Rangers

As I walked to the church yesterday morning morning around 10 am to continue drywalling, several ski-doos passed by. I noticed they were congregating in the church parking lot. Then I remembered Paul had rented the church to the Rangers. There must have been 20 people with their "sleds"(term youth use for a snow machine). As I approached the scene, I was met by Sgt. Bill Budd, pictured in the bela clava. The Sgt. said he was an active member of the Canadian Military and based out of Yellowknife. He was alone in his efforts to train local volunteers from this community in search and rescue missions.

The church was the rendez-vous point prior to leaving for the 3 day, 2 night training exercise "on the land" (term used to describe any area outside of the community). More specifically, this crew of volunteers and their military leader will exchange trade secrets while weathering the elements.
The Sgt. will instruct the volunteers on how to search and locate a missing person(s) as well as health and safety. The citizens of Fort McPherson will show Bill strategies and techniques on how to keep warm, set up shelters and navigate the many lakes and creeks that exist here in the Delta. The Rangers have always played a vital role and are a valuable resource in types of dangerous missions.

Cardboard Boxes

Back in early September our household belongings arrived from Ottawa but our accomodations were not yet secured so everything remained in a storage unit. By late September, there was a permanent blanket of snow on the ground and my summer clothing proved insufficient for the harsher climate. In August I took only what was needed for the trip north, whereas, Heather packed as she always did - a little more on the heavy side. This would explain why for weeks I was wearing a thin Nike running jacket in sub-zero temperatures and Heather and Ruth had cozy winter coats. (Nike apparel in the cook out photo)

Near the same time in Late September, we happily accepted the Hanthorns' gracious offer to live with them (and we continue to be thankful for their warm hospitality, patience, kindness and fellowship -loving it!). In early October, I finally contacted the moving company in Inuvik to deliver our boxes containing winter clothes, boots and other key school materials.

Since we didn't have our own place yet, Paul offered the church sanctuary as a temporary area to spread out our boxes and remove the essentials. I agreed and the movers arrived on a Tuesday. That day, as the movers carefully carried each box, one man approached bashfully and said, "there was this crazy squirl that ripped opened one of your boxes". Apparently the squirl had a weakness for microwave popcorn.

Workhorse of the North

November 4th was Take Our Kids to Work day across Canada; it's an opportunity for grade 9 students to do some career exploration for a day. I was assigned with the task of taking pictures of these students in action at their work placements.

On the same day I was required to transport an educational consultant from the airport to the school. However, when I arrived at the Fort McPherson airport, I was told the flight was delayed due to weather. A twin Otter was warming up for a take-off - Top picture.

Aircraft is the only way to ship people and cargo and this will continue to be the case until the end of the month.

The Twin Otter has been the aircraft of choice for decades. The inside can be reconfigured to accomodate cargo by folding some seats while the remaining chairs are for passengers. People are always prioty one partly because airfares command a higher pricetag. Bush pilots typically load and unload cargo and baggage.

The local Sgt recently mentioned the Pilatus, pictured above (Google Image) is currently used by the RCMP to transport prisoners, VIPs and cargo. It can fly from Yellowknife to Fort McPherson in 2 hours. It is considered a very reliable aircraft, can reach a speed of 300 miles per hour and travels to all the delta communities.

Ice Breaker

About five days ago an anxious young man decided to take his chances and drive on the yet-to-open ice road at the 8 mile ferry crossing. (8 miles away from Fort McPherson). Thankfully, this individual got out alive because others haven't been as fortunate. The vehicle was brand new and will never function again. The ice road is scheduled to open at the end of the month. That said, if temperatures continue to hover around the -18 degree mark it could open sooner.

Ice Walker

It was a cold dark and snowy morning as I embarked on my weekly Thursday treck to Tsiigehtchic. There was no traffic that morning because the ferry was pulled out of operation the weekend before. Road conditions were poor at best because of the several inches of snow on the ground, the roads were not yet graded, some unsheltered areas of the road had snow drifts and visibility was low. I was more vigilent than usual and drove slower while keeping a lookout for any four-legged creatures that may venture onto the road. To make matters worst, cell phones don't work out here and I still have summer tires on with very little tread. There are winter tires sitting in storage. It's very difficult to have your vehicle maintananced witht the closest garage in Inuvik. I tried several times to book an appointment but there always a 1 week wait. I found out everyone works on their own vehicle in McPherson. The RCMP said I could use their garage for an oil change and a local said he could change my tires but he's been out of town for a while. In case of an accident I keep an emergency kit in the back of the truck that contains items like: tire chains, shovel, candels, flashlight, blanket.

As I pulled up to the ferry crossing I notice the sign for the ferry was removed; this was not good since it was a land mark to find the off road trail to the Arctic Red River crossing. I searched on foot for a while in the cold, using the truck headlights to shed light on the situation. The posted pictures provide a visual of the trail and parking lot.

Once I parked the truck I walked to the river and to my surprize the first few meters where not yet frozen the entire length of the river! I walked for a while contemplating a return to McPherson when Ken, a teacher from Tsiigehtchic Parked his truck on the other side of the river and made his way over. He said, "You can cross over there on that log" (picture posted of the log and another picture is of Ken holding a board). He mentioned he saw the local "dance" across the log. I threw my laptop and backpack over to Ken and proceeded to use the log as a bridge to the ice. Once on the ice we had to cross one more time to make it onto land because we faced the same watery scenario on the other side of the river; it was even more trecherous. There were several square boards lined up in the icy water to get onto land. Ken said the key was to run and not walk across and to make sure my foot hit the middle of each board. As I ran across, each board dipped down into the water and then bobbled up again as my weight shifted onto another board. It felt like an obstacle course! By afternoon the boards had become more stable as ice formed around them; the video clip is from the afternoon ice walk on the return home.

In the afternoon there were many locals ice fishing and the posted picture has someone pulling a wood box on skis full of white fish. There are no contaminants in this river and so the fish is healthy and delicious. They pull the boxsled full of fish right across the semi-frozen ice and then uphill for about a km to the doorstep of their house.