Tundra Hues

I don't know if I need to write poetry, when the land really does it for me without words. The tiriuq near Rankin..... amazing.

Frosty Sunrise

The first morning came chilly, but beautiful as the cold drove us into action as early as dawn. The fog/frost/sunrise combo made for breath taking views and a few nice photos, but none that did the sunrise justice. Sadly, it was the last we saw of the sun, as it went cool, windy and overcast for most of the rest of the weekend.

Aerial Photo of Baker Lake

Off to Science Camp

An aerial shot of Chesterfield Inlet, including a barge.

And the seasons turn

I didn't see any geese, at least not until they burst from a ravine right under my nose, startling me in a pleasant suprise kind of way .. but aside from it getting dark at night, they are further proof that summer is over and winter is near. Still, I'm hoping for one more nice weekend at least.

Moving Waters

It seems like time is speeding up and up with more and more things piling on. I'm glad I took a few moments to enjoy the fall on the Tundra because as a friend said to me - the fall is the best time on the land. Baker Lake was pretty empty this weekend.

Bearberry

I'd be remiss not to post at least one picture of this plant which is transforming the tundra from a drab field of yellow to one of fiery reds.... and I have about a zillion pictures of it from yesterday... so I need to space them out so.

Alien Invasion

Two seeming alien invaders. The first is the Mexican Hat (aka Aeronautical Beacon) and the second is a second mystery plant. Now where did I put my tin foil hat!

Lycopods in the North

I'm clearly losing my botony touch. I had assumed automatically that these were some kind of moss, but they are a "club moss", a primitive kind of fern actually and far more complex then a moss. So, may I introduce to you.... Lycopodium selago.

I've always had a soft spot for club mosses, theye were one of my favourite things to point out to my campers. I especially like ground pine and running or wolfspaw club moss. But these are awful striking.. I might have to make room for a new favourite.

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Plant

Unfortunately I'm not sure what kind of plant... it looks a bit like what I'd expect a lousewort to look like, but I don't recall seeing lousewort leaves. My second guess is some kind of willow... I'll have to look back through my photos.

I finally get to be a Spaceweather Aurora Gallery Contributer

http://spaceweather.com/submissions/map.php - this is their new tool that shows you a map and the most recent submissions from around the world or you can visit my pictures (albeit they are on this blog) at http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Jennith-Peart-PENP8312_1283787105.jpg

I know its lame, but I'm actually quite excited about being on a site that I've been following for so long. I hope that now that I've got my camera figured out and the sun is spending less time looking like a spotless orange we might start getting some good pictures.

Green Lights GO!!!

I can't wait until we hit the solar maximum - although I know I'm not likely to see the kind of Northern lights I saw in Thunder Bay or Kashechewan here - still, these were pretty good and I was taking them right down town.

Northern Lights Finally

I haven't had much luck since I've been here getting photos of the northern lights, but finally I saw some wonderful ones and I think I've managed to figure out some good settings.... F3.5, ISO 400, about 20-25 seconds

Baker Lake Panned by Camera

Not sure how this is going to look on the internet, you can clearly see its stitched together.. I need to work on my technique for sure - but still kind of neat to see.

Ode to my Lens

I have to give my camera lens credit for some pretty dreamy out of focus blur today..... Here is a shot of Arctic Cotton grass enjoying the wind and sunshine just as much as me. The tundra and its plants leave me in awe of how they manage it and also how much detail there is to the land scape even when the plants are mostly shorter than a hand span. It was cool trying to figure out by the colour of the plants whether I'd be hopping from hummock to hummock trying to keep my feet dry or if it would be flat. I discovered that the larger willows grew in ravines and that yellow-green grass (arctic cotton grass mixed with others.... usually meant wet feet, while reds (Bearberry) and oranges (dwarf birch) and dark greens (heather) were safer as were visible outcrops of rocks. The distribution of plants in finely divided microhabitats was fascinating - which plants grew on rocks, between rocks on top of hummocks, on their sides, in moist places - it was so complex and neat. So, keep an eye out, I starred 138/585 pictures as being likable, so hopefully it'll keep my blog in pictures for the next few days.

In other notes, my blog made it onto stumble upon, which boosted my stats for a couple of days and meant for the first time I've noticed that a higher percentage of Americans had viewed my blog than Canadians, although that may be that most of the folks I know personally view my blog from locations other than my url and thus don't end up on the stats. Another stats related note, my map resets in early August and so the numbers from that are in and my count is about 2000 hits less than the year before but both years were higher than 10,000 visits. I've already had nearly 1000 hits this month... so this year could be an uptick. I guess it depends if I keep it going or not quite keep it updated... So far, I'm doing much better.

Galloping Gertie

Okay... Hare not a bridge... racing for the cover of the rocks in the picture below.

Stake Out

I was watching him, but he was definitely watching back.

Sandhill Cranes

I didn't bring a second memory card for my camera, which is odd for me, but I didn't bring my camera bag with me, and that is where I keep them. Just as I was heading back to the airport, my dilligent watching of my feet was interupted by a strange noise - the warning call of the Sandhill Crane annoyed at my approach. At this point I was already out of room on my memory card so I rapidly flipped through and deleted a couple of pictures giving me about 5 to take pictures of the crane. This one is nearly in focus. I love the variation in the colour of its feathers.

A Perfect Day

There are not many days that one can call perfect, but today is as close as it gets for someone with more stuff to do than time. I can't even find it in me to feel guilty for spending the afternoon outside - exploring, taking pictures, feeling the sun and the wind on my face, searching the tiny tundra plants for the perfect angle to capture their autumn beauty and breathing fresh air (for the most part - give or take some dust.)

I had a good chat with my grandmother this morning and homemade spaghetti sauce with cottage cheese and a cupcake and excellent coffee. I stretched, I sketched out the next two weeks and then I told myself that I had to take my walk before I did anything else, meaning only to be out for an hour or maybe two.

Its a funny thing about humans and hills, or at least me and hills. I see a hill and I want to climb to the top of it to see what is on the other side and then I see another hill and want to climb it too. So first I climbed uphill cross country to the beacon or as it is fondly called in Baker Lake - the Mexican Hat. Having arrived there in a wonderfully good mood (in spite of listening to the reversing alarm of a backhoe or dozer in the gravel pit) - the top of Blueberry Hill called to me, and so I walked, past two small, but delightful lakes and up, up, up a sandy Honda Trail past the resting place of Jessie Oonark (which I didn't know was there - She is one of the most famous artists from Baker Lake), to stand before this Cairn (which I assume marks the highest point of the hill, but its hard to say. )  Then, I spent a while watching a hare run about the top of the hill and discovering the different kinds of plants that grow on top of a large rocky hill, compared to the boggy, marshy ground I'd walked over to get there. Mostly, I just enjoyed fresh air and sunlight and the uplifting effect they were having on me... I hope you enjoy the pictures that I'll throw up over the next few days.... nearly as much as I enjoyed taking them.

The End of the Road

Technically, the road does pass the east end of town, but it rapidly looks more and more like a trail... at least until it gets to the tank farm.

The roads are really this red too.

Okay.. going to go out and be outside so I can track red dust back into my house later and another batch of photos.