• We travel regularly from our small remote community in Canada to the nearest city to make errands.
• We are going to appointments and supply in groceries for two months when we lead to the city.
• The best part of the 10 -hour round trip is an incredible home trip through Pristine Wilderness.

More than five years ago, I moved from Vancouver to Beaver Creek, a community of about 80 residents in the remote Yukon, Canada.

After moving from a city to a remote area in northern Canada, I realized that even normal tasks such as gaining can be a large company. So, my husband and I made a solid routine for mandating to those we have hit since then.

Every six to eight weeks, my husband, our dog and I drive 300 miles from our remote northern community to Whitehorse, Yukon, to buy groceries and attend medical appointments. The round trip unit is approximately 600 miles and lasts approximately 10 hours.

In general, we try to be as efficient as possible when we work with the darkness and extremely cold temperatures. During the seasons in which we have only four hours of sunlight and extremely cold temperatures, we spent the night in Whitehorse.

This is how it is one of our typical trips.

I got up early and started my day by warming my truck

Since we cover two months of appointments, purchases and errands on our trip to Whitehorse, we start early. On this particular day, the sun did not get up until noon, and it was -40 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

This type of cold can be hard for vehicles, so it is important that we let our truck heat for a while before leaving. Before leading to the city, we also prepare the emergency team.

On this trip, we take a satellite communication device, hot extra clothing, food, water and car repair equipment. We can never be too careful when we travel to extreme cold long distance (and, for parts of the trip, darkness).

While the truck warmed up, I walked to our dog

Before taking our dog to a walk prior to driving, I put more layers than I could count and covered them with a thick parka. He also wore a deck, hat, snow pants and winter boots. I bundled our dog on ankle boots, a thermal layer and a jacket.

Due to the cold, our morning walk was not as long as it is normally. Even so, the truck was heated and ready for the moment we returned.

Once we started driving, we spent many trucks and cars through the city that had been running, some without people inside. Do not turn off your car while you meet a store or lunch is normal here when it’s very cold.

We try to make as many errands as possible when we are in the city

Although our community has a small health center attended with a nurse and a receptionist and a doctor visit two days a month, we have to travel to Whitehorse for specialized appointments or procedures such as radiographs, ultrasound and certain blood tests.

Then, on this trip, our first stop of the day was the city hospital so that it could obtain routine blood tests.

Then, we go to the veterinarian’s office to grab more than 100 pounds of dog food (enough for about three months). We like to have more at hand in case we cannot complete our trip on time. After all, contingency planning is a large part of living in a remote community.

We also made a quick stop at the pet supplies store for sweets and some new toys for our dog too. We always take Whitehorse with us, so we try to make sure we had a good time on the trip.

My husband and I separate to execute the next errands on our list. While collecting a new saw, fuel for the chainsaw and a gofres manufacturer in the hardware store, I went to the hairdressing.

Three months had passed since my last visit, so my roots needed desperate attention. As my stylist applied the color, he said he would be outside the next time we were in the city. Unfortunately, this meant that it would have to spend three more months without seeing her.

After my hair appointment, I made a fast and fast walk to other stores to be able to collect new wool socks, a gift for a friend and some candles. Meanwhile, my husband and our dog challenged the cold for another short walk.

LEGABLE PURCHASES ARE MADE IN THE END BECAUSE A LOT OF EFFORT AND PLANNING REQUIRED

After gathering again in the truck, we went to buy edible. As usual, our list was long because we needed enough food to last almost two months, including special events, birthdays, vacations or meetings that we would have during that time.

By the time we finished, our car was so full that some more local buyers asked us why we were buying so many groceries.

From there, we begin to classify the ingredients in reusable bags, canvas bags and refrigerators while the cashier scanned them. We packed frozen foods in the bags because they would be fine in the climate of -40 degrees and put dairy products and products in the coolers so that they do not freeze.

Loading the truck is always the difficult part, since it requires space skills and teamwork. We didn’t want anything to change during a 300 mile trip home, but we wanted snacks and dog food, emergency supplies and additional clothing accessible in case accessible.

We made the containers and coolers in the bed of the truck and my husband bent down under the canopy to perfectly fix everything. Once the truck was full, we took our dog on a last short walk, fill our gas tank and go to the road.

To prepare even more for possible emergencies, we always let a friend know when we leave Whitehorse and what time we hope to be at home.

Our day ended with another long trip, and a lot of unpaid

As the light disappears, it is not always easy to see where the road ends and the frozen terrain begins in northern Canada. With that in mind, we both try to remain constantly alert during each 300 mile trip home.

Fortunately, the best part of the impulse is to enjoy the impressive views of nature intact until the sun sets.

Once we got home, we were exhausted from our length and incredible impulse, but we still had to download what we got in Whitehorse and keep everything, my least favorite part of the trip.

We take everything home through the dark, then we replenish the great pantry, fill the refrigerator and load the freezer. Some of our foods had to divide in smaller containers or empty into containers to avoid deterioration or waste.

When we finished, we were ready for a large salad full of fresh vegetables that would be a distant memory for the time of our next edible trip.

This story was originally published on April 6, 2023, and more recently it was updated on January 30, 2025.