Caribou-nanza!

Well, it's been the longest amount of time yet since the last post so I thought it would be only fitting to cram as much information into it as I possibly can. The events probably go back to even before my last post, unfortunately I don't have media to accompany all of my stories but there are still some great shots. "Let's Begin!" (that's an inside joke to anyone at Alert who plays BINGO listening to that recorded voice haha)

Let's see, in the past few weeks I have won a station-wide limbo contest at the beach party (a feat considering I'm 6'3), won the gold medal in the Alert Volleyball Tournament (not as much of a feat, but good news nonetheless lol) and successfully completed the Polar Bear dip in water which is below 0 degrees, thanks to its saltiness! Not shown here are the medals I won for my victories and the bright orange shirt awarded for completing the dip.

Intermittent between those 3 events were a number of other activities including bowling, basketball, gym, work, bar-tending etc. but I'd rather have killer than filler.

Which brings me to my next animal sighting, a musk-ox! The other day while on break at the lab I peered out the window and said to myself, I could have sworn that big dark rock was in another place the last time I checked. Sure enough after staring at the 'rock' for a few seconds it started to move, at which point I yelled to my co-workers at the lab, "Musk-ox!" We were maybe able to get within about 300 metres of him before he got spooked and started to take off, but still got some fairly visible shots.

After the rare viewing of the musk-ox I thought that nothing shy of a polar bear encounter could top it but then came my trip up Caribou Road along one of the mountain ranges. I shook off getting woken up at 8 in the morning for a work-related-but-not-really call, ate breakfast and headed on out to the BV.

The majority of the trip took place riding BVs (I made it my mission to get a shotgun seat this time when riding) so it wasn't too strenuous. However, once we found ourselves at the base of the mountain range amidst fog and icy cold winds, the trip, although short, became challenging enough. After great difficulty and many near slips we at last conquered the hill and briefly explored the range as frost from the winds started to form on our hair and jackets.

At this point some individuals decided to search for crystals, with little luck, while others explored the range, seeing if perhaps there were more peaks to scale. After about 10 minutes we had all had quite enough of the freezing cold and decided to head back down the mountain. This was by far the most fun of the trip as the loose shale rocks made for an extremely fast and potentially dangerous slide down.

Once back at the base of the mountain we decided we might as well walk further along the road and as we hit the end we came across an inukshuk which had been built by previous explorers, or possibly a freak windstorm I guess.

Normally I lose interest in staring in rocks after a very short amount of time however, we were fortunate enough to notice a caribou off in the distance as we were taking pictures of the inukshuk. We slowly crept up on the caribou, very carefully as he would dart his head in our direction when someone would make a noise.

Eventually the crowd, making too much noise trying to get as close as me, scared the caribou off and I caught him running away.

After the wildlife excitement it was once again time to depart and we loaded ourselves up in the BV and called it a day. Although the trip was abbreviated, thanks to the caribou sighting, it was considered well worth it.

Next time on BAA: I dunno, do I look like I have ESP to you?


Byron
Seal you later

Colon Bay and Crystal Mountain - Giddyup!

I've been in Alert for about a month now and I've witnessed people coming and going as their tours of duty finish or as they take leaves of absence. Each time a person I know leaves or a new person arrives I find myself thinking about when my time will come. After speaking with several people mentioning how their "long" terms will be done in September, October...I find it's best to not think about that. What I am reminded of, however, is that the summertime here is short so I've been trying to take advantage of the sunlight before I wake up and find myself in the middle of a bad Vin Diesel movie!

Such was the reasoning behind my excursion to Colon Bay (named for it's similarity to the anatomy of the anus) last weekend. The hiking trip involved lots of careful footwork over pointy rocks and unexpectedly mushy ground, but overall was quite enjoyable. While on the way I spotted another arctic flower, one which I imagine is very tasty to the arctic hare, which resembles those cinammon mints you'll get at restaurants.

A little further along the trail (and at several spots inbetween) we had to traverse across ice-cold rivers balancing on wobbly rocks. One river in particular we came across was obviously at a much lower water level than is normal and quite awe inspiring to imagine the rush of water when full.

It wasn't long after trekking through the valley of the river that we came upon some wildlife, a noisy Yagger, either indicating it was preparing to divebomb us or simply get the attention of his chums to look at the funny creatures without wings on the ground.

After a good two or three hours we at last arrived at Colon Bay. It was then I made the distinction between sea water and lake water. The blue in the glaciers from the sea is much lighter and richer than the freshwater ice formations, possibly as a result of the salt crystalization. I was the only one to venture right out to the edge of the Bay and look out upon the sea. Whether it was because of a shared desire to get started on the trek back or stay alive through the avoidance of polar bear maulings, is unclear to me. All I know is I wasn't (un)fortunate enough to see any polar bears while at the bay and just missed a seal dipping it's head back under the water.

After seeing enough of the landscape and skipping a few stones we picked up the pace to make it back to the station in time for dinner, forgetting exactly where and how we crossed the river along the way. Just as we were getting close to the entrance of the station a pack of local wolves paid us a visit, one which surprised me far more than the veterans with whom I had been hiking.

