Now, Places Everyone...Front and CENTRE !

The story of Arctic exploration is one of wonder, awe and mystery. Canada is vast as I've tried to explain in my posts along the blogway...so vast that those of us from "the south" have little knowledge of our country apart from the familiarity a few hundred miles near our residences. 

While we may have vacationed in a particular area, either arriving by plane or car, few have travelled the breadth of this magnificent dominion. I've been fortunate, indeed, to have visited Bona Vista in Newfoundland...I never saw any icebergs there, as many have done, but like the many visitors to Newfoundland, I've been "screeched" and "kissed a cod" while in St. John's.

Western end of Lake Erie showing Detroit & Cleveland
Pelee Island the most southern point of Canada

At the other coast, we've visited Vancouver, the city not the island....as yet. So hopefully, there's more travel in our future to that end of the country. I'm a Niagara boy...born and bred. Living in southern ontario, we are blessed with great climate and great views. Not far from this region is the southern limit of Canada.

The southern most portion of Canada is Pelee Island, I've never been there. It's a portion of land sitting in mid Lake Erie (one of the five Great Lakes of North America)...and it's only about 350 kilometers from my house. So there's a side trip I hope to make next summer...and the reason is this. Unlike most Canadians, I've been to the Arctic...not once...but twice. This upcoming trip will be my third...and to a completely different region. I'm quite proud to have made these journeys...the reasons are both personal and professional.

Cambridge Bay is 950 kilometers northwest of Rankin Inlet
Yellowknife is almost the same distance west of Baker Lake

On my first two trips to Rankin Inlet, I worked as the medical radiation technologist (the MRT in xray) at the Kivillaq Regional Health Centre. While there, I discovered a town only two hundred and fifty kilometers away to the northwest. I never visited it as the snow machine ride (and return) was a little too far for my adventurous spirit in -20C temperatures... But also, I was on call for much of my trip and it's a little difficult to provide emergency xray services if you're ten hours away by power sled.

The community to which I'm referring is called Baker Lake. You may not have noticed it before...maybe never knew the name. The next time or whenever you are watching a weather forecast on the news...whether it's in this country or abroad...and the weather person is showing the "arctic air mass" blowing down on us...in the middle of the ice capped area just west of Hudson's Bay...you will notice the name BAKER LAKE. It's routinely labelled. 

The "B" in Baker Lake is located at the "Geographical Centre" of Canada
The "C" in Cambridge Bay is the location of the actual community
Yellowknife is located on the shores of Great Slave Lake (the yellow
marker  between the "f" and "e")

Weather people know (and shortly you will as well)...Baker Lake's importance is this. It's the geographical centre of Canada, north to south...east to west. The fact that I was only a couple of hundred kilometers away while in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut  brings a different focus of sorts. You may remember my mentioning that Rankin Inlet is about 1500 kilometers north of Winnipeg. This means that Canada's land mass and archipelago extends that distance and much more to the northern tip of Ellesmere Island and the community of Alert.

From Pelee Island in the south to the community of Alert in the north...this country is HUGE !!!

Professionally, I'll be providing the same xray services as in the past two visits...this time to a community of 1800 people who had their resident technologist hired full time over in Rankin Inlet. This region of Nunavut is known as Kitikmeot. It is the most western region of the territory and the furthest from the territorial capital of Iqaluit (formerly known as Frobisher Bay). I've outlined some of the distances and my travel itinerary in previous editions, but some updates are in order now that we have finalized details.

The Mackenzie Riven Basin

The travel facts include 7.5 hours on 3 separate jet flights in 737's to get to Cambridge Bay. Of course, that's not counting the waiting times in airports, the travel between airports and residences, the security checks, loading and unloading...all this and I'm still in Canada. The location of Cambridge Bay on the western edge of Nunavut means travelling out through Edmonton and onto Yellowknife to get there.

Yellowknife sits on a northern spit of a very large lake. Perhaps, you may have heard of Great Slave Lake, part of the Mackenzie River system. This river basin drains the north eastern Rockies, Northern Alberta and most of the Northwest Territories into the Beaufort Sea and begs of a blog itself. Hopefully we'll have some time in the next two weeks to introduce you to this very large and important fresh water basin.

