Gone to Aklavik to meet the Mad Trapper

Today's tasks included:
a) Drive from Tuk to Inuvik to pick up co-worker Christina


Heading out onto the ice road from Tuk @ 9am.

b) Drive from Inuvik to Aklavik for a Hamlet meeting


The Aklavik sign, giving approximately 1/2 a foot warning before the cutoff with approximately size 8 font.

c) Drive from Aklavik to Inuvik

Too dark to take a picture at this point. Picture blowing snow, but not bad driving conditions.

d) Eat and sleep

Today's events not anticipated in aforementioned schedule:
1) Spinning out on ice road, not far out of Tuk


Whoops, sorry about all that snow I just put on the freshly plowed road!

2) Truck losing half of the plastic part of the bumper to said snowbank


Thank goodness for insurance.

3) Spotting two huge moose grazing on the banks of the river, much bigger than Algonquin park moose


Too bad a snowplow scared them away just as I was taking some pictures...

4) Christina getting truck stuck in a snowbank in Aklavik


Good thing there was a guy nearby watching and laughing at us for a good 10 minutes before coming to show us how to use 4WD.

5) Original hotel room has no heat- new room has a whirlpool

6) Getting a carving for an absolute steal


Meet Mangilaluk the Muskox, made from the part between the muskox horn, and sitting on a whalebone base. The base is about a foot wide.

The details I know you're probably just dying to hear:

Why did you spin out? Are you okay??
I was driving along like usual, from Tuk to Inuvik, when I hit a bump, not unlike any other bump along the way. The back of the truck swung out, and of course being on ice, the truck had no traction... 5 or so spins later, I ended up in the snowbank. Luckily the snowbank wasn't too deep at all, so I drove right on out. Also lucky is the fact that the truck has a compass in the rearview mirror. How else do you tell what direction you're supposed to be going after 5 spins in the pitch black?

I'm perfectly fine, the truck, not quite as fine. I still wonder why they put those plastic undercarriages on cars that are going to be driving anywhere in Canada that gets snow. Snowbanks + plastic + -35C just don't mix. When I arrived in Inuvik I told the man in charge, and he just laughed and said "take it in and get a quote tomorrow..." So it will be covered by insurance, and he assured me not to worry, it happens to the best of them.

What is Aklavik like?

Aklavik is a smaller Hamlet than Tuk, with a population of ~600. For some reason that is unknown to me, it has more amenities than Tuk, including an indoor pool, two "restaurants", a recreation centre, a very nice Northern store, and a 3 storey administrative building. The town is where the Mad Trapper of Rat River is buried as well. I'll take a picture of his grave on Thursday. Generally, the houses are better kept than those in Tuk, and the people are very friendly.

How did Christina get the truck stuck?

Coming to the end of a road in Aklavik, we had to do a 3 point turn to get out. That doesn't work so well when on your 2nd point you get stuck in a snowbank, because there's not enough room to maneuver the truck. Even worse is when you don't know how to use 4 wheel drive, and there's a man standing on top of his fuel truck refilling it, laughing and watching as we inspect the truck to try to figure out how to get it out. Much to our surprise, you have to put the truck in neutral and press some button, and your truck will magically remove itself from a snowbank in about 2 seconds flat.


All in all a great day, with lots of unexpected surprises. I wonder what Thursday's return to Aklavik will bring...