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Scott Anderson and Jessica Coulombe take part in a professional photoshoot while dogsledding near the Yellowknife River earlier this winter. - me&be Photography

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
In the dark, bitingly frosty days of winter, residents hustle home after work and shiver under the duvets. However, business owners in the region say there are ways to beat the winter blues with one's significant other by heading out into the wilderness or trying a new activity right in our own backyard.

Yellowknife is surrounded by lodges catering to both winter and summer visitors. Namushka Lodge on Harding Lake is about a two-and-a-half-hour snowmobile ride from the city centre. There's also Hearne Lake Lodge and Blachford Lake Lodge - which require a longer snowmobile ride or a floatplane excursion.

"If people are going out for a romantic getaway weekend in the winter, certainly flying in with the ski plane is a big part of it," said Mike Freeland, owner/operator of Blachford.

He said the lodge accommodates cross-country skiing with groomed trails, snowshoeing, ice fishing and skating on a rink, which sits on the bay in front of the lodge.

"Also the hot tub, of course, is popular. And we have a teepee, so frequently people will use the teepee - with fresh green boughs on the ground and put a fire in the middle. So even on a cold night, it's kind of a cozy place to tell stories or have singsongs," he said.

Blachford has felt the royal touch, with Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, sharing an afternoon at the lodge in July 2011 during their Canadian tour. Freeland said the island where Will and Kate had dinner used to be called Eagle Island but is now called Royal Honeymoon Island.

"Sometimes people request the room that Will and Kate spent some time in. They didn't stay over night but had some relaxed, quiet time," he said.

Some couples are looking for adventure, something they have never done before, said Grant Beck, owner of dogsledding business Beck's Kennels.

"It's something that's on people's bucket lists for many years, the people I talk to. I sometimes ask, 'Why aren't you in Honolulu right now? It's -40 C.' They said, 'I did that so many times, I did that for so many years, now I want to try something different, unique and totally off the beaten trail,'" said Beck.

He said couples can drive their own dogsled around Grace Lake, stop at a cabin and enjoy some hot chocolate, soup and bannock before switching places - one person sitting and one person standing and riding the sled - to return to the city centre.

"The dogs are professionally trained, they know what to do and where to go," said Beck.

He said Beck's Kennels also offers a ride by dog team under the aurora borealis - a more active and adventurous type of date.

While memories of these activities or weekend getaways live on, nothing is so permanent as a photograph, said Bianca Jorgenson, co-owner of me&be Photography.

"A bonus of something to do for you and your loved one is to go out and be captured in a moment in time that you and your loved one can remember," she said.

"A photograph lasts forever ... That's the essence of photography. The photographer can capture the soul and the memories and the moments on camera."

Jorgenson said her subjects choose a shooting environment that is familiar, like a backyard, or somewhere out of the way.

"It's up to them. If they're feeling adventurous and they want to go lay on the beautiful lakes that are pristine and clear and you can see all the cracks on the ice, or in their backyard, it's really about their memories and what those fond places are in Yellowknife that they want to go," she said.

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