There is no doubt you have experienced the warm weather Yellowknife is having, if you haven’t you should definitely come on up. Part of me can’t believe I’m going to say this, but this the warmest March 1 I have experienced in the north. I can remember 6 years ago camping towards the end of March in a tent at the other end of Prosperous Lake in -50 temperatures.
Without getting in to the argument about the environment and Global Warming I curious to hear other thoughts on this weather. I know personally, I have had my guard up this entire winter in anticipation for -40 weather. I even am still betting we will get a least a week of -20 to -35 weather before the spring actually gets here.
With the warm weather brings on the mucky roads and sidewalks. Stores have trails of rocks and mud through out. Here are some pictures from this afternoon.
This year marks our 15th year as a successful festival celebrating winter in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. We are an ever-growing, grassroots, winter festival that runs the entire month of March and as one of the most unique experiences in the North, we have a long track record of engaging our community and visitors alike. The King and his crew are busy building this season’s incredible castle. March will be an awesome time to be down on the ice.
The Snowking Winter festival will be having their opening ceremonies this Sunday evening with fireworks, at the same time, the 2010 Olympic closing ceremonies will be happening. This is a dilemma for some I’m sure. Because of that I am going to attempt to live stream the fireworks. At this point I’m not sure as to where I will be set up or if it will work at all.
Here is what I am offering: If you are not planning on going to the fireworks because you can’t make it out or just don’t want too, come over here to YkOnline.ca. At the bottom of this post there will me an embedded uStream player which at around 8pm will come live and at 8:30pm will show the Snowking Fireworks. You can also go to http://ykonline.ca/live and see the same thing. Join in the fun, where ever you are. Want to help? Tell your friends, on Twitter, on Facebook or where ever.
Over and over I seem to be talking about why I love Yellowknife and the North. Well I have once again found another reason. I mentioned that I love the clear, blue skied, days we get here in the winter and alone with those days we seem to see more visitors. Not the visitors like you think though, I was thinking more of the white, fluffy, winged kind or better know as Ptarmigan.
You may not think they are good for anything, or good at anything either, but you are wrong. Well, okay, maybe you’d be slightly right, and I suppose they can’t figure out how to pick through your garbage like their second cousin the Raven. What they can do magnificently well though, is camouflage. Have you ever seen a ptarmigan in the summer? Probably not! That is because they’ll look like just another bush among the trees. It is much the same in the winter; the white balls of fluff plop themselves in the fluffy snow and you’d never know they were there.
That is exactly what happened to me the other day. I walked up my driveway and in the front door and found a cat that was going crazy at the front window. When I peered out the window to see what the commotion was I was shock to see what I had just walked past. No word of a lie there must have been 50 ptarmigan sitting on the lawn. I quickly grabbed my camera and snuck back outside, only scaring away a couple.
A couple weeks ago I took a basic digital photography class put on by Dave Brosha, so as I was prancing around the yard I was trying to remember what he had taught me. I’m sure if I had of practiced what he had taught me the following photos would have turned out better, but here are some ptarmigan for your enjoyment. Tell me what you like the most about Yellowknife Winters?
When I came across this, through twitter, I got really excited. Then I came to grips with it. Google has gone one step further with their Street View and now have Street View Snowmobile. Although I am going to call it Google Snowmobile Trail View. This was done for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics which will be taking off in a couple days.
Although I don’t think we, here in Yellowknife, will have the pleasure of this feature anytime soon, I still think it would be a neat feature to have. It was asked the other day where to get a map of all the snowmobile trails around Yellowknife, but the question goes unanswered. The last place I knew about was Wolverine Sports, but since they closed I don’t think you can get them commercially anymore.
Yellowknife has such an elaborate snowmobile trail system that it would be highly beneficial to have. It would be great for planning a trip ahead or for those who don’t know the area as well. What are your thoughts on having our snowmobile trail system mapped by Google? I think it would be awesome, I don’t think there is anywhere else in Canada with our type of trail system.
With all the warm weather we have had lately I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get out on the snowmobile and explore Yellowknife Bay. I started on Frame Lake and made my way to Back Bay and Yellowknife Bay from there. If you have never had the opportunity to walk, ski, drive or snowmobile Yellowknife Bay I highly recommend you do so. The Bay holds a very special place in Yellowknife, with so many unique things to see.
One of them being something we may take for granted is the road system on the ice. With roads leading from houseboat to houseboat to the castle and the Fish Plant all built on a couple feet of ice. It is something that is just neat in its self. Having roads leading from place to place you have a better chance to get up close to the several houseboats occupying the area and admire some of the architecture. Along with seeing the houseboats you of course can also see the construction of the Snow King’s Castle, if it isn’t finished already, and see what hard work is put into each year.
I always find it surreal to drive a vehicle on the ice right beside a boat frozen in the ice. Just the thought alone sounds surreal, this is why I love Yellowknife.
There are so many interesting and unique places and structures around the bay, to many to name all of them. What are your favorite things around the bay or rather what sticks out the most to you?
