Don and Alistair prepare to leave for Canada on June 9, 1997.  Alistair had responded to Don’s ad in the CU newspaper for a helper.  Alistair helped Don build the front top window frames prior to leaving.

The 86 Suburban was very heavily loaded, as was the “tank trailer”.  The plastic 55gallon drum on the front of the trailer was intended to be a supply depot at the landing, however someone added some very bad chemical to the barrel after we had gone to the island.  When we returned to the landing to pick up Jay Niebur on August 3, we refilled our gas cans as planned.  Unfortunately, the “bad gas” caught up with us on our return trip to the island, when the motor “died” as did the spare motor.  We ended up rowing the two miles left to get to the island, ending our ordeal about 1:30AM and with threatening weather.

Alistair and I installed the homemade windows in the upper level of the cabin front and they have proven to be very serviceable.

This is the bear cage constructed earlier that summer by Don and Alistair.  Naturally, there is a story behind the motivation to build such a structure.  Shortly after arriving on the island in early June, Alistair kept hearing strange noises.  Don’s hearing was bad enough that he could not hear these noises.  They had experienced a failure of the emergency cutoff switch on Don’s motor and almost got stranded several miles from camp.  After some fidgeting with the switch, Don got it working long enough to get back to the island and make an emergency repair using an old switch off the 17’ Lund now no longer used.  That night, Don finally heard the noise after Alistair suggested stepping out of the cook tent to listen.  At that moment Don heard what sounded to him as a lion roaring on the Serengeti at night and it was coming from the direction of the cabin. 

      A call next morning to a friend in LaRonge about where to get the motor serviced also discussed what these strange noises might be.  The native was at a loss to explain the noise, perhaps a moose caught in a bog by a bear, but that was obviously not the case here.  Don did take his carbine to his tent that night, just in case.  About 1 AM, Alistair who was obviously near hysteria outside Don’s tent, awakened Don.  Alistair claimed a bear attacked him while he slept in his tent!  Don was not certain that an attack had taken place and his immediate thoughts were along the line of Alistair having a very bad dream.  Don, dressing as quickly as possible under the conditions, grabbed his rifle and flashlight and they both made their way over to Alistair’s tent. 

      Alistair pointed to the front of his tent, “see? see?”.  Well, Don didn’t see anything and was now sure Alistair had had a bad dream.  At the side of the tent, it was a different story.  Don did see about a half cup of white foam next to the rip in the side of the tent.  This was no dream and suddenly Don’s 4” mag light seemed totally inadequate for the job at hand.  They approached the cook tent, where all the food was stored and an obvious destination for a bear.  Don discovered he didn’t have enough hands to hold the flashlight, rifle and still open the flap to the cook tent.  Inside, there was no evidence that the bear gotten this far and that jived with the story that kept pouring forth from Alistair. 

      It seems he was awakened by a noise outside his tent described as the grunting of a pig.  Alistair “froze”, making no noise what so ever (Just the wrong thing to do, one needs to make a lot of noise to scare the bear).  The bear seemed to lose interest in his tent and departed to our trashcan outside the entrance to the cook tent.  Alistair took that occasion to slowly unzip his sleeping bag to release him from its confinement.  The bear heard this noise and returned to the tent, only this time with more enthusiasm.  He pounced on the tent and bit down through the tent and got Alistair’s leg, still wrapped in part of the sleeping bag (Alistair’s leg had marks but the skin was not broken).  At that moment Alistair stopped thinking and started acting on survival instincts, kicking the bear with his free leg and screaming bloody loud.  This obviously startled the bear and he ran away.  Don fired several shots in the air just in case the bear still needed some encouragement to leave the island 

      Alistair said he was not comfortable returning to his tent and suggested that they both move their sleeping bags to the loft of the cabin, even though the mosquitoes would be bad, it was easily defended.  Don considered this a reasonable request and they moved to the cabin.  Next morning the question came up as what to do about the bear.  Don knew they could build a bear trap and catch the bear if it were to return, but he didn’t want to do that without first agreeing on what would then be done with the bear in the trap.  Work was started on the trap immediately after Alistair had responded, “Shoot the SOB!”  The two days estimated to build the trap ran into 4 days.  A bear was never caught, even though the trap was baited with bacon and fresh northern pike.  It has since become a favorite photo op location.

