Tag Archives: Northwest Territories

musings, Photography

Yup – It’s Spring

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I’ve been taking a break from the northern -20° climes …

Site of the juvenile snowboarding venue – 2018 Arctic Winter Games, Fort Smith, NWT

… and experiencing much warmer weather in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. 17°C to be exact.

This is the NK’Mip First Nation winery and resort just outside of Osoyoos. M and I didn’t stay there (or swim in the pool), but we did stop for a really fantastic lunch. Osoyoos is about 45 minutes’ drive – through stunning wine country – from our home.

The grape vines are still dozing, but they will soon be fully awake.

After buying some favourite wines, we moseyed back. This photo is of a reflection over Osoyoos Lake.

Here it is again, right side up.

Having a break from the continuing cold weather in the north has been wonderful. *Sigh*  🙂

Commentary, musings, Photography

March Is Here … Spring Is too?

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It’s March! And unlike some other places in North America, the weather has been very stable here. According to the old saying, March came in like a lamb, but it has remained very lamb-like with bright sun that just has that budding spring quality to it. I hope it doesn’t go out like a lion. 🙂

It’s gradually been getting warmer – we’ve had two days together of +2°C – with some minor melting occurring. Standing in the sun has been very pleasant and after all the cold, it feels really wonderful.

Shadow me dressed in full gear. I look like I’m wearing a sawed-off smurf hat.

Still, we’re choked with snow, even though the warming temperatures have caused it to compress and pack.

I wouldn’t want to play volleyball just yet. 🙂

This is a photo of the beach at our part of Great Slave Lake. You really can’t tell where the beach ends and the lake starts, although you can get an idea from the placement of the lifeguard’s chair.

Soon, however, the fact that our days are lengthening quickly – with the time change it now gets dark at about 8:00 – will bring about a sudden tipping point, and all that snow will melt rapidly.

My snowy back yard, taken about three weeks ago. It was colder, and I think the light quality reflects that.

The southern parts seem to be experiencing extreme ups and downs in temperature and precipitation, but here we are seeing a gradual climb into a lovely spring.

Has your spring started? Is it a lamb or a lion? Or are you heading into autumn now?

Commentary, Photography

A Winter Reprieve 

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On a recent -40C morning, I was impressed by the blanketed quiet and ice fog-dominated atmosphere. The only sound was the crackling of my clothing and bag as they became deep-freeze cold. It was dark as I walked to work, but later as the sun began to rise, it looked like this:

An ice foggy morning.

Visibility wasn’t great until the day started lightening and it became a little warmer. It was one of those mornings that produced some rather heavily frost-encrusted eyelashes. When I came inside, I briefly held them with my fingers to melt the ice.

The ice fog disappears.

Hiding under all that fog was an intensely blue sky and the whitest white snow, almost blue itself. It turned into a very beautiful day with almost blindingly bright sun, even though it was incredibly cold outside.

It may be cold, but these vistas melt me. 🙂

What can melt you?

Commentary

A Furry Friend

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A couple of weeks ago we did some dogsitting for a friend of ours. Nan is a northern girl who looks to be half Exquimaux or Siberian husky and half German shepherd. She is very tall with incredibly slim delicate features and very soft fur.

No matter what her DNA says, she’s an amazingly even-tempered pooch who could probably turn the most determined dog-disliking person into a canine advocate. Gentle and cuddly, she loves to play and run and be fussed over and petted.

A very sweet pooch.

I’m afraid that M and I spoiled her just a little bit.

Of course, we’re missing our Rudy who passed away a couple of years ago, but maybe it’s time to bring another canine friend into our lives. 🙂

Commentary, Photography

Remembering Summer

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Happy New Year! 🙂

Right now we are surviving temperatures that are about -35 C. That’s pretty cold although I have experienced colder. When it’s this cold, it’s hard to remember that summer existed. It’s just a dim memory.  

I pass this bush every day on my way to work.

