Latitude 59 degrees--the sub-arctic
Arrived in Winnipeg Thursday the 17th. Spent the night in the Fort Garry Hotel, an old railroad hotel, right across from the train station. Parka and boot try-on for borrowing. We tried to not take a parka but they talked about the winds (50 miles per hour) we might expect so we gave in. We did not bring their boots.
Orientation dinner met people from Australia, England, many states and one from Canada. Morning chartered flight to Churchill on a prop plane, 2 1/2 hours north. Little snow around, expansive landscape, small lakes off the bay, a few spruce trees, willow bushes, lots of rocks--it is a desert, tundra ecosystem. Flurries throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
Bus out of town to the tundra rovers transfer site. Stop at the entrance to the Wildlife Management area. This is the last time we will put our feet on the ground until we come back to Churchill to leave. Lunch on board the rover as we make our way to the lodge while searching for wildlife along the way. Birds on the way, and a red fox. Magic as we drove up to the lodge, a polar bear under the kitchen/dining car. After watching from the rover for a while every one headed to the lodge and on to the balconies to take pictures. We don’t touch ground for three days, loading and unloading is from rover balcony to lodge balcony.
Two bears around the lodge woke up to pay attention to us every so often. After dinner an arctic fox sprinted by. He stopped in his tracks to take a look at us but quickly went off into the darkness. 
Dinner was very very good. We have a chef and sous chef. Chicken citrus marinade with carrots, salad and great soup, blueberry tort cake for dessert. Yum.
Bed early but up often due to snoring and doors and just a new place. Too cloudy for any aurora borealis action. Maybe tomorrow night.
Oct 19th-First full day on the tundra. Up at 6 with breakfast at 7. Eggs and asparagus, cereal, bacon, fruit etc etc. Today the 29 of us split into morning and afternoon groups for trips on the rover. We went out in the morning. Lots of Ptarmigan, an arctic bird. it is white with black on tails. Feathers on feet and legs so it can walk on the snow. Dives into snow banks to escape the cold and sleep. Looks a wee bit like a puffed up grouse. Saw several arctic fox again, (8 so far), eider ducks, snow buntings (a perching bird), four or five polar bears, the best of which were two sparring males. They went on for quite some time, hugging, dancing, biting, pouncing and rolling about. Every so often they would part and lie down for a bit before one of them would get things going again.
So you might be wondering by now why polar bears are here. It turns out this is the first place they can get on the ice when it forms in the Hudson Bay. When the ice melts, which is now happening three weeks earlier due to global warming, they make landfall where ever they happen to be. From June on they head back to Churchill waiting for the ice to return so they can go out to hunt for seals. They don’t eat once they leave the ice. They lose 2-2 1/2 pounds per day during their slow trek. Churchill polar bear season is when they are gathering to get back on the ice. The little lakes and ponds (fresh water) are getting thin ice on them or their edges overnight. The bay ice (salt water) will begin to form in a few weeks and goes in and out for a few weeks before one night forming for good and the bears are gone. The male bears are often twice as big as the females, 6-8 hundred pounds. Moms are keeping their young with them longer and the sons often outgrow mom before leaving to be on their own--2 1/2 years.
The clouds are breaking up ever so slightly so we are hoping for aurora borealis tonight or tomorrow.
Sunday, day two on the tundra. Another good breakfast, blueberry pancakes. We were in the afternoon group so did not have to rush out after breakfast. Annie, one of the guides is a yoga instructor so we had morning yoga, chair or mat at your choosing. Terrific session, she can explain where your body should be in a way that helps you get it there. Following yoga she led a experiential creative writing session. We concentrated on different senses while stepping outside for a minute at a time. We wrote down impressions, observations, feelings and then shared our favorites. Annie then used our snippets to create a poem about our experiences. Very cool. Two groups, two poems, we were part of poem number 2:
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After lunch we were off on our tundra rover adventure. Our driver, Jason, was exceptional and had the eyes of an eagle. He found us arctic hare, a cross fox and ermine in addition to the numerous polar bears. Our favorite bear today was fondly named Yoga Bear due to his stretching routine performed for our enjoyment.
Ermine are not often in trees, so we think a fox might have scared him into climbing. Jason was surprised and pleased to find out the white blotch was an ermine and not a paper towel.
