Chapter 3

June 1
I’mmm backkk!!!   Had to wrestle the computer from Ellen cause she said no more stories like last time.  I guess that means I have big sister looking over my shoulder and censoring everything I write from now on.  I’ll just sneak into the men’s room and get this done.  Now where were we?

From Falher north we had lots of big fields again.  They are stripping the woods and burning all the stumps and making grain fields.  The earth is good and black and looks like it will grow anything.  After 200 or so miles we stopped at High Level, big town of 3600, and camped.  After that it was woods, woods, and more woods.  Afternoon we entered North West Territories.  Everyone gets their picture taken at the 60th Parallel and we were no exception.  Nightfall found us at Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park.  Their claim to fame is a pair of waterfalls, hence the name, Louise  Falls has a 50 foot drop and her sister Alexandra has a drop of 108 feet which I believe is greater than Niagara Falls.

Anyway we were now officially in NWT.  Wood Buffalo National Park, home of the wood buffalo, cousin to the plains buffalo, and nesting ground for the whooping crane, was our destination. We stayed just outside the park at Fort Smith.  Fort Smith is also home to the smart black bear.  Our host told stories of bears climbing up high power lines, 40 – 50 feet, and raiding the raven’s nests in the top.  They open 4 wheelers gas tanks and sniff the gasoline to gethigh, and even have learned to open car doors, and outhouse doors by turning the doorknob.  She also watched one try to open the bear proof garbage containers  by putting its paw in the slot but was unable to lift it up because it was sitting on the top of the lid.     While at Ft Smith, we did see one whooping crane at the salt plains.

We are now in Yellowknife NWT.  Been to a couple museums, ate at some pricyrestaurants, they’re all pricy, and did a little exploring around the countryside.  On the trip up Ingraham Trail, a dirt road, we came to the end of the road, which was thebeginning of the road across the water for the “Ice Road Truckers”.  While taking pictures of the sign, a pick-up stopped by and 4 people got out.  Turned out the man, John, and his wife were showing his parents where he drove the road to the Diamond Mines.  He had started as a driver for the transport company and now is Head of Operations.  His wife is a dispatcher for the company.  The primary purpose of Ice Road Truckers is to haul fuel to the diamond mines.  There are 3, soon to be 4 mines to the north some 400 plus miles.  They transport all the fuel needed for the mines for a full year during the winter months.  In 6 to 8 weeks, running constantly, they move nearly 200 million liters of fuel across the ice.  It takes 2 days to make the trip, first an eight hour day and seven the next.  Four vehicles go as a convoy every 20 minutes.  The weight of the loaded trucks cause an under ice tidal wave to move out in front of them. They have to slow to a crawl when meeting another truck because of the two waves under the trucks colliding might cause the ice to crack. Also when coming to land they make a turn so the water will surge harmlessly toward shore before they exit the ice.  He was super interesting and I would have liked to have heard more of his stories.

So far we have counted a dozen black bear, 30 or 40 bison or Wood Buffalo, 3 rabbits and  one very dead moose. It’s hard to tell when the day ends and morning begins because it’s twilight and predawn all night.

We are heading south tomorrow 6/2, because this is the end of the road north, and then go west to Ft Liard. From there it’s the Alcan Highway and “North To Alaska”.Keep warm, or keep dry, and I’ll keep in touch.    Steve