What do you do if there are no trees ?

Huh ?!!? What the heck is he talking about ?!??! LOL

A little background first. I'm a heavy equipment maintenance mechanic/technician/millwright/ whatever you want to call me. What it boils down to is, I fix "stuff" and keep "stuff" running. I'm in the final hiring phase with a new company that does the really big mining stuff. Haul trucks, drag lines, drills. I'll be working out in the field on various mine sites and, if I can pull it off, I'll be getting on a crew to assemble and maintain 6 mobile drill machines that do exploration drilling.

What's that got to do with no trees ??? The first place they're planning on sending me is a diamond mine 3 degrees south of the arctic circle. That ought to send a chill down the spine of some of you more southerly folks. LOL. The lack of tree factor there isn't a big deal. It's an extremely well established mine camp that borders on living in a well equipped hotel that just happens to be at the mine you work out of. Due to environmental/lease/safety issues, we aren't even allowed off the mine property while we're there. There isn't much to see anyway. It's just hundreds of miles of dead flat baron tundra in all directions.

Now...if I manage to get myself hooked up with that exploratory drill gig...that makes the first mine look like a southern resort. This place is right up on the southern shore of the arctic ocean, and is much more like camping. There are structures there that we will be staying in, but there isn't anything fancy about it. I got to thinking about it. Even in the summer drilling season, it's not like it would get into the balmy 70's. If something happened, what could a guy do for heat at night? The first tree you'd come across would be many many hundreds of miles south of there. How would I get my firewood hoarding fix in such a place !??!?!? LOL. If nothing else....it'll be an adventure.

 

Well bud good luck with the hiring. I hope it works out for you. Glad to see another Canadian and millwright here.

 

Maybe you could dry and burn some peat, if that's around. We had an Irish member who mentioned peat burning.

 

Gazahayes
"Mainly used for making poitin (Irish moonshine) it gives it more smokey flavour. Peat is a good fuel once you get the weather to dry it and like timber it's best left season for a year at least. Have about 20 cubic meter bags saved during the summer17 for burning winter 19 on."

 

Gahcho Kue ?

Maybe you can catch, cut, dry and stack fish.

 

I would think there would be plenty of pallets and wooden shipping crates to stay in some semblence of heat in an emergency. As you fulfill your out of control hoarding wood fetish, just explain to your superiors that your stash is "for emergencies". Cutting it up into burnable lengths, or building a homemade wood stove in the off-time might also keep you sane I would think.

 

My parents used to make newspaper logs. They burned like crap.

 

Midwinter, would that be the newspaper logs that soaked in water and you cranked them with a handle while adding more wet newspaper to make logs.

 

It seems to me the solution is to club a seal, or find a whale carcass on shore. Then, use the fat to burn in a small container.

 

No, they laid them flat in thin layers, and rolled them up, adding more layers as they rolled. Just being frugal I guess. They just laid in the fireplace and smouldered.

 

Good news today. The final che

That's the first place. Sadly, we're not allowed to roam the tundra with our fishing rods. Man, what I wouldn't do to get a line into some of those lakes up there. At any rate, I'll take some pics and post them up here when things get rolling. I got some good news today. All of my paperwork, physical fitness testing, paper tests, trade licenses, etc have all been checked out and have the company's stamp of approval. Apparently I'm worthy of being sent to the middle of nowhere. Yay ! If I can get onto the drill rig operation later on, there we can go out and explore a little more in our off hours from what I'm told.

Thanks for all the well wishes guys. Working in the land of no trees will be different, that's for sure.

 

I don't mind the cold, but I think I would miss trees as well. Still, when I was younger, I would have been up for an adventure like you're having. Looking forward to the pics. Watch out for the Polar bears, you taste good, to them.

 

I saw a documentary on polar bears, so I know all about them.

It was so cute - the mummy bear would slide down the slope to show her babies what to do, then they slid down on their bottoms.

So yeah, not dangerous at all. If you find a baby give it a big hug to keep it warm till the mummy bear comes back.

 

That's what I heard too, so it must be true !!! What's that saying.....Tread softly when you travel in the land of giants for your are crunchy and taste good with mustard....or something like that. LOL.

In fact, many of these companies do employ wildlife "management" people. In those parts, it's usually an indigenous fellow who's got official native status. No hunting license required, and they get to put another tick in the column of employing a native to show how politically correct they are. I will be asking about it if I wind up going that far up. I'm a hunter, and a competitive long range shooter. I have absolutely no desire to shoot a bear, but if nobody else had addressed the issue, I'll step up and offer to bring along a rifle. I'd be willing to bet they've already got measures in place though.

 

Well...next January I turn 50, but I'm more than up for an adventure like this. I've been working outdoors repairing heavy equipment for the past 21 years....however....aside from dressing appropriately, dealing with cold usually meant climbing back into the service truck for a few minutes to warm up. I don't think that's going to be an option there. Fortunately, the company I'll be working for is known for treating their employees well, and they aren't afraid to spend money on equipment if it's required. I'm sure I'll settle in just fine.

 

UPDATE !!!!

The official hiring offer letter came through, I accepted it, and I've turned in my notice at work. I'm in !!!! The best part.....I got the outdoorsman's dream gig. I'll be part of the crew that's assembling the 6 mobile track drills that are going in up on the arctic ocean. Find a place on the map called Bathurst Inlet, and that's where I'll be, right up at the top of it. If you can't find that, find a place called Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, and go about 100 km west, and slightly south of it. There's nothing there except for 4 quonsets and a whole lot of barren tundra. We go in by twin engine float plane (on skis in the winter) and stay for 2 weeks at a time on alternating crews. I don't know if there's an ongoing maintenance gig afterward where we follow these things across the tundra while they bore test holes, or if we'll be cut loose to head to another mine site. Time will tell. All I know is that I can bring a fishing rod, and I've heard arctic char taste pretty dammed good.

Don't worry...I'll be taking lots of pictures while I'm there and I'll post a bunch when I get back. Just think....no people, no roads, no power lines, no phones, no TV, no internet....heck, there isn't even a runway to land wheeled aircraft on. 4 temporary structures in the middle of nowhere will be home. I feel like Im some kind of frontiersman about to set off to explore new lands. LOL. This is going to require some kind of stupid looking oversize hat...yep...definitely going to need the silly hat thing for this one. LOL I can't wait.

 

What a opportunity! Prepare to grit your teeth (thinking small plane landingWithout wheels!). Pics Pics Pics.