Everyone in the group was very happy to arrive in Churchill after a day of dogsledding on the sea ice. Our last day of dogsledding had just the right amount of challenge. The wind had died down and the temperature was fairly high (between 15 and 20 F). When I say sea ice, I don't mean ice like a skating rink. The sea ice in Hudson Bay is anything but flat. Wind and waves cause large chunks of ice to jut up at odd angles, making for a rather bumpy dogsled ride. Nikola described it as being in a rodeo. Skiing was rather awkward too, but everyone was in such a good mood, this didn't seem to matter. The distance from the Northern Studies Center into Churchill was about 15 miles, and about two thirds of that distance was on the sea ice.
It was hard work traveling over the sea ice.
On our way into town, we passed by the polar bear jail. During the fall when many polar bears migrate through Churchill, problem bears are taken here. Of course, there are no bears there now and all we saw were several large bear traps and a large empty building.
Large traps are used to catch Polar Bears that wander into town and cause trouble in Churchill. The bears are often held at the "Polar Bear Jail" until ice forms in the fall and they can travel onto the ice and hunt seals.
In Churchill, we staked out the dogs near our hotel. It felt odd to leave them out on the tundra, without setting up camp in between the two rows of dogs. After the dogs were fed, we went in search of food for ourselves.
The only open restaurant was Gypsy's, a bakery and restaurant owned by a Portuguese family. It was the perfect place for our post-trip celebratory feast.
During the following day, we broke up into smaller groups to explore Churchill. Dave and several others spent the morning feeding Brian LaDune's dogs. They had the opportunity to see all 150 of these Inuit dogs!
We drove around in Brian's pick up truck and tossed a large chunk of frozen meat to each of his 150 Canadian Inuit Dogs.
I walked to the Prince of Wales Fort, which is across the Churchill River. After being on skis for several days, it felt good to walk. The fort was surrounded by snow drifts as high as its two-story walls.
Later in the day, everyone met up to visit the Inuit museum in the center of town. The museum contains an astonishing amount of artifacts, ranging from a kayak and harpoon, to carved whale bones.
Our time in Churchill has been enjoyable. All of the people we have met here are incredibly nice, eager to learn about our dogsled adventure.
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