This week was spent on Banks Island, in Sachs Harbour, Canada's 6th most northerly community by my count. Another trip for work, I was there informing the community of our gravel management plan as well as promoting environmental awareness on Inuvialuit Private lands. Loaded up with frozen dinners, dry breakfasts and canned goods, along with a computer, projector, box of maps and camera, I set out from Tuk to Inuvik by plane. Once again Aklak air, our local airline made a good dollar off us, charging about $65 to get my goods from Tuk to Inuvik (1/2 hour of flying), and $160 from Inuvik to Sachs Harbour (2 hours one way). Who knew those extra 20 pounds could be so expensive!
Of course it wouldn't be a trip where I'm already in a crunch for time without a quick stop in Aklavik so that the plane can pick up their mail. And a windy day it was in Aklavik, the plane was all over the place before we finally touched down, and it was a bit of a wild ride on the runway. I was the only passenger, so no one likely saw me gripping the edges of my seat. At any rate, we landed in Inuvik only 1/2 hour late, and although my plane was to leave for Sachs in 1/2 hour, that one is always guaranteed to be late, so I had plenty of time for a last lunch before heading off to the even higher Arctic.
The flight over to Sachs was a breeze, albeit a bit noisy on the Twin Otter... they take it because it's the biggest plane Aklak runs, and the stablest in high winds and for longer distances. It's a 2 hour flight, so I spent most of the time staring out my window, looking for polar bears. It was also my first trip over the Arctic Ocean (in a plane... I suppose I've driven on it).
The Arctic Ocean in March.
Our sweet ride to Sachs...
Upon our arrival, it was up to us to figure out how to get into town. A nice little man (who I later found out was the Hamlet's Senior Administrative Officer, someone I'd talked to several times) said "are you girls here for the HTC (Hunters and Trappers Committee) meeting?" Not exactly, but hey, a ride was a ride, and no one else was there for a HTC meeting so we just hopped in. We were dropped off at our accommodations (Kuptana's Polar Grizz B and B). I could best describe it as a hostel, as there were a few beds in each room, however we each got our own room because it's not too busy this time of year. The lady who runs it is a British woman who met her husband Roger in Yellowknife, when he was working there as an aircraft mechanic. Of course he was originally from Sachs Harbour, so they eventually moved back, and now she runs the inn, and he continues to guide sport hunts.
The Polar Grizz name comes from the fact that several years ago an American sport hunter looking to get a polar bear instead got the world's first known "hybrid" bear (mother was polar, dad was grizz). The story is long and interesting, and there's sometimes a special about it on Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel.
The infamous Polar Grizz
Unfortunately the only Polars I saw were these!
The town itself is located on a beach, and there are about 30 or so buildings within the town. There is one store (Co-op) that doubles as the airline ticket counter. There is a school, RCMP (only recently occupied), several government buildings, and some homes. People have antlers and polar bear hides hanging outside in their yards, and there are quite a few sled dogs (looking a lot happier than those in Tuk). The people are very friendly, and take great pride in their community. It was really the most welcoming and forward thinking community I've met with so far.
The most plentiful selection of produce you've ever seen!!
While in Sachs I attended the SH Community Corporation meeting (an organization formed by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation), the Hamlet of Sachs Harbour council meeting, and taught a lesson on environmentalism in the school, just for the heck of it.
Sachs Harbour Hamlet Office/Parks Canada Office
The school has 20 children, 5 are between grades 1-3, and the remainder are from grades 4-8. There are no grade 9s this year. The kids were very cute, and when I asked the little ones to draw their favourite thing in the environment that they would like to help protect, I got the following:
A sunflower with earrings...
A flower dying because of a stinky diaper...
A nice night sky...
And... Teeth! (To be fair, she was the youngest)
So when I wasn't at these meetings, I worked from the B and B in my pyjamas which was great fun.
A random encounter while in Sachs (pop. 122, middle of nowhere, Arctic Ocean...): When I was walking down the street with Christina, someone ran up and tapped me on the back and said "Hi!!" I thought... who on earth is this. He said "How are you? Do you remember me?" *It's hard to recognize someone who is wearing goggles and a Canada Goose, and only their goatee is showing* "Uhhh...." "We met last summer in Inuvik!" So it turned out it was someone that I met when I spent the summer in Inuvik doing my master's research. His name is Dan, and he's now doing his master's research in Sachs about polar bears. He recognized me because I was with another girl (he assumed it was Joana that was with me that other summer). But very random indeed... So he invited us over for a caribou roast that night, we gladly accepted. We brought garlic fingers, since that's about the only thing the Co-op had to offer that wasn't a million dollars or out of date.
On Thursday it was time to head back to Inuvik. Before we left, a nice guy who was also staying at the B and B gave us each a pack of ground muskox (I already made it into a tasty meatloaf for dinner tonight). The plane was to leave at 5, but earlier in the afternoon, another Twin Otter coming in to deliver fuel barrels landed on the runway and blew a tire... So our plane had to go back to Inuvik, pick up a mechanic, tire jack, diesel generator, and new tire to put on this broken plane. Thus, our plane was late... Oh well, that's how it works up here!
I arrived in Inuvik at 7:30, at about the same time Deon was getting back to Inuvik from being out at the MGM drilling site, about 2 hours away. He had the ILA truck, so we picked up some quick dinner and I drove us back to Tuk. We got home at about 11:30, and it was quickly off to bed. The ice road took longer than usual because it's starting to get slick from the sun being on it all day.
The sun is now setting at about 10 or 10:30, so we're having nice long days. My plants are growing up a storm in the windowsill- I have tomatoes, chives, basil, cilantro, onion and pepper started... the rosemary is taking its time!
This is what the high arctic looks like- nothing but tundra for miles and miles...
Didn't see many animals, only a few prints.
But I did get attacked by a grizzly...
Saw a pile of muskox remains from the harvest...
And puppies everywhere!
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