Stephane and I try to go to all of the fishing camps either prior to or during our fish harvest. Yesterday we flew to 30 Mile to have a look at the camp and to visit with Les, JS and the crew. Fred, our pilot for the day, met us at the float base at 11:30 and after fueling up we were flying to 30 Mile, one of my favorite spots. It was a bit hazy due to the fires down south but we couldn't have asked for better weather, sitting at about +22'c. I never get tired of seeing this vast beautiful land from the plane and seeing the blue Arctic ocean is just as amazing. Below are some pictures from the plane.
Fred fueling up
Taking off with a view of Cambridge Bay
Our airport from the skies
North Warning System Site - where Craig works
This is a road that we travel on many times with our 4 wheelers.
The next few pictures are of some of the rivers that flow into the Northwest Passage and some that we cross on our way to Starvation Cove by quad.
Coming to the point of Starvation Cove
Starvation Cove from the air - very hazy day
This is a large piece of land that looked like it was cultivated
Are we in the Arctic or the Caribbean?
Seen only one herd of muskox on the way there
30 Mile camp from the skies
As we got close to camp Fred make a couple of turns so that we could see and take pictures of the fishing weir. A weir is trap that is built across a river to capture the fish as they swim up stream. It is a traditional way of fishing that causing very little stress on the fish which equal better quality of fish. The next couple of pictures show the weir from a bird's eye view.
Once landed we were met by the crew of Les, JS, Chris, Meyok and Jonathan which treated us with a cup of tea and cookies. In exchange we brought them some char candy and cold smoke fish. It was absolutely gorgeous day to be out there.
Camp Bad Ass from the plane
Fred and Les pulling in the plane
Oh Petra - look what the guys found on the land!
Here's the reason why I love 30 Mile
The Bad Ass Crew: Jonathan, Les, JS, Meyok and Chris
I had the pleasure of seeing the weir up close and personal, my buddy Les took me for a small boat ride to where it was set up. If I had some hip waders on I could of walked across but I only had my rubber boots on so off we went in the boat. The guys demonstrated how they tagged fish and explained how the weir works. It is amazing how fast they are at tagging and releasing the fish back into the holding area. The following pics are of my boat ride, the weir and them tagging.
Here's a B & W of the shoreline and how close Les had to drive the boat to it as the middle of the river was too shallow
Another B & W of Les pulling me to shore
Arctic char drying
The weir with the holding tanks
JS checking the weir
Les checking the char- check out the cool flag that JS made
New holding area for the fish
Another view of the weir
Bringing in a char for tagging
Recording the measurements the char
JS tagging the char
Les, JS and Chris making a channel for the char, from the holding area to the river
Channel completed
View of the camp on the way back
Very close to the shore
We spent a couple of hours at the camp and I would of loved to spend more time there but Fred had another flight booked so we needed to head back to Cambridge Bay. Below are some more pics from the skies.
Can you see the cabin in the middle?
On the home front the weather has been extremely warm up here hitting close to the mid 20'c with no rain. It is suppose to cool down by Friday which is good for the fish run but I personally would like the hot weather to stay just a wee bit longer. Blitz's cut pad is finally healed and on Saturday I took them out for a swim to beat the heat and he sliced his webbing open...on the same foot that is just healed!!! I have never had a dog that was so rough on his feet. It is healing fast so hopefully we can go for more swims before it becomes too cold and the ice forms on the ponds.
Blitz pointing at some Arctic swans
His cut webbing
Blitz resting after his injury
Hannah soaking in the sun after her swim
Molly 'yelling' at me to come in the water
Hannah hitting the water
It's going be a busy week for me, yesterday I worked in the morning then flew out to 30 Mile then in the evening we attended a meeting in regards to the health of muskox and their decline on Victoria Island. Kitikmeot Foods have been working with a team from U of Calgary for many years now and they are up here again this summer to collect samples of muskox. It was a very informative meeting and it was nice to see the team again. Today the vet team arrives from Alberta, that Diamonds in the Ruff (the rescue that I am involved with) raised funds for in CamBay. They are holding a vet clinic here for the next 3 days. I will be helping out when I can and also our cat Mocha is getting a lump removed. I am a bit concerned about this lump as it is hard and it surrounds one of her nipples, plus she had one removed before and it was positive for cancer. Please keep her in your thoughts this Friday afternoon as the old girl (16) goes under the knife to have it removed.
After the meeting last night the sun was setting and it looked amazing so we headed home to grab the Nikon and the dogs then went for a drive behind the Dew Line. Even with warm weather the colours of plants are starting to change from green to red. Below are some pictures of the plants and of the sunset from yesterday, which by the way sets around 10:10pm and rises about 4:00 in the morning.
Talk soon!
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