Operation Hill Top 2023

The army cadets of 3045 returned to the great outdoors for Operation Hill Top 23, an annual field training exercise (FTX) held every September.  Last year’s FTX was held at Inuujaq School, but this year we returned to the Second Bridge, about 13km southeast of Arctic Bay.  The last time we were there was 2021 and we followed the same program to keep things simple.  The activity lasted the entire day. 

The FTX began on the morning of September 23 at Inuujaq School.  I secured permission to use the Home Ec Room for breakfast.  A cadet parent prepared & delivered egg & ham sandwiches for the cadets & participating staff.  The corps provided juice boxes.  Attendance was taken at the end of breakfast, and I gave a short briefing about the schedule.  The cadets cleaned the Home Ec Room before we departed for the Second Bridge.

The drive to the Second Bridge took about 25 minutes.  There was very little snow on the ground, but I assumed we would see some during the hike. (More on this coming up).  The cadets immediately when to work setting up two tents.  One was a white Fort McPherson brand tent & the other was a 5-person army green tent.  The white tent served as the kitchen, eating area, classroom, and first aid station.  The green tent was for extra space and relaxation.  The cadets are more familiar with the Fort McPherson tents because their families use them when camping.  The green tents are frequently used in the cadet program, so I wanted the cadets to have experience setting one up.  Supplies & equipment were moved into the white tent.

The main objective of the FTX is to complete a hike of at least 7 kilometres.  We exceeded this distance two years ago by hiking 10 kilometres towards the old abandoned Nanisivik Airport.  The cadets would do the same this year.

Cadets were given backpacks to carry the following supplies: toilet paper, garbage bags, juice boxes, granola bars, and walkie-talkies.  My backpack included a first aid kit.  A cadet parent volunteered to assist with the FTX and brought her truck.  I sent her & another adult volunteer to the Nanisivik Airport, to set up the cooking & eating areas.  I would contact them by walkie-talkie when we were close so they could start boiling water.  Having lunch waiting for us at the end of hike acted as a good incentive for the cadets to complete the hike.

The hike began at noon.  The Road to Nanisivik was our path.  Vehicles do travel along this road, but the quantity is very small.  I still instructed the cadets to keep their eyes open for approaching vehicles in both directions.  We walked at a steady pace.  The hardest part of the hike is the beginning because the road ascends a tall hill.  After that, it’s just a lot of walking.

The rocky, treeless landscape is still the same as before.  You can see for many kilometres and all the way to the horizon.  The only downside is that it’s very difficult to judge how far away landmarks are.  They appear close but are not.  Snow began to appear on the ground when we reached The Stretch, a length of road that is straight for 2.5km.  The temperature started to get colder, but thankfully, we were dressed warmly.  I kept cadet morale up by updating them how far we walked according to my GPS.  It peaked when we reached The Terry Fox Pass, a three-flagpole monument to the late great Canadian Terry Fox.  The 10km mark was within reach.

The 10km mark / Finish Line is the T-intersection just beyond The Terry Fox Pass.  Two pickup trucks were waiting for us to take us to the airport.  Seeing the trucks brought a sense of relief to everyone.  I was the last one to get into a truck.  The hike took 3 hours.

Lunch was held in a small, abandoned hangar.  A foldout table with chairs, a pot of boiling water, and boxes of Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs) were waiting for us upon our arrival.  Cadets selected their meals and placed their meal pouches in the pot to be cooked.  I did the same.  Meals were ready after 15 minutes.  Lunch lasted 45 minutes.

I let the cadets carefully explore the abandoned Nanisivik Airport.  I had to emphasize the world carefully because the buildings have been ransacked and vandalized over the years.  An unfortunate end to the airport.  When Nanisivik was operational, jet planes were able to land here because the runway is 5000 feet long.  There were also direct flights to Ottawa. 

The cadets entered the old terminal building and then moved to the mechanical garage via a connecting hallway.  The cadets call it the Creepy Hallway.  There’s random broken stuff everywhere.  The mechanical garage contains two abandoned vehicles: a yellow loader and an orange bulldozer.  The facility is a perfect setting for a horror movie.  Hopefully the territorial & federal governments will set aside the necessary funds to clean & dismantle the facility.  There may be plans to rebuild the facility because the military was here two years ago mapping the area with a drone.  Only time will tell.

