Fun In The Rain

Last night we got together with our friends Les and JS in search of the two lonely muskox that have been hanging out behind the Dew Line (Craig's work).  We noticed them across the lake but headed further for a drive.  We had only Miss Molly with us so we stopped and let her have a run, Blitz's foot is still injured and Hannah didn't even get off her bed before we left so we left them at home.  On the way back we took a bit of a detour and there they were, the magnificent creatures of the Arctic, the muskoxen.  We parked far enough away, turned the truck off and headed towards with cameras in hand.  Much to my surprise we got within 50 feet of them and they were not giving us any warning of charging so JS and I snapped away.  At one point one of them laid down, I guess he knew we weren't a threat to them.  In the meanwhile a little weasel was performing right in front of us and with the help of Les making noises I got some pictures of it.  It was tough as he was so fast and he zipped in and out of rocks. 

 

Very curious of us

Who's watching who?

Serious cuteness!

Not too worried about us

Enjoying some Arctic willow

Such beautiful creatures

This is the one that laid down for a rest

This big guy had a broken horn - from fighting?

Sniffing the air

Better view of his broken horn

The Profile

Hello Handsome

 

Today like every Sunday we met up with the Bartas, Cathy's parents are in for a couple of weeks so we all decided to do some fishing.  We drove our 4-wheelers to Mt. Pelly then turned left to the river. Everyone was getting bites but no one landed a fish so we decided to head back to CamBay and fish for some cod by the Maud...I guess you could say 'Maud Cod'. haha   On the way home we got hit with rain and by the time we reached the Maud we were a bit wet but decided what the hell we are here so let's fish. And fish we did!  Craig was the first one to bring in a cod and then it was Cathy's mom, Vivian's turn.  The two of them took turns bringing in cod and then finally Emily (Cathy and Jim's daughter) brought her first fish in...again and again!  Craig and I had the fresh cod with beer batter & fries for dinner tonight, can't get much fresher than that. By the time we left we were soaked to the bones and getting cold but it was so worth it as we spent the day with some good friends.

 

Cathy taking a pic of her mom & dad by the Mt. Pelly sign

Some flowers are still in bloom

While others have gone to seed

The spot where we first fished today

The Bartas fishing

Craig and Jim with a great view of Mt. Pelly behind them

Emily!

First cod catch of the day

Vivian so excited to bring one in

Emily's FIRST FISH!

Emily bringing in another one

 

Talk soon!

Wicked Arctic Skies

This is a short blog entry tonight as I wanted to share with you what the skies looked like at about 11:00pm today.  Craig and I just finished watching a movie and we were about to close Mocha's window for the night when we noticed the skies.  I have never seen this before up here so I grabbed the Nikon and Craig and I headed to the shore.  The clouds were very dark and mysterious when I first started shooting and became lighter and lighter quite fast. Here's what I captured.

 

 

 

The weather has been rainy here today which equals mud and I'm not sure what I like better the mud or the dust.  I think I am leaning more to the dust.  Last night the sun set for the first time in about 2 months - only for 20 minutes mind you and not really deep down into the horizon.  We still have a little over 2 months before Old Man Winter will make his appearance but for now we will enjoy the Arctic summer.

 

Talk soon!

Kitiga Lake Trip

The crew decided to head to Kitiga Lake yesterday for a day of fishing.  Kitiga Lake is about 30kms from Cambridge Bay and in some spots a really rough quad ride.  I woke up to two things, a sore back and a nail in my quad tire.  I should of hitched a ride with Craig and taken something for my back before we left but I didn't.  I was getting really sore about 7 miles from Kitiga but my stubbornness carried me to the end.  I guess I should of mentioned that Craig fixed my tire before we left and it was and still is fine. Thankfully I have today off and can rest my sore muscles.  It was worth the trip even though none of us caught any fish.  Our sights included a couple of Arctic foxes, muskox and too many swans and snowy owls to count.

 

Commander Jim with Cathy as a passenger and Craig

Kim crossing one of three rivers

Marg's turn to cross the stream

Wayne made it look so easy

And yet another river

This one was a bit deeper - hope you lifted your feet Marg!

 

This is the first time that I have been to Kitiga Lake and the scenery is breathtaking.  We traveled through stinky marsh areas, 3 rivers,  rough terrain, grasslands and hills to get there and I didn't realize how large the lake was.  I decided not to fish yesterday, instead I took some pictures and I found the perfect flat rock to lay on to stretch out my back.  After about 10 minutes I thought that I better get up - if I laid there for any longer I may have fallen asleep or "I have fallen and can't get up" scenario. ha ha

Some places of the shoreline were rocky

View of Kitiga Lake on top of a hill - look closely you will see Craig and Jim in the water

Big skies

Our fishing spot

Sun was shining brightly for us

Muskox skeleton on top of the hill

Flowers and rocks on top of the hill

This is the spot where I laid down

Rocks up high

Spider web - spider is on your right, look close

Kitiga Lake

Beautiful crystal clear waters

 

On the home doggie front, Blitz now has 3 pressure sores from his bandages.  He is pretty sore but he is so good for me if I need to clean his wounds.  As of today, no more bandages for the boy and I hope that he leaves the sores alone so that they heal.  Craig and I took the girls out for a swim as we need to make them happy as Blitz doesn't want to play with his big sisters.  Here's a couple of pics of Blitz's pressure sores.

 

You can tell which one is sore - pretty swollen

My poor boy - here's one of his sores

Molly & Hannah having some water fun without their baby brother.

 



 Talk soon!