Silent Heroes

An old tanker carriage in "Old Town" Yellowknife

There's much talk these days of heroes...anyone who has done anything, other than routine, in our current society is instantly labelled as such. While it may be true, the constant use of the word has diluted, in my mind, the very meaning of the word. The many, who have sacrificed their lives, while performing heroic acts certainly deserve that title.

Yellowknife's "OLD TOWN" still uses the "pick up" service

Others perhaps less so, but in this headline grabbing world in which we live, I'm certainly not going to be able to change that. So let's consider for a moment those “unsung heroes”...people who go out of their way, on a regular basis, to do good....but seldom get the recognition that they deserve.

We could list many under this title, but for this edition, I'd like to restrict it to those men and women providing a necessary service, in all types of weather, to the many hamlets and communities that rely on the transportation of drinkable water and the removal of sewage.

A water tanker being loaded next to the Cambridge Bay hamlet garage

These are the very necessities of life, once an area is settled, and cannot be taken for granted. The contamination of our drinking water results in disease and our ultimate demise. There has been talk, recently, of the poor conditions on some of the native reserves. While this may seem true and the reasons varied, I would rather relate the story to my recent experiences and what I observed directly. 

The water tanker fleet in Cambridge Bay hamlet garage

There are many spots, in Canada, where is has been unfeasible to lay water and sewage lines underground. The overall costs involved, the climate, and the terrain are 3 factors that contribute to the physical use of tank trucks for both waste and water in many communities including Cambridge Bay and Yellowknife. As northern communities expand, facilities continue to improve.

CamBay Water Tanker on it's way for delivery

My extended stay in Yellowknife, at the beginning of my northern adventure, allowed the privilege to travel the city, by transit, to “Old Town”. This area was, of course, the frontier beginnings of Yellowknife located on an inlet of the Great Slave Lake and based upon a gold mining beginning. The section of town has expanded and modernized over the years.

You travel across some bridges...over frozen rivers and streams...to get there. The rising rugged granite formations border the roads on one side while housing on the other buffers the waters edge. Yellowknife is a modern city of 21,000 that has grown from its 1940's population of just 1,000. Its roots originated in, of course, “Old Town”.

Water and Sewage connections on a three-plex

Just like Cambridge Bay, I had noticed the trucks travelling these streets. I never took much thought of them until, while walking along the snowy streets, I happened upon an old tank sitting atop a wooden carriage. It was covered by snow and ice, parked along the side of a building, but it's message was clear...the preservation of an historical artifact...a legacy of the past.

Sewage pick up provided by a different fleet

If your area of a community is not served by water and sewage lines, the only way to maintain habitation is to have it delivered and removed. This is not such a stretch of the imagination as there are many dwellings in rural Niagara that are serviced by water delivery tank trucks.

This difference in our southern location is with our soil thickness. We can use septic systems to handle our waster water allowing a return to the water table through a system of weeping tiles. In the North, where there is little soil, mostly rock layers, it is far more difficult.

Two person crews man both the sewage and water delivery trucks

The infrastructure to do this, relies on the regularly scheduled arrival of fresh potable water and the removal of waste from holding tanks. Of course, there are two different trucks to do this. They have different shapes and different crews, usually two person teams for safety reasons.

The "old" tank farm in town

While water conservation has become more popular of late, when you are on a well, a cistern, or tanked water, you are much more aware of your usage. With this practise, the shower lasts a little less. Last weekend's Superbowl commercial for Colgate stressed the importance of smart usage of our resources. The drought in California is starting to make people much more aware of water conservation.

In Cambridge Bay, there were multiple reminder notices posted in the laundry room of the apartment building. The same notice was affixed in each kitchen reminding residents that “NO WATER DELIVERY OCCURS DURING BLIZZARDS”.

The "new" Hamlet offices with a view of the GN dock
located next to the "old" tank farm

In the centre of the community, not far from the new Hamlet offices sits the old tank farm still operational. It's only 750 yards from the main GN (Government of Nunavut) dock and the new tank farm sits near the airport just outside town. I imagine over the next couple of years the old farm will disappear and the land reclaimed for housing or commercial purposes...it's sloped and has a beautiful view of the bay.

Diesel fuel delivery trucks also travel the roads

The other delivery trucks travelling about are those tankers delivering home heating fuel throughout the hamlet. There are fewer of them but they are a necessary requirement for the variety of housing that exists. All gasoline and diesel fuels are delivered once a year by visiting tanker ship. Deliveries must be adequate to maintain projected generation of electric power, home and business heating and fuel needed for all vehicles, snow sleds and construction equipment.  