We returned to the camp site by truck.  The cadets & I earned the privilege to be driven back to camp . . . after we loaded everything we brought onto the trucks.  The cadets received an hour of downtime.

The evening bonfire began at 6pm.  I had arranged for wood to be brought to the Second Bridge the day before the FTX from the woodpile near the Arctic Bay Airport.  The cadets built & lit the fire.  It took a few minutes for the fire to grow.  I brought out the bonfire food while the cadets watched the fire: hotdogs, marshmallows, & juice boxes.  The cadets selected their roasting sticks and immediately began roasting their food.  I too indulged in a few hotdogs and marshmallows.

The bonfire concluded at 8pm.  We extinguished the fire and took down the two tents.  Following the rules of No Trace Camping, we removed everything we brought and loaded them onto pickup trucks.  The cadets did a garbage sweep of the area and the filled garbage bags were the last items to be packed.  I congratulated the cadets for their successful completion of the hike and thanked the adult volunteers for their help.

The drive back to town took about 25 minutes.  We stopped at the landfill to drop off the garbage bags and Frank’s shop to unload the corps supplies & equipment.  Cadets were driven home just as night was beginning to settle.

Final Deliveries

Arctic Bay was treated to a third sealift delivery on September 17.  A large vessel, operated by NSSI, arrived to offload goods & supplies before the waterways freeze for the winter.  I don’t think it was the same ship as before, but I could be wrong.  NSSI’s fleet of ships look almost identical in design.  A third sealift delivery is rare, but always welcome.  However, I was told once a sealift vessel arrived in early October.  That’s very, very late in the shipping season and risky.  Ice begins to form in late October and if your ship isn’t an icebreaker, it’ll be stuck in the ice until next summer.  At that time, the crew had to unload everything in the dark. 

The school’s sealift order was on this ship and was delivered in large wooden crates.  September 17 happened to be a Sunday, so the school put out a call for helpers to assist staff open the crates & move everything inside.  The whole process took about two hours.  The main hallway was full of boxes of various items, resembling a stocked warehouse.  Seeing all the items in person constantly reminds me how many resources are needed to run a Nunavut school effectively & efficiently.  I photographed everything for reference.  The helpers were financially compensated for their time. 

School Administration will spend the next several days going through everything, checking off items and then distributing them throughout the school.  The school owns several sea containers for excess storage.   

For those of you wondering what the school orders for sealift, the shortest answers are anything & everything.  Specifically, items are placed in the following groups: classroom resources, custodial supplies, stationary, physical fitness, and breakfast program.  Heavy items such as printing paper are given priority because the cost of flying them up is high.

A notice went out at the end of the day for anyone who wanted to claim the large wooden crates.  People recycle them by building shacks and cabins.  The crates were gone in a few days.

A brand-new water truck was parked next to the Northern Store when I was walking home from school in the evening.  An additional water truck is always needed in a community that doesn’t have a water distribution network and overcrowded houses are a problem.  Upon noticing the safety railings on top of the water tank, an exciting and funny idea came to mind: extreme ironing on a moving water truck!  I haven’t done extreme ironing for a few years, so the idea is really appealing.  However, the moment I thought of it, reality set in.  I doubt I would get permission from the Hamlet to do such a stunt, and even if I did, there would be a lot of upset households, because there would be one less water truck on the road delivering water.  Well, at least I can dream.

 

Meetings, More Boats, & An Odd Move

I travelled to Iqaluit for several days to attend meetings organized by the Nunavut Teachers Association (NTA).  The association holds training conferences every September for teachers chosen by their colleagues to represent their schools as NTA and Professional Development (PD) liaisons.  I attended as Inuujaq School’s PD liaison.  I’ve been in the position a few years now and I really enjoy it.  Veterans such as me receive remedial training.

RCMP - Iqaluit Detachment.

The training conference took place on the weekend of September 9 – 10, but I had to fly down two days early due to travel arrangements.  You don’t really have a choice when Canadian North holds a monopoly on Nunavut air travel.  I made sure to prepare enough lessons for the supply teacher & students to follow.

