Dearlove.ca

On the drive back from Cameron Falls, I stopped about 20 minutes outside of town to take a picture of the headframe of an old gold mine.  A quick photo op turned into a memorable experience.

As I found out later, the mine I explored is Ptarmigan Mine.  It’s one of several gold mines in the area.  Giant Mine, which was the site of a famous explosion in 1992 that killed nine replacement workers during a labour dispute, is just down the road. The headframe of Con Mine on the outskirts of town is the tallest structure in the Northwest Territories.

Gold was first mined at Ptarmigan in the early 1940′s before stopping during World War II.  It resumed again in the 1980′s and continued until 1997.  During the ten years it was in operation, the mine produced around 75,000 ounces of gold.

Since 1997, the mine site has been essentially abandoned after the company went bankrupt.  There was talk about a decade ago about cleaning up the site, and an auction was held in 2005 for the remaining buildings and equipment.  As you can see, much of the mine was just left to rot.

Walking through the site is cool and kind of creepy.  The ground is littered with garbage – gloves, old jackets, twisted pieces of metal.  An old ambulance lies in the weeds, doors torn from their hinges.  A large rack filled with hundreds of core samples stands in the forest.  The graffiti that covers the walls is crude and sometimes funny – I imagine lots of kids over the past decade have escaped to the mine to party.

I’m sure the cost of reclaiming the site is astronomical.  In 1997, the estimated cost was $350,000.  Obviously it would be millions of dollars now to clear the buildings, cap the tailing ponds, revegetate the site, and it doesn’t seem to be a priority for anyone in the public or private sector.

If you’re curious about the site and want to see a few more photos, there’s a good set of photos on Flickr here.  They were taken about five years ago, and as you can see, not much has changed.

The mine has one notable remaining resident, and I’ll tell you about my encounter with her in the next post.

First stop – the controls for the mine elevator.  I assume this used to be covered by a building.

The entrance to the mine shaft.  Despite the invitation, I decided not to risk life and limb by climbing inside.

One of several buildings on the site.  I think the rollers were to transport ore carts from the shaft down to the processing building.

A & K wanted me to explain what this poem means – easier said than done.

I had a free Sunday morning in Yellowknife and felt like doing something adventurous.  I started poking around online for ideas and came across a great blog called Life in the Knife.  Written by a local named Shane, the blog is a tremendous resource of activities and perspectives on life in the north, covering everything from the local architecture to driving the ice road.  If you’re planning a trip to Yellowknife, I strongly recommend you check it out.

One of the posts is about the Cameron Falls Trail, and it was exactly what I was looking for – an easy hike to a pretty waterfall.  Located just 45 minutes outside of town along the Ingraham Trail, it promised a taste of northern peace and solitude.

I arrived just after 8:00 am and was happy to discover that I was the only person there.  The trail is well-marked and easy to follow, and the hike doesn’t present any real physical challenges.  Some kind people have even built boardwalks, stairs, and a bridge across the falls.

After walking for about 15 minutes, you’re rewarded with a stunning view of the falls.  I must admit I felt a small pang of regret that there wasn’t a bear standing in the shallows – that would have been perfect.

After exploring the falls for a few minutes I sat on the banks of the river and dipped my toes in the cold clear water.  I pulled out my iPhone to check the time and noticed the words “No service” in the top corner of the screen.

I suddenly panicked.  I was a pudgy, middle-age guy from the suburbs, alone in the wilds of the Northwest Territories without so much as a pocket knife or even a bear bell.  I hadn’t told anyone where I was going.  If anything happened – an attack by a rabid wolverine, a broken ankle, an assault by a roaming band of miscreants – there was no way for me to call for help.  Or text for help.  Or send out an S.O.S. via Facebook or Twitter.

At that moment I actually contemplated making a video message on my iPhone for my kids in case I didn’t make it back.  Something along the lines of “Dear A and K – if you’re watching this, it means Daddy has done something incredibly stupid and is really, really sorry.”

I quickly put on my shoes and walked briskly back to the car.  At one point a rabbit darted across the path in front of me and I might have let out a tiny shriek. While I’m sure the hike was no more dangerous than a walk in Gatineau Park, my mind was working overtime to turn it into some kind of death-defying odyssey.

In any case, Shane has posted a lot of great photos of the trail on his blog here.  If you have a couple of hours to spare in Yellowknife, I highly encourage you to take a drive out of town and do the hike (especially if do what I did and couple it with a tour of an abandoned gold mine, which I’ll describe in the next post).

One of the main reasons for my trip to Yellowknife was for Folk on the Rocks, a two-day music festival held on the shores of Long Lake.  This was the 31st edition, and I was really impressed by the line-up they put together.

The festival site is quite pretty.  Easily accessible from town, it occupies a sandy stretch of land on the shore of a beautiful blue lake.  There are three secondary stages (Left, Right, and the Beer Garden), a kid’s area, cultural performers area, and of course, the Main Stage for the evening performances.

I was happy to see a couple of Scene festival artists on the bill.  The Deep Dark Woods and Luke Doucet both played during the weekend, and unlike during the Scene, I could listen to them without having to worry about any work-related duties.

