AFTERTHOUGHTS

 What a trip this has been. It was a whirlwind with lots of activity and wonderful photo opportunities. I met some wonderful people and learned more about the plight of the polar bears.

These magnificent bears live on the edge literally. They only eat when they are out on the ice which is late November into March. There primary source of food is the ring neck seal which provides lots of fat for the bears.They must come ashore when the ice breaks up. This past year only six bear cubs were seen and identified. The cubs are born in the Spring. The female will not get pregnant if it does not weigh a certain amount. The issue this past year was that the bears had a shortened season on the ice for a second or third year in a row due to the mild winter, and so did not get enough food.

These bears never really hibernate. They den up for giving birth, but the rest of the year they are out and about on the taiga waiting for winter. They come to the Churchill area because of the shoreline of Hudson Bay allows for the ice to form in the area earlier than other locations.

Here are some sites to see and learn more about these

magnificent creatures.

       http://polarbearsinternational.org/

Here are other informative sites>>>>>

       http://churchillpolarbears.org/blog/

       http://earthjustice.org/irreplaceable/polar_bear?gclid=CIjO29KT3LMCFYl7Qgod7ycAmw

       http://www.defenders.org/polar-bear/basic-facts

Another highlight of the trip was photographing and viewing the Northern Lights. We were able to at least view them six out of seven nights, and they got better every night.

I hope that you have enjoyed the journey. It was wonderful in my opinion.

Thank you for coming by.

Raven Maven

ON TO WINNIPEG

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ON TO WINNIPEG  (Nov 15)

Once in Thompson we gathered our gear, and packed up the cars. The next stop was Pisew Falls for a late morning shoot. The light had not really changed and most of us were not dressed to do a lot, but it was still fun.

Our last night of travel was spent in Ashern which is about 2 hours North of Winnipeg. Lin and I had stayed there four years ago so we were hoping for an upgrade in accommodations. We were spread out between two motels and got to them about 2200 after a quick dinner at the roadside eatery. We stayed at the Sharptail Motor Inn. It was O.K.  They did have Internet service though.

Thursday morning we headed off early to get to Winnipeg where we had our last breakfast together as a group. About seven of us were flying out of Winnipeg. Another gentleman was flying out of Fargo, and the rest of the group was driving

South to Illinois/Wisconsin, and onto Colorado.

We had about 5 hours to kill while waiting for our flight. Lin has an acquaintance there who she has never met and wanted to try to meet up. That did not work out so we were off to downtown Winnipeg to see what we could photograph. As you can see we found a lovely Serbian Church, new building under construction, and a unique bridge structure. The latter could only be photographed from the car.

The flights went smoothly and we actually got home about on schedule. I guess we were very lucky that we were not flying yesterday with the computer problems that United had. We met several people in Denver who had not gotten home as scheduled, and were going to have to spend the night in Denver.

Stairway to Falls

Yellow colored is tannin in the water

HOMEWARD BOUND

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Homeward Bound  (Nov. 13-14)

After a full day on the Tundra Buggy it was time to repack some gear: winter boots, parka, winter pants (wool and storm) needed to go into the large duffel for checked baggage.

We returned to our B&B and took over the back hall as we had had to stash our gear out of the way so new guests could arrive. We were off to the train station about 1750 and were able to get our checked bags on the boarding cart. Then it was hurry up and wait for the call to board which came at 1910. All of us who were traveling coach were able to get double seats for the evening. This provides some stretching room when trying to get comfortable. There was plenty of leg room and leg rests for comfort.

Before the train loaded we could already see Northern Lights dancing in the sky. What we saw then was the best to date, but we had to ride through the night on the train. Mark said that they were a stage 4 show out of a possible 5! I did get some photographs of them but had to fight train movement, and window reflections. They were wonderful to see. I slept pretty well, but did wake up a few times and used the time for photography.

LAST DAY WITH THE BEARS

The Last Day with the Bears:

Today was our last day to go out and visit the polar bears. It started out already cold and getting colder as there was a steady wind blowing about 20-25 mph. Once again we were playing hurry up and wait as we are at the end van pick up process.

