaise was also impressed by the help received from the Yellowknife Visitors Center through correspondence that started months ago by email and then by phone. months before the adventure started.

Aside from the Aurora tours, the dog sledding, and fishing, the Camps visit took them into Weaver & Devore, where Blaise bought polar bear licence plates. There was a trip up to Pilot’s Monument, where he learned tricks with his camera he never knew he had in order to capture the breathtaking panoramic view.

He had to capture it on film, he said, since no one would ever believe what he had seen if he didn’t capture these images.

Camp said he hopes to come back to Yellowknife, but maybe in a different season where he could experience the flip side of the city’s winter.

This time, though, the Camps left happy and fulfilled, anxious to recommend the community to others looking for travel destinations.

“I have never seen anything like this and for some reason, God brought us here. We are so lucky,” he said.