The meetings were held at Aqsarniit Hotel & Conference Centre and attended by teachers from all over the territory.  Some couldn’t make it due to travel issues.  I was assigned a very spacious room.  I explored the town and photographed several important landmarks.  There was no snow, but I still had to wear a warm jacket because there was a cold wind blowing through town.  Iqaluit is a busy and loud place.  You frequently hear vehicles, aircraft, pets, and people.  The population of Nunavut’s capital is close to 8,000.  I made sure to visit Yummy Shawarma twice because there are no shawarma restaurants in Arctic Bay. 

Residential complex.

Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

NTA liaisons & PD liaisons were taught separately.  PD training consisted of reviewing bylaws, policies, training opportunities, funding changes/updates, assisting teachers with applications & substantiations, and preparing for PD Week in 2024.  I met & spoke with teachers from other communities and NTA administration in between meetings.

An evening banquet was held for everyone on September 9.  The hotel staff did an excellent job catering the event.  The main courses were prime rib and chicken.  I had two helpings.  I would have had three if I skipped lunch.

The conference concluded on September 10, but I returned to Arctic Bay on the morning of September 12.  I used my last full day in Iqaluit to buy school supplies and relax.

My sealift order also arrived on September 12.  The large wooden crate was offloaded by the shore crew of the Taiga Desgagnes and was delivered to my place in the evening.  The Taiga Desgagnes is operated by NSSI.  I opened and unpacked my crate on September 14 with the help of a coworker and several kids.  I divided the contents into two groups: home stuff & school stuff.  It took me around 3 hours to unpack and put away all the stuff I bought for my residence.  My place looked like a fully stocked fallout shelter.  I spent the next several days moving school supplies to school.  I got assistance from the vice-principal because they have a car.

Everyone in town finally got to see the two blue prefab trailers being moved on September 16.  The process was a drag; figuratively & literally.  Since the trailers came with no wheels, local workers were forced to slowly pull and push the trailers along the gravel roads using a CAT Excavator and a green loader.  They prepared the roads by dumping extra earth and gravel. 

The trailers were moved 750 metres to their new location, and this wasn’t done along a straight road.  Looking at Google Earth, there were 6 turns, two rising slopes, and one descending slope.  I didn’t watch the whole process but I’m certain it took many hours.  A lot of time would have been saved if the trailers had come with temporary wheels.  As I mentioned in the previous post, these two trailers will most likely house construction workers who will be working on new houses next spring.

 

Boats & Supplies

The annual sealift shipping season began on September 1 in Arctic Bay.  The MV Mitiq, operated by NEAS, anchored in the bay, and began unloading supplies in the late afternoon.  I was able to get some good photos of the process after the school picnic.  The shore crew set up their operation by bringing ashore metal ramps, loaders, a long-wheeled trailer, and a modified blue sea container to function as an office.  Then they brought several sea containers and wooden crates using two barges. 

I was surprised to see the MV Mitiq still anchored in the bay on September 4.  Sealift vessels usually stay for only 2 – 3 days, so a fourth day was new.  I guess a lot of the ship’s cargo was destined for Arctic Bay.  The shoreline in front of the Northern Store looked like an open warehouse.  Wooden boxes & sea containers were everywhere.  My sealift order was on a different vessel. 

Kiviuq II

Two smaller boats came to Arctic Bay on September 4: Kiviuq II and Tecla.  Kiviuq II is owned and operated by the Arctic Fishery Alliance (AFA) and the Tecla “is a family owned sailing vessel that sails around the world with specialties in both Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.”  I think this is the first time I saw both vessels in Arctic Bay.  Inuujaq School staff had the opportunity to visit the Kiviuq I in August 2015 when it came to the community.  The Tecla briefly stayed in the bay and left in the evening.  Several locals helped unload cargo from the Kiviuq II onto a small barge that was pushed ashore by a boat.  The AFA vessel left the next day.

Tecla.

The MV Mitiq also departed on September 5.  There were still plenty of supplies on the breakwater pier that needed to be delivered to their owners.  The sea containers were gone, but in their place sat two long dark blue portable trailers.  I assume they’ll be used to house construction workers because several new residential buildings are slated to be constructed next year in the spring.  The piles were installed this summer.  My only concern is the trailers do not have wheels so I’m not sure how they will be moved?  Maybe temporary wheels will be attached?  I’ll just have to wait and see.