In the meantime enjoy these last few days of this year. 2016 is just a few days away and my travel to Cambridge Bay is about to begin. If its like my previous two visits to Canada's north, the experiences will keep both of us in awe.

Editor's Note: 
Happy New Year to all. May 2016 provide you with good health, happiness and the support of those you love.


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The Longest Night of the Year

Sunrise on the "winter solstice" at Stonehenge in the 80's.

Many people seem to celebrate the summer solstice...the day of the year which has the most sunshine in the northern hemisphere. I once visited Stonehenge... it's a regular site of summer celebrations, especially on the summer solstice. 

Located just 12 kilometers north of Salisbury in England, Stonehenge was produced by a culture that left apparently no written records. Many aspects of Stonehenge remain subject to debate and a number of myths surround the stones.

Other cultures have celebrated the summer solstice, including the Ancient Greeks, Ancient Chinese, the Ancient Romans, Native Americans, the Mayans, the Aztecs and the Druids. The Vikings, some of the worlds earliest sailors and explorers, also celebrated the longest day of the year. These were civilizations of the northern hemisphere. 

Here in North America, we have just celebrated the winter solstice. From this day forward, our daylight hours will increase...that is until June 21st, when this cycle begins all over again. For our ancient ancestors the winter solstice was very important since their economies were based on the seasons. Starvation was common during the first months of winter if adequate food supplies were not available.

Many cattle would be slaughtered so that fresh, then cured meat, would be available and those cattle would not have to be fed during those same winter months. This pre-winter period boasted the most fresh meat available to them during the year. As well, the most beer and wine would be finally fermented and ready for drinking. A time for celebration based upon the sun.

The early settlers
of the Arctic regions

In Canada's far north, the ancestors of our current Inuit people, were known as the Thule's. A fascinating history of ancients. Their name and history remains unknown to most Canadians, and I encourage you to discover more about them and the Dorset's...as they are important building blocks of our current indigenous people and there is no "ancestry.com" available for their history.

The Thule people spread from west to east. It is believed they had developed in coastal Alaska around 1000 AD and by the thirteenth century had spread across northern Canada and had reached Greenland. Their efficient use of housing helped their migration and their hunting methods improved with the use of dog sleds, umiaks, and kayaks. These enabled the hunters to travel further for their quarry following big game and sea mammals. After 1000 AD, their use of polished slate for tool making is well documented.

How does this affect my travel to Cambridge Bay? In many ways this trip will be quite different. Yes, it's still a trek to Canada's north with all that it entails..but I will be working alongside descendants of these highly intelligent, yet hardly known ancients. The Inuit have a rich history of traditions, much of which is still unknown to me and sometimes, difficult to understand. I respect these traditions and have had stories related to me based upon these beliefs.

While those descendants in the Arctic have unique characteristics and customs, everyone who lives there has an experience that few can relate to. During the period of time leading up to the winter solstice, the following has taken place. For the past two weeks, the sun has not risen past the horizon of Cambridge Bay for the hamlet is situated above the Arctic Circle. Yesterday, they had approximately an hour of dusk between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. It was the longest night of the year.

Now, until June 21, the days will become longer.  It will take a couple of weeks for the sun to once again rise above the horizon. Initially, I am told the dusk becomes slightly longer and more bright until the sun reaches the elevation needed to be seen again in CamBay. Before they lost their sun, I had been monitoring their daylight hours on a daily basis.

The current weather in Cambridge Bay on Dec 23, 2015

A month ago, they were losing about 15 minutes of daylight each and every day (almost two hours per week)....then no actual sunrise and now only dusk. My personal observations will begin, in earnest, in just 10 days. Based upon my calculations, by the time I leave at the beginning of February, I will get to experience the rising and setting of the sun in less than a four hour window.



This is just one of the strange, yet common occurrences, that takes place in the north. The longest night is over.  The longest day?.....hey, it's just six months away.  




Editor's Note: Merry Christmas to all my readers. This year Christmas boasts a full moon and it won't happen again until 2034.

