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| The Rangers' Tent. |
Those who rode in
the back of the pickup trucks had to pull their hoods up to protect themselves
against the cold wind. The Nanisivik
Airport sits at an altitude of 2,069ft above sea level. It took us about 10 minutes to drive down to
the Second Bridge. We were greeted by
the first-year cadets. The second-year
cadets returned their red backpacks to the Supply/Command tent.
A short period of rest
followed. I asked the first-year cadets
if they enjoyed the 7km hike? I think
all of them said yes. The senior cadets
got to work firing up the Coleman stoves and boiling two large pots of
water. There were going to be many
mouths to feed for dinner due to the arrival of the first-year cadets. American-made MREs were on the menu. For some junior cadets, this would be their
first time trying military rations. In
the military, junior ranks usually eat first.
I made sure everyone had a meal before selecting an MRE bag.
After dinner I had all the cadets
form up near the road for a group photograph.
The sun was setting and I wanted to get a good picture before the sun
disappeared behind a mountain. The two
Rangers also joined in. We all faced the
sun so that my camera could clearly capture our faces. I set the timer to 10 seconds and ran to my
spot before the camera snapped a picture.
The second attempt produced the best picture. I’m glad I didn’t trip and fall down.
On Friday, when the cadets were
loading all the camping equipment into trucks, I made sure to include 4 pylons,
two frisbees, and a soccer ball. FTXs
can’t be “all work and no play.” Time needs
to be set aside for cadets to do something else and give instructors a break
from teaching. The Rangers set up the
pylons and got the cadets to play a game of ultimate frisbee. They played the version where you don’t take
any steps when in possession of the frisbee.
I chose to observe and document this game for the corps’ Facebook page. I took pictures and filmed a few short
clips. The game lasted for about an
hour.
The bonfire began at 7:30pm. Wood was brought by Frank & his helpers
on Friday. The pieces came from the
large wood pile at the shoreline behind the airport. We would be burning discarded pieces of
sealift crates. The senior cadets assembled
the wooden pieces while the junior cadets brought over the bonfire
supplies. On the menu were marshmallows,
hot dogs, hot chocolate, juice boxes, and assorted condiments. The fire was lit using matches and fire
starter sticks.
It took some time for the fire to
grow into an actual bonfire. When the
fire grew to an acceptable size, the roasting sticks were distributed, and the
food was made available for roasting and consumption. I also joined the festivities, roasting &
eating a few hot dogs and marshmallows.
About an hour into the bonfire, we
spotted a parade of lights coming from the direction of Arctic Bay. These were headlights from several cars
coming to pickup the first-year cadets.
The cars stopped next to the bonfire.
I greeted & thanked the parents for driving all the way out here to take
the first-year cadets home. The cadets
said their goodbyes and got into the waiting vehicles. The convoy left for Arctic Bay.
The bonfire continued for another 20
minutes before we began extinguishing the flames. In the past, we used shovels to dump snow on
the glowing embers but with no snow on the ground this year, we were forced to
find a safer alternative. We retrieved
the large metal pots from the Supply tent and filled them with water from the nearby
river. We then carried the now heavy
pots to the firepit and poured the water onto the embers. The fire was fully extinguished after several
trips. The remaining bonfire supplies
were brought back to the Supply tent. I
dismissed the remaining cadets to their tents for the night.
Sunday, September 22 was all about having
breakfast and tearing down the camp.
Everyone was up by 8am and breakfast was being served by 9am. Low hanging clouds surrounded the camp. I wondered if the sun was shining in Arctic
Bay? The cadets who finished eating early
were directed to begin packing their belongings and move everything out of
their tents. The remaining cadets joined
later.
The teardown of the camp was in full
swing just after 10am. Two piles were
created for personal belongings and corps equipment. The tents were taken down and packed. By this time Frank arrived with another
pickup truck. One truck was loaded with
personal belongings while the corps equipment went into the other truck. I did a final inspection of the firepit,
making sure there were no glowing embers.
The cadets did a garbage sweep of the campsite. When I was satisfied that the campsite was
clean, I instructed the remaining cadets to form up for a quick debriefing.
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| Firepit. |
I congratulated the second-year
cadets for completing the 7km hike and for taking down the campsite. I added that they were now prepared to handle
the more challenging hikes down south. I
also thanked the two Rangers for keeping us safe from “aggressive wildlife”. I asked for a few volunteers to help me
unload all the corps equipment at Frank’s Shop.
The cadets were then dismissed to find seats on the waiting trucks. Frank would drive the cadets who didn’t
volunteer home.
It took me and the cadet volunteers
about 20 minutes to unload all the corps equipment from the truck and place them
back where we found them. We also unpacked
a white tent and hanged it inside Frank’s Shop to air-out. The same would be done for the other tents in
the coming days. I dropped the cadets
off at their homes before driving to my residence. I brought all my personal stuff inside and
then took a long shower.
Overall, Operation Hill Top 19 was a
success in my mind. All our objectives
were met and everyone came back alive.
End
of Operation Hill Top 19 Mini-Series.
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