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.