Jay loves eating walleyes, so we went fishing often enough to keep fish on the table.  Alistair rode home to Boulder with Jay when he left on August 3.  Don drove on to Prince Albert to pick up Betty and Shirley who were scheduled to arrive on a charter flight from Denver.  Don went to the travel agency that had scheduled the charter to inquire about a refund the agency said months earlier was due but had never sent.  Upon walking into the office on Sunday morning (before going to the airport), the startled employees looked very surprised to see a customer.  Don introduced himself but was interrupted by an incoming phone call.  The employee handed the phone to Don and said, “It is for you”.  Naturally, Don was a bit shocked to find it was Betty calling. Betty was still in Boulder. She told Don the charter was cancelled a couple days earlier and that she and Shirley had decided to drive north and somehow connect with me.  New plans were made to meet in Sidney, Montana.  Don left immediately for Sidney as did Betty and Shirley. 

After meeting in Sidney, Montana and spending the night there, Don, Betty and Shirley drove north to the border where Shirley and Betty pose at the “Welcome to Canada” sign.  We drove all day and spent the night at a cabin on Wadin Bay, 20 miles north of LaRonge.  The next day we drove north to the landing.

Betty and Shirley managed the portage easily, since we didn’t have the usual over supply of goods with us.

Fire weed is growing all along the gravel road north and some has started to grow in the opening in front of the cabin.

Jim and Jeffrey arrived by a 180 Cessna floatplane two days after we got to the island.  Shirley, Betty and Jeffrey pose near the front door of the cabin.  Note the steps to the deck made by David Bunker in 1996.

Jeffrey was quick to examine all the nooks and crannies on the island as small boys are wont to do.  He liked the crows nest a lot.

Jeffrey spent a lot of time in the crows nest.

This shows the type of support used for the cabin.  The stone piers have proven to be very solid and have yet to show any cracks or signs of deterioration, despite the harsh winters when it often reaches 60 degrees below zero.

We were still sleeping in tents and cooking in the “cook tent”, shown here with the “clear story” plastic high windows that provided such good natural light in the cook tent.  They also allowed lightning and northern lights to provide an eerie lighting affect at night.

Grouse are abundant on the island.  Their numbers vary in a 7 year cycle according to the local Indians, as do rabbits and fox.  In years of abundance they provide interesting viewing, since their survival strategy is not to fly away but to “freeze” in place and count on their camouflage to protect them.  As a result, you most often see them when they are young and have not yet quite mastered the trick of staying quite still.  The mother will usually be near her young and after waiting a while she may reveal her location with soft chirps of instructions to her chicks.

Betty fell and scraped her face on a limb.  There are many exposed roots to trip on so this kind of accident is not too uncommon and good reason to stay on the paths, but even they have their “stumble spots”.

Jeffrey found lots of “goodies” to eat in the cook tent.

Jeffrey tries to keep warm on the boat trip to the “honey hole”.

Don shows Jeffrey what we are trying to catch.

It didn’t take Jeff long to catch his own walleye.

Jeff also caught northern pike.

Of course, Betty will handle her northern if she gets a really big one.

Jim never tires of pulling in walleyes.

Who did catch that fish, Jeff or Jim?

Betty caught this one for sure.

One never knows what the weather will do when you go fishing but a good bet is that it will change.  Jeff looks prepared.

Betty, Don, Jim and Jeff try out the cabin as a place for a card game.  With the cabin not fully mosquito proofed, this requires burning mosquito coils (repellant) to keep the hungry critters at bay.

Betty climbs the ladder to the “crows nest”.

Jim climbs up too.

Shirley enjoys the view from the crows nest.

This water hole will eventually become the septic pit for the cabin plumbing.  When digging through permafrost, this is one of the steps you go through.  After digging 10 inches, you hit the frozen ground.  It is left to melt and after a few days of filling with water, it will all drain away and you can then dig another 12 inches or so, repeating this pattern until you hit the desired depth or more likely, bedrock.  On a hot day, the hole actually gives off “steam” as the warm air hits the frozen ground.

This pile of logs has been gathered for the purpose of being sawn into vertical half-round siding.  It was discovered that the original logs cut for this job had been ruined by bugs living under the bark and damaging the wood surface.  These logs have had the bark removed to avoid this problem in case they do not get sawed immediately.

A log being cut into a 4x4.  In this case, the core of the log becomes the 4x4 and the bark covered slab is waste.

Shirley does dishes in the cook tent.

Jeffrey sits at the rock “grotto” along the path to the cabin from the beach.  This pose fulfills a vision Don has always had about this rock grouping along the trail,  imagining it as a great spot for his grandchildren to rest and ponder the beauty of nature.

Jeff  examined all the various bones that have been collected over the years.  He holds a beaver scull in his right hand and a wolf bone in his left hand.

Jeff was the primary disposer of the mice trapped in the cook tent.

We were visited by Indian friends from Stanley Mission.  Gord Hardlotte, James Cook and James Mackenzie are departing to resume their moose hunt.

