Prey

I've never been hunted before. It's....terrifying.

I was casually walking along my gird lines with my magnetic survey equipment, a 5 foot metal pole with a blunt point on one end and a 10lb magnet on the other, and a little box that hangs on my chest. Rocking out to my tunes and trying to ignore the bugs, i see some quick movement out of the corner of my eye. Upon closer observation, there was a medium sized, white with sooty black spots, wolf. Now, you might not think 50m is very close for a wolf to circle you, but, when you're all alone with no one within 20 some-odd miles of you, and your radio and sat phone are sitting four kilometres away because you can't carry them with you for the survey....it's pretty fuckin' close.

As I stood there, with my aluminum blunt pole in hand, ready to fend off a ferocious attack, I watched the wolf saunter around me, and head upwind. This is when I got scared. From all those damned nature programs, I figured he was going upwind so the pack/mate can attack from downwind. I started looking all around me, but nothing. Eventually the beast disappeared behind a low hill to the east, but I didn't relax my guard for one second.

this all happened around 10am. I was freaked out and paranoid until my pickup at 5.

needlesss to say it was a very interesting and exciting day. Part of me wishes it had made a charge or something, and I could take home a nice pelt for the wall, slightly punctured/clubbed. The other part of me, the rational and sane part refuted with "jesus fuck thank god it disappeared".

Today: less than interesting. Back to laying out pickets on a second, much large grid to the northwest. Pretty boring. I wish I could be looking at some actual rocks, but....such is the life of a student. Sucks for the people doing this that aren't students anymore. Suckers.


It is very nice to be back to working in the field. My week in Rankin Inlet really made me appreciate the time I have alone, in absolute silence (when there is no wind and it's too cold for bugs), to think. I really do love this job, and I certainly can make a life out of this. Though eventually I'd like to be working in some more...let's say....tropical locales.

Back to the Tundra

So I left Rankin, hungover, and half asleep at 10 this morning after loading two truckloads of cargo and food. The same two truckloads we'd loaded and unloaded a number of times the previous days. Apparently there was a severe bacon and toilet paper shortage in camp as we couldn't get the plane out of Rankin for 4 days. Tough times at Bullion. While it was nice to be back with a working toilet and uh...well...actually that's about all the nice things I have to say about Rankin...

Overall it was a pretty decent break, didn't have to work too crazy hard like last year when I helped expedite for 5 companies. 15 hour days are not fun, in any way. At least in camp I don't have to clean up dog puke at 4:30 in the morning after the damn animal eats a stick of butter (and not just one of those 1 inch x 1 inch x 5 inches sticks, we're talking a brick of butter).

Tomorrow I start up doing magnetic surveys again, and hopefully some more prospecting is in my future.

That's all for now, need to go find something to do.

Fog-gistics

I love waking up early in the morning and getting out to the plane, just to have it loaded and not go anywhere for 3 hours because there is fog so thick you can't see 30 feet in front of you. Just when we get things running smoothly, fog shuts us right down.

Another thing I don't really enjoy about Rankin, stereotypes of aborginal peoples just being proven true over and over again. It's a dry community, but they still manage to get their hands on booze quite a bit. It's difficult to get anything done without being overly persistent. Sometimes they just take off and don't finish doing what they're being paid to...it's frustrating.

But on the other hand, they are very friendly, and always smiling. Even if they're seething and probaly pissed off because you interrupted their morning coffee. Ah well. I'll be out of here tomorrow, and back to camp.

Should be nice.

Spankin Rankin

So, here I am again this year, in Rankin, running some logistics for the company. I'm helping out a new guy learn the ropes and cope with the crazyness of organizing cargo to and from camps, food orders, people...it's kind of hectic.

I'm also back in pseudo-civilisation...Though it's hard to think of Rankin and much more than a third world location. Reminds me of villages in Thailand and Mexico. Not exactly your portrait of Canada.

Anyways, I've got to run and get to another plain to unload..work days here last about 15 hours...though the weekend might be a touch slow, hopefully...

more to come later...

Weather Days

Soooo

TOday is a weather day, low fog, blowing rain, around 3 degrees celsius.

SO, I'm going to go ahead and do one of these cheesey things, as there is nothing else to do.

