Things you don't expect in the middle of the Tundra

Yesterday I was lucky to get a tour of the Meadowbank Mine 76 km more or less north of Baker Lake. It was the first time that I got to see much of the land. Whitehills Lake is particularly beautiful and we saw some incredible Caribou en route. We also saw some things that you might not expect to see.

In particular this crazy metal dome rising shining from the tundra - gleaming like some giant place of worship maybe a cathedral or even a mosque... (Giant Mosque on the Tundra). Its actually going to be an ore storage facility and the choice of a dome had a great deal to do with tundra winter windspeeds as opposed of aestetics, but it does leave me feeling a bit awed especially gleaming in the sun under such an amazing blue sky.....

The second amusing thing for me to see, having recently returned from the more mountainous part of Canada was the "Tundra Switchback" complete with gear down advice..... :D I wish I had a picture of that sign.

The tour started with a delicious lunch and took us a lab, a site tour, an engineering presentation and their geology lab. I learned a lot that will hopefully in the Geology/Mining parts of my teaching. The bus ride took us through beautiful territory, but it was definately a bit jarring - so my hats off to the employees that make the trip regularly. I was able to get a good chunk of sock knit en route, and the weather was sunny and beautiful.

Glacier in the clouds

Brr... it was chilly at the bottom of this hill as the cold wind swept down and I wished that I hadn't been forced to change into shorts at an earlier stop.

Even when the weather wasn't delivering sun, the clouds that it delivered (and random boughts of torrential rain) were entertaining and made for neat photographs.

Today is moving day... I'm packing.... or at least I should be.

They have Tuktu here too!

Today marks my last day in the mountains.... assuming that the storms in the centre of the universe don't leave me "stranded". I'm sad to leave, but I'm looking forward to going north and taking lots of pictures of fireweed and the tundra in the fall and keeping this blog fed on a variety of photos - look for lots more from the mountains.

The next 72 hours are going to be insane, but I think I'm mostly packed, so aside from a last run to the evil walmart for Dill Pickle popcorn seasoning and another package of sport socks and probably some other thing that I remember that I need up north and have forgotten....

The mountains have been wonderful. There has been an ample supply of wonderful viewscapes, black coffee, bannock, wildlife sitings and trails to hike. Its very nice to have a good friend in the mountains - especially one that actually likes playing outside. This galloping tuktu was munching lichen in the Cavell Meadows and litterly ran past us with only a few meters to spare. I think it might just have been the most gloriously healthy lookig Caribou I've ever seen.

Over and out for now..... I have many miles to cover in the next 3 days, but then I should be back for my regularly unscheduled posts :D.

J.

So, enough

Morraine Lake

The weatherman threatened 4 days of rain and cold, but delivered 2 perfect days of heat and sun, a nice misty sun-cloud mix and a mostly sunny day with some stormy clouds for interest. I highly recommend the Wabasso Campground in Jasper, if you don't mind things being a bit rustic. It was quiet and away from the highway and interesting landscape for sure... I have to run for now.. but I took 627 photos, so lots more to follow I promise.

Incoming Weather

So... the good weather has been chased out by clouds... here is a doozy of a storm threatening the dry and happy campers at Bow Valley Provincial Park. I'm sitting inside with fleece and wool socks and hoping for a bit more warmth.... I still have some serious hiking to do and some serious pictures to take.

Cliff Snag

This is another shot from Cougar Creek on the way back to the parking lot. The snag is huge and you have to wonder how it manages to stay attached to the cliff... I wonder if it will be there next year.

wee little critter by Cougar Creek

The weather in the west has taken a turn for the cold and wet it seems (a whole week of rain and cold is forcast - but I'm hoping that they are wrong as usual). This little guy was photographed on a nice, warm, sunny day.

Dragon Near a Mountain

This lady was dipping her back end into the water at various intervals - we suspect that it was possibly to lay eggs....

A few more shots

The have fireweed and rivers out west too!!!

Mountains Rock!

