With an early breakfast schedule (6:15-6:45), Tobey and I were up early today. Everyone was anxious to be out on the tundra so we were onboard our shuttle bus and ready to go by 7:30. There was a light snow overnight – around 3” and wind, so the snow plow was out in town. On the road to the tundra launch the wind seemed to have blown all the snow off the road! The sky was pretty clear so we were able to see more of the road as we headed out.
After boarding our rover, we headed out for another day. As we were nearing these ponds, one of the rovers in front of us stopped beacause there was an arctic fox running down the road in front of them. Our driver, Michael, stopped and we waited. The fox crossed over to the pond on our left, the back across to the pond on our right. We were able to watch it for quite a while and couldn’t believe our good fortune!
Sunrise wasn’t until 8:30 and it was a beauty.
Not too much later we spotted our first polar bear. It was so far off that I have to admit I was a little afraid we wouldn’t have as much luck with our viewing as we did yesterday. Well, those fears proved unfounded!
We also had some more good views of ptarmigan in the willows with the morning sunshine on them.
Moving on, we spotted another rover stopped and saw two bears sleeping on a frozen pond. Okay, we were up to three bears, but these two were not very active when we arrived.
Just across the road, we saw two more bears. We stopped our rover with these bears positioned at about 9 o’clock from our front. We ended up staying in this position almost all day – from our morning hot chocolate and cookies through lunch and beyond! The following pictures were just a few of bears 4 and 5 throughout the day. They walked around, wrestled, pulled kelp up and ate it, dug it up for a sleeping spot, stretched, and played more. Near the end of the afternoon as we were planning to leave, they got up and wandered over to the rover to check us out so we stayed put a while longer. They went under the back deck sniffing our feet, stuck their head into the wheels to smell them, and looked up at the windows to see who was inside. It was so amazing, I can’t even begin to tell you how magical it felt!
We also saw another couple bears on the 3 o’clock side of the rover. One wandered around giving another rover a little bit of a show and ambled up to look in their windows.
These two bears below were on the pond that would have been at about 5 o’clock from our rover. They wrestled and played and kept us entertained.
We’re not sure which bears they were, but we later saw two bears that made their way to the open water on our 9 o’clock side and went swimming! They were too far out to take pictures, but it was amazing to watch them. This was one of the bears heading out to the water.
Number 10 made it’s way up the small hill and wandered past and over to the other rovers.
And finally, Number 11 was snoozing for a long time. We went by as we turned around back to the launch site about 3pm!
This is a farewell to our bears today – you can see his tracks as he heads out near the water.
We went over some bumpy roads on the trails. This was one that was pretty mild! Some of them dipped down and through a couple feet of water or ice.
We didn’t think we would see much else as we headed back to catch our shuttle but we were lucky enough to spot a silver fox running near some willows. He was quick, but we managed to see his gray coat and white tail as he moved along.
With the sun shining, we made our way back to Churchill. We stopped at the Inukshuk. The inukshuk is a stone landmark traditionally used by northern aboriginal peoples to mark a route through the tundra of the arctic. It is located on the shore of Hudson Bay. The Inuit meaning of inukshuk is “in the likeness of a human.”
We had a few minutes at the hotel before dinner and an evening program at the Town Center Complex. Claude, a local gentleman told us about his life here in Churchill and what it’s like living here. It was really interesting. The Town Center Complex is pretty amazing, too! It houses the school – grades K-12, an outdoor playground, indoor playground, library, swimming pool, ice skating/hockey rink, movie theatre, meeting rooms, and the hospital!
We arrived back at the hotel about 8:30 tonight and we are tired! It was an epic day, to say the least. Tomorrow we get to sleep in – breakfast is at 7:30! It will be another full and busy day, so good night!
These two bears below were on the pond that would have been at about 5 o’clock from our rover. They wrestled and played and kept us entertained.
We’re not sure which bears they were, but we later saw two bears that made their way to the open water on our 9 o’clock side and went swimming! They were too far out to take pictures, but it was amazing to watch them. This was one of the bears heading out to the water.
Number 10 made it’s way up the small hill and wandered past and over to the other rovers.
And finally, Number 11 was snoozing for a long time. We went by as we turned around back to the launch site about 3pm!
This is a farewell to our bears today – you can see his tracks as he heads out near the water.
We went over some bumpy roads on the trails. This was one that was pretty mild! Some of them dipped down and through a couple feet of water or ice.
We didn’t think we would see much else as we headed back to catch our shuttle but we were lucky enough to spot a silver fox running near some willows. He was quick, but we managed to see his gray coat and white tail as he moved along.
With the sun shining, we made our way back to Churchill. We stopped at the Inukshuk. The inukshuk is a stone landmark traditionally used by northern aboriginal peoples to mark a route through the tundra of the arctic. It is located on the shore of Hudson Bay. The Inuit meaning of inukshuk is “in the likeness of a human.”
We had a few minutes at the hotel before dinner and an evening program at the Town Center Complex. Claude, a local gentleman told us about his life here in Churchill and what it’s like living here. It was really interesting. The Town Center Complex is pretty amazing, too! It houses the school – grades K-12, an outdoor playground, indoor playground, library, swimming pool, ice skating/hockey rink, movie theatre, meeting rooms, and the hospital!
We arrived back at the hotel about 8:30 tonight and we are tired! It was an epic day, to say the least. Tomorrow we get to sleep in – breakfast is at 7:30! It will be another full and busy day, so good night!
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