{"id":732,"date":"2016-06-27T19:14:36","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T19:14:36","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-08-29T16:03:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T16:03:55","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blachfordlakelodge.mydev.ca\/index.php\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Welcome to Blachford Lake Lodge, your home away from home in the serene, Canadian north. Blachford Lake Lodge is located in the rugged wilderness of Northern Canada, in superb Aurora-watching country. Perched on a rock knoll overlooking Blachford Lake, it is a half-hour bush-plane from the city of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada\u2019s Northwest Territories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many miles from roads, or national suppliers of electricity and water, our lodge nonetheless provides many of the benefits of a luxury hotel, with the priceless addition of a pristine wilderness environment, unpolluted by artificial light or noise, the perfect setting for watching the Aurora Borealis (also known as the Northern Lights). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look around, and take your time. We’ve got a lot of information for you here. From tips on getting to\/from Yellowknife<\/a> (your gateway to Blachford Lake Lodge), to your accommodation options<\/a>, and more, we keep our website up to date with everything you need to know and more about visiting Blachford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Autumn & Summer Aurora packages and pricing, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Winter & Spring packages and pricing, click here<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our People<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Mike Freeland<\/strong> has been the owner-operator of Blachford Lake Lodge since he acquired the property as a single cabin in 1981. Brought up in Ontario, Mike studied tourism there and moved to a tourism development job with the Northwest Territories government in 1974. After two years he left to work as a free-lance consultant and set up his own tourist camps above the tree-line in the NWT\u2019s Barren Lands. In developing tourism across the NWT, Nunavut and Greenland, Mike has worked with government, Arctic communities, businesses and indigenous groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his 40+ years in the industry, Mike has seen environmental concerns come from virtually nowhere to being one of the biggest, and most exciting challenges for tourism today. With his true passion for wilderness, Mike takes all aspects of these concerns very seriously, both in day-to-day running as well as in new developments at Blachford. He continues to take an active part in all aspects of the lodge, from long term-business planning, to alternative energy initiatives to fixing chainsaws.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike is also an active supporter of Dechinta University, a unique indigenous studies university program, providing on-the-land teaching, utilising the Blachford site as the campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An active grandfather to his three grandchildren, Mikes also loves cross-country skiing, canoeing, kayaking, and camping. Always delighted to share his extensive knowledge of the north, Mike is based in Yellowknife, where his wife Tessa Macintosh, a well-known northern photographer, runs the Blue Raven bed-and-breakfast.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Katherine Johnson<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>

Director of Sales & Marketing<\/p>

Katherine Johnson, our Director of Sales and Marketing, was born into adventure travel.\u00a0Her father founded the Great Canadian Travel Company in 1981 and at five years old Katherine was stickering brochures\u00a0for the family business, at a rate of 0.25\u00a2 per roll.\u00a0She has run polar bear tours and managed a hotel in Churchill, Manitoba, and served as a board member for Nunavut Tourism.\u00a0Katherine coached synchronized swimming for Winnipeg Synchro and also worked for Winnipeg Folk Festival.\u00a0When not travelling herself (her life\u2019s great passion) she lives with her little girl, two dogs, a cat and her husband.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>