The Deep Dark Woods on the Beer Garden stage.

Luke Doucet and the White Falcon play an afternoon set.  Luke’s wife Melissa didn’t make the trip North – she was playing with Sarah McLachlan at the Hollywood Bowl.

The main stage performances at night were great.  It was the first time I’d heard Rae Spoon and Owen Pallett perform live, and they both blew me away.  Owen in particular is an incredible talent, and I look forward to hearing him play again sometime soon.

Rae Spoon performs a solo set on the Main Stage.

One of the other highlights of the festival was Fred Penner.  Fred was everywhere over the weekend – playing tambourine with Ken Whiteley during a pre-festival gig at the hotel, performing a set for kids, taking part in the Sunday morning Gospel show.  It always looked like he was having a good time.

Of course, the festival also featured a number of artists from Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.  Elisapie Isaac was really good, Kulavak nicely bridged traditional and contemporary throat-singing, and “Harmonica” George was a frequent guest soloist throughout the weekend.

The festival has the usual craft village, and the food offerings were very diverse – everything from tacos and burgers to red curry and samosas.

I should also point out that the festival t-shirt had a great design.  I know how hard it is to come up with a compelling visual concept for the shirt, and I will admit to being a little envious that their shirt looked better than ours.

Folk on the Rocks takes place every year on the third weekend in July.  If you’re looking for a little northern adventure coupled with good music, I highly recommend you check it out.

Ottawa has come down with a case of Will & Kate fever this week as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are in town for Canada Day celebrations.  It reminds me of the time another famous Duke and Duchess visited Ottawa, and I got to spend a few minutes with them.

Way back in July of 1989, Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York (aka Fergie) were on an official visit to Canada and stopped in Ottawa for a couple of days.  Jeanne Sauvé, the Governor General at the time, was hosting a dinner for them at Rideau Hall and needed some after-dinner entertainment.

Madame Sauvé had attended a performance by my percussion ensemble in Kitchener earlier that year, and she decided that we’d be an interesting choice.  We were excited to receive the invitation, and a couple of weeks later the twelve of us filled up a truck with our gear, loaded up the 15-passenger van, and headed for Ottawa.

When we arrived at Rideau Hall, we had to unload all of our percussion equipment onto the driveway so the RCMP and their dogs could check everything out.  I can only imagine what the security protocols are nowadays.

Once they decided that this rag-tag group of high school percussionists posed no real threat, we were allowed inside to set everything up.  It was by far the fanciest room I had ever played in.

The dinner seemed to go on forever.  Eventually word came that the guests were on the way, and we nervously took our places.  It was pretty cool to see Andrew and Fergie sitting just a few feet away. They looked a little tired by that point, and they jumped a bit in their seats when we played our first unison chord with even more youthful energy than usual.

The rest of the concert was a bit of a blur. When it was over, we had a few minutes to talk to the Duke and Duchess about the instruments and how they worked.

Prince Andrew checking out the vibraphone.  That’s me, fourth from the left.  I know, I totally rocked the bow-tie-and-suspenders look.

Fergie takes a turn while Jeanne Sauvé looks on.  I, on the other hand, appear to be checking out the royal bosom.

The final guest to leave was Elizabeth Manley.  Truth be told, meeting her was the highlight for most of us.  She was arguably one of the most famous Canadians at that time, and was exceptionally cute in a pixieish kind of way.

In my old age I’ve become a lot more cynical about the whole royal visit.  I skipped going downtown on Canada Day to avoid the huge crowds who turned out for a fleeting glimpse of Will & Kate.  Then I thought about how monumental that brief encounter with celebrity seemed 22 years ago and lightened up. I’m sure meeting the Duke and Duchess is a big deal for many people, both young and old alike, and I hope lots of them get to fulfill that wish over the next few days.

For the better part of a year, A has been lobbying hard for a Nintendo DS. Apparently all of his friends have one, and it is absolutely essential that he get one (and a copy of Pokemon Black & White) or else they won’t have anything to talk about at school. It’s rare that a day goes by without some mention of when / how he can get a Nintendo DS.

My starting position was “you can get a Nintendo DS when you save up your money for it.” Under constant pressure, and the realization that he will never, ever save $200 from his allowance alone, I caved a bit and said we would pay half if he paid half. He thought this was pretty great, and his goal suddenly became a lot closer.

On Saturday morning, A disappeared upstairs for about 20 minutes. He then slipped this piece of paper under the bathroom door as B was getting out of the shower.

For those who can’t make out the text, here’s a transcription:

Pleas sign this contract

If me and Kieran combind owre allowance to get to $80 and save up to $10 each, will you pleas give us $80 for a ds?  (sign your name here → ______   yes  ☐    no ☐  pleas ✔one of these boxes

from: A

I asked A where he had learned about contracts.  He said “I didn’t learn about contracts, I learned about peace treaties.”

“Ah,” I said.  “Did you learn about peace treaties in school?”

He said, “No, I learned about it on Spongebob.”

Of course he did.

In any case, he claims he wants to be a scientist when he grows up, but it looks like he has the makings of a fine lawyer / agent / union negotiator.

While A was working hard on his contract, K was busy with his own project…

Pengui riding a wooden dog.