Fun in the Snow

This weekend we had planned to go ice fishing but opted out since the lake was barely visible through the falling snow, it didn't seem like it would be much fun. On Sunday afternoon it started to clear up a little so we grabbed the sleds and went out for a ride. I didn't turn on my GPS tracking app but I am sure you have a good idea by now of where we go.

We rode over to Indian Hill and then took the trail to the barns on the south of Marguerite Lake. However, we were unable to get through as the stream was decidedly liquid. Blaine turned off the trail to turn around but his sled sank in the thigh deep snow so we spent some time extracting it then retraced our route to join the main trail to the north of Marguerite.

Instead of going all the way around to the rest area we elected to take a short cut over the lake. Blaine went ahead first to find a liquid free route. I do not enjoy riding my sled on water. Johnny, Sage and I took a short walk on the lake while Blaine zipped over and back.

  

The dogs were a little confused as to why daddy had left us but they enjoyed playing in the snow.

 

We parked up on the point by the hunting cabin and enjoyed a beer (snugged in Jimmie Johnson stubby coolers) and a packet of crisps.

This is my view on the sled. Johnny stands on the gas tank, Sage sits behind me on the passenger seat.

On the way home Blaine and I rode around the trails near our house so that they were beautifully groomed for my dog walk on Monday.

Thank you Paul!

Today I awoke to another beautiful morning in the Cariboo and I knew I had to get out there and enjoy it. But how? Walking the dogs is lovely, however we are limited to being in the forest which takes away from our enjoyment of the sunshine (of course in the summer I will be craving that shade). The lake is a bit too scary for me to venture out on alone since my last walk took me past way too many open patches,  the only other option for open skies is Indian Hill. However, my skidoo is in the seacan which has snow piled up in front of it that would have to be dug out to get the doors open.

I posted my dilemma in my facebook status. Paul posted "dig out the machine". It took about 20 minutes to get the doors open as the snow was actually ice disguised as snow.

Snow-bound seacan before

and after

I went back inside and dressed Johnny in his jacket and boots, he doesn't wear them so much for the cold as to stop his legs from becoming snow/ice balls. I threw on my camo dungarees, CG jacket and hat, mittens and Sorels then went to start the sled. Fail. It wouldn't start. I fiddled around, tried the choke half and full on and wore myself out with the pull start. At this point I might have given up but Johnny and Sage were beside themselves with excitement, bounding around and running in circles. 

Using my awesome skills I set about checking stuff... Gas, yep; Oil, yep; What else...? spark plugs I guess. Thankfully a skidoo is a simple machine so I was able to identify the plugs, then I went and rummaged in the shop for new plugs and tools. There were several boxes of two types of plugs, one type had RMK written on it so it took the others. After some time I got the correct size wrench thingy and set about removing the old plugs and installing the new ones. I was really quite proud of myself, even more so when my sled started up!

 

The ride over was interesting as there has been a lot of traffic, followed by warm weather, then cold weather. This resulted in frozen ruts and bumps that made the 1800 road ride like a series of rollers in the terrain park. Sage did a great job of balancing on the back seat then hopped off to run once we arrived at the meadow. My machine seemed to struggle with the hill climb, could be my poor driving or maybe the belt needs replacing.

As always it was worth coming, the silence and the view combine to make this a very special place.

The frosty trees looked spectacular against the clear, deep blue sky.

more skidoo adventures

I used the "Map My Run" app on my iPhone to track our last two skidoo adventures. Naturally both involved a run over to the gas station at Big Lake, and a trip up Indian Hill to enjoy the view. 

37 miles on January 20th

On January 26 we explored mostly to the South, where I got my sled stuck on a hill in the woods. 

 

54 miles on January 26th

The following Saturday we went North and I got stuck in the powder on the shoulder of Beaver Lake road, and then tipped over completely less than a mile from home. Blaine looks forward to my incidents and thoroughly enjoys getting me and my machine out of our predicaments :-)

some of the dreary views I have to endure ;-)

Sundowners on Indian Hill

Tyee Lake to Big Lake

As promised, on Sunday morning we set out again and after several attempts we found our way... the straight line depicted is not an accurate portrayal of the route, rather I gave up trying to figure it out on Google maps. Thanks to the logging industry there are hundreds of trails all over the place. I have promised to clearly document the route before my parents arrive next summer so that they can safely head over to the pub on our side by side.

Winter Fun in the Cariboo

This morning I packed a cooler with some snacks and a couple of flasks of Sailor Jerry spiked hot chocolate while Blaine organised our fishing bucket. We drove our skidoos up to Jackson Hole and tried some ice fishing. Maybe this is a little like our clam digging failure and perhaps dogs aren't conducive to catching lots of fish. We fished for three hours trying several different spots but didn't get so much as a bite.

