Here we are in Edmonton. We left from Toronto at 2:45 this afternoon. It was a 4 hour flight, and we gained two hours going west, so we got here just after 5:00 pm. This gave us time to go for a walk, have dinner, and now we're just relaxing for the evening. We'll be up at 5:00 am tomorrow to begin our journey. Our first stop will be Yellowknife, where we will change airlines to First Air. Then we have two stops, at Cambridge Bay and Gjoa Haven, before we reach Taloyoak.

Doug Stern, just back from banding geese in an isolated area of the arctic known as Karrak Lake, will join us at Cambridge Bay. (Karrak is the Inuit name for Ross's Goose, similar in colouration to Snow Geese but much smaller and often with warts on their beaks.) Doug was instrumental in initiating our interview with CBC North yesterday - I don't know if you will hear it below the 69th parallel. He has also contacted a retired Hudson's Bay manager who lives in Taloyoak. We hope to visit with him tomorrow night; I'm sure he will have lots of stories for us.

If the weather is windy we might not be able to leave for a day or two. Pat Lyall suggested that if it's good weather tomorrow we should go right out onto the land. We'll play it by ear. When we call tomorrow night we'll let you know what's happening.

We're looking forward to really "living off the land" this time. John MacDonald says he does NOT consider seal as fish. (laughter) We will have nets, and there is a good chance we will be eating a lot of fish. The char up here this time of the year is just beautiful! There's also caribou and musk ox - this should make for some different pictures from what we've taken on previous trips.

Hopefully we will have good weather. This summer is proving to be another hot one in the arctic with tons of bugs. Thanks to a new sponsor we will have bug screens and jackets - something we could have used last year. I expect we will give their product the ultimate field test!

That's about it. Not much to report tonight. Talk to you tomorrow.

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31HOME

Website by Netscapades Inc.