Driving the Ice Roads

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We borrowed a truck and drove to Norman Wells for the day along the newly opened ice roads. We didn’t stay very long in the Wells (just long enough to go to the museum and get groceries and some wine), in order to maximize the amount of time spent driving during the short window of daylight. The ice roads are in good shape in the sense that they aren’t rutted out yet, but they are very slippery – any slight touch of the brakes sets the truck off fishtailing. It was a good opportunity to enjoy the lovely winter scenery, and we saw three wolves on the way back that came right up to the truck.

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This is No Picnic

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This ad was posted at employment offices in 1942, advertising work on the CANOL project. The CANOL area is very similar to the conditions we experience working in the park, so I guess I could just post that ad when recruiting new staff.

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Er… wait… this is literally a picnic

River Breakup 2018

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The Mackenzie River started to break up on May 10th this year. This year was not as dramatic as last year’s breakup, which means that there was less flooding in town and less debris left on shore. At this point, only a week after breakup, the river is already open and accessible for boats to launch. Here’s a video from May 11th of all the ice chunks floating out towards the Arctic Ocean.

This year, we had visitors in town for the breakup.

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Marian & Bill & the Mackenzie River
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Cool translucent ice
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Ali on ice
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Kicking the chandelier ice
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May 24: two weeks after the breakup started