Bears and More Bears

 There were spectacular sunsets.

Rainbows.

And the bears.

Tundra Tracker Day

Today we suited up in our warmest clothes and boots and took along an insulated jacket from the lodge for a trip on the tundra trackers out to Jake's cabin.  We traveled along the tidal flats, which were filled with rocks.  The color and reflection of the water were amazing.

We saw lots of birds along the way.  Flocks of snow geese and sand hill cranes.  We crossed over several low ridges where wolves had been seen on earlier trips, but not today.  No bears in sight.  We stopped for lunch and
as expected, the kitchen provided hot soup, salads, hot drinks and dessert.  After lunch we walked another 15-20 minutes out to Jake's cabin.  It was boarded up for the season. 




Back to our tundra trackers for the return trip to the lodge.  It had warmed up and the path back became a bit more soggy.  Our trackers became stuck in the mud, so all out, bring out the shovels and a good push got everyone back on track.

 You could not stop taking pictures of the bears.

Seal River

The morning call was "bears at the fence."  Pulled on clothes and headed out to the yard and up on the viewing platforms.  Sure enough, bears.  It had rained overnight, but the sun was coming up.  There was beautiful light and color as the sun broke through the clouds.  There was a bear sitting right in front of us and as the sun lighted him up, I thought I got my best bear pictures of the trip.

It was so tempting to reach out and touch the bears through the fence, but you would face the wrath of Terry, our intrepid guide and all knowledgeable bear expert.

The woman in the black parka is Diane, our most intrepid photographer.  There was not much that she missed.

Schmok Lake to Seal River

We woke up on our second morning in the tent to a somewhat warmer day, but overcast.  We did have hot drinks delivered to the tent in the morning, which was nice.  We headed off to the lodge for breakfast and found out the weather was closing in, so our flights out were moved up.  We were moved up to group 1 for this flight, which was ok for me.  We headed back to the tents to pack up and back again to the lodge to await the arrival of our float plane.

These planes do not just land, but have to maneuver their way to the dock.  The wind was blowing and it took some minutes for the pilot to line up with the dock.  We were ready to load, but someone's luggage was left at the tents and one of the guides ran back to retrieve it.  The flight back to Seal River was about 50 minutes and we were flying about 1600 feet high.  We thought it would be a rough flight, but truly, it was quite smooth.  Our hosts were ready for us and we loaded into the transport for the trip to the lodge.

We went to our rooms and I am guessing that just about everyone took a shower before lunch.  As we were eating, our compatriots arrived from the tundra camp.  Together again.  The bears came up to the fence and I am sure several hundred photos were taken.

Afternoon hike.

Tundra Camp at Schmok Lake

Tundra Lodge

Our full day at the Tundra Lodge was beautiful.  It started cold and frosty.  We woke up to frost covering everything, including our tent.  But the weather warmed and it turned into a lovely day.

You can see the electric fence that surrounded us in the background.


The color was beautiful.








We were always accompanied by at least one guide with a gun.  This is Terry scouting the path ahead.  Many in our group were anxious to see caribou.

.

But all we saw were caribou bones laying on a patch of blueberries.




The lodge staff went out fishing on the lake and came back with seven fish: lake trout and northern pike.  We had them for lunch cooked over the fire.

 After lunch, some of the group went for a walk and some of us went out on the lake for a fishing expedition.  It has to be 50 years since I last fished on a lake.  It was fun, but only one of us caught a fish.  We threw it back in; I think Chef Mike had enough fish for one day.

We had cocktails and "appys" and a wonderful dinner in the dining tent.  There was now a fire going, so we sat and watched the sun go down and listened to some great poetry recitations before getting ready to go back to our tent.  The northern lights had come out, so we spent some time watching them.

Winnipeg to Churchill and beyond

We are up really early for our 7:00 a.m. departure for Churchill.  We can walk to the airport. It is just minutes away.  We are a bit nervous because of the baggage size requirements, but in the end, we passed through with no problems.  Our plane was a 737.  The front end was all cargo, the back end passengers.  We were loaded and took off, flying north over an increasing barren landscape.  The flight lasted about 90 minutes.  Not much of a wait on the ground, since we were the only plane there.   The flight was going on farther north.