After picking up JP, our driver extraordinaire, we were off to launch site. It was already windy and cold. The weather was overcast and snowing as well. We learned that the Bay had frozen up enough that most of the bears had traveled out onto the ice in the past 36 hours. We saw no bears for the first two hours away from the launch site. The first bear we saw was quite a way out on the ice. It looked very small in the big picture of the bay.

We then moved on and came upon another subadult who was dozing. It did not take long to wake up, stretch, and then start walking toward us. In the heat of the moment, I ran out of "film", or memory. So while it was walking toward me I had to change cards!!! This normally does not take very long, but I am outside on the back of the buggy with cold wind blowing and chilled fingers in gloves. By the time I finished that evolution the bear was underneath the back platform that I was standing on. 

The bear stayed under the platform for quite some time. I did get pictures of him sticking his face and nose up to the grate. He seemed quite inquisitive.

The rest of the afternoon was very quiet. We actually went back and photographed the first bear of the day. It had never really moved.  It was out on the ice about 500 yards away from shore line sitting  waiting for the ice to firm up more. If it continues to stay cold the bears are basically gone. There is still another five days of tours which are totally booked. We hope for others who have traveled so far to see them that they do have a chance to see the bears, but right now it is not likely.

We had another opportunity to photograph another sunset, as well as a very rusted ship out in the frozen bay. The ship came in many years ago and got stuck when the tide went out. There is a very long tidal flat here. They were never able to refloat it. We also saw and attempted to photograph a sundog due to the high moisture in the sky. It was a wonderful way to end a hectic stay in Churchill.

Our hosts at the B&Bs had allowed us to leave our gear at their places until our return from the day's activity on the ice. At Bear's Den we stashed all of our gear behind a large couch as they had other guests coming in today. If someone had had a video it would have been rather humorous to see seven people change clothes, and repack some stuff in our large bag, and reorganize our roll-on bags. We also wanted to remove a couple of layers of clothing for the upcoming train ride. They very graciously shuttled us to the train station which took two trips for each B&B.


We were at the train station about 1800 to wait for boarding the train, which began about 1910. We tagged our checked luggage and then waited for boarding. Boarding the train went smoothly and under a banner of Northern Lights! This light show went on until well after midnight. Thankfully we could not stay behind another day as the wind was blowing at least 25 mph and it was about -5˚F. It would have been a very cold night for this girl from Southern California. We would have had to jump into the vehicles to get out of the cold, and use the heater to thaw out. The heater in the van was not very productive so that might have worked for a short time. Hopefully we will arrive on time in Thompson which will be about noon. I took a few pictures through the train windows but the show was much better on the North side of the train. One of our group was in a sleeper on the North side with a window and could basically eliminate car reflections. She got
some great shots. The lights were fluctuating and putting on quite a show.

Sleeping in the coach area was not too bad. The seats have leg rests that make it comfortable, and you can actually create a bed like area if you were small enough. I did wake up a couple of times to change positions, and I would use these times to again look at the Lights and actually photograph it.

OUT AND ABOUT IN CHURCHILL

Dog Sledding and being a Tourist----

Today we were able to sleep in and enjoyed Belgian waffles with Saskatoon berries on top with real freshly made whipped cream. It was a real treat. Then I had time to generate some blog entries after messing up and deleting one write up after spending about 40 minutes writing it up. Oh well, it happens and I learned from my mistake.

I apologize for not inserting pictures but as you can imagine I have to get some rest when I can. I will try to add some photos this evening. Tonight will be a packing night as we will have to be packed to board the train when we leave here for our last tundra buggy day in the morning at 0645!

About 1130 we were off for the Eskimo Museum and a little souvenir shopping. The Museum was close as this is Remembrance Day weekend, and it is a national holiday. We actually had a minute of silence on the Buggy yesterday as that was the actual day, the same day as the U. S. We have a short break right now so you can see that I am using it somewhat constructively. In a few minutes we will be off to Blue Sky Sled Dog site for some dogsledding, and photography. Tonight we will be taking the hosts of the B&Bs to dinner.