11 LAYERS OF YOU

LAYER ONE: ON THE OUTSIDE
Name: alexander stewart wallis
Nickname: wally, wallis, the professor
Birth date: may 23, 1984
Current Location: Kiavalliq region, Northeastern Nunavut, Arctic Circle (but I live in Victoria most of the year)
Eye Color: Blue/Grey/Green/crazy
Hair Color: brown
Righty or Lefty: Righty, at least that's what I'm best with, it's my hammerin' arm.
Zodiac Sign: Gemini

LAYER TWO: ON THE INSIDE
Your heritage: Irish/scottish/welsh/Australian/South African (my family roots are drifters)
Your fears: damage to my achilles tendon, dying before I've accomplished what I want, not being able to travel.
Your weakness: travel, good food, rocks, good beer, good wine
Your perfect pizza: garlic sauce, cheese, bacon, chives, chicken
Goal you’d like to achieve: visit every country. EVERY country. Bit of a pipe dream. I'd also like to own a sailboat, and property on a Gulf Island in BC.

LAYER THREE: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW:
Your thoughts first waking up: "Oh fuck it's 7am and I have to scramble over boulders" "Oh fuck it's 6:45, but oh, look at that, it's raining and visibility is at 100 metres, maybe it'll be a weather day" "Oh Fuck, it's 7am and I have to fly to Rankin Inlet at some point today"
Your bedtime: When I'm tired. ALternates between 8 pm and 1am.
Your most missed memory: How can I remember a memory I miss? Obviously if I can't remember it I meant to forget it and don't miss it. No.

LAYER FOUR: YOUR PICK:
Pepsi or Coke: Coke (glass bottle, third world countries, straw)
McDonald’s or Burger King: Neither
Single or group dates: Single.
Adidas or Nike: Adidas, though I can't say I actually own anything made by either of these companies
Lipton Tea or Nestea: not a big tea fan, except green and Chai
Chocolate or vanilla: Both
Cappuccino or coffee: both, though I'll drink anything with caffeine in it when I'm in the field.

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?
Smoke: Cigars(occasionally) and Cannabis.
Curse: More than any self-respecting person should in a professional environment
Take a shower: well..in the field...every few days....but back home it's a much more regular thing.
Have a crush: I do. I do indeed.
Like(d) school: Yes. I'd better seeing as how I"ll be there for 3 or 4 more years
Want to get married: Eventually. I'm not really in any kind of rush, I'm young and have lots to see and do first.
Believe in yourself: more than I used to.
Think you’re a health freak: Not really. I don't go to a gym, and I pretty much just eat what I want, though it is admittedly more healthy than it used to be. My vices probably don't help much, but ...meh.

LAYER SIX: IN THE PAST MONTH
Drank alcohol: oh yes. It hasn't quite been a month since Matt's wedding, and before getting into the field I was essentially on a 4 week bender.
Gone to the mall: Nooo. I didn't even go to the West Edmonton Mall, the biggest mall in North America while I was in Edmo...I don't like malls.
Been on stage: No
Eaten Sushi: No
Been dumped: Not in a loooong time. This requires some kind of lasting relationship....
Gone skating: no, but I wish I had.
Dyed your hair: No

LAYER SEVEN: HAVE YOU EVER
Played a stripping game: Yes
Gotten beaten up: Yes, my sister broke my pinky once.
Changed who you were to fit in: perhaps a bit. But not much. I changed more because I wasn't happy with who I was.

LAYER EIGHT: GETTING OLD
Age your hoping to be married? Yes, but I'd like to travel more (perhaps with that person?) and own a house, and possibly property.
What age would you wanna die at? I'm hoping to be bitten by a Vampire, so I can live forever in a youngish state. But just in case, probably in my late 80's. Seems like a good time. When I turned 20 I said "well, looks like a quarter of my life is over".

LAYER NINE: IN A GIRL/GUY
Best eye color: Green, and deep
Best hair color: Not Blonde. Dark brown/reddish is er..very attractive
Short or long hair: medim to short. Depends if the gal can pull it off. I know a certain someone is acutally pulling it off fantastically these days.
What do you look for?: i'm not too sure...I have pretty random attractions sometimes. As long as I'm entertained and they can hold my interest (a rarity these days) it's good to go.

LAYER TEN: WHAT WERE YOU DOING
1 MINUTE AGO: writing this goddamn thing
1 HOUR AGO: eating dinner
1 WEEK AGO: finishing dinner, probably spray-painting grid pickets
1 YEAR AGO: Saaaame thing as this year. In Nunavut, same camp and everything. Though we didn't have nearly as many amenities. We didnt' even have a phone that worked very well.

