First Arctic Ice

Come September we get very heavy frost and low temperatures. Looking in my diary I see that on Sept 15 in 1995 the temperature was -34. I was about to try to get to my cabin by way of the river but the lack of snow made it hard on my Komitick so I decided to run up the lake instead. The ice was crystal clear and without snow it was very difficult to use the snowmobile.

It was fun to speed up and turn the machine a little and spin and spin. The weather rarely permits the ice to freeze so perfectly and all the people were out on the lake and skating and having a grand time. The ice would eventually be 9 feet thick but at this early stage it was about a foot thick. The children were lying on the ice and watching the Char swim below as clear as crystal. Some cut holes in the ice and were jigging for Char with great success.

Our hamlet was enjoying the four hours of sun before the 4 months of darkness. One family had a polar bear hide tied to the back of their snowmachine and were giving the kids a ride of their life. Boys and girls had their bikes and were travelling over the smooth surface with a skill I never mastered. Kids up here used their bikes all year and became proficient at travelling over smooth ice without incident. Sad to say that when pressure ridges occur and leads appear there are deaths from drowning as kids fall in the leads and drown. Every Inuit child is taught the dangers but every year there are deaths.

The sun started to go down and old tires were burned to provide light for skating. A merchant appeared with a small barbeque and muskoxen burgers were provided. The Hudson Bay Store and the Co-op were equally generous on occasions like this.This would be the last time the hamlet would celebrate on the ice until the spring. People lingered until the fire burned down and the burgers were finished. It was now -38 but the locals did not mind. It would be many months before we would have another get together on the ice. Remember this is the high Arctic and these folks were Inuit. Before all the people left the lake our renowned Drum Dancer offered a prayer and sang a drum song. Very moving and I thought spiritual.