In the mornings, I had time, along with terrific weather, to squeeze in two local hikes. Both started in our campground, leaving MFI free from not having to drive me to a trailhead and bide her time until finished. The first trail was not on my AllTrails app and looked more like an infrequently used path.
I followed the elevated utility system for about a 1/2 mile before turning south and working my way to the East Channel of the Mackenzie River. There was nothing along the way to indicate I was in the Arctic. Nothing until I came across a decrepit, rusting, and inoperable snowmobile carcass. The flowers around it made it look like a grave. About halfway out to the channel, I heard a 2-cycle engine and tracked the sound to a young boy riding a mini-bike. He sped by me several times, and while we exchanged gestures of recognition, we never shared a word. He was enjoying himself thoroughly and seemed to be showing off a bit. I thought his parents must be very trusting to allowing him to go riding alone in an area that wasn’t without potential risk.
On the way out, I had several views of the south side of town, and on the way back I passed by a small harbor along the river bank. It was dotted with out-of-commission vessels and a few others that looked like they worked but were not in service. I probably hiked a 3-mile loop, including retracing my steps along the elevated utility system. Nothing spectacular but good exercise after four days of riding in Sid.
The second hike was shown on AllTrails; however, I added considerable length to it by hiking to the trailhead and trekking through town on my way back to our campground. The trail was called Boot Lake, and indeed circled that lake at the south end of town. An interpretive display posted at the trailhead described the TCT (Trans Canada Trail), which intersected the Boot Lake Trail along the eastern side of the loop. I’d heard of the TCT previously and even hopped on a portion of it during our travels across Canada, but this was my first opportunity to more fully understand its extent.
The TCT (sometimes referred to as The Great Trail) was established in 1992 as a multi-use trail network (trails, roadways, waterways, and greenways), that became the longest in the world at 17,000 miles. The TCT was created for hiking, biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and canoeing. The trail extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans and included a leg to the Arctic Ocean via the existing roads from Edmonton, AB to Tuktoyaktuyk. We saw no hikers along the roadway-trail, but we did see three bicyclists. How wild and crazy was that?
I entered the Boot Lake Trail from a small park along Duck Lake St. on the northwest corner of the lake. I took pictures of the trail, scenery, and town cemetery. I saw only one other hiker, whom was out giving her beautiful young husky some exercise. The dog and I startled each other while our respective attention was focussed on how to get around a flooded spot on the trail.
I became fascinated with the different textures, colors, and vegetation encountered, so I put together this collage. From these pictures, I could have been hiking just about anywhere, but this was the Arctic.
I wandered leisurely around town in route to our campsite. Throughout town, I took the pictures of various Inuvik buildings and the murals on the NorthMART building, which I included in the blog titled “Land of the Midnight Sun.” While admiring the murals and reading the artists’ interpretive comments, I experienced a piece of the city’s underbelly. Two indigenous women approached me from across the street. At first, I was happy to engage them in conversation, until I quickly realized they were both stinking drunk. My first clue was the number of F-bombs they were dropping and a lack of balance. One told me the mural in front of us was done by her sister and couldn’t get past that point. The other complimented me on my Scala felt hat. It wasn’t long before both hit me up for money. While I was empathetic to their problems and needs, I do not give money to beggars, as a matter of personal policy. Instead, I offered my standard and truthful response, “Sorry, but I don’t have any money on me.” They were courteous, didn’t bother me further, and staggered away.
To end this on a much more positive note, I walked past the Midnight Sun Complex (recreation center) on the corner of Bumpas St. and Gwich’in Rd. As I approached the corner, I noticed the left side of both roads were lined with lots of painted rocks. We knew the Inuvialuit took pride in supporting, educating, and developing their youth, and these rocks were the result of a youth craft event hosted by the Complex. These youngsters will never know how their designs uplifted my spirits.
