Flying in and around Yellowknife

Frost on the glass bus shelter...a little work and you could see the bus

Today was the first day in my new position at the KITIKMEOT Regional Health Centre except I didn't show up for work. I just couldn't do it...not from 950 kilometers away. While there may be a sprinkling of remote control surgeries happening around the world, Cambridge Bay is yet to join. Hey, we don't have inpatients yet at the health centre.

Atop the hill stands the Memorial

If you've just joined us, the weather north of us has been pretty wild for the past two days. As a result there are many people stranded here in Yellowknife (it's been mentioned as many as 100). There were many teachers on our flight that was cancelled yesterday just after having completed our de-icing routine. I'm been told that only 2 showed up at the high school today, all the rest have been "weathered" in transit.

I emailed my boss, to say I'd be late...perhaps late tuesday...perhaps not....only tomorrow's 10:10 flight will tell. Actually, we've been in communication all weekend. For me, going to a new community and wanting to start off right...this is poor. Everyone else though is experiencing it as though it happens all the time. It must. The hotels and airlines deal with it matter of fact...without any sense of panic or concern. Apparently it's worse in the spring and fall with problems due to fog. I don't mind waiting...safety is a good thing. 

This "free" day gave me a chance to play tourist...a Niagara Falls guy playing tourist in another tourist town. Once confirmations for tomorrow's flight were complete and the hotel housing was organized...what to do...and how to do it? You talk to local people....like those cleaning the rooms. I found out that Yellowknife (YK) has a public bus system with three routes...and one of the stops is outside the Coyote.

The view looking south at the Bush Pilots Memorial
...sun's only up for 6 hours and doesn't rise high.

On checking the YK town website, I discovered that as an "elder" it would cost $2 to ride. Transfers are needed to get from here into "old towne" going from route C to route B on the overlap section. So we walked over to the bus enclosure to discover that in the bright sun they frost up completely and you can't see if the bus is coming. A quick scrape on both sides...problem solved.

A transfer and further discussion with the next driver and I was directed to the hill in "old towne" that lead up to the Canadian Bush Pilots memorial. Although quite windy, the view in the bright sun and clear sky was breath taking. Quite a fitting spot when you really think about those aviation pioneers, their equipment, their navigational systems and the weather they endured to "open up" the northern areas.

The Bristol Freighter...a workhouse of earlier days

On the way from the airport into town is a plane mounted above a park. I originally thought it was a tribute to Max Ward, a WWII trained pilot who helped open the north while Yellowknife was still a frontier town. 

As an early bush pilot in the Edmonton area, his first company would lead eventually to greater things with the founding of Wardair which became Canada's third largest airline before being acquired by PWA in the mid 80's. Wardair changed Canadian air travel, first with charter service and eventually with regularly scheduled flights.

This plane, perched on a small hill as a welcome for all to see on their way into town, is a Bristol Freighter. The large sign labelled YELLOWKNIFE in block yellow letters is carved in granite below. The relic holds a special place in Yellowknife's history as it was donated to commemorate the services provided by a fleet of these same freighters in the development era of the territory. 

They were used to haul people and supplies to remote communities, schools, mines and oilfields. This freighter, retired in 1968, has a unique place in history as it was the first wheeled plane to touchdown at the North Pole in May of 1967.

Later, while the sun was still above the horizon, I stopped in to viisit Buffalo Airways. That will be another story...for another edition.

Landing today at sunset