Easy as ABC

Just another day at Mangilaluk school in Tuktoyaktuk…(I will note it’s fun to see a young Marvel Comics fan, since I’ve been one since grade school myself…I read of John Byrne’s Trial of Galactus and was hooked.)

Antler cabin in Tuk

This cabin looks like a pretty interesting place to visit! (I wonder how the inside is decorated.)

Philippe = Phil = Philly cream cheese =

Adventures on the treeline

Inuvik is within minutes of the arctic tree line, where trees stop growing entirely. Driving north to Tuktoyaktuk, I noticed this is not a gradual change: It appears one hill is covered in trees, and the next is barren — except for this one tenacious tree.

Therefore, look closely: This might be the last tree on the way to Tuktoyaktuk, and certainly one of Canada’s northernmost evergreens.

The Mad Trapper of Rat River

I’ve been reading about the Mad Trapper of Rat River lately, which is a fascinating local story.
It concerns a manhunt which happened in 1931 near Aklavik.

While it’s unknown who the Trapper guy was — or why he shot at police while trying to escape prosecution for sabotaging local traps — he has become a local legend here, for using his smarts and wood skills to avoid the RCMP for many days.

Legend says he wore snowshoes backwards to obfuscate his trails, survived a dynamite explosion in his cabin, spent nights in the -40 wilderness with no fire, hunted for food while evading the police. (He was eventually shot, which leads to the gruesome portrait above.)

Inuvik’s busiest bar, The Mad Trapper, even has pictures of the original players, including a handsome portrait of a WW1 fighter pilot ace, who was brought in to find the Trapper from the air.

Since some documentary filmmakers want to exhume the Trapper’s body and perform a DNA test, so we’re sure to see Trapper Mania continue to grow.

The Igloo church, pt.2

From certain angles, the “Igloo church” really looks like its namesake

Everybody loves cute babies.

Here’s something about community journalism. Everybody loves babies.

Seriously. There is nothing wrong with this. If you put a cute baby in the newspaper, 100 per cent of the audience will appreciate it.

Inuvik’s customized cars

Normal view from downtown: A tarp tied to the front of a truck, intended to keep the engine (or is that the air intake for the heater?) warm.

I have also seen people use cardboard to do this.

Gassing up in Tuk

Here’s the News/North truck (should it have a nickname? Suggestions?) getting full in Tuktoyaktuk.

I am glad the station is open on Sundays, because it takes about a half tank of gas to get there from Inuvik. (I could get stuck, is what I’m saying..)

This dog must be freezing!

It was about -25c when I saw this dog in Tuktoyaktuk. Notice he’s completely exposed to wind, with no doghouse and nothing but a metal chain on ice.

Now, I realize that dogs are often coddled in the South — to the point of people buying them mini sweaters and pet haircuts and other things — but I find this rather upsetting!

Even the huskiest of winter dogs probably feels a -30 windchill. It seems uncaring to just leave a dog outside in the arctic and not even give him a cardboard box.