Merry Christmas to all

O Tanenbaum

The old German christmas carol O CHRISTMAS TREE that we sang in our school concerts has the opening line:
"O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree...how lovely are your branches."  With just a couple of weeks until the "big guy" arrives, most of us are putting the finishing touches on the interior decorating...and that includes the tree. 

While fresh or frozen may be a decision for the contents of your oven on the special day, with our tree, the question that many make is REAL or ARTIFICIAL. Both have merit. Convenience, safety, tradition, smell, cost or just to have "something different" this year...there are reasons why we do...what we do.

The Christmas Tree lots are loaded and ready

What got me thinking about this happened during my drive into work last weekend and a recent television guest interview. As I turned the corner at Vine & Scott, I couldn't help but notice the newly erected sign, hand painted, announcing "Christmas Trees". It's not a new sign...it's seen a few years...like the many announcing newly created christmas tree lots that have recently sprung to life. While those lots may be fewer in number, they hold a special place and maintain a tradition. For years, we got our tree from the St. David's Lions Club and now we, like most, have switched to artificial.

Our childhood memories are probably quite different from those same childhood moments as viewed through our parents' eyes. Over the years, there were different methods used to obtain "the tree". As youngsters, we've been out to the tree farm to cut that "perfect" fresh one, but while growing up on Queenston Street, we had convenience. We simply went across the street to Westminster United Church and in a corner of their "field"...just off the gravel parking lot at the back of the church hall...the men's group had arranged your choice...propped, staked, or piled...long or short,..tall or wide. A small house trailer provided temporary refuge for those working outside.

As the succession of cars filed out, illumination from the strings of christmas lights overhead, and the snow crunching underfoot...a magic occurred. We would go from tree to tree, looking for that perfect specimen...eyeing it from every angle trying to determine how it might appear once loaded with our lights and decorations...the excitement of christmas became more real. "Over here...look a this one...no, that other one looked better...now where was it?"

With the ultimate decision made, once home, we would stand it in a bucket of water. We had lopped off the bottom inch of the trunk. As we grew older we got to use the saw...hoping that this year's version would not provide that immense pile of needles underneath until January 6th would arrive and the tree would become a memory once again.

In Niagara, we take our trees for granted...less so now that the ash beetle has devastated our local woodlots...but the fir trees in our yards and on our landscapes looks so beautiful after a new fallen snow. Many times they become that backdrop for that perfect christmas card.

2008 the Reception counter in Winnipeg for my first flight to Rankin Inlet stilll decorated for Christmas

The singing of "sleigh bells ringing" and the images of snowscapes are some of the traditions of Christmas in Canada, especially Niagara...but an interview this week gave me pause to consider how others around the world celebrate in their various regions. A fella from Australia was interviewed and was talking about our traditions and comparing the celebrations in Australia during December when their season is summer!!! It's tough to sing the traditional carols, imagining snow and ice when you're sitting on the beach by the ocean putting "another shrimp on the Bar-b" and your weather is six months out of sync.

That would be tough enough...but now consider those in the arctic regions of Canada. Having travelled to Rankin Inlet twice now I have experienced the north in the "dead of winter". The decorations strung across the Calm Air sign behind their reception desk in Winnipeg airport, the first time, gave me some indication of what might lie ahead...the experience, of course, was different.  

Loading the passengers into the Calm Aircraft in 2008 at winnipeg for the flight north to Rankin Inlet

Former visitor, still remembered in honured recognition,
the waiting room in Churchill Airport. january 2008.

My first landing out of Winnipeg that day was in Churchill, Manitoba. The home of famous polar bear tours. The daylight was starting to fade and on approach I could see very few trees. As we exited the aircraft so it could be refuelled, the darkness had surrounded us for our next leg to Arviat. From the reflections of the blinking red lights on the underbelly against the clouds you could see driving snow through the windows. It was just part of this new "experience".

Once safely on the ground, there was a blast of wind and driving snow as the door opened in Arviat, and the flight attendant deployed the steps from the aircraft to the waiting ground crew. I had a ring side seat since I was on a single just inches from that doorway. People got off and more passengers boarded with the port engine shutdown to reduce potential injury. The starboard engine continuing to roar. Soon, the steps were retracted inwards, the door closed, the left engine re-started and in spite of the blowing snow we were off....next stop Rankin Inlet.