We gave up on fishing so drove the puppies home and left them at the house while we went for a ride. It is much easier to drive without 2 dogs as passengers. I followed Blaine along the quad trails through the forest and then over on the 1800 road towards Big Lake. Unfortunately we were short on gas and day light so came home about 4pm. We drove the Suzuki down to Deep Creek gas station and filled up all our jerry cans so we are ready to play again tomorrow.

Sent from my iPad

Bluebird sled afternoon

Justin, Sage, Johnny and I took my sled to Prairie Chicken Hill this afternoon. It was so very beautiful. We saw a moose cow and took turns driving. Justin is a much more confident driver than me. Hopefully the RMK 600 will be ready in a couple of days and we can take both machines. It was an awesome day :-)

Sledding

Today I rode my skidoo for the first time this winter. It was fun. Blaine was getting the Rhino side by side ready for our family trip to Indian Hill (aka Prairie Chicken Hill), his skidoo is broken so we figured we might as well take the Rhino. While he was removing the snow plow I went for a spin up the drive, then I kept going over the cattle guard and all the way to the 90degree corner, then back again. Johnny rode in front of me, Sage ran alongside - and ahead. Maybe tomorrow I will go out for a skidoo ride with the puppies while Blaine is at work.

Posted with Blogsy

Christmas Tree Hunting

Today we went out hunting for our Christmas tree. Blaine did a recon of the trail by skidoo and returned covered in snow. Because the trails are heavily used by ATVs in the summer they are pretty rutted which is not ideal for the sleds. His expedition had sufficiently packed down the foot or so of fresh powder that had fallen during the past 24 hours, that we were able to get to the tree on our side by side.

I had short listed two trees that were close to each other. Blaine shook the snow off to get a better look before we settled on one. The battery on my iPhone didn't much like the cold (a mere -4) so I only got this picture. We loaded the tree in the back of the Rhino and dropped it off in the car port to shake off the excess snow before bringing it inside.

I started decorating this evening and will finish tomorrow then photograph the festive beauty of it all.

Free Firewood

We are surrounded by crown land from which we are permitted to harvest firewood for our personal use. The BC Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations oversees this through it's free permit scheme which restricts us amongst other things to only harvesting deadfall and taking no more than 10 regular pick-up loads.

This weekend we exercised our rights and went to the forest at the top of our driveway to collect some fuel for the winter. 

Blaine and his trusty Husqvarna chopped up the wood

I followed behind to pick up the 1-foot lengths

Then I loaded up the Rhino and drove it back home

 

I dumped 10 loads (but only itty bitty Rhino ones not pick up) beside the wood shed

Me suited up in my Surplus Herbies redneck work wear

Blaine split the wood

I stacked it in the back of the shed to dry

We still have more to split and stack but are both just exhausted and can't handle any more this weekend. A good soak in the hot tub should help us recover and be ready to finish the job off next weekend.

Independence Day in Iqaluit

On July 4 I walked the dogs along the beach and marveled at the mini icebergs stranded by the tide.

Riding the Hog

For the past two weeks the weather has been beautiful (with the exception of snow on Tuesday) so I have been making the most of the bug-free sunshine and riding to work on my quad. My colleague Jen has dubbed my 350cc Yamaha Big Bear "the Hog". On Saturday, inspired by the Sons of Anarchy image that this evoked, I dressed Johnny Cash up in his Orange County Choppers biker jacket and we cruised around the city. In the evenings I have been taking Johnny and Sage (Johnny stands on the gas tank, Sage sits on the passenger seat) to the Road to Nowhere for a run. Sage runs the whole length (2.5km each way) of the unpaved road, which goes to the gravel pit, while Johnny runs a bout half the way out and rides the rest with me. Blaine takes them to the beach in the same fashion. I don't like going there at the moment because of all the melt water and gaps in the ice.

Arctic Mosquitoes

My mind keeps wandering to the important questions when will the mosquitoes come and how long will they last.

But how do we even have mosquitoes here when it is below freezing for most of the year? The answer is adaptation. This week I learned that insects up here have anti-freeze for blood and sort of hibernate/freeze over winter. Once out and about they can handle the low temperatures because they are dark and hairy, which helps a cold-blooded insect gain and retain heat.

Unlike southern mosquitoes who enjoy the luxury of a long season, our critters have a whole lot of living to accomplish in a short time. Assisted by almost 24-hour sunlight and the pressures of time, Iqaluit's mosquitoes operate 24hours a day.

I have mixed feelings about this early spring. I am sad that my skidooing season is over so soon, but I am happy to be out on the quad. I like not having to wear layers upon layers and huge clompy boots, but I hate mosquitoes. Presumably an early spring means a longer bug season... Well I am going to  find out whether I want to or not!