And yup, I walk to work. Driving is not worth the trouble it would cause to start a vehicle.

It’s so cold that they have to be plugged in. And then there’s the scraping of windshields, the running of engines and the effort to get them out of the latest layer of new snow, even if I do have a 4×4. Needless to say, I don’t have a garage, which ironically, is something I’ve always had in the south. Up here, there aren’t many of them. For them to be of any real use you would have to heat them, and that makes them very expensive.

So, I walk to work. It takes seven minutes to get my gear on, seven minutes to walk there, it’s dark, and every bit of me is covered except my eyes. I peer under my big hat and over my balaclava. I’m under the time limit for frostbite to exposed skin in -35C, although a little wind can rapidly change that formula. A few days ago, I thought I had frostbite on my cheek, but no, it was just rather cold.

Everything is slower and takes longer. It’s life in the north. 🙂

How’s your winter?

Commentary, Photography

Northern Sunset

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A recent flight to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories produced this airport photo of the setting sun.

Fabulous colours.

In this northern clime, the position of the Earth relative to the sun produces these spectacular, angled sunsets.

A few days ago, I took this photo as part of a series of shots.

Muted winter light.

I love the light here, especially at this time of year when it is scattered in the most arresting way. And it is now also becoming very precious as we move into the shortest days of the year.

The light dispersal as it bounces off ice crystals gives this picture a slightly pink tone.

I hope to take many more pictures as I explore this land of light.

What are your favourite views at this time of year?

Commentary, Photography

I Awoke to This

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North of 60 degrees N latitude, winter starts early and spring starts late.

Yesterday, I awoke to this:

Winter is coming.

It had rained during the night, and then the temperature had dropped enough for it to change to snow, at about -1 celsius.

Much different from this recent experience:

Canoeing on Great Slave Lake

In Northwest Territories, when the weather changes, it changes fast. There’s no shuffling.

Soon, the parka will have to come out.

Photography

Bison on the Horizon

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Last week M and I drove to Yellowknife for a conference. Six hours of driving through some pretty spectacular scenery – the best the Canadian Shield has to offer.

Near Yellowknife

Yellowknife has a sort of rugged prettiness about it. Sitting as it does on the edge of the world’s 10thlargest lake, there is every kind of boat and float plane.

A Slice of Yellowknife

Great Slave Lake is large enough to actually have a vanishing point.

Yellowknife and Great Slave Lake

On the way back, we saw woodland bison. Lots of woodland bison. They look very similar to the plains bison that were almost extinguished by over-hunting and a serious attempt to starve the indigenous peoples who depended on them.

A Bison Herd

M became a little concerned when a rather large and truculent-looking bull stood in the road and stared at us – might he charge??? – so we kept a respectful distance.

The white marks that you see in the photo are bug residues. There are lots of those, too. The mosquitos have been known to carry away small dogs. Well, not really, but I’m sure they could!

Stay tuned for more northern pictures. 🙂

Photography

Views Near Great Slave Lake

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I was driving to another community in the Northwest Territories on Saturday when I saw this young bear. She (or he) was completely unfazed by my presence and idling engine. After a cursory look, she returned to eating some sort of tasty plant.

This bear is probably about a year old.

I wanted to get a better picture but I wasn’t going to get out of my truck to do that. Bears can run fast and have really big teeth. So, I was reduced to reaching across from the driver’s side to get these shots with my cell phone. This the sixth bear that I’ve seen since the beginning of May.

Yum – not me, whatever she’s eating.

On the way back, it was drizzling. Since the air is now warmer than the ground or any body of water – thanks to our almost 24 hours of daylight – the formation of fog is very common. There was quite a layer of it above Little Buffalo River.

There are many deep rivers here.

The fog produced some very moody scenes.

An iconic Canadian view.

It has suddenly become very warm here with temperatures around 25C. This will increase to about 30C as the period  of the midnight sun increases to its zenith. Then everything will start to cool once more and the bears will be looking for a place to sleep …