After what I considered to be a successful hiking trip I opted to partake in another a little later in the week and see if I would again be fortuitous. This time the trip was to a popular destination here in Alert, Crystal Mountain. The name is a little deceptive, first of all it's not made of crystal, you can just find small rock crystals on occasion (or rarely in my case). Second of all, technically speaking it doesn't meet the elevation requirements of a mountain. I guess early geographers decided to go with the name because Potentially Crystal-filled Rocky Hill doesn't quite roll off the tongue as nicely.

This trip had the added fun-factor of getting to ride in a BV. BV, for you laymen(myself included no less than a week ago), stands for Bombardier Vehicle, which was originally manufactured by said company for military transport purposes of wounded soldiers etc. over difficult terrain. Although these vehicles are rarely (if at all) manufactured by Bombardier anymore, the name for them has stuck.

The ride on these vehicles over rocky terrain is bumpy to say the least. If you're not careful you can end up with your head in the ceiling or in the lap of your neighbour! Despite the bumpy ride I definitely enjoyed the novelty of the experience and was soon mastering ways in which to minimize ass-poundage while maximizing comfort. After a good hour or so of BV-ing I had just about had enough and as fortune would have it we arrived alongside Crystal Mountain, in all its glory!

As the incline of the front face of the mountain was quite steep we had to approach the top from the far side. As we started to come nearer to the mountain we noticed what we initially thought was a herd of caribou, off in the distance, along the far side. As we came closer however we realized that they were not actually off in the distance, nor were they caribou. It was a herd of arctic hare! The BV stopped and I cautiously yet hastily hiked along the mountain getting as close to the bunnies as I could. After gaining their trust that I was not a predator I was able to grab a great shot of a part of the hard and video of them chowing down and at play.

This failed attempt at a game of tag is what I found to be the most amusing of the videos I recorded. (More pictures and video of these and most of my pictures are available if an encore is requested).

After being torn away from the rabbits I continued up to the pinnacle of the mountain and began participating in the crystal-rush. After over an hour of digging an impressive hole I gave up only to come across some people who had been finding crystals in abundance merely by skimming the top layer of a section. Sure enough within minutes of grazing this spot I uncovered more than I had in all my time spent digging. Although I wasn't proud enough of any of my collections to post pictures they still were pretty neat.

All in all my trips oot and aboot the CFS station have been good times and I look forward to hopefully a few more before the sun sets for the last time in 2009.

Next time on BAA: More animals? Does this look like a Zoo to you? And whatever the *#(% else comes to mind!


Byron
keeping you iglooed to your monitors

Alert, Nunavut, Home of Canada's "Frozen Chosen"

There's an old saying around here: There are three ways you can leave Alert, as a chunk, a drunk or a hunk. With pretty much all-you-can-eat buffet meals, $2.50 drinks and a great workout facility it's no surprise how that saying came to be. While resisting gourging remains a challenge substituting bar nights for gym nights has gone pretty smoothly, with an added incentive of a free t-shirt for an equivalent of 500km of exercise, I'll be keeping fit and having fun in no time!

It may come as a surprise to many people but there are actually fairly frequent flights out of Alert, usually averaging about 2 per week, with many more during busy periods.

Last week we had the honour of receiving the Chief of Air Staff of Canada, LGen Watt. I immediately took a liking to him, not only because of his uncanny resemblance to the Gretzky family, but also to his sense of humour. He made the astute observation that the station looked like something out of Mad Max, which I couldn't agree with more!

Aside from the fun and games I do actually have a job to do here in Alert and have been enjoying slowly but surely learning the details. Once I have a better grasp of exactly what is going on I'll go into greater detail but in the meantime I can go over the encounters while travelling to the GAW lab from the station.

There are a number of small fresh-water lakes situated around the station (one of the reasons for the location) from which we pump our water. Below is the pumping station I pass on a regular basis while driving to the lab.

The sightings don't stop at the landscape as I become aware of a Yagger (a type of arctic bird which is prevalent in the region, so I've been told) no more than 100 yards from the lab.

The real excitement arrives in the middle of the day when Laura (a co-op student at the lab) informs Adrienne (the current operator) and myself that she's spotted the Lemming that lives under our shed. We all run outside to investigate the situation and quite rudely startle little Laraquette who retreats under a large flat piece of shale.

My usual excited mood as a result of critter-cravin and landscape-lookin was turned more somber on July 31st as the 59th anniversary of the Lancaster crash memorial was held. The story behind the event is that in 1950 the Lancaster was making a fairly routine mail-drop to support the weather station in Alert when their navigation failed and they crashed. Later, when the station personnel attempted to extradite the deceased out of Alert there was again equipment failure and the plane was grounded, with repairs estimated to take an additional two weeks. As a result the deceased were buried on site and a memorial erected to honour them.

The ceremony was very informative and paid tribute to this and many other sacrifices like this which have made the CFS station at Alert a reality.

There's plenty more to come including more animal sightings, so set your phasers to STUN and make like the resonant frequency of a pair of parallel metallic bars joined at one end and stay tuned!

Byron

Ellesmere Island's #1 Blog Author