When daylight came the next morning at 9:50, I had been at the health centre for almost two hours and I remember looking out the front door as the sun rose above the horizon and an odd orange violet hue painted the frozen bay before my eyes...yet something was bothering

One of the first travellers viewed as the sun rose in 2008

me...strangely and odd, something was missing. It was not until later that day that I finally realized what it was. Through the window, I had seen the snow and ice on the ground and had seen the wind blowing it around. I saw buildings, the odd vehicle or snow machine...but there were no trees....no trees at all.

There's always a story..no matter what the climate. 

Later, during my stay in January 2008, I asked one of my co-workers, a local Inuit who had gone "away" for school, if it ever bothered him that there were no trees here. He replied with the logic of the north "no bear can hide behind no tree". I returned from that locum at the end of January, after we had endured the longest blizzard ever recorded in Canada. We boarded the First Air 737 into Thompson, Manitoba in daylight as the days, by then, had grown longer. Before touching down, on approach, I could once again see trees. I knew I was one step closer to "getting home".

For us "southerners" trees come up in conversation all the time...probably because we are use to them (and we miss seeing them). Last visit, while talking amongst other health care workers I asked what was the stangest story you've ever heard. One person replied that they had asked someone in their late fifties, "How old were you, when you saw your first tree?"...the respondant had thought about it for a few moments, then replied that their "first sighting" had occurred when they were in their late thirties.

Just another example of you never know...what you'll hear or what you'll see in Canada's north. Stay tuned there's more adventure ahead.         

Being there...WITHOUT Being There??

Since it moved from the office and business and educational sites, and into our homes and now on our smart phones, the use of the computer has changed our lives in many ways. Our banking habits, how we do our research, call a cab, or the route we will use in driving our cars are many of the uses, that are often performed....sometimes daily.

January 1983...Who knew how much it would change us

This was not always the case. For $1.50 the January 3, 1983 edition of Time magazine, changed history. Instead of a MAN or PERSON OF THE YEAR, they proudly proclaimed the computer as the "Machine of the Year". Yet, as the years have passed...the growth, access, size, power and acceptability of these machines has changed exponentially. This has affected us in ways that we often forget and has lead to a whole generation or two that have never known anything different.

I have a deep interest in technology...I always have. Part of the reason I entered the Medical Xray profession was the rapidly changing field that was explained to me on during a tour to the St.Catharines General Hospital Xray Department while a grade 13 student...many moons ago. Tony Stechyshyn, the Chief Tech and my tour director, helped to show me how my interest in photography could be loosely integrated into the rapidly changing focus of knowledge, skill, and equipment needed to perform the radiography examinations aiding in the diagnosis of patients. 

Upon acceptance into the School of Radiography at SCGH, I can remember the encouraging words of Leonard Sibley, my homeroom teacher that year. He also was a "techie" before techie was the term. Wearing a lab coat with a white pocket saver in his upper left front pocket while in his chemistry classroom, he was encouraging...even emphatic that it would be something I would enjoy. How prophetic he would be.

Commordore 64, 1541 disk drive and 1701 monitor, my first computer
The C-64  was the world's largest single model
sold with estimates ranging 10-17 million  

My introduction in 1983 to the world of "personal" computers changed my life as it also changed our world. The demonstration of an Apple II at Mohawk College followed by home acquisition of a COMMODORE 64, within the year, meant new challenges and applications. A whooping 64K of built-in memory. The 5 1/4 inch floppy disk, double notched so we could use both sides...170 kB on each. Originally, a backup would take 10 minutes using their operating system on the 1541 drive but took the disk 6 minutes each side to make an archival copy...at the end of its life about 10 years later. Nothing had changed except the software.

Connecting to the outside world consisted of using a 300 baud modem on a dial up line. High speed was a few years later when we catapulted to 1200 baud, then 2400. It took hours to download a program and digital images were screen savers, as long as someone in the house didn't lift an extension phone. If that happened you started all over again!

Such is not the case today. Our high speed internet dedicated access allows us the extensive use of YouTube and its vast collections of videos, music and helpful clips of information amongst other digital storage "farms". A whole host of topics is available utilizing the experiences of others to improve our personal efforts. Whether setting up a home wifi network, fixing something around the house, or assembling the latest acquired RC flying model, we have instant access to "experts".  

