Ice Age

Not much has been happening in Yellowknife lately.  I have got out of the "spring-time" phase, got through the "get serious" phase and am now in the "serious" phase that will take me through the rest of the year.  It's game on and training is a number 1 focus.  I have finally got my phone call offering my position on CVTC.  So all this "hurry up and wait" over the past while is now "hurry up and make a decision". 

There is still skiing in Yellowknife.  Some days are brutal though.  It has been freezing cold, getting down to lows of -10 C at night and barely getting above zero most days.  A very cold May, but I'm not complaining.  The ice isn't great for skiing on these cold days, as it's rock hard and is as loud as a 737 when skiing on.  In this picture, Corey is being pushed by the gale force winds on the chunky ice on the ice road.  I froze skiing back to town.  

Cool drifts.  Just out past Dettah village.

The tracks on previous week's snowfall will remain until break-up.  A-Hop dressed for normal May weather on this day.  And froze.

Ok, this is funny.  Recently I went to Fort Providence with my family to tidy up my grandparents' graves (that's not the funny part, haha).  Randomly, as we pulled into the middle-of-nowhere-village Edzo, we see Yellowknife's only ice cream man.  In Edzo.  So we wave frantically from our truck to flag him down.  

I brought my bike to Ft. Prov and had an amazing ride there that evening.  The river had only recently broken up, allowing the ferry's passage to the south and the rest of the country.  Riding along the river is beauty.  Just look out for bison.  Nice reminiscing on many trips to the area in my childhood.  Notably, the trip to NWT Cross Country Running Champs (back when they had those) with, correct me if I'm wrong, David, Michael and Jill Gilday and Eric Aitken.  

The giant of the D'Hont clan.  I'm half a foot taller than anybody ever was on either side of the family.  And I'm not even that tall at 5'11".  Pate always asks how I did it.  l to r: myself, Dawn (mom), Evelyn (Aunt who has never read my blog), and Adrian (dad).  

On the riverbank checking out a memorial for the hardships suffered by aboriginal peoples in the residential schools.  I climbed this giant boulder nearby that had to be the only rock climbing anywhere near Ft. Prov, haha.  It took a while to climb...no handholds, just pure brawn.

Some cool cracks are starting to form on the lake.  I'm sort of scared skiing sometimes.  There are open patches here and there.  They say to look out for seagulls, they are an indicator of open water. 

With the freeze-thaw cycle, the ice is moving around and pushing up freshly frozen sheets of ice into the sky.  Be careful skiing over these, they can dismember you!

So now that things are set in motion, I should know my plan for the year within a week's time.  Thank you to my sponsors who made this year possible for me: MACA/Sport North, FSC Architects and Engineers, the North Slave Métis Alliance, Mackenzie Management, Great Slave Dental, and Francis at Bodyworks Fitness Centre.  I couldn't do what I'm doing without you, so thank you.