While posting clues this morning for the letterbox we planted at the falls yesterday, we realized that we did not visit Cameron Falls, the well-known Ingraham Trail attraction, after all.  Cameron River Ramparts is a different cascade.  After stumbling on this bit of information, we decided to take advantage of having a late afternoon flight to Ottawa and return to the Ingraham to search out "the real" Cameron Falls, which turned out to be a tiger to yesterday's pussycat.

Almost hidden by the foliage it landed in, the car must have taken flight.

A few kilometers along the road, we noticed that since we were there yesterday a car had managed to fly off the road, cross a creek, and land on the passenger side 50 feet off the road amidst a stand of birch saplings.  What happened to the driver we were unable to determine, but we wondered whether the freshly oiled chip seal surface fueled his flight.

No poles bringing power in here

Unlike so many roads in sparsely populated areas, the Ingraham does not have the company of a power line running alongside it.  The few isolated homes along the road are equipped with hefty solar panels to pull in their energy from the sun.  Many also sport TV satellite dish receivers, so presumably, Sol is filling the bill—without sending a bill.

When we reached the sign for Hidden Lake Territorial Park near the 46 km marker, we realized how we missed the trailhead yesterday.  "Cameron Falls Trail" appeared in very small type below the park's name.  Having read that the three-quarter mile hike to the falls should take about 20 minutes, we figured we had plenty of time to do the hike and get back to Yellowknife for a late lunch before our 5 p.m. flight to Ottawa.  

Beginning of Cameron Falls trail

Wishing I had the hiking stick I found at the other falls trail yesterday, we set out eagerly just before 1 p.m.  Mosquitoes assailed us the moment we left the car, but this time we were better prepared, and they were no match for Deep Woods Off.  The trail started out gently, winding through a lush stand of trembling aspen, spruce and jack pine.  Soon I came upon a broken-off dead aspen that leapt to my hand when I wrenched it, eager to support me along the way.  As we progressed, mild slopes gave way to steep stairs and then to scrambles over boulder fields and rock faces left in their natural state.

This is no walk in the park.  Well, it is, but...

Creeping my way up a damp, steep face of granite, I tried to squelch memories of fracturing my kneecap in a sprawling fall on a perfectly level driveway eight years ago.  About seven tenths of a mile in, we reached a high point where we could finally hear the sound of rushing water.  Indeed, a bit of graffiti ahead encouraged us to believe we were "almost there."  Pressing on, we continued down several flights of steps and on to more rock scrambling until we reached the bottom of a particularly steep section that was bare rock.  By then, the sound of the falls was out of earshot, so we had lost faith with the hot pants graffiti artist.

Encouraging but deceptive...eyes of the beholder, maybe

Time was closing in on 2 p.m., and we wanted to preserve time for one more lunch at NWT Brewery's Woodyard before leaving Yellowknife.  So we aborted the hike, later calculating that at the 0.8 mile point, where we turned back, we were only about two-thirds of the way to the falls.  Apparently what we believed was a 1.2 km hike was actually 1.2 miles.  Tough miles.

Flavor so impossibly rich it makes your knees weak

Back down the Ingraham Trail, we returned to Yellowknife and, for the third consecutive day, made a pilgrimage to the Woodyard for lunch.  Though we had both loved their amazing house salad—shaved apples, feta cheese, candied pecans and dried cranberries on a bed of fresh mixed greens—I decided to try the veggie burger I had been eyeing on the menu.  Oh, what a great decision it was.  It turned out to be one of those extraordinarily rare OMG dishes that knock your socks off with the first bite.   Could anything really have such a rich, full, exquisite flavor?  I don't usually get excited about food, but I wanted to stretch this meal out for the rest of the day to continue savoring every morsel.  The menu describes it as "portobello mushroom, goats cheese, arugula, onion jam, spicy aioli on a toasted brioche bun."  For me, "heaven on a plate" was more accurate.

The magicians in the Woodyard kitchen

As we left the restaurant, we stopped by the kitchen to pay homage to the guys who prepared this dish so masterfully.  This 'bello burger may be just the thing to draw me back to Yellowknife when it's 40 below zero.

