Return to the North
I’m trying something new… a new beginning for the blog, this time on Medium.com. Ever since I launched Adventure Arc on wordpress I’ve struggled with the platform. It was always slow, clunky to use, hard to update, and difficult to perfect. This is an opportunity to refreshen, so let’s see what happens. Take a look and let me know what you think.
The trip to the north began with an opportunity at work. The company had recently completed a structure in Ft. Providence, about a 3 hour drive from Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories and needed a final inspection. Ft. Providence happens to be the community I lived at for three months while serving as a bridge inspector for the Deh Cho Bridge (Ft. Providence, Deh Cho Bridge). 3.5 years later and instead of summer it’s the thawing spring with ice still on the roads and I’m back.
It was quite a rush to be sent up here and part of the reason is because Yuki and I are going traveling in the next two weeks and they wanted the inspection done sooner than later. In less than a week I was booking flights and ended up working on the good Friday holiday as well. It’s all worthwhile though to be able to see the north again and try and see the northern lights.
The trip started with an early morning flight from Vancouver to Yellowknife, landing in the early afternoon. I picked up a rental car and headed out to a project site where we are designing a viewing platform and boardwalk.
Along the way I was happy to remember and recognize the same roads and buildings. As well, I did see many new apartment blocks and the hotel I stayed at is new too so growth must be happening.
Although it was -2 outside, the clear skies, sun and low humidity made it surprisingly warm. In my nostalgia I took a walk around city hall and decided to drop into the visitor centre. The nice people there gave me a pin and some tips on where to watch the northern lights; more on that in another post.
For the rest of the afternoon, I took a drive up the Ingraham trail and stopped at all the parks to check them out in the daylight for coming back to see the northern lights and then I continued up to Cameron Falls trail.
I’ve been to this waterfall before but at this time of year there was the opportunity to see it frozen. The walk from the parking lot isn’t long and I was walking along a ridge overlooking a snow covered lake thinking that I should have been at the waterfall already when I suddenly realized that I was standing on the waterfall. It had frozen and little mounds of blue ice were sticking out of the snow. The waterfall looked like moguls on a ski hill and at one end there was also a small pool where the flowing water under the snow had melted the ice.
I also took a photosphere: Photo Sphere
After taking photos I spent a long time just sitting in the snow soaking up the sun and enjoying the quiet. Miles from anyone else, I had the entire place to myself.
On the way back I made a stop to climb a rock at and get photos over a lake. The North gives a vastness that I haven’t found anywhere else. It’s a peaceful wilderness and one that goes on forever.
