I am back on the road after staying put during December and January. I am at the Experimental Lakes Area this week. I flew into Winnipeg and was able to see Auntie Fumi in the morning. I dropped off some videos for Dad. From Winnipeg it is about a 4 hour drive.
Crossing the border back into Ontario.
The weather was good, sunny but cold.
Map showing where ELA is.
Temperatures for the week were hovering around -15°C during the daytime and in the -20's overnight. We lucked out with the weather, usually it is colder and overcast when I'm here at this time of the year.
Our ride for the week was a 2009 Dodge Durango.
Here is the sticker price that I found in the glovebox.
A row of buried ATV's that they use in the summer.
If you got off the main path the snow was deep.
Found this fake cat in the residence. When it was sitting on the couch it looked pretty real.
The camp manager has a new puppy, it is a 12 week old Newfoundland dog.
His name is Taiga.
There was a path behind the building, so I followed it.
Some snow caught in the tree.
This one looked like a sea serpent.
The path leads up to the top of a ridge behind the site. I found a cairn at the top.
The cairn is dedicated to the spirit and people of ELA.
Looking towards the southeast.
Looking southwest.
I didn't have time to explore the path any further.
Trying to take my own picture with the new camera, not as easy as with the point and shoot.
Some moss hanging from a branch.
Lots of rabbit tracks, but didn't see any while I was there.
It was time to head back to Winnipeg to catch a late day flight back to Toronto.
Passing some construction along the Trans Canada.
Passing back into Manitoba.
Waiting for my luggage at Pearson.
I did a day trip out to our site just south of Regina. I was able to catch an early flight out of Toronto and land by 11:00 local time. I was there to replace an instrument. I lucked out with the weather, the forecast all week was for -30°C windchill. It turned out to be sunny, -15°C and very little wind.
There was still a lot of drifting snow from the winds earlier in the week.
My rental vehicle for the day was a Jeep Liberty.
I finished what I had to do and then it was back to the airport for the last flight back to Toronto. I saw a snow owl on the way back, actually saw it when I was going to the site and it was still on the same power pole when I went by 5 hours later. It was quiet at the airport when I checked in as I still had a couple of hours until my flight. I was back home before midnight, it made for a long day.
This week I'm out in Alberta to install a new precipitation monitoring site, actually I'm re-installing the site. It was shut down in 2003. Waiting for my flight in Toronto.
Esther is about a 4.5 hour drive from Edmonton (where I flew into) or about 3.5 from Calgary. It is close to the Saskatchewan border.
It was cloudy most of the day, but just before leaving the site the sun came out.
The site is in the middle of grazing land.
My ride for the week is another Jeep Liberty.
Looking towards the north.
When I planned to come here, I figured getting a hotel room would be the least of my worries, wrong. It turns out there is major work in the area on the Keystone Pipeline Project. This is an undertaking by Trans Canada Pipeline. As a result I spent the first two nights at the Antelope Inn in Oyen and the third night at the Super 8 which is 4 km north of Oyen. The only room I could get was this one with three queen beds.
I found this project overview information on the Trans Canada Pipeline website. The 3,456-kilometre (2,148-mile) Keystone Pipeline will transport crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta to U.S. Midwest markets at Wood River and Patoka, Illinois and to Cushing, Oklahoma. The Canadian portion of the project involves the conversion of approximately 864 kilometres (537 miles) of existing Canadian Mainline pipeline facilities from natural gas to crude oil transmission service and construction of approximately 373 kilometres (232 miles) of pipeline, pump stations and terminal facilities at Hardisty, Alberta. The U.S. portion of the project includes construction of approximately 2,219 kilometres (1,379 miles) of pipeline and pump stations. A picture off of the internet.
The pipeline construction is approached like an assembly line, with workers and equipment travelling down the pipeline, completing various operations in sequence. A welding hut photo from the internet.
This was the first morning that the sun was out, but it also meant it was going to be a cold one.
The road into the site, definitely one site where a 4x4 is required.
This is what some of our newer buildings look like, vandal and rodent proof.
The temperature was -24°C and with the wind it was -34°C windchill.
This is something new that we have started using, it is a Satellite Personal Tracker, also known as SPOT. It allows us to check-in with the office while we are in the field to let them know we are okay and have made it to where we are suppose to be. It has four functions, it can send an e-mail for help, an e-mail to say OK, a 911 emergency request or it can track your movement. A lot of times we are in areas where there is no cell coverage, this allows us to still check in with the office.
It uses the GPS satellites to pin point your location and then it uses the communication satellites to send out an e-mail to people on your list. Each e-mail has a Google maps link that shows where you are. It also allows you to have shared web pages that show your movements. They say that if that couple from Montreal who got lost near Golden, BC had a SPOT they would have been found within hours and not 10 days later.
A few more photos as I was leaving the site to drive back to Edmonton.
The huge holding tanks near Hardisty, AB.
A Google maps satellite view.
The setting sun in Leduc, AB. Staying out near the airport before flying back to Toronto friday morning.
My flight back to Toronto was suppose to leave at 6:30 am but due to some mechanical problem, they couldn't load enough water on the plane. They had to wait for some bottled water and in the end we sat for almost 45 minutes in the plane. Once we were up in the air, they offered a complimentary beer, liquor or wine for the inconvienience. Keep in mind it was still not even 7:30 am, so I'm sure it was an easy thing to offer up, as there were not going to be that many takers.
Waiting for my luggage in Toronto.
