Monthly Archives: February 2007

Inuvik’s “fruit man” is always a welcome surprise.

He drives a gigantic truck all the way up the Dempster Highway and settles in town, using the trailer itself as a store. Inside, you can find fresh fruit and veggies at surprisingly good prices.

What a strange occurrence! I saw a half-circle rainbow while driving on the ice road. It wasn’t raining or snowing at the time, which confuses me.

These pictures were taken last Sunday while traveling to Aklavik. It is quite likely I was the only person for miles around.

The sky changes a lot here, and the sunsets seem to last a long time.

It makes for scenic driving!

I think we can all agree, covered snowmobiles are the most interesting vehicles ever created.

I was traveling to Fort McPherson in September and met some road workers. They were spraying tar on the dirt roads, which is supposed to glue everything together.

Seeing these pictures — especially the mud on the truck — reminds me how the north is like two completely different locations: Wild muddy country for a few months, and then clean white winter.

Here’s a picture of Dez Loreen, editor of the Inuvik Drum, banging a traditional drum which usually hangs on the wall.

He was using a scissor sharpener to hit the wooden edge.

Here’s an interesting realization: The last elevator I rode was in the Edmonton airport, as I traveled with luggage to catch a connecting flight from Ottawa to Yellowknife, June 14.

(This picture is from the New Mackenzie hotel in Inuvik. I took it and stepped out, since I had no reason to go to the second floor.)

Wherever you are going in town, it’s a $5 flat rate. (This goes up to $8 for two people and so on.)

This is pretty convenient, and it’s important because Inuvik doesn’t have bus service.

Here’s another great thing of living in the north.

You can wake up at 10:30am, take a lazy hour get out of your house, and still catch a magnificent sunrise.

The ground here is covered with a hard-packed mix of ice and snow. This is caused by the dryness of the air (meaning no slush or powder) and the cold temperature.

As you can see from this sidewalk cut-away, it’s clear the stuff is used to build igloos, because you could cut it into shapes using a knife.

(Interesting note: In this weather, shoveling the drive usually means breaking off angular pieces with an ice-breaker, and then throwing them into a pile like wood planks. But you don’t usually have to shovel, because there’s only 10 inches of precipitation all winter.)

Here is the lobby of the New Mackenzie Hotel in Inuvik.

While it might surprise you to think a town of 3000 would have such a place — I mean, look at those chandeliers — Inuvik is a common conference and tourist destination, and it’s expected to grow after the pipeline.

I hear the upscale rooms have hot tubs.