| |
|
|
| |
Low Temperature
-25 F
High Temperature
2 F
Lake Trout Caught
0
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
Lesson
Plans
|
|
|
|
 |
Tent Talk
Listen
to today's Audio Update!
|
Daily
Dilemma
|
|
|
Every night we have to make a hole in
the ice to get water. We have two tools that
we can use. One is an ice chisel, a heavy
duty knife mounted to a 6 foot broom handle,
and the other is an ice auger, which is a
7 inch round drill often used for ice fishing.
The ice auger makes a nice round hole that
is always the same size. The ice chisel allows
you to make the hole as large or as small
as you want. Which do you think we should
use to make our water hole and why?
|
|
 |
Click To Learn More About Munchkin!
|
|
Falling into the Rhythm of the Trail
Posted February 14th, 2004
Stevenson
Lake, Manitoba
Last Sunday we went through our checklists one last
time, loaded the sled harnessed the dogs, and began
our 16 day trek to Island
Lake and the first set of Cree
communities we will visit. Relief rushed over me as
we left town and entered the woods. All of the stresses
of planning and packing slowly disappeared. Sure there
were things that still needed to be done, and a few
things that we forgot, but there comes a time when you
have to just start skiing, because if you waited until
everything was perfect you would never leave!
|
|
| Luckily we did leave, and we have been rewarded by a
week of wonderful weather and total solitude. We saw two
men out hunting shortly after leaving Norway
House, and they are the only people we have encountered
so far. However, we do not have to look very far to realize
that we are not alone out here. We have been traveling
on a series of lakes, rivers, and trails. Some are wide
and hard packed, others are old trapper's trails that
are buried in deep, powdery snow. Crisscrossing the network
of human trails are hundreds of animal trails. Moose,
Woodland
Caribou, snowshoe hare, grouse,
mink, otter,
and martin
are just a few of the animal tracks that we have seen
so far. The animals' trails are constantly crossing ours,
and when they do, a keen observer can get a glimpse into
their world. |
| Yesterday we tried to probe the depths of
Beach Lake in search of another animal of the boreal forest,
the lake trout. Lake trout live in coldest, clearest,
deepest lakes of the boreal forest. We were told by several
locals that Beach Lake is full of lake trout so we struck
out through thigh-deep snow following an old trapper's
trail in search of the lake and the giant fish we were
told live there. Unfortunately we were not able to catch
any lake trout. We fished for several hours with out a
single bite! Beach Lake got the best of us this time,
but next time, watch out Beach Lake! |
|
|
|
Today we entered Stevenson Lake, the largest lake we
have encountered, so far. Its vast windswept expanse
made for speedy travel, which we hope will continue.
If things continue as planned, we will spend the next
5 days traversing Stevenson Lake. We are beginning to
fall into a traveling rhythm. I am already a little
sad that in 7 weeks the adventure will be over, and
we will have to exchange our tent and skis for a house
and a car.
Keep Exploring,
Dave
|
|