Our access to data has changed

Years ago a network of friends, also involved their friends and contacts who knew how to do something or could  provide the "services" when we required...in other words we knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone. What has followed, is that the easy "access" has lead to less need for our personal knowledge experts and has resulted in the demise of clubs dedicated to advancing a hobby or skill...or at least has modified how those organizations operate.


If you feel so inclined, you now just post a question on your Facebook page and suddenly your social media network gives you advice...many times whether you want it or not. The whole thing is surreal...but an everyday occurrence. The use of Google to check out and verify information allows everyone to be an expert...to not just retain information...and we can do it with our cell phones!  

The Street View digital recording vehicle in Niagara Falls.

This summer I was driving through a plaza in Niagara Falls and there parked outside a TD bank sat the Google Street view photo car. I snapped a photo...not realizing its importance at the time. If you've ever travelled into a "new city" and want to feel comfortable by recognizing landmarks buildings, and streets....one has only turn onto the internet. Double click on Google Earth and once you've highlighted the street of interest...you can watch and learn and suddenly you are there. Instantly you are teleported to a new environment. The learning occurs, the method is completely different to what we experienced years ago.

Last February, on my return to Rankin Inlet, I was able to quickly become familiar with the community having been there in 2008. It took only a few minutes of the drive from the airport to once again recognize and remember the sights around town..and it saved hours of walking in below freezing temperatures. While Google Earth can show me the streets (but of course, cannot help with those street name pronunciations), the actual street view function does not work. 

Of course, the capital city of Nunavut Territory has made its presence on Street View and you can view Iqaluit any time you wish. I was aware that Google had streetscaped small villages in Africa and parts of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I never imagined that Cambridge Bay had also had the privilege until I tried it...and it worked. To virtually "visit" one of the outside smaller Nunavut communities is really quite unique.

Imagine my delight, when doing some research for my upcoming locum, that I was able to discover that this hamlet of 1800 people has been discovered world wide. I have been able to walk down to the dock...at shore's edge, travel through town, check out the Post Office and Royal Bank buildings. All this and I have 30 days before I actually physically arrive. The secret is that CAMBAY as it is affectionately known, has had the distinction throughout Nunavut of being one of the first communities to have been digitally recorded. 

2012 Google Earth trike records the Street View landscape in Cambridge Bay

The Google Street View option works for this hamlet due to a couple of factors. The Google people, always adept at modifying their techniques, designed a vehicle that could be shipped at reasonable cost to a remote locale. Now, this digital record could really only occur in the summer months...but it could be recorded day and night at that time of the year. 

How did they choose this community? Well, the story goes that several years ago, one of the residents in town wrote to those fine folks in California and complained that there wasn't enough knowledge on the internet about the Arctic and suggested that they could change that with a trip to CAMBAY to document the town....so they did. It was an event for the entire community and the result is available for all the world to see.

So, it seems in the past month, I've already been to Cambridge Bay a few times and I'll visit a few more times before I leave Niagara...so much has changed since since those days in 1983, 32 years ago, when I first viewed the Apple IIe and the Commodore 64. The scenery will be slightly different from those early summer views as they are in the midst of winter weather. They have had snow, gusting winds at 9 km/hour and have a scheduled high today of -29C (-20F). 
   
With Google Earth remaining an easy way to visit somewhere without being there physically, I got to wondering this morning. Given recent information, the new movie "The Martian", continuing discoveries by the Mars landing explorers and ongoing public interest, perhaps it won't be long before we hear the announcement of a new product...Google Mars. Any volunteers to record it?

Screen capture of the Google Street View near "Killik Iliakvik School" in Cambridge Bay

You CAN get there...from here!

Early Arctic Flight..we have come a long way

Today is December 2. On my current calendar it's an important date for me...since it marks a month until my departure from Niagara on to Cambridge Bay. By then the New Year's celebrations will be over (except for our chinese friends) and for many the Christmas decorations and leftovers will be memories.