We met the Churchill Wild crew and we were divided into two groups.  The plane flying us north was a De Havilland Otter that could only take a few passengers.  We were group 2, so we had to wait until the flight made a round trip to Seal River. We got on the bus for a tour of Churchill.  It was a Sunday, so most places were closed.  Our delightful driver, Debbie, took us around town, gave us some history and dropped us off for lunch.  After lunch we went back to the airport, which was empty, but the doors were unlocked and we were able to await the flight from Seal River.

We did pass by the polar bear jail, where bears that wander into town are kept until they can be relocated farther away.  You know if the bear has been in jail if it has a green spot on its back.

Bear Jail

We finally boarded our flight north.  We would fly to Seal River and from there change to a float(or sea) plane to continue our journey.  Leaving Churchill we flew over the Churchill River and our pilot banked around so we could see Fort Prince of Wales, built by the Hudson Bay Company in the 1700's.

 The color of the water and the lowlands was beautiful in the fall light.  As we flew over the Churchill River we could see pods of beluga whales.  They looked like pieces of rice floating on the surface.  I did not get a shot of them, but Mike did on our way back.

We landed at Seal River and we were transported to the lodge by six wheeler and a passenger cart.  There was a polar bear waiting along the road as we passed.  We had a brief stop at the lodge to repack our bags and then we were off to the float plane for our trip to the Tundra Lodge at Schmoke Lake.

Seal River Lodge

Bear sunning

Our plane to Schmok Lake Tundra Lodge

Onward to Winnipeg

After leaving Thunder Bay we headed west and north toward Kenora.  We are still in Ontario.  You do not realize how big a province it is.  We are finally into the central time zone.  Kenora is on the northern edge of the Lake of the Woods, which is a large meandering lake that extends into the U.S.  It is clearly a resort community: boating, fishing and winter sports.  It is not that far from Winnipeg.

As we leave Kenora, the terrain changes from the forests to the plains.  Clearly we are on the edge of the Great Plains.  The land flattens out and farms can be seen.  We stopped at the welcome center and found out that as a fund raiser there is a large truck convoy riding on the beltway of Winnipeg between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.  We adjust our travel plans accordingly.

We made our way to the airport hotel and checked in.  We had dinner with our travel group.  There were ten other people besides ourselves.  Six people were from Australia.  Two couples were from Tasmania and another couple from Adelaide.  Three more people were from Singapore and a lady from Ontario rounded out the group. 

Traveling the Trans-Canada Highway

Today we followed the Trans-Canada Highway along the north shore of Lake Superior.  The weather was somewhat better than our trip 3 years ago.  We could see the Lake and the nearby islands.  When we approached Thunder Bay, we stopped at the Terry Fox overlook and memorial.  It is a very moving spot and we were reminded of what a mark this man made on this country and the world by his courageous run.

 

We headed north and west from Thunder Bay through more of Ontario's forests and past lakes.

Halfway There (Almost)

We are halfway to Winnipeg.  800 miles across Pennsylvania, Ohio into Michigan and north to Sault Ste Marie where crossed into Canada.  We were in Sault Ste. Marie a couple of years ago on our trip around Lake Superior.  But it has been many years since we crossed the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  It was a partly cloudy day and as we approached the bridge its towers were covered by  hovering clouds and fog.  It cleared up as we went over the bridge.  People were slowing almost to a stop to photograph from the top.  We continued along until we saw a sign that said "Bridge View" and we followed the signs to a lovely park that looked toward the bridge.

After leaving the park, it was a mere 50 miles to the "Soo".  As we traveled along we reminisced about our trip to this area with Minga, when we visited Mackinac Island  while they were filming Somewhere in Time,with Christopher Reeves.  We also could not forget the camping reunion with the Schnierles and the Detroit cousins when we camped together and took the boats over to Mackinac Island. Good memories for today.