This evening after wings I took the dogs on the quad to investigate Road to Nowhere and I was very surprised to find the whole length of the road completely clear of snow. It was a little chilly so I didn't send her in, but I did note that there is a big swimming pond where the Apex river is backed up by the bridge so I will take Sage up there for a swim one sunny day soon.

References:

http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/backissues/coldhardiness.pdf

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674look_out_nunavuts_home_to_bugs_galore/

Iqaluit is melting

Last night our friend Norman Qavvik from Kugaaruk taught us a new word: "snowmo".

Boy am I glad that we got lots of snowmo-ing in during then last weekend of April because spring came upon us in a flash and the snow is receding daily. Fueled by the awesomeness of the trip described in my last post, John led another boys only trip on Saturday. Matt took my skidoo and I took the dogs skiing. The boys were out from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm! Blaine struggled to stay awake through Linda and Craig's Wii party, no reflection on the quality of the party nor the company, he was just bagged. We were all jealous of his goggle tan.


On Sunday we took the dogs and a picnic up to the cabin for a few hours. Sections of the river were pretty slushy. I loathe riding throu slush so asked Blaine to ride my sled over while I walked the dogs around, except I didn't walk far enough around and Blaine had to come dig my foot out of the slush. After dozing in the sunshine we headed home, sticking to the high ground this time!

All week it was around -2 to 0 so the melt started early and shows no sign of abaiting. Last week I wore my headphones at work to drown out the torrential rain like sound of the snow meltin off my office roof. At the beginning of the week I climed four steps to the front door, now I climb the full six and the parking lot is sand not snow.

We are moving house at the end of June. The rapid retreat of the snow prompted us to move our snowmos and qamutiq over to our new house while we still could. I declined Blaine's invitation to join him on the relocation ride, preferring my happy memory of skidooing to be my last of the season. Instead I drove the truck to shuttle him back and forth. This decision proved wise as Blaine said the trail was either slush, pavement, or gravel. Our sleds are now safely locked up by our new house and I have my quad ready to roll when the mood takes me.

The forecast is for continuing warm (+2) weather so we expect the snow around town to be gone in a couple of weeks. I suspect that the sea ice won't last much into June this year.

Skidoo therapy with Dr. Kavanaugh

After work last Friday Blaine and I joined our friend John on a skidoo ride. With John revelling in the role of tour guide we travelled North past the end of the Road to Nowhere and then onwards to the spectacular Johnson's Canyon. We then backtracked a ways to to trail to Pangnirtung which we followed for a few miles before heading home. Sunset was well after 8pm and with little wind and mild temperatures (maybe -10c) it was a perfect evening. Of course I didn't take my camera.

After almost three days of non-stop snow the tundra was covered with a soft, thick blanket of snow. My skidooing experience thus far has been limited to travelling on ice and barely covered rocks. This new surface took some getting used to as my machine seemed to float at times, and get bogged down at others. I was happy enough pottering along feeling out my confidence on the flats and closely sticking to John's trail on the hills (the boys kindly placed me in the middle of our convoy to keep me safe).

My favourite part of the evening was watching John and Blaine having so much fun riding through deep snow, and up and down steep hills. John's sheer joy was particularly infectious and I found my confidence growing as the boys frolicked on their machines. The journey from our house to Dead Dog Lake was extremely stressful for me as we had to cross several roads and the trails were sometimes steep and narrow. I can't say that I enjoyed retracing the same route on our homeward journey, but I didn't have a meltdown.

Conclusion: Happiness is good for you

Sunday Blizzard

 

Today there is a blizzard warning in effect. Looking out the kitchen window the sky doesn't look the least bit threatening but I am inclined to play safe believe environment Canada on these things. Last Sunday there was a blizzard warning and you could barely see 10 foot at times. Annoyingly, as with last weekend, the blizzard is set to clear overnight so it is unlikely that we will get a day off tomorrow.  The city closes during severe blizzards because it is just not safe to have everyone on the roads. Indeed if the Government of Nunavut declares a "blizzard day" your car insurance is invalid during that time so you can't go anywhere.

 

Yesterday we went out for an awesome skidoo ride to some friends' cabin up the river. It was much more tiring than I expected. It isn't safe to travel along the river, the ice isn't strong enough and there are lots of rocks, so we had to follow the path of the river along it's uneven rocky banks. My back, shoulders, arms and legs are all aching today. The ride to the cabin was tricky because there was this really flat light so you couldn't see the contours of the land very well. Literally on the doorstep of the cabin I flipped my skidoo because I hadn't been able to make out a snow drift.

Blaine and I had been invited to stay the night but we declined as we already had arranged to go out with a friend, the dogs couldn't come to the cabin, and we were both recovering from a cold so didn't want to make the others sick. As we were getting ready to leave around 2pm a group of rangers came by, they were heading to their camp down the river so we got an escort part way home. The light was totally different and the trail was easy to see, but I kept getting distracted by the beautiful setting sun. I thought about taking photos but was unwilling to get my hand cold so I have no image to share, but believe me it was wonderful.

