We arrived in Thompson, Manitoba, at about 2:30PM. We drove straight to the train depot, staked out the dogs, and then put our sleds, dogs, and gear in order next to the tracks to await the next leg of our journey.
We heard several times that the Tundra Train is "always late." It remained true to its typical tardiness today, at a couple of hours behind schedule. Once it arrived, at about dusk, we loaded the dogs and sleds in the box car along with someone's truckload of fresh produce, a plush living room set, and some miscellaneous luggage. It took about 15 minutes, we grabbed our seats and the train started to creep north.
Really, it creeps north at only about 28 mph, and sometimes much more slowly. The slow pace is necessary because the frost heave from the tundra has left the tracks in a terribly uneven condition that would bounce a speeding train right off the tracks like a rubber ball.
We will be training overnight (about a 13 hour ride). Then the conductor stops the train on the tundra - not in a town - and we will carry on by dogsled to Hudson Bay and Churchill.
When the train arrived we had everything ready to load into the
bagage car.
All of our supplies were loaded onto the train along with food and
other supplies
bound for Churchill and other remote communities along the train
tracks.
We've had several varying reports from the conductor regarding the arrival time for our drop off point. Originally we heard mid-morning. It kept getting pushed back due to the rough track conditions.
At 1PM, the train screeched to a halt, the freight door slid open, and we started an assembly-line to unload the gear.
The train staff took quite an interest in us. All three of them gathered in the box car to admire our jovial scene. The conducted snapped photos, looked at me with a smile and said, "I may never see this again."
We waved goodbye to the train and watched it bounce away down the tracks.
We came across a large set of wolf tracks yesterday.
The group quickly harnessed dogs, hitched them to the sleds, and finally launched our dog teams across the frozen tundra.
We are fortunate our trail conditions are relatively firm with wind-packed snow. The sky is blue, the Arctic sun is shining, the temp is about 32F and the winds are calm. This region is known for high winds, and a ground blizzard swept through last week. We feel fortunate for these ideal conditions.
Lufa, one of our lead dogs, jumps into her harness to get the heavy
sled moving.
One building exists between where we launched and Hudson Bay. It is called Watchee Lodge.
We dogsledded six miles to the lodge and took a lunch break. During February and March, photographers and tourists flock to Watchee Lodge. They are here to see mother polar bears emerge from their earthen dens with polar bear cubs in tow.
I spoke with a polar bear tracker there who searches out polar bears so visitors can be guided directly to them.
Most of the polar bears just recently left this area to hunt seal on Hudson Bay. The polar bear tracker says they saw a bear last week, but they haven't been looking because they are closing up the lodge for the season. I ask the polar bear tracker if we will see any polar bears. With a steely expression he grunts, "I hope not."
We dogsledded a few hours after Watchee Lodge and camped on Fletcher Lake.
The moon is bright, but we still see white-colored northern lights fade in and out across the lake.
Sunday we traveled about 15 miles. The wind started out gusty. We
saw several
firsts. We saw tracks in the snow from polar bears (including a
mother and
two cubs), caribou, wolves, wolverines, and fox.
The wind subsided and a blazing sun is giving us a tan. The temps again today are about 32F. Today we traveled about 15 miles, and set up camp in the sunlight.
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