LAYER 11:FINISH THE SENTENCE
I LOVE: Lamp. and wine and beer, and relaxing in a hammock in the sun.
I FEEL: Cold and tired, and kind of alone
I HATE: stupid people, dickhead professors, incompetence, jumping through University hoops
I HIDE: what I really think of some people.
I MISS: my cat, my friends, and my bed. (and...also someone else right now)
I NEED: more travel, more free time, and a good stiff drink.

that was fun...kind of.

Wonderful Weather

So, today, in a glorious burst of typical Nunavut weather, I experienced nearly the entire spectrum o f what our atmosphere can drop. Started out with a weather delay due to fog. When we finally got out, it was very windy and raining. Cleared up, sun came out, heated up a bit, then after ...oh....twenty minutes the snow started. There was some alternating between rain and snow for a while, then it became sunny again. Then more rain, coupled with fog...then it decided that wasn't quite enough and the hail started.

More rain and fog closed out the day. Wasn't too terrible because I finally got to look at some rocks again. It had been too long since I'd been able to sample.

Not much else to comment on. The wolf was in camp the other day, but left pretty quick. Seems a little less inclined to come sniffing around camp this year with 30 some odd people. There was a few weeks last year with 13 of us where he wouldn't leave. Ah well.

Nick uploaded some pictures tonight, so I'm going to hijack his photo link as soon as I can. There have been some pretty spectacular sunsets as of late. But not much else is happening.

Core Boxes

Had a break from the monotony of laying out pickets in a 8km by 500 metre grid at 25 metre intervals today. Went up to one of last year's camps and laid out about 200 core boxes for some people to look at this week. Still a lot of hard work, but not roaming over the endless tundra or tramping through ponds fighting off mosquitos.

All in all, an excellent day, as I got a slight break, and it's also Ham for dinner, which is goddamn delicious.

Not much has really happened the last few days. Camp life is pretty much the same every day. Helicopter out at 8:30, helicopter in at 5:00, dinner at 6, sometimes more work after, usually a movie or poker, or I listen to music and work on my caribou antler carving skills (almost as cool as nunchuk skills)

Oh, I did recieve a couple of packages a couple days ago, which are awesome. I love having parents who drink almost as much as I do, and come through with requests that might be slightly against the camp regulations. Awesome.

Also, the other package from a certain person who usually comments here, which was, to say the least, a riot. That pink and blue princess eye cover is realy helping me sleep well. Thanks.
(that "gift" is going to come right back and bite you. Hard. You've been warned.)

Make up your mind Nunavut

Are you going to be hot? or cold? This swapping every couple days is bullshit. I never know what I need to take into the field anymore. Last week, sub-zero temperatures. Today, up in the mid 20's. Which feels like 30 after last week. So hot, milk was bad choice. So I managed to get pretty burned on my arms and face, got a pretty wicked farmer tan going on now.

Finished off the day with some extra carpentry after dinner, and since it was still pretty warm out, Nick and I decided it'd be a good idea to go for a swim.

...


It wasn't a very good idea. When you see snow that is still frozen in July on the riverbank, the river is probably pretty effin' cold. Sure enough, it was pretty cold. Though it was very refreshing after the body adjusted to it.

Mosquitos have come back full force, when we went to the river we were swarmed pretty bad due to the lack of clothing... But at least it's sunny again.

I am not a poker champion

I like to think I'm decent at the game of Texas Hold'em. But I've recently learned...that I am nothing special. There are a couple of very good players up here. We have a game every few days and I just got stomped the first game. Did alright tonight, was big stack for a little while, then just made some decent bets that just got beat by better hands . It happens.

Our three days of horrible weather are gone now, apparenlty a high pressure system has moved back in with a slight warmth...

The wind is still just cold. Bitterly cold. But at least it was sunny today.

Oh, and the shitty weather also means all the mosquitos are dead. Or at least the ones that had hatched thus far. A new batch will pop up in a day or two though. There's no stopping the little bastards.

I'm on a mission to destroy as many mosquitos as I possibly can.

Watch out.

killin' time

So, we had a second day off today.

yesterday the weather was terrible in the morning, but we did get out into the field to map some boulder fields for a bit in the afternoon.

