Date: December 17, 2005
Weather: - 19 and partly cloudy
Sunrise – Hmm…interesting, see below
Sunset – uh huh

Eventful day!

Woke this morning, got geared up, picked up a co-worker and made my way to the airport. The plane we flew out on was a Beech 99. It’s a relatively small plane; it seats about eight or so. It a twin engine turbo prop and, all-in-all, a pretty decent aircraft. Here’s a picture for you.



The flight to Sachs Harbour takes about one hour and twenty minutes in the Beech 99. Flying out we got to see the lights of Inuvik, which, from the air, actually seems pretty large; I know better. Within short order we saw the lights of Tuktoyaktuk, which is considerably smaller. A few minutes after we passed Tuk, we were over the Arctic Ocean. At this point it was far too dark for me to claim that I saw the Arctic Ocean, but we were over it. There were a few sporadic lights here and there and I assumed that these were drill rigs. There are lots of them up here.

I spent the trip north chatting with a co-worker, John B (not to be confused with John K discussed later in the entry). We talked about life in the north, politics, culture and society. It’s always stimulating conversation with John B!

We landed on the frozen gravel airstrip in Sach’s Harbour and were met by my contact, John K. The truck belonging to the Hamlet (name given to a small town, as in the Hamlet of Sach’s Harbour) was there, so we took that about 200 metres to the settlement. My contact (John K) led by snowmobile.

In the process of visiting the buildings for which I have responsibility (facilitated by riding around on snowmobile, by the way) John K and I spotted a rabbit. It was an Arctic Hare, and it was absolutely the largest rabbit I have ever seen in my life! I think it was about the size of my dog Ripley, and it had to be every bit of five kilos! I have never seen anything like it in my life! Even John K was surprised at the size of this thing. It was really dark but I took about a dozen pictures. Here is the best one that I got. You can’t tell the size of the thing because there’s nothing to set the scale by, but take it from me…It was big!



After the obligatory work duties were done, we went to John K’s house where I met his wife and four of their daughters. I had a coffee, and we talked about hunting and the land. The changing environment and weather patterns is impacting the north more than anywhere. They are tending to get a small amount of snow, followed by freezing rain, and then cold temperatures. The result of this is that the food the caribou eat is sealed into the tundra by ice. The caribou have trouble getting at the lichen and they invariably starve. This severely limits the ability of the locals to secure traditional food. Consequently it is changing the people’s way of life.

We talked about many things at John K’s house. I made my opinions on hunting and self-sufficiency known, and it was in general agreement with the Inuvialuit position. The conversation flowed easily and freely.

John K’s wife offered me some Muskox jerky. This is basically raw ground Muskox meat that is rolled thin, dried, and then frozen. It was a piece about half of the size of a standard sheet of paper, and almost as thin. I broke off a piece and tasted it. The meat was frozen, so it took a second or two for it to melt. Once it did, the taste was bland at first, and then the unmistakable taste of blood prevailed. The meat had a unique taste to it, not at all like the sweet taste I described earlier in the Blog. I guess the cooking makes it taste different.

The taste of blood spreads throughout the mouth, and the sensation is a little overwhelming at first. Then the taste mellows out a little, and it’s good. The whole sensation is quite pleasing. I sensed that I was being watched for reaction as this tasting happened. I expect the smile on my face garnered some respect. And, as I greedily consumed the rest of the offering, my smile was transferred to the faces of my hosts. I think I had been accepted.

After our coffee and conversation were over, I expressed my interest in returning to the airstrip for the trip home, but my hosts had another surprise in store for me. It was a huge box of Muskox meat! There was a whole bag of Muskox tongues (a delicacy in the North, and quite an honour to be given), Muskox steak, Muskox ribs, and more than ten kilos of ground Muskox meat. It will be put to very good use!

Finally, the time had come to return to the airstrip. With all the meat, my own pack, and the two of us, there was no way we would fit on John K’s single seater snowmobile. He motioned to a dogsled and said “let’s take that”. Oh joy!! It would have taken far too long to harness up John’s dog team, so we just hitched the sled up to his snowmobile, and I rode the back of the sled back to the airstrip. Here’s a picture of me preparing to ride the sled.



The flight back home was consumed by conversation with one of the contractors who was working in Sach’s Harbour, one for whom the charter was sent. Noel and I discussed hunting and the North in general. We talked about the impact of the white men on the Northern cultures.

Here are some pictures of ice in the Arctic Ocean.

It was relatively light at altitude, and before long I glimpsed the tiniest portion of sun above the horizon. It was only because of the altitude that I was able to see it; whatever the reason - it was glorious! I sort of felt like I was cheating; seeing the sun before I was supposed to. Whatever! I’ll take it.

Before I knew it, we were preparing to land in Inuvik and then we were on the ground. Before I loaded up the truck to head back to town, Noel gave me four of the largest, whitest ptarmigan that I have ever seen. He had brought them from Sach's. Like the Muskox, they will be well used!

So ended my adventure to Sach’s Harbour. I have been invited back by John K to do some exploration of the land, and sample more of the traditional country foods. I think it goes without saying that I will return!

Cheers!