Monday, February 5, 2007

We're into Camp!

My apologies - our crew flew into Yellowknife January 17th. I and the 3 fellows I am working with were bunked in at the Super 8 Hotel In Yellowknife till the road was pushed through to the old Discovery Mine site - now Tyhee. We moved into camp Friday, Feb 2nd after patrolling the portion of the road that was done during the stay in the hotel.

The route we are on will be a southern diversionary route that the empty trucks will use coming back to yellowknife. This will aleviate some of the stress on the southern portion of the regualr ice road as well as 50 kilometers of traffic on the Ingram Trail between Yellowknife and Tibbett Lake (the starting point of the ice/winter road. The route we're on will cut off at Gordon LAke about 50 or 60 kilometers from Tibbett Lake and travel west to Tyhee about 40 kilometers and then south to the Ingram Trail 89 kilometers and from there it's 20 kilometers west into Yellowknife.

We've seen a few wolves in the 3 weeks we've been here as well as some otters and a mink. The temperatures have ranged between -15 degrees centigrade and -25 degrees however this morning we woke to -29 in Tyhee and Yellowknife was -30. Many of the days have been bright and sunny and it's enjoyable being back here.

This photo is a picture of the wolf I saw at the closest range.


This photo is the camp at Tyhee. It probably is designed as a 50 person camp but art f it is closed off and at present there are only 22 of us in camp. Tyhee is actively exploring and drilling to check the viability of further development of gold mining in the area.


This photo is a nice sunset taken along the winter road.

And another sunset with flooders in the foreground.

Here's a picture of myself with the patrol truck. Our crew amounts to 19 men and 9 trucks.

Here's a full moon over the bush alongside a lake. The rosey tint to the sky is typical of many clear days and often can be seen on the whole horizon - 360 degrees


This picture was taken of 3 otters on the Yellowknife River some 50 kilometers up the winter road.

This photo is a "tent frame" that is being used by a couple prospectors/claim stakers. I caught the sun coming up over it one morning before they moved in.


It sounds like it will be 2 - 3 weeks before southbound trucks will be diverted down the stretch of road I'm patrolling on so the shifts are not very busy! We speak with snowmobilers and sport fishermen and other recreatinal users of the road and make them aware of the upcoming traffic and everyone has been so understanding and courteous. well, net posting? I'm not sure but I will try and update it within 2 weeks. Hope you enjoy.

2 comments:

barry-eh said...

Thanks for sharing your stories Reg. Its very interesting to me. I have a "wondering" spirit and someday I may go north. :)

Unknown said...

Hi Reg;
Great photos, as usual. I guess there's worse jobs out there eh? Do they pay you in diamonds or cash? - Harry