Cross Country Skiing

For a few years now I have been contemplating trying cross country skiing. Just before Christmas there were a few sets of equipment listed for sale on Iqaluit's facebook swap and sell that piqued my interest again. I wasn't able to get anything on facebook so I hit the internet and, for just over $400 plus $25 shipping, I ordered myself the necessary items from Mountain Equipment Co-Op:

• Atomic Skis (waxless)
• Salomon Bindings
• Komperdell Classic Poles
• Salomon X-Adventure Boots

Shortly after placing the order (at about 7am on a Sunday morning I was so excited!) I realised that the boots were unisex, therefore I had ordered the wrong size. MEC is based in Vancouver so their phone line wasn't open until noon. The guy I spoke with was super helpful and said he would make sure I got the right boots. On Tuesday we came home from work to a voicemail saying that instead of being shipped to the main store for the bindings to be mounted to the skis, everything but the boots and been mailed to me. The message went on to say that if I could get the bindings mounted by a qualified ski technician here in Iqaluit, then MEC would refund me that cost. After I finally stopped laughing I called back to explain that wasn't an option. MEC already had a better solution, they were already in the process of mounting bindings on another pair of skis and would send those to me too. After everything had arrived they would send me the paperwork to mail back the unmounted skis and bindings free of charge.

Over the course of two weeks I received the three packages, in the reverse order that they were mailed! By 6:10 on Friday night I had everything I needed to hit the snow. This morning I drove the dogs out to the third car park in Sylvia Grinnell park and clipped in. Blaine joined us on skidoo and acted as coach, cheerleader and photographer. I am a boarder not a skier so it took a bit of getting used to but I had fun and Johnny Cash certainly appreciated running at a slower pace than the skidoo. I went back and forth a couple of times along the skidoo trail next to the road which is a nice flat, groomed trail perfect to get my balance and figure out the rhythm. It more than met my expectations in terms of the exertion required so I am confident that after 6 weeks of cross country skiing and I will be more than fit enough for our two week snowboarding pilgrimage to Tahoe.

Hello Ron

This morning we decided to check the snow cover. I was not feeling bold enough to drive my sled and Blaine's sporty little number doesn't take passengers so we headed out along the beach on my sled. We left the dogs at home to reduce the number of variables that could stress me out and we made it as far as the FOL (the military Forward Operating Location just the other side of the airport) before deciding to turn back due to lack of snow. Back home we took pity on the puppies and decided to take them to the beach for a run. Blaine drove Sage down on the sled and I walked Johnny.

About half way down, just by the kids' playground Johnny and I were surprised to see a big black dog running at us. Sage had evidently decided to leave her master and come looking for the weaker members of her pack. We continued towards the beach when Sage spotted a man in a black Canada Goose parka and, failing to notice that 90% of the population look the same all winter, assumed that must be daddy so she kept running off with me yelling at her to come back. Finally the excitement was too much and she bolted across the road and went bounding up to the unsuspecting pedestrian. 

Embarrassed, I apologized profusely. The happily unscathed gent said "you must be Emma, I'm Ron" I just said hello and carried on in search of Blaine. My brain must have been affected by the cold or perhaps the petrol fumes from my sled as I utterly failed to make a very simple connection until about 5 minutes later... Ron is, I assume, my fellow blogger Ron Wassink and I missed an opportunity to congratulate him in person on his awesome photography and commitment to this odd form of communication. Please accept this public apology for my rudeness!

A Hike in Sylvia Grinnell Park

City of Iqaluit employees are fortunate to have two cultural days in addition to our vacation allowance. The days are officially for berry picking and clam digging but there is no requirement that you partake in these activities. As Blaine is away I decided to take Monday and Tuesday off to hang out with the dogs and catch up on some chores. This morning I took the dogs for an invigorating hike through Sylvia Grinnell Territorial park. Named after the daughter of one of American explorer Charles Francis Hall's benefactors, the park is just on the other side of our airport. 

The hike took us an hour and according to Google maps is about 3.6km, Johnny and Sage enjoyed chasing the ravens and roaming around enjoying the smells. Nunavut parks has marked the trail but doesn't offer a distance, only approximate times. From the main car park we followed the red trail which is a cross country scramble over the tundra along a windy ridge to the dizzying height of 68m above sea level. The trail brings you out at the far car park, which was the mid way point for the Terry Fox run. We then made a U turn and followed a neat gravel path back along the river heading downstream.

No photos as I didn't feel like carrying the big DSLR with me and it was cold, windy and raining. However it was a beautiful walk and I encourage all my Iqaluit readers to head out and enjoy it for themselves. I walked into the wind on the way out so that it was to my back on the return and suggest that you do the same.

You can read more about the park here.