I could feel the stress seeping from my soul as I drove west from Calgary. Truely there is little that can top driving a Toyota on uncrowded TLDH (two-lane divided highway) facing topography that would impress the Ontarian in me, never mind that I spent my last year in one of the more rugged parts of the Kivalliq (which was still pretty level even relative to the Escarpmenty part of the GTA where I grew up.)

So far, I've been lucky to manage to meet up with serveral friends I haven't seen in years and I even get to meet my 1.5 year old Nephew for the first time today and see my brother, his wife and his older son. I'm hoping to get rolling on some serious picture taking over the next few days. My homework for the summer is to email some good pictures of my summer to my boss.

Its really beautful and peaceful out here and I'm really thankful for Air Canada junk mail - as I don't think I would have considered coming out here if the airfare wasn't such an amazing deal. My return to the north and my awesome job are fast approaching and so I'm savouring my last trips to real produce sections and last bits of driving.

Rusty Berries

I am still alive and I'm taking lots pictures, so hopefully the post frequency will increase now that I'm having a brief period of cramming as much outide time into my life as possible.

Waiting For Godot

I posted this photo mostly out of appreciation of its "out-of-focus-blur." As a flower, beebalm isn't showy or stunning, but it certainly gets points for being interesting.

Its crazy to think that I'll be back up north with expensive ice-cream in just a few short weeks. Where on earth did the summer go? However, before I leave the land of roads and walmart's, I am detouring to visit the rocky mountains which will hopefully provide me with a few months of blog fodder - to keep you entertained.

In the short term, it has left me insanely busy, so I appologize in advance for my intermittant and uninspiring posts in the next few weeks. I promise to make up for it.

Cheers,

J

Look B., your momma is a Tuktu-head

Does this picture really need a caption.... babbies really make adults do funny things!

Happy Birthday

Well, here is one of the 3 cutest kids in the world (and I'm shamelessly biased here) reaching for the dinosaurs on his cake. Happy Birthday from Aunt Jenn who lives not in an iglu, but just uphill from "The Iglu", a restaurant and hotel owned by the Coop in Baker Lake.

Jennith

Up-see-daisy and Echinacea

In the next few days, the garden is going to burst with Echinacea - but here is proof that sunlight matters, the center bed is a fair bit ahead of everything else.

I'm still plodding away at my thesis, but I started the day with an early morning swim and a nice mug of Tim's Coffee. I think that will make a good routine, although, earlier will help I think to get a good start on the morning. I need to ween myself back onto winter hours.

Tomorrow is going to be a fun family day. Its birthday's galore here.

And Sunday, its back to the grindstone.

J.

A little bit of purple to make the world go round

I still owe the garden several hours, but its amazing what a bit of weeding and mulch will do. These flowers are in a lovely Terra Greenhouse basket.

Lily Beetle Invasion Continues

The "Rusted From the Rain" song playing in the background seems appropriate for the photo. I don't think I'm going to win this one.

Flowering Ground Cover

Not sure what this is.. it actually was there when we bought the house. I'm not even sure I've ever noticed it flowering before... but its kind of cool.

Sundown Echinacea

The lily beetles are breaking my heart (not to mention killing my lillies), but the echinacea is flowering. Here is one of my favourite varieties - Sundown Echinacea.

The Ravages of the Lily Beetle Infestation

Here they are en-masse, destroying my Asian Lillies... sigh... The only thing that I've been told you can do is pick them off by hand and kill them, and I've been trying - but they just keep coming.

There is blood on the lillies...

Here they are in their second year in the garden - the endearing "blood-spattered lillies."

I finally got my butt in the garden for a few hours to do a bit of planting, watering, feeding and weeding. I'm waiting for the day lillies to take off. For some reason the yellow ones flower a few weeks before all the other ones. I'm hoping the feeding will bring them on a bit faster. There is still a fair bit of work and I'm still losing the war with the asian lily beetles.... as you'll see in other photos.