The weather today was overcast with some light snow. It got colder as the day progressed. The dog sledding went well, and everyone enjoyed it. I opted not to do it this year but know what fun it is. Gerald Azure and his wife, Jenifore, were the hosts. Gerald a member of the First Nation Tribe here in Churchill. He is the founder of Hudson Quest a dog sled race here in Northern Manitoba and is similar in length to the Iditard. They have quite a number dogs which they train and use for about 6 years. They then put them up for sale or in some cases adoption. They are also the hosts of one of the B&Bs we have people staying with. They generated a photo contest for us using  the following themes: "Man and his Dog", "Through the Eyes of the Tourist/Visitor", and "Through the Eyes of the Dog".

We went back to town for dinner with the hosts of the the other B&Bs, and then returned to  the Sledding Tent for a short visit and the judging of the entries. Jenifore's Mom did the judging for the photo contest. It was fun to see and share some images and listen to the suggestions for titles for the pictures. I did not win in any of the categories, but people enjoyed the ones I entered. My traveling/photography companion, Lin, won one of the categories.   

This all delayed our return to our lodging and the start of packing gear for tomorrow's departure immediately after we get back from the Tundra Buggies. All this made for a short night to say the least. I apologize once again for being late in making the postings but this tour is quite intense and the logistics are sometimes complex with corralling 17 photographers staying in three different locations.

Dog Sledding and being a Tourist----

Today we were able to sleep in and enjoyed Belgian waffles with Saskatoon berries on top with real freshly made whipped cream. It was a real treat.Then I had time to generate some blog entries after messing up and deleting one write up after spending about 40 minutes writing it up. Oh well, it happens and I learned from my mistake.

I apologize for not inserting pictures but as you can imagine I have to get some rest when I can. I will try to add some photos this evening. Tonight will be a packing night as we will have to be packed to board the train when we leave here for our last tundra buggy day in the morning at 0645!

About 1130 we were off for the Eskimo Museum and a little souvenir shopping. The Museum was close as this is Remembrance Day weekend, and it is a national holiday. We actually had a minute of silence on the Buggy yesterday as that was the actual day, the same day as the U. S. We have a short break right now so you can see that I am using it somewhat constructively. In a few minutes we will be off to Blue Sky Sled Dog site for some dogsledding, and photography. Tonight we will be taking the hosts of the B&Bs to dinner.

The weather today was overcast with some light snow. It got colder as the day progressed. The dog sledding went well, and everyone enjoyed it. I opted not to do it this year but know what fun it is. Gerald Azure and his wife, Jenifore, were the hosts. Gerald a member of the First Nation Tribe here in Churchill. He is the founder of Hudson Quest a dog sled race here in Northern Manitoba and is similar in length to the Iditard. They have quite a number dogs which they train and use for about 6 years. They then put them up for sale or in some cases adoption.They are also the hosts of one of the B&Bs we have people staying with. They generated a photo contest for us using  the following themes: "Man and his Dog", "Through the Eyes of the Tourist/Visitor", and "Through the Eyes of the Dog".

We went back to town for dinner with the hosts of the the other B&Bs, and then returned to  the Sledding Tent for a short visit and the judging of the entries. Jenifore's Mom did the judging for the photo contest. It was fun to see and share some images and listen to the suggestions for titles for the pictures. I did not win in any of the categories, but people enjoyed the ones I entered. My traveling/photography companion, Lin, won one of the categories.   

This all delayed our return to our lodging and the start of packing gear for tomorrow's departure immediately after we get back from the Tundra Buggies. All this made for a short night to say the least. I apologize once again for being late in making the postings but this tour is quite intense and the logistics are sometimes complex with corralling 17 photographers staying in three different locations.

SUPER SUNDAY

Super Sunday - What a day!

We and our driver had great Karma today. Again it was a lovely sunny day. We were off from the launch area just before sunrise. Some of the things we hoped to see other than polar bears on this trip were arctic foxes, a bear with cubs, and snowy owls. 

Well no sooner than we got out near the bay an arctic fox was spotted. These guys are very active and constantly on the move. Our driver really loves to follow the foxes so he was very accommodating in following the fox as it went up and down the road. We must have followed this guy for an hour as he was out hunting up food under the snow. Finally we decided it was time to move on. About 100 feet later we came upon a beautiful red fox!! We then followed him for a good hour or more. He was quite healthy and had a lovely bushy tail. There were enough opportunities to get him pouncing and listening. I did get one good series of the pouncing action. All this occurred in low morning light. It was fun to watch him listening and then pouncing. They feed mostly on lemmings, and I have where he has one in its mouth and it is quite visible. All this was wonderful, and our driver said after it was all over that it was the first time he had driven away from a fox.

