Churchill Polar Bears - Part 6

The Long Drive Home

Having driven to Winnipeg, we needed to drive home as well. Rather than retrace our route up to Winnipeg, we elected to follow the north shore of Lake Superior, re-enter the U.S. at Sault Sainte Marie, and drive home through Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. We didn't retrace our out-route until Charleston, WV.

Sunday, 15 October 2023

Winnipeg, Manitoba to Thunder Bay, Ontario

We collected our truck from the Winnipeg airport economy parking lot and started heading east.

Manitoba and western Ontario were very flat. As we approached Lake Superior, we started encountering substantial hills.

Fall color in the north woods is mostly yellow (tamaracks, aspens) against the evergreen spruce.

Monday, 15 October 2023

Thunder Bay, Ontario to St. Ignace, Michigan

This long day of driving was made even longer by frequent road construction delays. Overall, the road condition was excellent. Many states in the U.S. could stand to learn some lessons from Ontario, which has considerably more challenging freeze-thaw issues.

More north woods fall colors.

Every once in a while pink granite outcrops were noticeable along the road.

As we got further south, oranges and reds started creeping into the fall color as maples were added to the forest trees.

Moose crossing signs were common, but it was very difficult to get an adequate picture from a moving vehicle.

Bridge over the Nipigon River.

Nipigon Bay

Nipigon Bay

Sign at the U.S. Welcome Center in Sault Ste. Marie.

Tuesday, 17 October 2023

St. Ignace to Clifton Forge

Our original intention was to spend the day on Mackinac Island, but in the morning the island was shrouded in fog and the temperature was about 40°F. Since the ferry crossing alone would have been over $70, we decided we'd return another time, and started the 14-hour drive home to Virginia.

The bridge over the straights of Mackinac is a classic suspension bridge that connects Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

Mackinac Bridge

What an incredible trip this was!

Churchill Polar Bears - Part 5

Saturday, 14 October 2023

An Extra Afternoon in Churchill

We started the day with a tour of three museums: the Parks Canada Visitor Centre at the Churchill train station, Polar Bear International, and the Itsanitaq Museum.

The Parks Canada Visitor Centre has an impressive polar bear in the lobby.

The Itsanitaq Museum is filled with pieces of indigenous art - mostly Inuit. Several cribbage boards carved from walrus tusks are on display. I liked the figures used for the pegs.

A close-up view of caribou hides stitched together to form the waterproof hull on a kayak.

After the museum visits, we were supposed to have a quick lunch and then go to the airport, but the fog was so thick that the incoming plane couldn't land. The plane circled for a while hoping to have the fog lift, but then it had to divert to Thompson to refuel. The Nat Hab support team was scrambling for updates on both incoming and outgoing tours. Fortunately, we weren't the ones having to have a 2 1/2 hour flight turn into a 6 hour flight! We got lunch, and then continued our town tour.

Guides Kurt and Pete airdropping photos to each other.

Our buses lined up at the Inukshuk on the edge of town. The fog is thick.

Driving along the coast road we saw a red fox scrambling on the rocks.

We got a good look at it's bushy tail as it ran off.

Another fox wasn't too far off the road, but the fog made it nearly impossible to see it.

Foggy tundra.

These domes date back to Churchill's military past, where they sheltered equipment used to eavesdrop on Russian communications. We never got close enough to see the mural painted on the building.

Our final stop of the day was at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. We got a short briefing on the research that is conducted there. Our visit was cut short because word came that the fog was lifting at the airport.

By the time we got to the airport, the incoming plane was just about to land. You'd never know that 30 minutes earlier the fog at the airport was impenetrable.

Baggage and supplies are unloaded from the front cargo compartment with a large forklift.

We finally took off about 5:30 PM. Sunset was about 7:00 PM.

Last glow of sunset over Lake Manitoba as we got close to Winnipeg.

It was close to 8:30 PM when we finally got to our farewell dinner in Winnipeg. It was a good meal, but a bit of a rushed ending to our trip.