Contemplation

Today's theme... what is bravery? Siberian tiger says "I feel bravest when its dark and I know I'm not afraid of all the noises I can hear, even if I can't see the noise makers." Jenn says "I feel bravest when I stand up for myself. Its easy to let people take advantage of you, its a lot harder to tell them that you won't put up with it, and then really not put up with it." Rock says "I feel bravest when I have a lot to lose, but I still roll the dice anyways. What does a rock have to lose though?" Grass says "I feel bravest when I let myself blow freely in the wind, even though I can hear the mower coming." Fence says "I feel bravest when I can feel the jaws of that massive tiger chomping on me, and I don't even wet myself. Although, I, ummm, don't have a bladder." Wind says "I feel bravest when I race across the open valley and blow fearlessly through the leaves of the trees in the autumn. I love making them flutter to the ground."

Hmm... Zhennith says... "Enough, mulling philosophy to avoid practicallity."

Zoooooo zooo zooo!

So one of my oldest dearest friends from University the first time..... and I went to the zoo today. Mostly we stuck to the African pavilion because I think she likes watching the primates... although people watching at the zoo is nearly as interesting as the animals...

I heard one girl call out in an excited voice - "look dad look up at the bird!" to which he replied in a somewhat bored and tired tone "that's nice sweetie". When she repeated the same exclamation to her mom.. the woman not only looked, but remarked in her own excited tone that it was a cool bird and then lifted her daughter up so she could see better... obviously.. if she is still going to the zoo when she is older, its going to be with mom, and dad may opt to stay home.

I personally think watching the kangaroos was probably the most interesting. It was nice to hang out with a fellow bio student as we discussed the anatomy of the kangaroos in an uninformed attempt to guess how its bones were arranged to allow for such speed and agility. Although, the giraffes amazed me with their agility and the Chimpanzees with the gymnastics and the gorillas with their contemplative gazes.

It was good to see lots of people there, although, the next time I go, I'll make sure to get their eariler so I can get a better parking space. We ended up in the overflow lot. It was nuts. The Tundra Trek is not opening until August. Hopefully, I'll be able to squeeze my second trip in August with B. and his family. Aunt Jenn has promised a trip to the zoo.... but it would be more fun to take him when I can show him the Tuktu, Amaruq, Tiriaq, Siksik and Nanuq that she might see where she lives up north, aparently in an iglu. I tried to explain that I live near the Iglu (a local restaurant in Baker Lake) rather than in the Iglu... but I'm sure B. will understand when he grows up...

Good night sleepy little tree Kangaroo

okay... cute points for this guy... snoozing in a tree...

Farewells

I've never been a particular fan or non-fan of Michael Jackson. He sang music that I could appreciate, but it didn't really fall into what I tended to listen to... I never really could believe that he intended to hurt children, no matter what allegations were made, but then again I didn't read much of that news either. Even this week with news denominated by Jackson headlines, I didn't feel like I needed to know the details or hear about scandels. So, I'm not sure what made me cave and tune into the last 15 minutes of his public funeral. I think I'm glad I did... even if the sound of his daughters voice sharing her terrible pain and loss with the entire world haunts me forever. Some will say that it was wrong for her to be there - but I got the feeling she wanted very badly for the world to be reminded that he was human and that real people really loved him, just for himself, not his money, not his talents, but the stupid everyday kind of love that most of feel for parents, siblings, and friends.

Today seems to be a funeral kind of day. The weather outside is cool and gloomy. I learned this morning that a key DJ on a radio station that really defined music in my highschool years took his own life. Maybe its just the new mix CD that by some quirk of mood seems to be full of melancholy songs or my reading of the Star's curent series on women battling drug addiction isn't exactly uplifting. My eyes are kind of teary. I didn't know Michael Jackson or Martin Streek, but the susceptability of even people who seemed larger than life to simple death - the fragility of human life in general just seems to leave me feeling a touch vulnerable. I happened accross a picture of me and Andrew Desmond this morning, looking for something else, and maybe that has coloured my reactions. He drove me nuts sometimes, but I wish I could have the joy of his outrageous Deziness in person once more... death seems so unfairly final and you can only hope that they can hear you say all the things you wish you said in life across the barrier between life and death.

On an up note, I've actually gotten to the point where I'm really starting making progress on my modelling.