One of the al fresco exhibits at the mining museum-to-be

On our way to the airport, we detoured by the remediation project/developing mining museum at the old Giant Mine near the town dump.  Ore cars and rail tracks, drilling equipment and loading machinery from the mine's gold mining boom days sit in various states of rust and decay in an outdoor "exhibit."  Another quirky Yellowknife attraction, it offered a window onto the town's industrial past. 

Security line near airport entrance

We reached the airport about the same time our aircraft was arriving from Whitehorse.  Again relishing the informality and short lines in these cozy five-gate airports, we sped through the security checkpoint in short order and soon boarded our four-hour flight to Ottawa with Air North, the Yukon's airline headquartered in Whitehorse.  As in our previous experience, service was exceptional and the food surprisingly flavorful.  Yes, they feed everyone, unlike U.S. airlines.  One of the flight attendants picked up my name from my ticket as I boarded and remembered it, calling me by name at each interaction.  A very nice touch.   

Arrival at Ottawa's major international airport was quite different.  The greatly increased distance from our gate to baggage claim was reflected in the time we had to wait before our bags popped up onto the conveyor belt.  Though he was grudgingly polite, our taxi driver was not happy to be taking us to the nearby Hilton Garden Inn.  "It's in walking distance," he claimed.  Sure, if you want to walk a mile and a half across a busy highway after midnight carrying your luggage.  Ultimately, he ended up with a generous tip and responded with a pleasant change of attitude.

Tomorrow we'll fly to Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, where the high temperature should be in the forties.  Hooray! 

THURSDAY, 25 AUGUST 2016

- Miles:  2,000
- Walked:  2.6 miles
- Weather:  45° to 74° F., partly cloudy to sunny
- Bossy toddlers on flight:  0!!
- Old pieces of mining equipment on display:  217
- Incredible meals:  1

Getting steeper

This is a trail?

Lots of steps but this was easy compared to what came later

Still climbing

Yikes.  We forgot our climbing gear.

At the mining museum's outdoor exhibit

Having checked out most of the summer sights in Yellowknife, today we set off to drive the Ingraham Trail, the only road extending east and north from town.  Envisioned as just the first leg of an ambitious project to construct an overland route to the Arctic, the 43-mile highway was built in the mid-1960s.  To date, it is the only section of the planned interior route which has been completed.  

A variety of road quality on those 43 miles

Today the Ingraham Trail, named for an early Yellowknife businessman, carries recreational traffic and provides summer access to remote residences and the small indigenous community of Dettah (pop. 240) on the opposite shore of Yellowknife Bay.  Frequently transitioning from asphalt to chip seal to gravel and back, the road winds through mounds of bedrock adorned with groves of birch and spruce.  Small glacial lakes are abundant.  In fact, it was one of these that helped us locate the spot where we went aurora watching with Sean on Monday night.

Where we saw the northern lights on Monday night Tuesday morning

Along the way, we passed the abandoned Ptarmigan gold mine.  Signs warned of danger and contamination.  Unfortunately, the release of large quantities of arsenic is a by-product of mining operations.  Local mines' arsenic contamination went unchecked until 1951 when a child from the Yellowknives Dene community died of poisoning after eating snow in the area.  Unfortunately, the solution was to bury the lethal waste underground.  With the help of the federal government, the NWT is trying to devise a solution to protect the people of the area from this subterranean toxicity going forward.

Though it retains a bit of its frontier aura, Yellowknife is no isolated lonely outpost.  A modern city, it lacks the quaintness of Whitehorse's 19th century charm but bustles with a lively art community and vibrant aboriginal influence.  During the summer, festivals celebrate all kinds of events and the city exudes a positive energy.  Even in winter, when most of us would hole up inside with a roaring fire, intrepid Yellowknifers bundle up in their Canada Gooses (extreme weather parkas) and enjoy the great outdoors with temperatures regularly in the -30° to -40° F range.

Yellowknife Cultural Crossroads

One stellar example where cultural diversity and thriving artistic initiative come together is a massive work of art on a rock face near Old Town.  Called Yellowknife Cultural Crossroads, the project was begun in 1999.  An organic work which will continue to evolve, it was conceived as a tribute to the close collaboration among Metis, Dene, Inuvialuit, English Canadian, French Canadian and Quebec cultures in the North.  Various components have been added by artists from each of these cultures.

