More from the Fall 2014 the Fall trip up to Inuvik

Again a retrograde post for the fall drive up to Inuvik. I saw lots of caribou along the road near and in Stone Mtn Provincial Park in BC. Also saw 3 big timber wolves in that area as well – following the Caribou no doubt. The buffalo were a bit further south near Liard River Hot Springs, which is also a BC provincial park. Not many times when a person can have a hot spring all to themselves. It’s a great facility and really hot by the source, which bubbles out on the far end of the pool. The boggy areas around the springs are protected by an 800m boardwalk, which again was wanting of other soles when I as there this time.

I had to make my mandatory stop at the sign forest in Watson Lake and some shots of the Native Centre on Teslin Lake just north of Teslin.

Ah... a few images from Sept that got waylaid by unforeseen events. These will be in reverse chronology starting with a day out by Campbell Lake for a hot dog roast at the Gwichin Campsite / boat launch out at the territorial park. Strange to think that there is wood around for camp fires but the Delta is full of trees. The lake like everything else this year was exhibiting drastically low water levels, so much so that few if any barges actually made it down the Mackenzie to the Delta communities. While it is easy to ascribe the water levels to global and certainly that is a significant factor, the lack of water is not without precedent. It is eerie though.

Later that day I was up above the crag I have developed for mixed and rock climbing, some nice boulders, some have bouldering potential but not great landings. The lichen had already started to turn white on in the bush, which is on a terrace between the good rock and the crappy stuff.

First snowmobile outing of the season

Had the new snowmobile out for a spin on the river, albeit low snow conditions, better over to Aklavik via Bombardier Channel. Very little water in the Delta this Fall and it shows in the ice levels. Significant amount of bank is exposed and some side channels are dry. Also some shots of the tugs tied up for winter, the MV Risco Reegan and the MV W H Horton

Last days of sun for 2014

Last days of sun rise in Inuvik for Dec. No sun at all after Dec 7 until the new year. Sun rises about noonish and sets well before 3 PM now.

The moon however is rather prevalent these days

Hoar frost out by the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility near the airport. Short days make for lots of evening light. The tower is the Inuvik water tower, which likely is part of the pressure regulation system. The whole system is due for an upgrade , thankfully, as town water currently leaves lots to be desired. Fortunately Inuvik Water Company provides the Inuvik version of Culligan 18.6 litre jugs which are delivered for a decent price. The gradient is the sky as the sun sets is rather apparent this time of year. Temps have been average in the minus mid 20s but the humidity has been higher than normal, making for some bracing days.

Just a few more late evening shots out by a lake about 5 minutes down the Dempster, past the turn off. Of course late evening means 4:30 or so. There is not a lot of snow this year and the freeze came quickly – even so there is a fair amount of overflow on the lake surfaces, i.e. slushy sections of surface ice. Temps and parsimonious snow conditions mean that there aren’t many areas where open water is sandwiched between the snow and ice surface.