There are things about life in the north, that we southerners take for granted besides water lines and sewers. In many locations in the north, because there are no water lines...there are no fire hydrants as well.

On my last Sunday, the sunset at the GN dock just before 2 p.m.

In an previous edition, I mentioned that whenever the fire warning siren in town wailed....other than the daily noon and ten p.m. soundings, the men and women of the water delivery service also respond, as do the volunteer firefighters. If required, water is then pumped by the firefighters from the tanks of their fire truck and then it's replenished to the fire truck...from the tanks of the water delivery trucks.

There are the silent heroes in any situation. In the dark early hours of those January mornings I could see them coming into work, starting to fill their truck tanks with that precious water, and then spending the day about town...working their magic to deliver to homes and businesses. We would wave at each other, a greeting quite common here.

The same label can be applied to the pickup crews...they work their special skills so we aren't backed up..so to speak. These folk also get less attention but really they should get more...maybe this edition will help.

To the Men & Women that work tirelessly to keep us healthy with the prompt (except in blizzard conditions) and efficient use of these trucks, we are indebted. Although we often take you for granted, we appreciate the work you do...for us. They are the unsung heroes and to that we can only say “THANKS” or “TANKS” which ever they would prefer.

The Beauty of the Ice

In Yellowknife there was Love in the graffiti

Travelling down the 406 through St. Catharines this week, had me thinking back to January and my time spent above the magic circle. Along the highway, on a fence, there was some graffiti sprayed...something not seen in "the territories" especially at an average temp of -30C.

Love was in the air in Cambridge Bay

The cover of night allows for this activity here in Niagara...and we have a readily-available supply of paint. Of those two, the darkness of night...we had in the north. However, once the roads end, and transport by plane is the only means of travel, the restrictions of the airlines take over...the liquids....and the aerosols.

Spray paint is not needed to get your message across in the north...you can simply use Mother Nature. While walking through town or looking through a window...no matter in which building you may be...one has to be observant or you miss so much in the short daylight hours this time of year.

The sun streaming through a fence line

While having fresh windswept snow each morning allows for easy observation of animal tracks, the temperatures also increase the amount of frost and is fascinating to see. The short daylight and lack of sun strength contributed greatly to the increasing thickness of frost which appears on surfaces of all sorts.

Thick frost on the posts and wires

The power poles and electric power lines, the chain link fencing (ironically originally manufactured by “FROST”) and the handrails of buildings were but a few of the targets of “jack”. The crystals seemed to lengthen each day until such time as the weather might change, the winds might increase dramatically or the sun might finally reach the object as it rose higher in the sky each and every day...and its path became longer.

"HIGH NOON" from the second floor

There is no easy way to describe the daily changes regarding the sun once it had risen above the horizon. There were overcast days and some days with varying amounts of cloud cover. One day, just before our lunch (and before the regular noon fire siren), I received a call from one of the midwives. “Bob” she said “do you have your camera?...come upstairs..you've got to see the sky.”

Frost on the playground equipment

I grabbed the Nikon and was off, up the staircase and into the south east corner of the health centre. It took a few moments to find a window, not covered in frost or snow in that section of the building...a clear portal to the sky. Once I did, the sight before me was incredible and the next ten minutes were a wonder to behold.

As I talked to the midwife, and captured some images, I was privileged to observe the sun...and then realized what was happening as the sun moved toward a power pole. It crossed behind the power pole...and continued on its path...the beam was soon blocked by the next two storey building. The sun was not yet...high in the sky...as this was only the second week of having the sun above the horizon.

...and on the signs

In a matter of less that ten minutes, with some visual stationary references, the sun had moved about ten feet across the roof of a building...and when it crossed the hydro pole...you could actually see the red ball moving. During my time spent in Cambridge Bay (and the few nights in Yellowknife), I never enjoyed as many beautiful and unique sunrises and sunsets....some only minutes apart.

The pace of life is slower in the north. The vehicles move with respect on the ice-covered roads, their drivers knowing that pedestrians abound and are likely to spring from any numbers of directions. The snow and ice build upon the roads due to snowfall or drifting then are compacted by the traffic. There are several ways to deal with this.

The dozer doing 360's on the main street

The third week at the Health Centre I was returning paperwork to the front entrance receptionist. I glanced out the front window in time to notice a big grader scrapping the top layer on the street. This was just a few days after watching a tracked bulldozer doing circles at the main intersection in town.

