Northern Life
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Ursus
We have been barbequing almost nightly here. Well not here really, over in Victor Bay, where everyone goes to get away from the hustle and bustle of Arctic Bay. A tank of propane is expensive here, $150. So when they are available, and when you lay down that cash (when the mine was here a
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Qurlurniq
Leah used to spend part of her summers camping with her grandparents on the beach near this waterfall. This is a bit of an unconventional composition for me, but it seems to work. And for another view of this waterfall, check out my contribution to Poop Week, at 10,000 Birds: Whitewashing the truth.
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Crossing the Void
This time of year there are many cracks in the ice that must be navigated. This was a particularily narrow bridge, not more than the width of a couple of komatiqs.
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The beast within
A little over a week ago we had a dog attack in town. A toddler, aged 2 or 3, was mauled by three dogs as he played near his home. Another child raced and got his grandfather who stopped the attack, and saved the boy. Having spent a good deal of my adult life policing
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On to Ikpikituarjuk
Photo by Leah Ejangiaq Kines In the late morning we struck camp at Ijjujuarjuk and headed down the road to Ikpikituarjuk. Despite it being one of the most popular areas here for fishing and camping it is another place I'd never been to before. Dozens of Ringed Seals dotted the ice, taking full advantage of
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Ijjujuarjuk
I find it impossible to adequately convey just how jaw dropping beautiful the land is up here. I feel that way about the scenery right around town, but it is scenery that I see daily. On those far too few occasions that I get out traveling farther afield, well, I become all too aware
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Not the Arctic landscape you think you know
If you ask most people to imagine the Arctic they would generally think of frozen tundra, perhaps some icebergs. Some would think of mountains and fiords (and according to a recent survey by Up Here! magazine some 28% of southern Canadians would think that landscape included penquins). Very few people's mental image of the Arctic
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Family outing
Our weekend family outings are a little different than most. Certainly not everyone, but this time of year its rare that you'd find families outside of the Arctic that have an outing built around dog sledding. We took a short jaunt out to Uluksa for coffee and tea, but mostly to get a dog sled
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A great day for a drive on the ocean.
The southern point demarking the mouth of Victor Bay is a spit of land called Nuvua. A few years back a family built a cabin there, one that they spend most weekends. This year an iceroad was pushed out to the point, and so their visitors have increased exponentially. We were amongst those visitors this