Martin Haefele

In the autumn of 2007, we were proud to accommodate northerners Martin Haefele & Lynn Cheverie on our 'Dance with Caribou' trip to our lodge on the upper Thelon in the Northwest Territories. Martin & Lynn live in Yellowknife - Martin works as a manager for the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, and Lynn as a emergency room nurse at the Yellowknife Stanton hospital. It is good to get the perspective of fellow northerners on our expeditions, and Martin was kind enough to send us the following photo essay about their trip with us:

"Hi Tom: As promised here are a few pictures.  This was hard.  There are so many to chose from and each and everyone brings back memories.  I have chosen the following pictures mostly for the memories they evoke.  I live in Yellowknife and through my work I get to deal a lot with environmental impact assessments of all kinds of projects all over the north, including the Thelon.  It was great to finally see this area I've heard so many people talk about with my own eyes..."

Flight:

"The flight to Whitefish Lake was spectacular on its own (especially since I had the opportunity to fly co-pilot).  It was made even more special through the next day's reading of Pierre Burton's description of a flight along the same route."

Aerial camp:

"Well, this one shows pretty much an outline of the entire camp.  And it was a welcome sight after a long journey to get there."

Library:

"For me, the library was an integral part of the trip.  I went to the Thelon to see nature and animals (and to some extent to get away from people).  I must admit though that the little history lessons along the way made the trip much more worthwhile.  I've been on many wilderness trips but never on a guided tour.  This was a new experience and the library really helped putting the things we saw every day into perspective.  I've been trying to locate some of the books since then, but many are not easy to find." 

Longspur:

"This was probably the most unassuming animal we saw on the trip.  But it was more or less the first one and it heralded the appearance of many more.  Plus this was the most difficult to take picture of the entire trip; it involved a lot of time on my stomach."

Click photo to enlarge

Aurora camp:

"I just love this picture, I don't quite know.  Maybe we Yellowknifers are jaded when it comes to northern lights and it takes going to a different place to re-learn to appreciate them.  Maybe it is simply because I never photographed northern lights before and am just elated it turned out.

Caribou 2:

"As we learned, during their fall migration caribou tend to move alone or in small groups not in the huge herds I had expected.  This one was a particularly proud and nosy buck.  I learned on this trip that caribou have a sense of humour as I observed three male caribou laying on their sides intendly watching Dale washing dishes behind the camp."

Caribou 3:

"Strutting his stuff ..."

'Captain Caribou':

"Caribou come in all kinds of shapes.  This one here has a passing resemblance to our guide Terry. .."

Cranes:

"Sandhill cranes on their way south."

Indian Lake:

"Just a typical view around the camp and a reminder of an incredible little hike into the past."

Arctic fall:

"It can get a bit chilly in the fall at that latitude, although personally I think this space suit is more than a little overkill."

Haircut:

"Guests took matters in their own hands when it came to make having to look at Tom every morning more bearable.."

Ox with kid:

"Musk ox were one of the things I came to see.  But they proved to be quite elusive.  Finally as we were ready to give up, a herd, including this nuclear family snuck up on us from behind.  I figure they were pretty relaxed if they let the kids get out in front to have a good look at those weird two legged creatures."

Mama:

"I think the picture speaks for itself.  Incredible creatures."

Big Daddy:

"Daddy eventually put an end to it and told us to get lost."

Facilities:

"Guess this one speaks for itself too!"

Whitefish Lake:

"Just a typical view around the camp.  One might say there is nothing for a long while."

Like master - like dog:

"Jake and Tom -
not sure which is which ..."