Churchill Polar Bears - Part 4

 Friday, 13 October 2023

Yes, Friday the Thirteenth passed without even knowing it. It wasn't until I was reviewing notes and photos that I noticed the date.

Murals

Churchill is known for a mural project - an impressive set of murals. New murals are still being added and older ones updated.

This mural shows a polar bear and a dog seemingly interacting. Controversial late resident Brian Ladoon was noted for letting polar bears approach and play with his chained-up dogs. Eventually the dogs met a controversial gruesome death, and Ladoon is still raises strong emotions in the Churchill community.

This polar bear mural (left image) cried out for a hockey stick in its paws. Hockey is an obsession in Churchill, and with the magic of Photoshop, it's easy to "make it so" (right image).

Magnificent polar bear mural on the "Polar Bear Holding Facility" (aka Polar Bear Jail) that detains problem polar bears until they can be released to a more appropriate location.

The full mural at the Polar Bear Holding Facility. It really does look like a sleeping polar bear.

One of three murals on a port facility building shows railroad workers. All those arms remind me of a Hindu god!

Another side of the same building has a polar bear mural. Note the huge rock making sure that the door cannot be opened (from inside or outside)!

Mural of polar bears and belugas on a garage in town.

Unauthorized (but not removed) art on stones at the Community Complex.

Another form of public art (and wayfinding) is this "inukshuk". Inukshuks are navigational cairns found throughout the North American arctic. "Inukshuk" means "imitation of a person" and the "arms" point the way of travel.

Polar Bear Safety

Signs warning about polar bears are everywhere.

At Cape Merry, just outside Churchill, you cannot walk the short boardwalks and trails unless two polar bear guards (with rifles) are on duty.

Dog Sleds

Dog sleds are the traditional way to get around the arctic in the winter. It's actually far easier to travel in the winter than in the summer and fall - and spring mud make travel just about impossible. We had a dog sled ride at Wapusk Adventures, which was far more interesting and enjoyable than we had anticipated.

'Nough said!

Since there was no snow this early in the season, we had rides on wheeled carts that the dogs use for training in the summer and fall.

Ready for our "sleigh" to take off. The musher has to apply a brake to keep the dogs from starting prematurely.

On our way! Photo was taken by professional photographer Daniel Raiti.

Dogs in David Daley's dog yard at Wapusk Adventures wish they were out running today.

Miscellany

More Churchill quirkiness

"Miss Piggy" is a cargo plane that didn't quite make it to the Churchill airport. See the full story on Atlas Obscura.

An arctic hare in full winter white. Only the tips of the ears are black.

Proof that we were in Churchill!

Churchill Polar Bears - Part 3

Thursday, 12 October 2023

Final Day in the Rovers

Crescent moon and Venus just before sunrise.

The crescent moon is more obvious in an enlargement of the previous photo.

Polar Bears

Val and Kurt scan the tundra for polar bears. We watched one from a distance as he swam in an attempt to catch seal on a rock. The seal escaped and taunted the bear by swimming close - the bear has no chance of catching a seal in the water.

A second polar bear came much closer to us. We watched as it ambled across the tundra.

Same bear - now partially hidden by shrubs.

The bear continued on its way and passed between our two rovers.

As the bear walked away, I got a good look at a furry foot.

Another polar bear on the tundra.

Birds

Ptarmigans. In the summer, these birds are brown. For the winter, they switch to white plumage. The ptarmigan in the middle has not quite completed the change.

Sanderling

Tundra swan

Goodbye to the Rovers

These two rovers are exchanging passengers, but someone called this "Making Baby Rovers".

Farewell to our rover driver, Val.

We spent the next two nights at the Seaport Hotel in Churchill. While more comfortable than the Tundra Lodge, it lacked the charm and the fabulous food of the Lodge. Churchill shuts down at 10 PM - a siren at that time alerts everyone that the polar bear watch is off-duty, so it is not recommended to be outside after that time. Aurora watching was scheduled for 9 to 10:30 PM, but this time of year the aurora is best seen after midnight. So we decided to get some sleep instead.