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Report for Friday,
August 22
Damant Lake North of 60 Gathering
Things were getting a bit chaotic
with flights this morning, so when I got a chance to hop a Twin Otter
to Stony, I took it. It was low overcast, and we did a “scud run”
– the plane was 200 feet “off the deck” most of the
way. I love to fly that way. You can see so much detail – the rocks,
the tundra, the trees – when you are flying low. The pilots love
the excuse to fly this way instead of at 10,000 feet, and the look on
the co-pilot’s face said it all. When we got to Stony, he did the
landing, and he “greased” the plane onto the water. I asked
him if he could think of anything more fun that flying the TO, and his
smile was ear to ear as he shook his head no. I told him he should quit
smiling so much or they’d stop paying him!
As I expected, all those who
had planned to stay for a week or two will be returning home. Reality
always has a way of interfering with hurried plans. However, some will
soon return to this area to trap. Louis G. Mercredi from Fond du Lac had
one of his snowmachines, two toboggans and 10 drums of fuel shipped up
on the empty back-hauls. His plan is to build a camp or fix the late August
Mercredi's cabin on Rennie Lake and trap wolves and wolverines this winter.
He was a band councillor up until the last election. Most would think
he would be sad to lose his job and the steady paycheque, but he is thrilled
to be leaving town to spend time on the barrens – and wouldn’t
I like to do it with him. But just as reality stopped everyone’s
plans to stay at Rennie, my life circumstances won’t allow me to
trap for a winter. Who knows, though – I may well ski-doo up to
see Louis this winter. If I do, all I can say is, “I hope you have
lots of caribou ribs, partner!”
That’s it, folks. Big
thanks to Peter Brook and Roseanna Good for planning this event and for
letting Lynda and me tag along. If you couldn’t tell from our ear
to ear smiles when we were eating ribs, we had a riot! I only hope you
do it all again soon.
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