Back to the lodge for the evening. Another great dinner and continued company from "Grandpa Bear" He adopted the area behind the lodge as his own and kept many other bears from invading his territory. You could see that he was old, and smaller than other bears passing through, yet they respected his growl and moved on. We learned from our leaders that when bears lose their teeth they can no longer feed and die. They live far longer in zoos due to their dental care then they do in the wild. Some of our young fellow travelers from Australia wanted to adopt him and collect money for dental care. They made a collection jar and Annie and Bonnie are checking with WWF to see if individual adoption can actually occur. We all grew fond of this bear as he was there morning, noon and night. Sue would often roll over in the night to look out her little window to be sure that he was there. Nancy went out to greet him every morning from the deck behind the kitchen.
Grandpa
Our evening was punctuated by several bears sparring right beneath our windows. The view from inside was typical of our trip. As the evening wore on, all the bears left except for Grandpa. We were all once again under his watch, and he under ours.
On the other side of the lodge we could see the full moon and a lonely bear.
Monday, day 3 on the Tundra. This was a full day on the rover, out by 8:00 for one last day of searching. All hands on deck. We found another arctic hare, courtesy of one of the travelers excellent spotting. The highlight was watching a bear travel across the ice that had formed overnight on one of the freshwater ponds. Early on he pounced on the ice with his from paws to see if it would hold and to practice breaking through. Then he walked while evenly distributing his weight with his paws stretched out as far as possible to keep from breaking through. He left sliding tracks behind as he moved forward. Near land by our rover he started to slip and slide--quite a sight when a polar bear is on his knees sliding about. At one point on paw went in but he managed quite skillfully to extract his paw, continue forward and make landfall.
As we stood on the rover balcony, he came over to sniff our feet and explore the rover. He hung around for at least 1/2 hour when we left to see what else the day had to offer.
On the way back Jason stopped the rover and let people drive, starting with the youngest traveler from Australia. It is like an oversized school bus so Nancy gave it a try. Except for the bumpy roads and loose steering, it was not too hard to handle. It was hard to judge speed.
After some of the best macaroons in the whole world, we went back to the lodge for our last evening. Leg of lamb for dinner, another leader presentation and lots of chatter in the lounge as we realized the trip was coming to an end.
Tuesday. Making tracks off the Tundra. Up very early for a 7:00 departure. We said our good byes to Grandpa and the staff, who were wonderful throughout the trip. On to the rover to connect with the bus for our ride back to Churchill. Stop at the Polar bear Jail where they temporarily house the bears who venture into or close to town. It was a snowy, blowy day and we were glad we had our parkas. We toured the town, hit the souvenir shops and enjoyed the Eskimo museum with an incredible collection of First Nation artifacts and art. A goodbye lunch and we were off to our charter flight back to Winnipeg. Our last night reception was held in the hotel, everyone had plans to be on their way the next day to many corners of North America and the world. We were headed to Steinbach Manitoba.
Sunday, day two on the tundra. Another good breakfast, blueberry pancakes. We were in the afternoon group so did not have to rush out after breakfast. Annie, one of the guides is a yoga instructor so we had morning yoga, chair or mat at your choosing. Terrific session, she can explain where your body should be in a way that helps you get it there. Following yoga she led a experiential creative writing session. We concentrated on different senses while stepping outside for a minute at a time. We wrote down impressions, observations, feelings and then shared our favorites. Annie then used our snippets to create a poem about our experiences. Very cool. Two groups, two poems, we were part of poem number 2:
A minute is a long time
A minute is a long time
when I should have zipped my jacket.
I feel out of sync with nature and
My nose is cold.
When I should have zipped my jacket
I saw the willow trees reaching for the sky!
My nose felt cold, but
I smelled the damp earth.
The willow trees reached for the sky.
My cold hands hurts and
I smelled the damp dirt
with a hint of evergreen
My cold hands hurt, yet
The wind changed direction
making the hint of evergreen unrecognizable.
My corduroys are not warm enough!
The wind changed direction so
I smelled the butter from the kitchen.
My corduroys are not warm enough
the wind goes through my clothing.
I smelled the butter from the kitchen,
I could taste it
The wind going through my clothing
makes one minute a long time
I swear I could taste it.
The bay, the quiet, the solitude
One minute is a long time
for a bear sleeping in wait.
The bay, the quiet, the solitude
bring deep breath, peace, and tranquility
but that bear is waiting on the dirt that
smells of a damp earth.
Deep breath, peace, and tranquility even as
I hear voices babbling
I am not alone, but separate.
Calm waters appear
I hear voices babbling
The beat of a ravens wing
Calm waters appear as
The horizon testifies to the vast visible distance.
The beat of a ravens wing.
The bear sleeps in wait
I am alone, but not separate
So a minute is not so long after all.
The bear sleeps in wait
the small sprawling plants and
the sticks standing starkly
remind me, I am not separate.
