Flying J's: ᓱᓕᕆᕙ? - suliriva?

Last I wrote, I had just finished training on the Dornier at the end of June and the snow on Baffin Island had for the most part melted. Now as of August 30^th we have received our first snow. The summer has been full of new experiences and I have had some incredible opportunities. Airports like Pond Inlet, Clyde River and Arctic Bay are home to some of the most amazing scenery I’ve ever seen. Scenery I have not been able to capture on my 8MPEG camera. Flying into Pond Inlet your surroundings change from tundra, to rolling hills, to plateaus and valleys that speak volumes to the beauty of God’s creation.

Iceberg in August

Ship bringing in the summer's sea lift to Milne

Steep cliffs plummet into the frigid water

The wind keeps the ice bergs moving all over the northern waters


Brilliant hues of blue reveal the ice below the surface

Pond itself sits on the northern edge of Baffin Island overlooking a span of the ocean. Across this span is a range of Mountains as threatening as the Rockies with two glacier passes. Through the valleys of Baffin are many ice bergs that last the summer. Their brilliance of white and blue is incredible. The portion sticking out of the water on many of these ice bergs is bigger than the Dornier itself. The cenrtal to north eastern end of Baffin is home to the Barnes Ice Cap. This ice is over 20 000 years old covering 6000 square km. It is here where we have followed polar bear tracks from above

Milne Inlet is another privately owned gravel strip we fly into regularly. This inlet of water has a narwhal breeding ground nearby. Flying here, I can now attest to having seen many narwhal; mothers with their young as well as whales with the tooth. Something that before seemed so foreign to me now seems natural as dozens of narwhal call this home.

This seemingly brown rock is full of tiny flora, insects and creatures

The cliff face reveals the different rock layers

Sand cranes

Mary River camp from Deposit #1 - Can you see the runway?

Terrain surrounding many of the airports on Baffin requires special consideration when taking off or landing. Attention is given to surrounding valleys or high ridges that you must consider before picking up the runway centerline. A standard approach for passenger comfort is a great challenge in a non-standard environment. On freight runs we can truly take advantage of the short field take-off and landing performance of the Dornier. Flying into Mary River’s mining camp has also been a great experience. The contract is ideal at this stage in my career. Mary River has contracted two of our Dorniers, 7 days a week, for around 8 hours of flying a day as well as four helicopters. A typical day starts around 0800 in the morning and finishes around 1800, five to six days of the week. It logs flight hours in a hurry. Did I mention the food in camp is amazing? Throughout the week the camp spares no expense serving steak, prime rib, prawns, crab, turkey, pasta, char, halibut, salmon, chicken, all varieties of potatoes or rice, fresh salad bars, cheese platters, dessert bars and the list goes on. Mary river camp itself is a testament to the plethora of untouched minerals on Baffin Island. Geologists from around the world have come to study the varieties of minerals in this area. It’s literally a playground for geologists as usually they find one or two separate minerals. However, up in Mary they are finding groups of minerals all together. This is a phenomenon that is rare and unheard of. With the initial deposit discovered in the 1960’s, Mary River Camp is now in a preparing phase to excavate over ten deposits of iron with more to be discovered. These deposits are mountains composed almost completely of ore with some of the rock having 78-80% pure iron. Although the scale of this project is massive with an even bigger price tag being in the high arctic it is said the project will pay for itself in five years with the excavation producing for over 100 years.

Sea ice struggling to survive the warm summer days

Stunning scenery flying into Pond Inlet

Mirror image

This is Joshua's "office"

Huge cracks in the earth's surface

A glacier

Mountains

This is Nunavut

An Arctic hare (in the middle of the shot)

Wolf skull

On one occasion this summer we were done the day quite early in the afternoon and hiked to the top of Deposit 1. The trek to the top took about an hour and a half at a good pace. Along the way we found a wolf skull, arctic hare and some pretty cool water falls. Upon reaching the top the Captain I was hiking with jokingly radioed back for a helicopter to come pick us up. To our surprise an A-Star landed moments later and we had the opportunity to explore the landscape from about 20 feet above the ground and 120 knots (~222km/h). More recently we hiked through Deposit 2 and 3. Here we saw falcons, owls, sand cranes, Canada geese and more arctic hares. Experiences like these are opportunities truly unique to the North. Something I would say a large percentage of the world has no idea is up here. I truly wish more people had the chance to see how our Creator’s beauty extends north. Joc and I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.