Beauty sighs
Sunrise today, on the 1st of December, is 10:42. The weeks ago of this trip into Kluane National Park was a much earlier morning. I left Whitehorse at the faintest hint of blue hour with temperatures deep into the -20s. The smell of warm coffee filled the inside of the car with the windows frozen shut, and ice crystals lining the top of the inside of the windshield.
Elk weren’t shy at the sides of the highway. Coyotes ran alongside the highway at times too. Any passing traffic was almost non-existent which prolonged the time just watching these beautiful animals from the car.
"There’s something about this cold, snowy, icy winter that just makes me so crazy. It’s like a connection deep down with my soul."
Closer and closer to Kluane, temperatures dropped to the lowest of -33°. Around every corner, a new mountain or new angle of the same mountains appeared more and more magical. Blue hour, then sunrise and golden hour all gave such magic that it felt like nothing had ever been so beautiful. I kept having these deep in the body, heavy sighs. Beauty sighs. It was just some kind of physical way, some kind of release, to deal with so much beauty and love. It was complete and total overwhelmingness.
On every trip into Kluane before, I always had this dream of being up with the mountain sheep, but they were always, always so high up on the mountain. But today finally, I could join them and watch them from what felt like so close.
Maybe they are not the most special wild animal, but observing any wild animal in their natural space is something which has to be so incredible.
After some time sitting out on the edge of the ice watching golden hour fade back into blue hour, and somewhere between numb fingers and the most sniffly nose ever, the ice starts to sing. At first just a few high pitched pings, and I snapped my body backward in the direction of the sound almost in disbelief. I couldn’t believe the perfection. Of course by now you know how much I love the singing ice, after my well documented obsession last winter. I just could not imagine any more perfect way to end such a day.
