It's yellow here

It's fall in Smith -- and has been for a few weeks.  I have to admit I was a little concerned at the beginning of September when there was ice on my windshield every morning and temperatures didn't venture about 6 or 7 C for a few weeks.  But we had a reprieve this weekend -- beautiful sunshine, probably reaching mid teens yesterday.  We took a little hike out to a really unusual and interesting spot called Grosbeak Lake, in Wood Buffalo National Park.  It was a scouting trip for my Geology field trip today.  My teacher friends in Ottawa will be quite jealous to see my class -- only 7 students in this class and field trips really are so easy (and free for students).

Yellow definitely dominates the autumn scene here  -- poplar, tamarack and some birch.... and while there are some smatterings of red, nothing like Ontario and Western Quebec.  I do miss that, but this spot quickly took my mind away from what I was missing.  It is a very shallow salty basin (remnant from an inland tropical sea), with no vegetation due to the salt.  It is strewn with rocks of all types that were carried from hundreds of kilometres way by glaciers some ten thousand years ago.  But what is most unusual is the weathering that has resulted from the salt and freeze/thaw -- some very interesting pock marks and rocks that look like they have just exploded on the spot.  Also on our trip today we saw a male moose running down the side of the road (the hunters were salivating) and a big bison in the park.

Also included is a shot of the river running through town as well as our newly paved path -- it was unveiled for the Terry Fox Run, which was a great way to get everyone out and using it.  This was our favourite dog walking place before the paving -- but now it is too busy.  I guess it's a good thing to have more people using it, but we have since done some more exploring and found more great trails nearby.

Teaching in Edzo

My summer started out with a teaching gig in Behchoko (Edzo), a small little village of about 300 people located about 100km from Yellowknife.  Part of my teaching is for the Teacher Education Program running out of Aurora College.  It is affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan, and provides students with an opportunity to gain a B.Ed. without leaving the NWT.  Aurora College also offers a 3-year diploma (working towards the B.Ed) in different communities.  It also means that students aren't required to pack up and leave their community for the whole 4 years (they typically will not have a Bachelor's Degree). 

From an outsider (and of course that is what my observations come from), it seemed like an odd little  place.  I found myself living in a huge institution -- one that housed day care, elementary, high school as well as some college programs as well as a residence.  Of course being summer, it was largely empty, except for a 5 or 6 people who rented rooms in the residence.  I learned that the story of Edzo is that of a village relocation gone wrong.  There is another village, Rae (pop. ~1500), about 15-20 minutes away.  It is located on Marian Lake, really an arm of Great Slave Lake - a beautiful spot.  But in the 1960s, people started getting sick and it was traced back to drinking water.  There was no wastewater treatment.  Given the terrain, climate and small population, developing a cost-effective wastewater treatment system seemed out of reach.  So, the government decided to move the town.  They chose a spot right on the highway, in the middle of the bush (as opposed to waterfront like Rae).  They built the big school there in hopes that everyone would relocate, but not surprisingly, very few moved.

So now the majority of the population lives in Rae, but sends their children to school in Edzo (about 15-20 minutes away).  It was a bit gloomy and isolated, especially with limited access to internet, but the students were great and it was a good learning opportunity.