Then it was onto a bear with a cub. The last time we were here, four years ago, it was quite common to see a bear with one or more cubs. As a matter of fact I have a family portrait of a bear with two cubs. There are very few cubs this year. This is in part because the females will not get pregnant if they do not gain enough weight to sustain them over the denning period. Generally they go out on the ice in November, and then come ashore again in March. They basically do not eat from March to the end of November as there diet consists of seal fat. So we were quite happy with the opportunity. At first she was right next to the tundra buggy hotel. Eventually she move far enough away that the buggies were not an issue. She also had to intimidate two males in the area so that they would keep their distance from her and her cub. There were some good photo ops as a result.

Next on the agenda were two other males who had been dozing in the area. They started to wake up and did some mild interaction. One actually got over on an icy patch and rolled around in the snow in his back. It was a nice mild action activity. By this time we were running out of time and it was time to head back to the launch area. We actually got back before dark. As dinner reservations still had to be made we stopped at the Tundra Inn to make them. The earliest they could seat us was 1930. The food here is quite good. It still takes time to feed 18 people so we were out of there about 2100, and then back to get into the warm clothes and be off for Northern Lights. Our driver, JP, had joined us for dinner, and came along to lead us to a couple of different sites for the photography.

The Lights were the best to date this evening. We had some good opportunities, and everyone worked at not being in each other's photos or kept the lights down or off. My camera, the Canon 7D has been working beautifully so far. It seems that the settings are good and I am getting the right colors and exposures for almost all of my photography. Thank you, "BJ" a.k.a. "Papa Varga". We packed it in about midnight and headed for home and bed.

Pictures to be added tomorrow, Nov. 15th, I hope. :-)

SUNNY SATURDAY

November 10th: Once again I apologize for the layout of the pictures within the blog. I am doing this rather late in the evening and do not have time for getting things perfect at this time. It has been a long and very full trip with little time to perfect this new idea of blogging.

Sunny Saturday  -

We had a great day on the taiga (look it up:-)). This is arctic ecosystem which is one step before tundra, as it still has trees though they are quite stunted. the Tundra has no trees on it. The sun was coming up as we drove away from the launch area, and the sky was clearing of a thin layer of clouds.

We get to the launch area about 0730 and sunrise is about 0745. This, of course, means that we are up about 0515 in order to organize gear that has been returning to room temperature overnight, check batteries, put in fresh memory  cards, etc. Then breakfast is at 0600 and we then dress for the day and are ready to go by 0645 for pick up. Dressing for me involves three layers of long johns, with army wool pants over that, and finally wind/rain pants over it all. on top of I wear a silk undershirt, a turtleneck long sleeved, a light wool sweater, a wool shirt, a wind blocking vest, an Irish wool sweater, and finally a large down parka. on my head is a polartec/wind hat, and sometimes a wool cap on top of that.
The feet have two pairs of heavy wool socks with a liner sock, and at night toe warmers. The boots are arctic wear from army surplus. Then on the hands are two pairs of gloves with  hand warmer between the layers. I feel like the Michelin Man.

We had some good light on the bears on a clear sunny day. Two of the highlights were sparring males, and willow ptarmigan. Last time I was here we only saw the ptarmigan in shaded area and had to shoot them through the front window of the buggy which is tinted,
and not really clean. The bears were either walking about or resting in the snow. The wind was probably blowing about 15 mph. It was a far better day than the first day. We topped off the day with a sunset shoot from the buggies. We pulled off the track a bit so the other buggies could get back to the launch area. It was a great way to finish off the day.

Tonight we dined at the Seaport Restaurant. We wanted to get out for the Northern Lights and that was the place that could seat us the earliest. The food was OK, and I was not interested in anything special as I am into the first day of a cold. I opted to not go
photographing the  No. Lights and went to bed at a reasonable time in order to get a good night's sleep. The group that went out did not go far but got some nice pictures with the large trail marker, "Inukshuk", in the foreground with lit up by the lights from the school  behind them.