There’s no easy way to put this: I’ve packed on the pounds since I moved up here last February. Be it the cold creating an out-of-control urgency for carbs or the long, dark nights with my new big screen TV, my wardrobe no longer fits.
“It’s time to take myself in hand” I muttered Jan 1st. But unlike Vancouver where there’s low-cal everything everywhere and a seawall that begs to be run, Yellowknife looked awfully cold and daunting. I don’t like exercise at the best of times, but I knew it wasn’t just a case of eating less (although, alas, that’s part of the plan. Farewell, TimHo’s French Vanilla Capuccinos! Farewell, snacks, gorgeous, home-made snacks, on every third workstation at work!) … it wasn’t just a case of eating less but of integrating activity into my lifestyle. *le sigh* I’d much rather be blogging.
I gingerly considered my options. I am simply not a gym person. And that UltraIcyRockDeathByColdExcercise thing going on up here just makes me faint to think of it. Xnay that. I also get bored easily of any one activity. So with a buddy in Vancouver, we came up with a list of activity options. Turns out, there’s a real variety of possibilities!
squash
shoveling snow
swimming with the help of a coworker who coaches
Wii Fit / Active
shoveling snow
power walks
yoga
Zumba (talk to Donna Wong. Exercise has never had such an evangelist!)
X-country skiing
Snowshoeing
shoveling snow
skating
Agility with the daschunds (in the spring)
Running groups at Bodyworks (in the spring)
exercise podcasts (justifies the big screen tv, non?)
Riding lessons
So here’s my plan. I’ve created a set of activities, but only through March. Then, to prevent boredom, I’ll switch it up to something spring-ier.
For now, I’ve joined the Raquet Club. I have to give them a shoutout. It’s the most down-to-earth, cozy kinda/sorta gym I’ve ever been to. We even have candles in our Nia class, for heaven’s sake! And people there come in all shapes and sizes (and I contribute to that) and age ranges. It’s not the yummy mummy lululemon club (which is not to say there aren’t any. It’s just a nice variety of people.). Anyway, if I can be comfortable there, I’m guessing anyone can be. I imagine the same applies to Breakaway and BodyWorks
So it’s Nia Class at the club on Tuesday evenings, and Spin at the club on Saturday mornings.
Thursday, a group of us power-walk at lunch to the hospital and back. Anyone is welcome to join us – we meet 12:05 in the courthouse lobby.
And last, I’m hoping to learn to snowshoe (pssst – anyone have a second hand pair you’d like to sell? I’m too cheap to invest in a new pair til I find out if I like it).
Wish me luck, folks. And if you have any more ideas, I’m wanting to hear them – leave a comment below.
For the last couple days, the skies have been clear, sun bright, weather cold and massive sun dogs have appeared. They are spectacular to see in real life but we can’t always stop in the middle of the road and appreciate them. Even if you try to find a great place to see them, by the time you do the sun will have gone down. These sun dogs are something maybe not rare to come by, but a treat when they come out. Here in Yellowknife
Do you see the sun dog at some point in the last couple days? How often do sun dogs normally show up in Yellowknife?
To continue with the Winter Vehicles Tips series I will share some more tips I have gathered about the actually driving your vehicle in Yellowknife’s winter conditions.
Warming up: Once your vehicle has been plugged in for the suggested amount of time from the last set of tips, you should let your vehicle idol for at least a couple minutes. There has been controversy about how long a vehicle needs to idle, but setting aside personal opinions and whether or not it is warm inside your vehicle, it is probably a good idea to let it idle for 5 minutes. Why, because all the liquids need a chance to warm up and get moved around inside the engine to properly do their jobs. Think of it this way, if you start your vehicle and then scrape all your windows, by the time you are done your vehicle should be good to go.
Tire Wear: With all-season tires, ensure the tread will still give traction on slippery roads, and having studs on all four tires is also excellent for traction. If not, then snow tires become your best choice. For front wheel drive vehicles, your ’snows’ should be on the front. And always store your ’summer’ tires on their sides as opposed to on their tread, which can cause flat spots and cause them to become unbalanced. Letting a slight bit of air out of your tires can help with traction, but can be a pain when your tire are frozen from sitting all night.
Winter Front: Having a winter front is a good idea for not only your vehicle, but for your benefit as well. Having one on your vehicle can speed up with time your heater will blow warm air.
Twist your Wheel: A good tip I learned from a a car dealership is about loosening up your power steering. By turning your steering wheel lightly from side to side before you start driving can help loosen the fluid and get it moving for when you are driving. The prevent those pesky blown lines.
Driving the Street: In Yellowknife the hard packed snow on the roads can be as slippery as ice at -30. It is a good idea to keep a little more distance from the vehicle in front of you and begin starting to stop sooner. Remember braking distance is increasingly further. Make sure to be more cautious of your surrounding.
Many tips and tricks can be formed for safe driving and as they are complied we may do a part 3 of this series. If you have any of your own remember to share them.
