13.9.2006: Park Familiarization Trip: Getting a little too familiar...

There are so many stories with which I might begin to recant the past months since moving up here, but as Markus has put online a collection of photos from the Familiarization Trip, I see it fitting to clarify.

Brock Canyon. Photo by Markus Siivola.

My responsibilities here with the park deal with every aspect imaginable, including human and financial resource management, project development, organization and implementation, public communication and education and visitor services, among others. Park staff responsibilities include patrols in the park from time to time in order to keep abreast of any changes in the terrain, check equipment or projects that may be in the park, keep sharp wilderness skills and familiarization with the landscape which may be critical in rescue operations, as well as valuable interactive opportunities to exchange information and pass on our Agency messages to visitors in the park. Being new to the area myself, this patrol had added-value in contributing to my increased familiarization with the park. August 8 - 12, two colleagues, Markus and I had a backpacking trip slated, and we were all keen.

It started out well enough. August 8th dawned clear and sunny as the entire previous week had done, and we eagerly climbed into the tiny float plane in pairs to reach our destination for the next five days. I had not yet been in a plane so small! It only carried 3 people at a time plus our gear. Sitting in the front, I had to sit on my hands for fear of accidentally grabbing hold of the co-pilot steering wheel gently swaying in front of my knees. After 20 minutes of watching the landscape pass beneath we landed at One Island Lake, and an hour later the second shuttle trip was complete and all four of us stood on the shores collecting our things and making ready for the hike towards the Brock Canyon and our camp for the night.

Three hours later it became increasingly clear that our blue sky was being impeached by a rather threatening wall of dark thunderheads. The complement of lightening and deep rumbling in the distance confirmed our thoughts - it was going to be wet, and it was going to happen soon. We hurriedly made camp and cooked food, all the while snapping photos and watching in awe as the Weather Gods made ready to show us their might. And did they ever- electrifying bolts of lightening ignited the dark, imposing sky long before the rain came. We were all mesmerized in-between our scurrying to prepare for the inevitable onslaught. The sky was split in two; fair, blue, open airs sliced by an advancing long, white horizontal plume of cloud preceeding an ominous, dark blanket behind it. We settled in just as the first large, splashing drops met the ground around us.

In the following 30 minutes we all experienced one of the most violent electrical storms any of us had seen in a long time. Repeated explosions directly overhead of lightening and thunder in unison, rain pouring down in buckets, and us tucked down in our tents, utterly exposed on this open landscape and completely at the mercy of Nature's wrath.

The next three days that followed involved a great deal of rain and the insides of our tents. We managed to get out for about two hours every day for a little jaunt on the tundra, but invariably were forced back into shelter. Our planned 62 km, 5-day loop backpacking trip turned into a base camp with maybe 25 km of backpacking and 25 km of day-hiking. The rain was not our only opponent - thick fog was ever-present, making a potential hike along a canyon less than spectacular, and navigation across the near-featureless tundra more than tricky. Not to mention that our comarades were not as well equipped against the rain as we. Since we wouldn't be seeing much anyway, we opted to wait out the rain and return to One Island Lake the way we'd come for our plane pick-up.

The weather may have taken centre-stage for this trip's stories, but it wasn't all we did. As you can see from the photos, we certainly were able to profit from enchanting views of the canyon and surroundings, and on the last two days the sun even came out. We benefitted first-hand of learning just how quickly and drastically the weather can change out here, which is an invaluable experience for future preparation and comfort. It's one thing to talk about swift changes in weather, and another to live it. Our day went from shorts and t-shirts in 20 C to a blanket of ice pellets on the ground. We also met up with some visitors to the park and Markus and I caught some pretty nice fish on our last night. All the elements of a great trip - a story to come home with, good company and some great views!

Delia

Base-camp during a pause in the rain. Photo by Markus Siivola.