This is Gary's Arctic winter diary 2004-2005
September 29th,
2004
- October 9th, 2004 |
October
12th, 2004
- October 26th, 2004 |
October
27th, 2004
- November 6th, 2004 |
November
7th, 2004
- November 16th, 2004 |
November
17th, 2004
- November 28th, 2004 |
December
1st, 2004
- December 12th, 2004 |
December
13th, 2004
- December 23rd, 2004 |
December
24th, 2004
- January 2nd, 2005 |
January
3rd, 2005
- January 12th, 2005 |
January
13th, 2005
- January 22nd, 2005 |
January
23rd, 2005
- Febraury 2nd, 2005 |
February
3rd, 2005
- Febraury 12th, 2005 |
February
14th, 2005
- Febraury 25th, 2005 |
February
26th, 2005
- March 10th, 2005 |
March
11th, 2005
- March 18th, 2005 |
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| Winter
Diary Extract 2004 - 2005 |
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| Wednesday,
September 29th |
| Snowed. |
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| Thursday,
September 30th |
| Local newspaper, The Inuvik Drum,
reports four caribou hunters from Tuktoyaktuk have gone missing.
Search and rescue helicopters, boats and planes are out looking
for the men. |
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| Friday,
October 1st |
| Snowed all day. It’s getting
colder. I don’t need a thermometer to tell me that. The
blood red liquid thermometer will gradually shorten until it
sinks no further into the bulb. It’s only calibrated to
drop forty below zero. More chain sawing to clear kennel area
for my dogs and started digging down into permafrost to secure
stakeout. This permanently frozen ground is like hacking into
concrete. Decide names for four dogs still with Jo Kelly. I’ve
decided on: Blitz, Spoons, Saxon and Twizzle. |
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| Saturday,
October 2nd |
-14°C. Wood burner was out
when I woke, a crisp start to my morning. During my morning
run I notice Arctic fox, lynx and snowshoe hare tracks in
the snow. The sun made tundra floor spangle as if crafted
from cut diamonds. It was a beautiful day. |
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| Sunday,
October 3rd |
Jo emailed saying pups are all
lively and eating well. Siblings Blitz and Spoons, eight weeks
old today, were vaccinated and wormed. Eleven-month-old Saxon
had a five-way booster and rabies vaccine. |
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| Monday,
October 4th |
| Dig in dead-men for stakeout chain.
This mountaineering anchor technique enables me to secure dogs
without sinking posts. |
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| Wednesday,
October 6th |
| I start building individual doghouses
outside. Two finished. Snowed all day. |
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| Thursday,
October 7th |
| More kennel building. Three finished.
Colder day. The search has been called off for the missing Tuktoyuktuk
caribou hunters. They’re now presumed dead. |
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| Friday,
October 8th |
| Finished eighth, and for the moment,
the final dog kennel. |
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| Saturday,
October 9th |
| I’ve lengthened my training
runs from forty minutes to an hour, twice daily. |
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All
photographs copyright © Gary Rolfe