Snow and ice maintenance at the intersection

On a Saturday, just as that noon fire whistle had blown with the accompanying chorus of dog howls from across the entire hamlet, I had noticed this bulldozer, blade up, travelling down the street. Nothing unusual with that, as there are always front end loaders and other pieces of heavy equipment travelling the local streets...some with buckets clearing drifts and some doing heavy lifting with their forks managing the materiel stored about town.

This particular dozer came to the intersection and did a 360...then another...and this continued many times with the centre of his circle moving further down the street past the high school. Then it was repeated...and repeated. When I finally arrived at the intersection, I discovered the reason for this “dance”.

There's beauty in the night sky

The tracks of the bulldozer had broken up the icy packed snow into manageable chunks...and the road based gravel below was now visible. Next the chunks were moved aside...and the process would begin again...adding a margin of safety to this four way stop.

Another night...more beauty !

Elsewhere through this community, many of the residents own the steel shipping containers on their property. They serve as winter and summer storage...and while they might be considered a blight on the landscape, their need is real as the housing has no traditional basement and few have garages available, though some of the newer housing had garages attached.

In the winter though, the drifts can block easy access to that storage. You keep your snow shovel handy or you will be borrowing a neighbours to get access to yours, if you left it stored in your sea can. While these shipping containers abound everywhere, there are areas storing equipment and supplies throughout the town...no doubt some of these are ready for the construction season ahead...May? June? July?

Tthe "tourist" sign...a little frosted

There is evidence of an increasing arctic tourism market. Several cruise ships now have Cambridge Bay listed as a stop on their Northwest Passage routes. The Visitor's Centre and the Library (attached directly to the high school) are 2 of the main attractions with their various displays. Throughout the community, there are signs posted near the various “hot spots” of tourist interest. They are written in several languages, English and Inuktitut, primarily.

While they are interesting to read, at this time of year, many times you could not. To protect these signs, they are covered with thick plexiglass...and as a result, during the winter, that plexiglass becomes encrusted with frost and a thick layer of ice forms...obscurring the words of explanation located beneath. A return visit to some of the signs, once the sun was a regular visitor, allowed for some visualization...but its too early for most tourists yet.

I couldn't resist... the temptation

There is beauty in the ice and snow...but I was a visitor...and someone not having to deal with it year round. While the fresh snow and ice crystals provide a ready canvas for any graffiti artist, the good news its cleanup...above the magic circle...is easy. Once again, Mother Nature will take over and restore...once the warmer weather of spring arrives. 

An Old Friend

The early morning setup for the IGLU seminar

Across the inlet, further East, the current stand of aerials & towers  

It only took five hours on “the land” to begin to understand the long and well-entrenched history of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. On a Saturday morning...with a late morning sunrise around eleven a.m., down on the coast of the bay, east of town, I listened. As each introduction had occurred, I was warmly welcomed to Cambridge Bay even though the winds were gently blowing at 15 kph and the temperature hovered around -30C.

That morning, I had met elders, community leaders and various residents...each with a tale to tell... not initially but eventually...and it all had happened during the uprising. As each snow block was fitted, as each course of “snow bricks” was positioned...as the structure began to rise.

The elders constructed their circular dwelling...a tradition of generation's past....as a demonstration for those gathered. The slow, but steady, pace had allowed time for conversation...with answers and comments to my endless stream of questions.

One of the Elders at the IGLU raising...skipping to
 warm her feet with the Old Stone Church behind

That demonstration, by those elders, of their "snow house of the past" had to be one of the highlights of this arctic adventure. Once built, the stable cold weather, above the magic circle, assures that an IGLU remains a viable winter landmark offering protection from the winter winds and available as an emergency shelter should the need arise.

After 2 weeks the IGLU stood strong but drifted against the winter winds

Before I left Cambridge Bay, last monday, something drew me back to that site...something I had read during my stay. It had concerned the use and functionality of these “iglus”. I went back to visit, somewhat like saying goodbye to a “new friend” knowing you'll never see them ever again.

I took a trek that sunday morning to see if the kids in town had decided to try some demolition...in the two weeks since its construction. I had thought that might happen, as with kids everywhere who are usually thinking “for the fun of the moment”...but it had not happened.

Too large for fox...too small for bear...wolverine?, dog? wolf?

Was it respect for tradition and history? Possibly. Respect of a creation made by their grandparents as traditions do run deep in these northern communities...or was it just too far from town for a convenient “joy ride” on a snow machine in these cold days of January?

