Fall is Here!

03 September 2010

Fall has come to the North. Most likely, wherever you are, you have just begun to think about fall as August has ended and September arrived. Labor Day is near, the days are getting shorter, and a new school year is upon us. To all you teachers and students-- welcome back!

Dave and I are now North of the Arctic Circle on the Mackenzie River. You can see exactly where we are on the Triptracker map.  This is the land of the midnight sun in the summer time. Now the daylight is decreasing quickly. While we were on the Blackstone River we experienced our first frost. When we woke up the next morning, water had frozen in our cook pot and there was a thin layer of white frost coating the canoe. We were actually glad to have the frost, because it meant that mosquitoes would no longer be a problem.

As we paddled down the Peel River to Fort McPherson, we noticed more and more aspen trees turning yellow. I enjoy looking up at the hills and being able to identify the trees based on color. Most of the trees that we can see are actually black spruces, which stay green all year. Every once in a while we turn a corner and see a patch of bright golden yellow near shore. That is where the aspen and birch trees are.

Birds have begun to migrate. The Mackenzie River delta is the perfect place to find some of these birds. Two nights ago we were camped in a spot where several lakes were near by. Loon calls echoed throughout the evening. They are gathering together, getting ready to fly south. Flocks of Canada Geese flying in V-formation are common sights. Yesterday, I saw a Snowshoe Hare with white feet too!

One of our most exciting animal sightings happened recently. We were paddling through a long, straight stretch of the Peel River. The current had slowed, so we had a long time to look at the distant shoreline. I spotted what I thought was a boat. At least, I thought I could make out the two curved ends of a canoe. Dave agreed that it probably was a boat. We were getting close to Fort McPherson, so it would make sense that someone might be out checking fishing nets or paddling to a nearby camp. As we paddled closer, the canoe shape morphed into two huge white birds with long necks. They were a pair of Tundra Swans, probably getting ready to fly south to their wintering grounds in California!

The weather has been mostly rainy. Even if we have a bit of sun during the day, it seems like every evening clouds blanket the sky and by the time we are setting up the tent, drops of rain are falling from the sky. These evening rain showers have made perfect conditions for seeing rainbows. As the sun gets low in the sky, the rays of light are refracted (or bent) by the raindrops. Basically the white light from the sun, gets broken down into all of the visible colors. We have seen perfect, bright arcs of red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet. Some of these rainbows have appeared right over our tent.

Dave and I are prepared for the cold weather. We stopped in Fort McPherson to get more food along with some packages that were mailed to us. Now we have extra warm sleeping bags and plenty of warm clothes. We have wool pants and sweaters, plus extra warm hats and even mittens specially designed for paddling. The most important pieces of equipment that we added were a canvas tent and wood stove. Now, every evening we collect a small amount of firewood from the beach. Then we build a fire in the stove to heat the tent. As temperatures drop below freezing at night, we are glad to have this heated space. Plus, we are able to dry out any clothing that gets wet during the day.

Since fall has arrived, we are glad that our route is taking us south instead of north. After paddling down the Peel River to the Mackenzie River, we turned to paddle up the Mackenzie River. Paddling against the current can be challenging, but we are still happy to be heading south!

Download this weeks student response worksheet.

More information about rainbows: http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/farid/sciencekids/rainbow.html

More information about Tundra Swans: http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=78&cid=7

More information about Snowshoe Hares: http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?cid=8&id=103