Today there was a minor problem with the drill, so both the helicopters were occupied in trying to get more parts for it. So us geo's got to hang around camp looking for odd jobs to do. Lots of coffee breaks, and wandering around. Not much time spent outside, as again, the weather ended up being pretty bad. No snow today, but it was bitterly cold with occasional rain. Just another beautiful day in Nunavut.

I'm picking up a new skill/hobby. One of Geo's here broughtup a bunch of different files and such, and he's beginning to learn how to carve caribou antler. I became quite interested, and have decided to try my hand at it. Starting pretty basic, but hopefully I get some decent looking things as the summer goes on. Pretty much I can make rings. File out the middle, polish the surface...and there you have it. Rafael, the geo who started me on this is getting pretty good, and can actually create shapes on the rings and such. It's a pretty time consuming process, already killed a couple hours, and I just have the basic shape, and fitted to my finger, now just have to wear down the outside edges and polish it up.

I've also decided to grow a classic handlebar mustache. So, if anyone can suggest a decent mustache wax, I'd be much appreciative. I've almost got the curls going, just need the ends to be a bit longer. This is a classy Wyatt Earp style handlebar, not the biker handlebar. Think Captain Hook style. Oh yea. I'm bringing this to UVic, and it's going to be awesome.

Snow Hey Oh

It is 8:40am on July 7th. and it is snowing.

A lot.

With no sign of let up.


Summer seems to be over.

Oh right....I'm in the Arctic

So, last couple of days have definitly NOT been t-shirt days. I seem to ahve jinxed us with my boasting of the warm weather. That night the wind changed direction, and we had a pretty heavy downpour at around 4am. If you've ever slept under a tarp with heavy rain and 30km/hr winds, you know it's not a very quiet night.

Anyways, temperature has been hovering around 5-10 degrees, but the wind chill is keeping it below zero for the most part. The wind is the worst part. Just cuts right through every layer of clothing you're wearing. Even my "wind breaker" jacket doesn't work when you're out in the open for 7 hours.

Did some prospecting the other day, found a very nice sample which very likely contains at least trace amounts of gold, so hopefully I can win the 500$ they give away for the highest gold containing sample this year. Woo. Lord knows I could use it..

So there ya go. That's my 2 day update. It's cold. Surprise, surprise. Probably going out tomorrow night to do some fishing, maybe take a swim if it's at all warm (relatively speaking).

T-Shirts and Tundra

A strange combination to say the least.

The last 3 days it's been above 20 degrees (celsius) for the better part of the day. WHen you start hiking 5-10km a day with a backpack full of rocks, it feels like 35. It's absolutely unbelievable. This time last year it was pissing rain and hovering around zero most of the day, with the windchill taking it down 5 or 6 degrees further.

Only problem with the warmth and wearing a t-shirt is the mosquitos have started coming out. Have had to start layering on the DEET several times a day at this point...which also kind of melts down the sunscreen...oh well, I"d rather be burned than scratching bites all night.

They still manage to get me though...One even got under my watch and started sucking before I crushed him. Little bastards.

I was going to put some pictures up, but the uploading thing, and webshots seem to have shit all over themselves...either that or the satellite internet can't choke down the big picture files to get them up. Can't even email them right now. It's a bit frustrating. Nothing much interesting yet...had a couple wolves in camp, though I wasn't here to see them.. They'll e around more though, they now know there are people here, which usually means food.

I'll work on the picture thing, have gotten some good landscapes (there's not much else to shoot here) so far, and want ot get them up. ahh well, back to work.

Prospectin'

So I head out in the chopper this morning to do a little prospecting, one of my favourite things about field work. It's by far the most interesting thing I get to do (unless we actually do some mapping of the area, which is also kickass). I basically hike around a given area and smash rocks and figure out if they're worth sampling. Woo!

Also, some good news, I now have a camera, the boss was nice enough to hook me up with one of the company digitals, not that great quality, but it's better than nothing. Stupid lation heat party and my camera getting stolen....ah well, what can you do. expect more pictures soon.


Does anyone actually read this at all? (I know you do allyson, just wondering if there's anyone else.....)

Anyone who does read this and feel like writting me:
Alex Wallis
Comittee Bay Bullion Camp
C/O Apex Geoscience
P.O. Box 885
Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0
call for pickup: 867-645-2228

that's it..maybe something exciting will happen in the next few days (I hope) or else this is going to be a drrryyyyy blog.