Fishing Derby & Camping Trip – Part 2

Photo taken on May 6, 2016

There was fog ahead of us.  Thankfully, I could still see the skidoo trail.  Levasseur Inlet appeared to our left.  I briefly looked in that direction to make a mental note that I was now crossing into “undiscovered territory.”  I stopped behind an Inuit family that was refueling their skidoos because I wanted to follow them for a bit.  If you’re pulling a qamutik (sled) then you can’t just stop your skidoo on the spot.  Qamutiks don’t come with brakes, so if you abruptly stop, the qamutik will rear-end your machine.  You have to gradually stop, like a train.

            

I followed them for some time but eventually lost them in the distance because they were travelling at faster speeds.  If I hadn’t been constantly worrying about my skidoo breaking down then I would have kept up.  As the two pairs of skidoos & qamutiks slowly disappeared from view, I made mental notes of where they travelled.  There was still sunlight but the overcast clouds was making it a challenge to see the skidoo trail.  Eventually the Inuit family disappeared from view.  We were truly alone.

            

I kept the coastline to my left but there came a moment where I needed to check my GPS.  The vast arctic landscape looked the same all around.  The Garmin device showed that we were indeed heading in the right direction, but there was still a lot of distance to cover.  It was well past midnight and we had been awake since the previous morning. 

A small wooden stake appeared out of the corner of my left eye.  It took my mind a split second to register what that meant.  I had just enough time to squeeze the throttle and drive over the crack in the ice.  The sudden speed increase caught JF by surprise.  I stopped after the crossing and apologized for not noticing the marker ahead of time.  He offered to drive for a bit but I said I wanted to drive all the way to Ikpiki.  Looking back, maybe I should I have taken him on his offer.  We were past the halfway mark but feelings of I-just-want-to-get-there-already were beginning to surface.  I think it was because I had been awake for so long.

Photo taken on May 6, 2016.

The drive in and across Moffet Inlet was long and monotonous.  I didn’t bother taking any pictures.  (Sorry).  I just wanted to drive and cover as much distance as possible.  I followed a skidoo trail that diagonally crossed Moffet Inlet twice.  The makers of these tracks were most likely trying to avoid loose ice.  My mind found a way to maintain sanity while the skidoo engine droned on and on.  I spotted a convoy of three skidoos & qamutiks in the distance.  This reassured me that we were getting close to our destination.  We stopped where they had stopped to stretch our legs.  After another long drive south, we spotted the large iceberg to our right.  We were definitely close now.       

            

My skidoo suddenly coughed, then began to struggle.  It coughed again and then the engine died.  I was out of gas.  The fuel gauge said that there was still some left but I guess that was incorrect.  My skidoo suddenly stopped; but the qamutik didn’t.  It rear-ended my skidoo.  Thankfully, the runners didn’t go underneath the track.  That would have been damaging.  JF untied a five-gallon fuel can from the qamutik and I poured it all into the fuel tank.  An Inuit family drove up behind and asked us if everything was alright.  We said we just needed to refuel.

            

Incinerator

I turned into Ikpikituarjuk Bay but I’m confused.  I don’t see any tents.  JF tells me the fishing lake is hidden behind the large rocky hill.  I follow a skidoo trail off the ice and past a camping site with an old incinerator.  The fishing lake and a collection of tents appear.  I breathe a sigh of relief.  We finally made it!  The time was 2am, May 21.  We had only passed two abandoned skidoos on the way down.

            

First collection of tents.

Second collection of tents.

Third collection of tents.

I drove up to the first collection of tents and greeted several high school students.  They were surprised to see JF & I.  We asked them where to pitch our tent.  They replied, “Anywhere.”  We surveyed the enclosed lake.  There were three collections of tents; one was near the bay entrance and the other two were at the far side of the lake.  We decided to drive across the lake and pitch our tent at the second collection of tents.  I parked behind the tents and we immediately went to work.  Our tent was a green arctic five-person tent supplied by the Department of National Defence.  We borrowed it from 3045 Army Cadet Corps.  Several Inuks helped us pitch the tent.  I went to sleep once I moved all of my sleeping gear inside.  I was really tired.  JF did the same some time later.

