Update

Where to begin?

It has been a busy few weeks here. Lots of people arriving and leaving, lots of time spent in a helicopter and some interesting events taking place in Inuvik.

On the 13th of July I was sent on a smoke patrol way down south and due to the distance managed to get myself onto a much bigger plane (a KingAir, with a dual prop) that I usually do for smoke patrols. It was a much quicker flight, but included some canyon flying, low along the Mackenzie River Valley. Excellent.
Then on the 14th, I was dispatched to head out and fight my first fire. A ragtag bunch of people (I think only one of us was an actual firefighter) had to head to Airport Lake where a fire had started next to a cabin and almost burnt the place down (I think the flames were about 3 feet from the trailer). If you follow this blog closely, you will remember a sketchy early June visit to a local camp. Three guesses where the fire started. It was lucky the fire was spotted because it was still pretty dry during this time and the area around the lake had the potential fuel to burn more than it did. I manged to use a pisspack (a water backpack with a hand pump) to help extinguish the flames with the help of a helicopter bucketing lake water and then was on hotspot duty until the fire was declared out. It was exciting being there and I hope I get another chance this summer to experience another in person.

Trevor came back early from Old Crow because he didn't bring his passport and the flight travels via Fairbanks and my supervisor Mike Pisaric arrived on Monday. We spent the afternoon at my field site installing some equipment and trying to solve numerous problems. It was probably the nicest day I have spent there as it was very hot and due to the heat there were few to no bugs and I was able to work all day with only a t-shirt and a sweet meshback foamer from 1978 and no bug dope (a rarity here I'm sure). Another screw-up by the guy in Arizona left me with a wiring problem, but I was able to sort that out (with a little confirmation from some friends) and managed to get everything installed on the 20th of July. Hopefully not too late for a successful project.

The remainder of the week was spent doing helicopter work in the Mackenzie Delta (establishing new sites for climate analysis). Flying here works on minimums and so we were on four hour minimums (for three days) and PCSP likes us to use as close to that as possible. So we flew a lot and and spent some long days out in the Delta. It was difficult to find landing spots at times (and locating sites, due a certain someone not doing that before flying) and most of the time we had to land in wetlands where the vegetation was small enough not to be a danger to the tail rotor. This resulted in wet feet for most of these three days and at least one walk through a floating bog. That was amusing. Overall it was a good time, lots of tree coring took place and I'm pretty much an expert at hot landings and takeoffs now. We also visited Aklavik a couple of times over the three days. Aklavik used to be the primary settlement in the area until the government decided to move everyone (and founded Inuvik) in the fifties due to annual flooding problems. Many people still live here though (a lot of people refused to leave) and the town was quite nice (although it still experiences some flooding problems in the spring). I manged to snap a photo of the Mad Trapper's grave (left). That's a story I don't have enough space to tell here, but it is an interesting tale that I'm sure you can find on the web if interested.

On the 20th, I made my first appearance at the Mad Trapper bar in Inuvik. This is one of two bars in Inuvik and the only one that doesn't look like a generic Alberta bar. This is one of those classic bars where the regulars only leave when the place closes down, that doesn't serve food, just has pickled eggs as their food item and where fights are commonplace. We went with the engineers from the helicopter company and had a good time. Some more than others as the beer goggles were in full effect for Trevor who was on the dance floor with some nice prospects...haha. We left before closing, but I plan to return to see some closing time brawls before I leave.

Before we went to the bar, we caught the opening ceremonies of the Great Northern Arts Festival. This a festival that happens every year and showcases some great northern art and culture. The opening ceremonies involve the arrival of a giant carved whalebone and performances by the Fort Good Hope Drummers and the Inuvik Drummers and Dancers. Both of these performances were great and it was the first time I was able to see drum dancing after a couple of years in the north. The art was spectacular as always and lots of purchases are made early Saturday when the gallery opens. I will probably manage to pick some stuff up before it closes this coming weekend. There is actually a big Bingo game tonight that I will be heading too once I finish my fieldwork for the day. Bingo is a culturally phenomenon in the north and everyone as a story about the time someone they knew hit the jackpot. I think I'm going to go and try my luck.

Alas, due to the amount of stuff going on, I have been unable to make it to my slo-pitch games recently, as well the ones I have made it to have not been played due to lack of players. So we'll see if the game schedule for tonight is a go. I'm actually missing playing a bit and I am looking forward to tonight. Thursday is also normally the night when the few people who know what ultimate is in this town get together to play. We'll see if anyone shows tonight as a few people are out of town.

I went to play Bingo tonight. That was a blast. But then was disappointed when no one else from my team or the entire other team showed up to play ball. Yet again. It seems that unless I pick up with another team, I may not have any games remaining. Too bad.

Inuvik Region Firefighter Olympics today. I'm on a team. We're winning it all...

GK