As this edition goes to print, our outside temperature is a balmy plus 10C (50F) outside. Niagara has been blessed with only a few flurries so far this season, an unseasonal occurrence, with just one coating on the ground one morning only. You might be wondering, in contrast, what my co-workers (to be) in Cambridge Bay Nunavut are experiencing. 

Checking the weather underground website for Cambridge Bay shows typical December weather. Their outside temperature is the same on both the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales. It's minus 40...yes that's -40....and it shouldn't dip any lower as the night continues. 

The first leg of the jorurney Toronto to Edmonton...four hours by 737.

Officially, as of today they are no longer losing any more minutes of daylight....yesterday they lost their last 35 minutes...Today they have no more minutes to lose....but they have less than an hour of light between the sunset and sunrise times. it will get darker over the next three  weeks as the winter solstice arrives. The longest day of the year is fast approaching...and the bonus is that the days will again get longer, north of the Arctic circle.

Travel at this time of the year can be difficult in many parts of Canada. From the newscasts of the past two weeks, we have seen many inches of snow in Western Canada and the midwest states of the U.S. While delays and cancellations are common in airports during these months, travel to the Arctic regions can be affected more often.

The planes are bigger, safer and regularly scheduled
unlike the transportation available for the early explorers

While the weather is one reason, equipment issues can have the same results. My travel north back on February 11th was temporarily disrupted due to a mechanical problem with the jet. Despite four hours of work, the problem could not be resolved. Though disappointed...we were pleased to be disappointed on the ground and not in the air. We flew out the next morning once the problem had been resolved....uneventful.

Last year's trip to Rankin Inlet involved two legs to the journey. The first part was a routine direct Air Canada flight, Toronto YYZ to Winnipeg YWG, arriving with -15C (+5F) degree weather. An overnight rest due to mechanical problems and the trip continued north to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut aboard the First Air 737.

The last leg...the next day......gets you safely...into Cambridge Bay!!!

Getting to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut from Niagara is another multiflight excursion. The first leg involves getting to the airport for the 0655 hours flight....In the Falls, I expect a pickup around 3:30 a.m. in order to meet the check-in and prescreening deadlines and lineups to make the gate in advance without having to do the dash to the gate, like I did in February.

Canadian North 737 on its way!!!

The  7 or 8 a.m. flight (I'm not booked yet) will involve a 4 and a half hour trip on a Boeing 737 to Edmonton. I've never been there... neither to Edmonton nor Alberta. I won't be there long, just a couple of hours...time for some breakfast. Then to a new gate, another 737, and another almost 2 hour jet ride to Yellowknife, Northwest Territory (NWT).

After 6 and a half hours of flying on 2 flights, a two hour time change from EST to Mountain Standard Time (MST)... combined with that 2 a.m. wake up call...I'll be tired...maybe too tired. I plan to buy a lottery ticket in Yellowknife on my way to the hotel....one with a lot of twos in it.

No Tim's in Cambridge Bay...yet !
A cafe and a kiosk are available in Rankin Inlet !!

No matter with what airline I travel to Yellowknife, the flight to Cambridge Bay will be with Canadian North...flight 446. I will get to sleep in that morning and have a solid sunday a.m. breakfast in preparation for the 11 a.m. flight. The airport is only 10 minutes out of town so a later start than the previous day will be welcomed.  

Next door to the hotel is a Tim Horton's. A quick stop there will be my last double double for over a month. The last hour and a half flight is on another 737, specially equipped for travel in the north. Previous experience tells me it will be configured with about 40-50 seats accessed from the rear door. Once up the stairs, the plane looks like any other as you enter.

The top-level forward cargo loading access ready for loading

Outside though, the crews are busily loading supplies needed in Cambridge Bay. The front portion of the upper deck from the cockpit back to behind the wings...is set up for cargo...an extra 20,00 pounds in fact. Access doors in the side of the fuselage open to allow the skids and containers entrance. The lower cargo deck remains unchanged.

Once in the air, we will have 90 minutes until we land..give or take. Of course, we have to allow for head and tail winds. Oh...and did I mention the weather yet? This symphony of planes, flights, cargo and people, both on those planes and on the ground, will only happen if the weather gods are shining down....and all their equipment performs without question.
    

I guess you CAN get there from here...the devil is in the details. We'll both know in less than a month.