We'll never know...but that sunday, as I stepped off the dock and over the drifts, with the sun trying desperately to rise on my right, there...in the distance I could see an outline where the activity of two weeks earlier had occurred...current status unknown. In less than ten minutes, I would know its current condition and adjust my hike accordingly.

The early rising sun at the IGLU site among the drifts

The drifted snow down at the boat docks with the aerials behind

I made my way out on the ice along the coastal banks and arrived where the elders and others had toiled two weeks earlier. The snow had drifted from the prevailing winds that seems to blow almost non-stop here. There were small structures...snowman, an inukshuk and pieces of snow and ice scattered in the area. All were drifted.

From the changes that had happened in a mere two weeks, I paused to wonder what it would look like once spring set in. When those warm rays of the sun would begin to melt the surface....getting progressively stronger each day as the frozen ice would become slushy during daylight...only to re-freeze as darkness followed.

The sun was now high enough to reflect off the Iglu. There were animals tracks around it. I didn't crawl inside for fear there might be something living there not friendly to humans. A few inches off the ground were many yellow stains against the structure...the results of dogs or wolves. It's true..don't eat the yellow snow!

The "screen saver" that started the investigation

The sky was clear and blue with few clouds. The rising red to the south cast a palette of purples and pinks...and everything in between on the sky to the north. Across the bay, the early morning “ice fog” was clearing and the large stone Cairn marking “The Maude” was now easily visible.

To its right, higher on the land, sat the “old church”...reconstructed after the fire and currently boarded up for the winter to prevent it from happening again. Past the church, in the distance was an “aerial farm”...a collection of dishes and antennas, along with the supporting power cables and posts...each one a component contributing to our connection with the world beyond.

Facing south and east across the inlet at the end of January. In 2 weeks,
the sun had travelled further East & West at sunrise/sunset and was higher in the sky each day at noon

In 2006 the Loran tower was visible for many miles

Some towers had lights flashing on them, providing constant warnings to air pilots every few seconds by marking their locations. But the skyline of Cambridge Bay had changed...not since I arrived but in the past two years. This modernization of the Arctic had occurred before my tour, and not everyone was a true believer.

Cambridge Bay from the East above the Loran tower

During my preparations in December, I had “toured” Cambridge Bay on Google Earth. I had travelled each street to assist in getting some future bearings...which really helped once I arrived. This was made even more important by the winter darkness during my free time. Though the street lights helped immensely, it was a comfort to be able to recognize buildings and streets and aided in my “not” getting lost on my hikes around the hamlet.

The old tower, no longer present

During my “Google” tours, I had clicked on various buttons and looked at the photos that had been posted by previous visitors for all the world to see. The current reality was a bit different as most of the images posted were taken during warmer, and many times, snow-free periods. Now that I was here, it didn't take long to realize that something was missing.

One of the girls in the health centre had a screen saver on her desktop that was the view from town across this inlet of the bay, towards the sites of the Maude and the Old Stone Church...the original church. It held the clue. Now missing was a landmark...a CN TOWER equivalent to Cambridge Bay. The LORAN tower was gone. More legwork and questions...only to discover the reality of today's technology.

It seems that the almost 300 meter tower held the old LORAN-C radio direction beacon, used as a navigational aid for shipping during the second half of the twentieth century like many other towers spread across this country. In this modern age of GPS technology and miniaturized electronic gadgets, its use was not only outdated but many times had survived being put “down”.

Inside the old tower as it stood years ago

Like some lighthouses around the world it was considered too expensive to maintain with more modern, reliable and cheaper alternatives already in use. Finally in 2010, the American Coast Guard and Transport Canada declared the LORAN system obsolete. After some 60 years following the system's acceptance and installation world-wide, it is no longer operating in North America.

The Old Stone Church presently restored but sealed for the winter

For a few years this mighty mast continued to display lights. Its shear presence of height acted as a beacon to the many returning by boat or snow machine (depending on the time of year) to Cambridge Bay. It no longer stands proud...as it's been removed.

There's still the concrete base buried in the current snow and the concrete pads that held the support cables steadying the tall structure in the gusts and blows of arctic weather in the half century since its installation.

The Old Stone Church in July 2006 after the fire

The Arctic is changing, but it's still hard to say goodbye to an old friend. For the inhabitants of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, there is some loss and a sadness. It's hard to lose a friend...a beacon that guided you on your journeys and one that helped you find your way home over “this beautiful land” as its often described by many of the Inuit.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The photos showing the original Tower & the Church are courtesy of Timothy K. RG Bacon and Andre Akana Otokiak...from Google Earth submissions.