Finally, I landed in Chicago. A fast run towards the passport control and from there to the luggage, it was very quick. All of the sudden, Keren is standing in front of me. We walked outside, and the second I took the first breath, it came to me – it's winter over here. Ben was still on his first round with the car, so he picked us up quite fast. We headed straight up north, towards Gary and Sandy. On the way we couldn't help not to stop at Taco Bell's. We met Gary and Sandy, and "the luggage" was moved to their car, on the way to Canada. We (Keren) repacked my suitcases, so it will fit at the back of the car. We drove up north, talked about all kind of stuff – updates about the families, what is the tent event, life and stuff.
At 1:45 we got to the cabin. We unpacked, drank some beer, talked some more, got more exited, and went to sleep (around 4:00). Got up at 7:15, had breakfast (tea and bagels mostly), and got our gear all ready for the adventure. Outside Dave was loading all the snowmobiles on the truck and trailers, and also some other stuff we had. So, everything is packed, Yellow dog is inside the cabin, I got my drivers license, and we are ready to go.
On the way we got me a fishing license, rechecked that everything is good to go, and headed to Mark's place, Tim's place, and from there to the unload point – the Iron Bridge township building. The place was fully packed with trucks, who seems to have unloaded several snowmobiles to go for a day or two of fun. Gary explained to me that there are so many trucks because Black creek is still open (with running water), and this is the only other way of getting to the northern part (Blue lake, Eliot lake…).
We unloaded all of the stuff, I got a quick "do and don't" from Brenda (mostly "do", not as much "don't" in Canada, I guess). We got rollin'. Driving a snowmobile was a first for me, and the first thing I did was to "go to snowmobile school" – look how everybody else use them and drive them. It's a good thing I did, because on the road and on solid ice the machine does not really turn as the driver plans. We drove/sled for a few minutes, and that gave me a chance to get some confidence and familiarize with the new vehicle.
While we were driving, we passed by Icy rocks, and took some pictures. From that moment on, I became a real expedition member – the camera was always hanged on my neck, ready for action. We got all the way to Bear camp, and got some supplies from there – sleeping bags, cooking equipment… Kept on going, until Rabbit crossing, where Gary noticed he is missing a cooler of beer. He released his sled, and turned around to bring it. Tim invited me to join him to his ice shack, to get some more equipment. I jumped on the offer, on the snow mobile, and on 2 feet of uncompressed snow – I went down the snow, and didn't know what to do. Lesson number two (a double lesson): Tim: "Your weight makes a lot of difference on these machines. Use it.". Dave: "If you feel like you're gonna' get stuck, just puch the throttle, lean to the side, and the cat will do what it's supposed to do."
So Dave and Tim pulled the snowmobile out of the snow, placed it on more solid ground, Dave sat on the right side, Tim pulled on of the skis, and the machine just jumped out back to the main trail.
We headed to Tim's ice shack. On the way I had to see if I learned the lesson previously learned – a small creep passed the trail, with it a down and up slope, with a slight side curve. Before that slopes Tim released his slay, and I had a feeling that some challenge is ahead. I passed the test, on the second attempt. We got to the ice shack, and Tim started getting all the equipment he needs from there – 4 sleeping bags, a coffee pot, a cooking pan, a shovel, paper plates... While we were packing, 3 guys cam with their snowmobiles, checking who is looking around the ice shack. It is so nice to see good people in the middle of the "road". We packed everything – except for the paper plates, everything on Tim's snowmobile. He had a 3 foot high tower made of heavy sleeping bags. We passed the frozen lake, and on the way out of the lake we had a climb with a side slope. Tim was first to go, and when he go to the side slope, the high weight of the sleeping bags dropped him to the side. I managed to lift everything up, I held the machine, and Tim drove – he was basically standing on the side of the sled, counterbalancing it from the sleeping bag mountain. We got all the way back to everybody else, was Gary with the lost cooler, and I think that by the time we got there they finished all the beer in that cooler. Maybe I'm wrong... after all, Clair doesn't drink.
At 1:45 we got to the cabin. We unpacked, drank some beer, talked some more, got more exited, and went to sleep (around 4:00). Got up at 7:15, had breakfast (tea and bagels mostly), and got our gear all ready for the adventure. Outside Dave was loading all the snowmobiles on the truck and trailers, and also some other stuff we had. So, everything is packed, Yellow dog is inside the cabin, I got my drivers license, and we are ready to go.
On the way we got me a fishing license, rechecked that everything is good to go, and headed to Mark's place, Tim's place, and from there to the unload point – the Iron Bridge township building. The place was fully packed with trucks, who seems to have unloaded several snowmobiles to go for a day or two of fun. Gary explained to me that there are so many trucks because Black creek is still open (with running water), and this is the only other way of getting to the northern part (Blue lake, Eliot lake…).
We unloaded all of the stuff, I got a quick "do and don't" from Brenda (mostly "do", not as much "don't" in Canada, I guess). We got rollin'. Driving a snowmobile was a first for me, and the first thing I did was to "go to snowmobile school" – look how everybody else use them and drive them. It's a good thing I did, because on the road and on solid ice the machine does not really turn as the driver plans. We drove/sled for a few minutes, and that gave me a chance to get some confidence and familiarize with the new vehicle.
While we were driving, we passed by Icy rocks, and took some pictures. From that moment on, I became a real expedition member – the camera was always hanged on my neck, ready for action. We got all the way to Bear camp, and got some supplies from there – sleeping bags, cooking equipment… Kept on going, until Rabbit crossing, where Gary noticed he is missing a cooler of beer. He released his sled, and turned around to bring it. Tim invited me to join him to his ice shack, to get some more equipment. I jumped on the offer, on the snow mobile, and on 2 feet of uncompressed snow – I went down the snow, and didn't know what to do. Lesson number two (a double lesson): Tim: "Your weight makes a lot of difference on these machines. Use it.". Dave: "If you feel like you're gonna' get stuck, just puch the throttle, lean to the side, and the cat will do what it's supposed to do."
So Dave and Tim pulled the snowmobile out of the snow, placed it on more solid ground, Dave sat on the right side, Tim pulled on of the skis, and the machine just jumped out back to the main trail.
We headed to Tim's ice shack. On the way I had to see if I learned the lesson previously learned – a small creep passed the trail, with it a down and up slope, with a slight side curve. Before that slopes Tim released his slay, and I had a feeling that some challenge is ahead. I passed the test, on the second attempt. We got to the ice shack, and Tim started getting all the equipment he needs from there – 4 sleeping bags, a coffee pot, a cooking pan, a shovel, paper plates... While we were packing, 3 guys cam with their snowmobiles, checking who is looking around the ice shack. It is so nice to see good people in the middle of the "road". We packed everything – except for the paper plates, everything on Tim's snowmobile. He had a 3 foot high tower made of heavy sleeping bags. We passed the frozen lake, and on the way out of the lake we had a climb with a side slope. Tim was first to go, and when he go to the side slope, the high weight of the sleeping bags dropped him to the side. I managed to lift everything up, I held the machine, and Tim drove – he was basically standing on the side of the sled, counterbalancing it from the sleeping bag mountain. We got all the way back to everybody else, was Gary with the lost cooler, and I think that by the time we got there they finished all the beer in that cooler. Maybe I'm wrong... after all, Clair doesn't drink.
Images will be added later on...
This is great, Ron. You're officially more Canadian than me now. Good story. Going on to page 2 now.
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