It is almost quiet in this here tundra shelter.
Slate colored streaks break up the white clouds.
The crumbling tower marks our way
our way made with big tires
carving.
The crumbling tower marks our way
Rays of sunshine beautifying the trail
carved by rovers going and waiting
while the bear sleeps.
Rays of sunshine beautifying
willows guarding, bay water breaking, shoreline connecting
While the polar bear sleeps
I am at peace, blessed, lucky even.
Willows guarding, bay water breaking
I feel myself swaying in the wind
I am at peace, blessed, or is it lucky?
I hear my heart beat.
I feel myself swaying in the wind
I taste dry air
I hear my heart beat
It is almost quiet.
I taste the dry air
hair tickles my face
it is almost quiet
while the bears blinks that slow lazy blink.
Hair tickles my face
the bear kerplunks back down to rest
with a slow lazy blink, he waits.
It is almost quiet in this tundra lodge.
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After lunch we were off on our tundra rover adventure. Our driver, Jason, was exceptional and had the eyes of an eagle. He found us arctic hare, a cross fox and ermine in addition to the numerous polar bears. Our favorite bear today was fondly named Yoga Bear due to his stretching routine performed for our enjoyment. 
Ermine are not often in trees, so we think a fox might have scared him into climbing. Jason was surprised and pleased to find out the white blotch was an ermine and not a paper towel.
Back to the lodge for the evening. Another great dinner and continued company from "Grandpa Bear" He adopted the area behind the lodge as his own and kept many other bears from invading his territory. You could see that he was old, and smaller than other bears passing through, yet they respected his growl and moved on. We learned from our leaders that when bears lose their teeth they can no longer feed and die. They live far longer in zoos due to their dental care then they do in the wild. Some of our young fellow travelers from Australia wanted to adopt him and collect money for dental care. They made a collection jar and Annie and Bonnie are checking with WWF to see if individual adoption can actually occur. We all grew fond of this bear as he was there morning, noon and night. Sue would often roll over in the night to look out her little window to be sure that he was there. Nancy went out to greet him every morning from the deck behind the kitchen.
Grandpa
Our evening was punctuated by several bears sparring right beneath our windows. The view from inside was typical of our trip. As the evening wore on, all the bears left except for Grandpa. We were all once again under his watch, and he under ours.
On the other side of the lodge we could see the full moon and a lonely bear.Monday, day 3 on the Tundra. This was a full day on the rover, out by 8:00 for one last day of searching. All hands on deck. We found another arctic hare, courtesy of one of the travelers excellent spotting. The highlight was watching a bear travel across the ice that had formed overnight on one of the freshwater ponds. Early on he pounced on the ice with his from paws to see if it would hold and to practice breaking through. Then he walked while evenly distributing his weight with his paws stretched out as far as possible to keep from breaking through. He left sliding tracks behind as he moved forward. Near land by our rover he started to slip and slide--quite a sight when a polar bear is on his knees sliding about. At one point on paw went in but he managed quite skillfully to extract his paw, continue forward and make landfall.
As we stood on the rover balcony, he came over to sniff our feet and explore the rover. He hung around for at least 1/2 hour when we left to see what else the day had to offer.
On the way back Jason stopped the rover and let people drive, starting with the youngest traveler from Australia. It is like an oversized school bus so Nancy gave it a try. Except for the bumpy roads and loose steering, it was not too hard to handle. It was hard to judge speed.
Tuesday. Making tracks off the Tundra. Up very early for a 7:00 departure. We said our good byes to Grandpa and the staff, who were wonderful throughout the trip. On to the rover to connect with the bus for our ride back to Churchill. Stop at the Polar bear Jail where they temporarily house the bears who venture into or close to town. It was a snowy, blowy day and we were glad we had our parkas. We toured the town, hit the souvenir shops and enjoyed the Eskimo museum with an incredible collection of First Nation artifacts and art. A goodbye lunch and we were off to our charter flight back to Winnipeg. Our last night reception was held in the hotel, everyone had plans to be on their way the next day to many corners of North America and the world. We were headed to Steinbach Manitoba.
Steinbach. Our friends Russ and Diane Fast picked us up and showed us around parts of Winnipeg. We had lunch and then drove to their home in Steinbach. What a beautiful home. We enjoyed dinner with their daughter Ariana and husband Ryan, son Samuel and girlfriend Katrina. We also met their latest addition to the family: Scott the cat. We have no pictures of this part of the trip, except for Scott, the cat.
We miss Scott, but are glad to be home with Jessie.
