The Puppy on The Porch

On the second last day of my trip to Cambridge Bay, the temperature dropped to about -60C with the wind chill. It was a miserable night, not only cold, but the wind was blowing and it was overcast with blowing snow.
At about 8:00PM there was a knock at the door and a local was trying to sell me some Inuit Paintings. I declined on the paintings, however as he was leaving he asked if the puppy on the porch was mine? I looked out and sure enough there was a cute little puppy shivering in the corner.

Let me tell you a little bit about about the motel where I was staying. The Motel is one of two in Cambridge Bay. It has a number of efficiency units with a fridge, stove and 2 bedrooms. In the picture below, the unit I was staying in was the first unit on the right.

The unit itself is modern and in very nice condition. Below are a couple of pictures of the inside of the unit.

Anyway, getting back to the puppy. The first thing I did after talking to the vender was go back inside and call the front desk. Unfortunately there was no answer, which actually was the case most of the time I called the front desk. Perhaps the only little complaint I had about staying in the Green Row Inn in Cambridge Bay. The next thing I did was call Jacquie since she is the most knowledgable person I know about puppy dogs. She said I should bring the little puppy inside out of the weather. So, I put on all of my outside gear and went out to get the little guy and carried him into the unit. Each unit has a heated front porch equipped with an independent thermostat. It was my plan to turn the heat way down to make it comfortable for the puppy and then let the dog stay in the front porch for the night. I really hadn't thought much past that since I was supposed to leave the next night, however felt it was the best thing to do given the circumstances.
I went and picked up the little fellow, he was the loveliest little ball of fur that I had ever felt. I carried him into the porch, set him down and while I turned around to shut the door, he ran out before I could stop him. I went out to get him but he was gone. Hopefully he ran home.
See pictures of the little guy below - he's so cute!!!!

The High School in Cambridge Bay

One of the tourist attractions in Cambridge Bay is the High School which has a wonderful cultural centre in the library.

While I was there I was encouraged to look around and was given strict instruction not to photograph any of the children. The centre had some interactive displays, a small theatre that spoke about the history of Cambridge Bay and the Inuit culture.

The High School houses about 200 students from grade 7 to 12. Although the design seemed somewhat unique with the circular exterior and an open concept inside, it was not different than any other - students playing basketball in the gym and studying in the library.

I toured the facility for an hour and so enjoyed the experience.

The DEW Line

While visiting Cambridge Bay, I had the opportunity to visit one of the remaining operational DEW line sites. I was told that it was run for the most part by non-military personnel and made up of about 60% American and 40% Canadian. There were approx. 30 people on location at any one time and only a few of them were military. The facility is completely self-contained with residences, dining facilities, gym, workout room and even stores. My understanding is that people working go in for 3 month rotations and would work one of 2 shifts. I was also told that the function of the facility is to track movement of aircraft, satellites and anything else moving around in the atmosphere. The person that was giving me a tour of the town was a former employee of the facility, otherwise I may not have been allowed to take a look at this very interesting DEW line site. Below I have included a brief history of the DEW line from the internet.

The DEW Line - short for Distant Early Warning Line - was an integrated chain of 63 radar and communication systems stretching 3,000 miles from the northwest coast of Alaska to the eastern shore of Baffin Island opposite Greenland. It is within the Arctic Circle over ts entire length and for much of the distance crosses country hitherto unexplored.

The DEW Line grew out of a detailed study made by a group of the nation's scientists in 1952 - the Summer Study Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The subject of their study was the vulnerability of the US and Canada to air attack, and their recommendation was that a Distant Early Warning line be built across our Arctic border as rapidly as possible,

The Secretary of Defense asked the President of AT&T if the Bell System would undertake the job of building the line. The assignment was accepted, and the responsibility for the overall management of the design and construction of the line was given to Western Electric. Immediately, Western started recruiting a team to do the job from the Bell Telephone Companies, the long lines Department of AT&T, Bell Laboratories and from Western Electric's own divisions. Before the job was completed, men with the necessary knowledge, skills and experience were drawn from Bell telephone companies in every state in the US. Much of the responsibility was delegated under close supervision to a vast number of subcontractors, suppliers and US military units. It has been estimated that by the time the DEWLine was completed, some 25,000 people had been engaged directly in planning and building it.

The Muskox

Nunavut Muskox
Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) have inhabited the Canadian Arctic for thousands of years. A survivor of the last ice age, these magnificent animals are perfectly adapted to survive the winter conditions of Canada’s North

The Inuit refer to them as the “Umingmak”, meaning bearded one. They have been an integral part of the Inuit lifestyle for centuries as one animal that can provide a great amount of meat, a warm versatile hide and soft insulating fur.

The muskox have endured great fluctuation in their numbers over the last few hundred years, mainly due to predators, harsh winters and over harvesting by early explorers. However, today their population numbers are plentiful and thriving, allowing local residents to once again rely on these valuable creatures.

While I was in Cambridge Bay, which is located approximately 500 miles north of Yellowknife, I had the opportunity to visit a meat packing plant. About 2 weeks after I was there, on February 17th, the annual Muskox harvest was going to take place. The manager of the plant told me that the government has authorized up to 400 Muskox to be taken for harvest this year. They will all be taken to this plant for processing. During the harvest season, the plant has hired 14 hunters, 25 transporters (they transport the shot muskox from the site that they are shot to the plant) and 30 people to help with butchering, processing and packaging in the plant. I purhcased a muskox roast, which Jacquie and I are planning to eat next weekend.