Part 2 – from Tim's ice shack to the night at Blue lake – home for the next 3 days

We got to the rest of the gang, and we spotted that Dave is missing. One of the hinges of his new slay droke, so he drove to Mud Lake Saloon to fix it. We all took off and kept on going in the bush. We got to Mud Lake Saloon, and we heard a noise of a machine. "could it be? What are the possibilities they have a welder at Mud Lake Saloon? It could be a small generator, but I think that's a welder". He was right. Dave was in there welding back the hinge that broke. We stopped there for a couple of minutes, and kept on going towards Blue lake – our destination for the Tent.

We went by another cabin out there, and got the outer layer of the tent, and also some other stuff for isolation to the floor. We placed both of the things on Tim's slay, and took off. After a few bumps and hills the heavy fabric of the tent fell, and we got it to Mark's machine. He placed it on his sit, and sat on it for the rest of the drive. It wasn't so long from there. After a few minutes the other part fell, and Clair, like her father, took it, and sat on it for the remaining few minutes of the ride.

We got to Blue lake at about 16:15, and stopped at what seems to be a very interesting area for snowmobiles. It was all tracks, going back and forth. "could this be our tracks from last week?", Tim wondered. "I seems it didn't snow much since." Tim and Mark had it all figured out. I guess I was still "blinded" and "shocked" from all the excitement, flights and lack of sleep (wa wa wa)… "our mission is to finish building the tent, get the wood ferniest up and running, set a few tip-ups, and all before dark.". "Ron, you'll get us a wood stove ferniest. It must be out here somewhere. I (Tim) will go and bring / make some fire wood. Mark will get the polls for the tent…". While we had our plan all figured out, Gary and Dave showed up. Dave kinda' fixed the slay, but "I'm not sure it will hold. That welder didn't have enough juice for this mission." Mark added a comment: "maybe the problem is not the welder they have at Mud Lake Saloon… it could be the welder."
I tried to think about where the ferniest could be, and all I could think about is the survival show. I guessed they brought it with them, and I need to look for it in the sleds and slays. Mark said to me: "I bet Clair can help you find a wood ferniest out here somewhere." He was right. Clair remembered exactly where they left the stove last year. Only it was all covered with snow and ice, inside the woods. After effort we got the ferniest out, and Mark helped taking it to the snow. In the meanwhile Dave got the tent, and opened it on the lake, about where we are going to set it. I helped Dave with setting the tent. We spread it over the ice, and Dave started bringing the polls – looking at them, he said it's time, after 4 years, to replace them. Tim came with the next load of fire wood, and Dave made the order – he measured 8 big steps for the length of the old polls, and asked Tim for such. In the meanwhile, Dave and I hooked the one good poll we have to one of the sides of the tent. Tim cut down a tree, as straight and solid as he could find. Gary and Clair helped him get the tree out of the bush, and tie it to the snowmobile. We got the tree, and Dave cut it to the right length, and cleared all the branches away. We got all the tent up, and it was standing on its own. We got the ferniest in, with the wooden plate, and then Dave and Gary started with the isolation for the floor of the tent. It is mainly consists of the stuff we brought from our last stop, and some pine branches. Tim, Clair and Gary were inside, arranging the branches we got them from outside. The main idea – as much leaves as possible, with minimum wood on them. I split some wood for the ferniest, which is kind of fun, and then I had lesson #3, from Mark: "if you'll sweat, you will freeze and die. Slow down". I got my jacket off, slowed down, and drank some more beer. Only then I continued splitting wood. So, I guess I can conclude we had the tent up and running, after setting the chimney for the tent, getting some wood inside, and having it running, just at the neck of dark. We had a heavy duty stump to act as a supporting peg, and Tim sliced it straight, attached a piece of wooden board, and we had our liquor bar out there. Brenda set with Dave some chicken soup and chilly, so we had only to heat it up and eat. We set both pots on the stove, and they boiled pretty fast, while we drank some beer, and had the liquor selection out for testing. We sat inside the tent, ate and drank beer. The funniest thing about Canada in the winter is that your beer will not heat up. It will slush on you and freeze, if you don't drink it fast enough. We tried to avoid that embarrassing situation. I guess all that is left to do is decide on sleeping arrangements and go to sleep. I think I was hassled at that point. They said that I should get the bed at the far corner, next to the stove, because it can get very cold during the night. May I remind that we have a -40c sleeping bags – they look bigger than tents he have in the army in Israel. During the night, we had a good system for keeping the ferniest running: every one who would wake to pee has to put some more wood in the stove. (a short video talking about that, will be added later) I was hassled, and slept at the far corner. I used the sleeping bag to hide from the furring ferniest.

And good night to all, and to all a good night…