Jim weighs a rare barbot fish.  While crossing the lake, we investigated a seagull, which from a distance, was apparently standing on something in an area known to be deep water.  Closer examination showed the seagull to be standing on the near dead barbot.  Barbots are bottom feeders and we have never caught one, although the Indians fish for them through the ice in winter time.  This was a derby winner, weighing in at 11 pounds.

Jeff and Jim pose with one of Jeff’s many northern pipe.

Jim shows off a big walleye.

I think Jeff caught another Northern.

Jim just loves pulling in walleye.  We have pondered why catching a fish is so much fun, since it would seem that such a repetitive action would “get old” after a while.  In fact, the action never seems to loose its thrill and  the “why” of it all is just one of those mysteries of life that are beyond understanding.

Jim presents a picture of perfect contentment.  This is why we go on fishing trips!!

Betty sits on the shore next to the “Honey Hole” with the Queen Ann Lace in full bloom.

Don, Jim and Jeff fished down along the Wilson Rapids, just below the “Honey Hole”, casting for northerns.

Jeff shows off another walleye.  Don lent Jeff his favorite casting lure and Jeff soon was catching walleye right and left while Grandpa was not having very good luck

Jim shows off a 3 ¼ pounder.

Grandpa and his fishing buddy, Jeff on the trail up to the cabin

It usually takes a hardy person to go swimming in the lake but sometimes it can get down right comfortable.  Jeff looks a little cold here.

Don runs the motor on the way to another fishing outing at the “Honey Hole”.  The trip takes about 17 minutes if the water is not too rough.

Jeff liked to sit in the rear with Grandpa, because everyone knows that fishing off the rear of the boat is the best fishing, at least that’s what everyone not sitting in the rear claim.

Shirley didn’t have much trouble catching her fish from the middle of the boat.

This is the cooler shed.  It houses the natural permafrost cooler and assorted supplies that Don can’t quite bring himself to part with, given the difficulty to obtain that right box or bottle if all your spares have been discarded.

Moose head on the “A Frame” on the beach.  This moose head was found at the landing in 1991.

This is a beaver scull.  Note the structure dedicated to growing the long teeth used to fell trees.

Old worn out saw blades from the sawmill that never seem to get hauled out to the dump on the last trip out at the end of the season.  Don made a machine to sharpen the old blades but found that replacing them with new ones was more practical since they only cost $20 each.

Jeff practices a ninja move with the endless supply of wooden staffs on the island.

Don and Shirley pose at the beach near the end of our trip.  Shirley proved to be a very capable fisherman and a pleasant person to have along when you are camping.

Betty sits on the boat as we load up for our trip out on August 17, the earliest departure from the island and the only year that Jay Niebur did not come to Canada for the closing

Jim and Jeff at the landing as we prepare to leave for Cabin #5 at Brabant for the night.  Next day we got up early for the drive to LaRonge.  After about 2 miles of travel on the blacktop north of LaRonge, the right wheel bearing on the tank trailer finally “gave up” and burned the wheel clean off the axle.  We were on a tight schedule to have breakfast in LaRonge and get Jim and Jeff to the airport for their plane trip home.  We disconnected the trailer, leaving it well off the road and proceeded to LaRonge where we had a nice breakfast at the Harbour Inn.  We got Jim and Jeff to the airport in time to catch their flight and then drove north the 15 miles to just past Wadin Bay where we had left the trailer.  As luck would have it, there had been an alcohol related accident about a mile south of where we had left the trailer and several people were killed. 
     The main road was closed and police were routing traffic around the accident scene on the only frontage road north of LaRonge.  Don had decided to transfer the small amount of gear in the trailer into the truck and then abandon the trailer.  It was not a very “good citizen” move on my part but Shirley had reservations back to Chicago from Denver in two days and there just wasn’t time to mess around getting it repaired and I felt it was not needed anymore given the advanced stage of construction at the cabin.  Don removed the gear in the trailer, as well as the trailer license plates.  Interestingly the north end of the roadblock was only ¼ mile away and in full view of the several police manning their barricade.  As we approached the roadblock, tension was high in the truck.  Don’s heard throbbed when one of the officers stepped out to halt the truck.  Don rolled down the window to talk with the officer who informed Don that they had noticed him speeding north earlier on the frontage road and asked that he drive slower on the return tip.  Don apologized profusely and moved off at a very slow pace.  Shirley got to Colorado in time to catch her plane.  We drove through the night and actually arrived in Boulder only a few hours after Jim and Jeff got to North Platte in their weather delayed flight back to Lincoln.