True North: Exploring the Great Wilderness by Bush Plane

306 Pages·2003·10.966 MB·English

by  George Erickson

E X P L O R I N G T H E G R E A T W I L D E R N E S !
B Y B U S H P L A N E
Travel/Adventure
$.14.95
ISBN 1-59228-156-7
Erickson is not only a brave adventurer in his own right, but he can also weave a good story."
—Chicago Tribune
"A blend of stunning landscapes, wildlife, myths, and experience, TRUE NORTH reveals
Erickson's love of nature and his passion for truth."
—The Humanist
"Erickson, a rugged individualist if ever there was one, knows his stuff."
-Pittsburgh Tribune-Revievy
Leaving behind the comforts of civilized life, award-winning author and bush pilot GEORGE
ERICKSON takes readers on an unforgettable journey in his Piper Cub Special seaplane
through the pristine landscapes of Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. Landing
on unexplored rivers and lakes, fishing for trout and pike with his unique handmade lures, the
author also struggles with bad weather, dodges forest fires, and mingles with polar bears,
killer whales, musk oxen, and caribou.
Replete with personal detail, scientific observation, and historical facts—the most chilling
being the story of a group of explorers who starved to death in the very cabin he is
visiting—TRUE NORTH is an extraordinary travel narrative that will appeal to flying
enthusiasts and armchair travelers alike.
GEORGE ERICKSON, named Minnesota
Aviation Author of the Year for TRUE NORTH,
is a retired dentist who has logged more than
a thousand hours flying over the trackless
North Country. This is his first book.
THE LYONS PRESS
Guilford, CT 06437
www.lyonspress.com
The Lyons Press is an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press
781592
T R U E
N O R T H
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GEORGE ERICKSON
The Lyons Press
Guilford, Connecticut
An Imprint of The Globe Pequot Press
Copyright 2003 George Erickson
Map designed by David Widgington at NimbusCARTO
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system,e xcept as may be expressly permitted by the
1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be
addressed to The Lyons Press, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.
The Lyons Press is an imprint of the Globe Pequot Press.
Printed in Canada
10987654321
ISBN 1­59228­156­7
The Library of Congress Cataloging­in­Pubhcation Data is available on file.
This hook is dedicated
To the Bernoullis, a family of seventeenth­century
scientists who fled to Switzerland to escape from persecution
by religious zealots. Daniel Bernoulli discovered the
principle that helps lift our wings to the sky.
To Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Charles Darwin,
and their many contemporaries who, often at great risk,
opened our eyes to grandeur and advanced the
sciences that provide our many comforts.
To Orville and Wilbur Wright, two independent thinkers
who, in 1903, achieved the world's first successful, powered,
piloted heavier­than­air flight. (The local paper didn't
consider the event worth reporting. The United States
Army later called the use of airplanes a "crazy" idea.)
To the bush pilots who bring supplies and
human contact to remote corners of the world,
and to all who seek new horizons.
Notes
This is a book of nonfiction. A few liberties were taken with
the sequencing of events, but all of them actually happened.
The natives that we once called "Eskimos" prefer the
word "Inuit," the Inuktitut word for "the people."
To convert Canadian costs to American, subtract approx­
imately one­third.
In keeping with our antiquated U.S. system of weights
and measures, temperatures are given in Fahrenheit, and vol­
umes are listed in gallons.
Contents
Preface 1
Part One
Chapter l: Minnesota to Ilford, Manitoba 7
Chapter 2: Ilford to York Factory, Manitoba 23
Chapter 3: York Factory to Churchill, Manitoba 33
Part Two
Chapter 4: Churchill 49
Chapter 5: Churchill to Baker Lake, Nunavut 69
Part Three
Chapter 6: Baker Lake to Chantrey Inlet, Nunavut 83
Chapter 7: Chantrey Inlet 97
Chapter 8: Chantrey Inlet to Garry Lake, Nunavut 109
Part Four
Chapter 9: Garry Lake to Reliance, NWT 123
Chapter 10: Reliance to Fort St.John, British Columbia 145
Part Five
Chapter u: Fort St.J ohn toJ uneau, Alaska 165
Chapter 12: Juneau to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory 195
Chapter 13: Whitehorse to Fort Simpson, NWT 215
Part Six
Chapter 14: Fort Simpson to Coppermine, Nunavut 239
Chapter 15: Coppermine to Yellowknife, NWT 259
Chapter 16: Yellowknife to Stony Rapids, Saskatchewan 277
Chapter 17: Stony Rapids to Minnesota 289
A Brief Chronology of Powered Flight 301
Bibliography 303
TRUE NORTH
Preface
HE ROOM where I write overlooks the tea­tinted
waters of a northern Minnesota lake, a view that I
share with a common loon. When I taxi my sea­
plane to and from our pier, the loon yodels a raucous theme while he
performs his water­walking act. Convinced that he has once again
decoyed my rumbling yellow bird away from his sanctuary, the loon
settles low in the water, then gracefully slips beneath.
The loon and I share an interest in my Cub, but we do so from our
own perspectives. Where the loon sees only an annoying interloper, I
behold a magic carpet, the realization of a long­held dream. As a boy,
I'd dash to the end of our log crib dock whenever I heard the stutter­
ing start of a neighbor's seaplane. Enthralled by its reverberations
and slow pirouettes while its engine warmed, I'd fidget in anticipa­
tion of power and spray. With one hand gripping our spruce­tree
flagpole, I'd hang out over the water, my imagination riding co­pilot
as the aircraft bounced from the waves and cleared the trees, then I'd
return to reality as it faded from sight.
A lifetime later I write in a small, birch­bordered cabin overlook­
ing the same log crib dock, thrice rebuilt. The wall to my right bears
charts of Canada and Alaska, each map webbed with flights from my
past, for the dreams that I dreamed at the end of the dock have changed
from fiction to fact.