Day 5: February 18, 2001

8:00 AM.. We’re all sitting around drinking coffee waiting for the snowmobile guide. We get visited by a bird and his or her buddies--they did seem to enjoy the barbeque potato chips we left out for them.

Next challenge was to find snowmobile helmets to fit, and gear up protecting all exposed skin since it was –33 C with a 30km/h wind. Most of us tough off-roading Land Rover people have never snowmobiled before. What could be a better place to learn than in the land of Nothing But Snow in northern Quebec? Everyone takes to the machines very quickly and off we go on our adventure to find Caribou. Since arriving we have been informed that the herds do not mass until late March, so we will be looking to find groups of four to ten individuals at a time. We are not on the trail ten minutes and the great Michel Findlay wipes out. I arrive upon the scene to see Cindy sprawled out in the snow. We continued our excursion in the beautiful forest, foothills and riverbanks of this remarkable land. A group of caribou were spotted in less than a half our of our departure. This bode well as we saw many caribou on our trip. Mickey and T.J., sharing a snowmobile, wipe out next. Each one of us took a spill at one point or another; but I was the expert, doing doughnuts on the river, just barely missing a hole in the ice. I then made the wise decision not to leave the trail as the snow was very deep off-trail. The guide informed me that the snowmobile trails, well-packed due to use, are also used by the caribou. It seems that even in the far north, even the snowmobilers share their trails. As we moved along, we also saw a large flock of ptarmigans flying overhead as well as innards from killed caribou, possibly leftovers from a wolf pack’s lunch, or from a hunter’s kill...

The trail continued through the forests, sometimes with barely an inch clearance on either side – not dissimilar to off-roading in a Land Rover. The most fun that I had was going up steep hills, taking a little "air" at the top and seeing a beautiful view, though I missed the creature comforts of "Big Blue," especially the heated leather seats. Soft snow was especially treacherous, and it caused several spills. The falls themselves were actually quite fun, because the snow was so soft and we were warm and cozy in our gear, something that wouldn’t happen in a Land Rover. The discomforts were noted to be cold toes and fingers, as well as sore throttle thumbs. The noise and exhaust fumes seemed to invade the pristine beauty of the landscape. I’m sure that the caribou could hear us several miles away, but were kind enough to make themselves evident at least three more times. We saw them at a distance, but were impressed by their size and gentle demeanor. I personally would find it difficult to pull a trigger of anything but a camera on them. Unfortunately, because of their distance and speed, they evaded our lenses, but we’ll always remember our first glimpses of caribou.

Upon returning to camp, the boys wanted to go out again, and so they did. Cindy and I enjoyed a hot cup of tea while discussing today’s adventure. T.J. and Mickey are still not ice camping, though every night the possibility is discussed, though they always say "tomorrow’s the night." After a barbecue steak dinner that was enjoyed by all, it was decided to go play with Mickey’s new Pull Pal. This tool when deployed with a winch bites into the snow like a hot knife into butter, and the Disco is free in no time, as it was stuck in the parking lot early this morning. We are now discussing staying in our chalet one more night and looking for trails for the Discos. The trees for winching are relatively small, but since the Pull Pal worked so well, our confidence to do "big snow" is increased.

Looking around, I see that Ted is missing – yes, he’s on the satellite phone again. Now we are never truly out of touch. It seems odd, to be way up here, and be able to call anybody we choose. The satellite signal is strong, the sky is clear and the stars are as bright as they can be, though we have yet to see the Northern Lights.

Tomorrow we look forward to snowmobiling in the morning and playing with the Discos in the afternoon. Oh, what a tough life up here!

Mary