Children playing.

Seagulls.

I woke up twelve hours later.  My watch read 2pm.  I put on my outer gear and emerged from the green tent.  The lake was bustling with activity.  People were jigging, drilling holes using ice augers, and kids were playing.  There was also a large & loud flock of seagulls in the middle of the lake, waiting to steal arctic chars.  I went to the washroom before eating a snack. 

           

There are several large rocks you can hide behind when going to the washroom at Ikpiki.  Many people hop on a skidoo and drive up and behind a hill at the far end of the lake to answer the calls of nature.  I assume solid waste and toilet paper are buried.

            

Ikpikituarjuk.

People jigging.

Inukshuks.

I hiked up a nearby hill to take pictures of the lake below.  JF walked around the camp, visiting people in their tents.  He left his dog Tulu tied to the qamutik.  There was plenty of rope to let her run around.  Snow began to fall when I reached the top of the hill.  I was still able to see the lake below and the land beyond it.  I took wide panorama shots of the lake, and close ups of the tents & people fishing.  I also photographed two inukshuks that were built some time ago.  I turned my attention to the distant iceberg, zoomed in my camera, and took several pictures.  Looking at the photos, I was sure that the large block of ice had to be at least twice as big as the one next to the Arctic Bay Airport.  On my way down, I slid on several patches of snow.  These brief rushes of excitement made the descent more enjoyable.

            

Iceberg in the distance.

The path I created while sliding.

Cabela's Privacy Tent.

JF & I got a few Inuit kids to help us put up a privacy tent I bought from Cabela’s.  The snow had stopped falling.  The tent can act as a private washroom or shower room.  I bought it to be used as a washroom and so that you didn’t have to carry the Luggable Loo up a hill.  We placed the Luggable Loo & a roll of toilet paper inside the tent.  We made sure the loo had a garbage bag inside.

            

JF jigging for arctic char.

A young Inuk boy gets ready to jig.

JF & I walked over to where people were jigging.  JF brought his fishing gear and wanted to see if he could catch any fish.  I was mostly interested in documenting my trip so I came armed with a camera.  I took pictures of people jigging and the fish that were caught.  Some sat on the snow, while others sat on mats.  Many would jig at one hole and then switch to another.  Only the elders would stay at one hole for extended periods of time.  JF saw this as a good example of following the law of probability.  The elders had caught more fish than the people moving around.  I tried jigging for about 30 minutes but gave up.

            

An Inuk elder jigging for char.

An Inuk child runs with his toy qamutik.

Scraps of fish that no one wanted were thrown to the seagulls to keep them distracted and at bay.  Nobody wanted to see their entry into the fishing derby lost to a seagull.  I should note that representatives of the fishing derby were present in all the designated lakes.  They would tag the fishes before they would be displayed at the community hall on Tuesday, May 24.

           

Laying down fishnets.

Ice Auger.

Some people used fishnets.  JF & I watched two of our high school students install a net.  I did my best to understand and remember their explanations.  First they drill a deep hole in the ice using a gas powered auger.  (The ice was nine feet thick this year).  Then they insert a long but narrow wooden board that’s tied to a rope into the hole.  The water pulls the board in a certain direction; more rope follows.  After some time, you find the wooden board by pulling on the rope.  The rope is actually tied to a metal piece on the wooden board and when you pull the rope, the metal piece hits the wood, making a loud sound.  The sound tells the person where it is located and another hole is drilled in this location.  The wooden board is retrieved from the second hole.  With a rope now running through both holes and underwater, the nets are tied to this rope and fed through both holes.  The last thing to do is to wait for some time and then check to see if any fish were caught.

            

Fishnet.

Stew

JF & I ate dinner at 10pm.  We used my newly purchased Coleman stove to cook Meals-Ready-To-Eat (MREs).  JF also prepared caribou stew.  I fed Tulu a large piece of arctic hare.  Some kids and high school students came over to chat with us about our time thus far.  We told them we were having fun and would most definitely return in the future.    

I went to bed at 11pm. 

To Be Continued . . .