Old mining equipment on display on Ragged Ass Road

As evidence Yellowknife has not abandoned its frontier quirkiness, perhaps the most popular street in town is an Old Town lane called Ragged Ass Road.  Named by three drunken prospectors down on their luck, the moniker stuck and souvenir shops now sell Ragged Ass Road street signs.

$24 for glass made by studio, $45 for workshop to make your own

Our day started with a visit to Old Town Glassworks, a popular local glass studio that has crafted a thriving business transforming old wine and beer bottles.  In-house designers cut the bottles down to tumbler size, polish the edges, and sandblast etchings of northern scenes and icons on the sides.  They even offer workshops to teach visitors to create their own.

Add a tarp and your bicycle wheel dome is actually useful.

Behind the studio is Old Town Bikeworks, owned and operated by Matt, the husband of the glass studio owner.  From his bicycle wheel geodesic dome workshop, he rents, repairs and sells bicycles.  He was in a great mood because he had just successfully repaired their 50-year-old water heater.  When we asked if he was familiar with the similar but much smaller and less functional bicycle wheel dome in Whitehorse, he told a humorous story about meeting the owner of that structure who was visiting Yellowknife.  Matt wanted to discuss the various advantages of different ways to connect the wheels, but his guest was interested only in telling Matt how he thought it should be done.

Small town life:  There is no sign indicating the building on the right is a restaurant, let alone its name.  Fine food inside!

For lunch, we decided to try the Woodyard Brewhouse and Eatery at NWT Brewing Company.  Just opened last November, the Woodyard, named for the historic Yellowknife neighborhood it calls home, was quite a departure from the Old Town fish-and-chips places we visited yesterday and the day before.  A salad was really a salad with a thoughtful combination of ingredients and a savory light vinaigarette, rather than a pile of finely chopped greens with a few shredded carrots on top.  Paired with one of their on-site-only craft beers, it was the healthiest and most flavorful meal we've had on this trip.

Fourteenth hole tees off from the clubhouse deck.  Note artificial grass pad used on the course.

After hearing about the sand golf course from Eden and Kaitlyn, we had to go check it out for ourselves at the Yellowknife Golf Club.  From the moment we arrived, it was clear this was not your stuffy country club course.  We caught up with Arthur, a friendly local member,  unloading his clubs in the parking lot.  He gladly spent a few minutes with us explaining the quirks of a sand course with its granular fairways and—grass traps?  Actually he explained that the biggest obstacle on the course is the local ravens.  They apparently love to pick up golf balls and fly off with them.  Many lost balls have shown up on rooftops in the city.  Taking advantage of the long hours of daylight this far north, the club holds a midnight golf tournament each year at the summer solstice.

Bristol Monument

From the golf course, we were off to the Bristol Monument, a massive cargo plane towering above the treetops near the Welcome to Yellowknife sign.   A memorial plaque explained that this Bristol freighter was donated to the city by the former WardAir, a local company instrumental in transporting supplies and people to remote trading posts, schools, mines and oil fields in the mid-twentieth century.  The particular plane on exhibit was the first wheeled aircraft to land at the North Pole, a feat accomplished in May 1967.  This was all the inspiration we needed to plant a letterbox nearby commemorating this aircraft legacy.  Now there's an active letterbox in the NWT.

A relaxed family event

Later we moseyed over to the Somba K'e Civic Plaza in front of city hall for the weekly farmer's market held every Tuesday from early June to late September.  Showcasing locally produced crafts and food grown in the region, the market is a lively gathering place for friends and family to enjoy dinner, live music, and socializing.

After this relaxing, mellow day in town, we're looking forward to hitting the trail tomorrow and exploring the only road going north.
TUESDAY, 23 AUGUST 2016
- Miles driven:  24
- Walked:  3.2 mi.
- Raven caddies:  6
- Friendly Yellowknifers:  all
- Bicycle wheels in dome:  351

If you can't beat 'em, celebrate them.  Raven featured as "mascot" of Yellowknife Golf Club.

Tee box for hole #10

Who needs an ATM when you can bring in an ATMobile?

One of Yellowknife's many art galleries

Coast Guard maintains a presence on the massive Great Slave Lake, the tenth largest lake in the world.

A community of about 30 houseboats near Joliffe Island across from The Rock.  In winter, they can walk to the city.