Dan Shen's Northern Adventures

A more birds-eye view of the Fall freeze-up. If you look closely, you can see where the water flows the fastest in the bay. These are the greyish streaks on the white floating ice. 

And yes, that’s a real caribou head sticking out of the wall.

Fall freeze-up. The waters at this point were begin to freeze. Pretty soon the houseboaters won’t have to paddle in a canoe to buy groceries...

I spent a weekend in Fort Smith again. This time I helped an Elder log a trailer-load of trees! I felt like a proper bushman for a weekend. 

I went to the abandoned Ptarmigan mine for some photoshoots. It looked very eerie. Rusty nails, core samples, etc. Then I found the tracks of a lone wolf...I got out of there fast!

I’d like to give a shoutout to the Ethiopian restaurant in Yellowknife for their great food. Who knew there would be an Ethiopian restaurant in the Arctic world?

Did you know that Fort Simpson was visited by the Pope? To honour his visit, the people erected the largest wooden tipi in the world. 

On the road again! This time I traveled to the Deh Cho (literally can be translated as Big River) region to see the majestic mountains near Fort Simpson. The sky looked clear. I saw a double rainbow at Sambaa Deh waterfalls, an auspicious sign. It was a beautiful yet nerve-wracking drive. I drove 100+ miles on an unpaved, wet, dirty gravel road...Towards the end of the journey to Fort Simpson, I had a chance to experience the seasonal ferry that crosses the Mackenzie River. In the winter, the ferry closes down and an ice road is built for traveling into the community.

One of the best Aurora nights I’ve ever seen. 

This past Saturday, I went cranberry picking with an Elder (who also happens to be a four-time Olympic Cross-Country Skiier!!!) and her friends. I got two bags full of fresh wild cranberries. I’m eagerly waiting to eat them...but with what? How? I don’t really know...any suggestions?

I woke up with a “pleasant” surprise...The temperature has dropped below 0 Celsius overnight and I experienced the first of many days where I have to wait for the ice to melt before I can move my car...

Mahsi Cho. 

Not a lot happened these days in terms of photography. I gravitated towards photographing the sunset scenes in Yellowknife. Here they are!

On the way back from Fort Providence to Bechoko, I saw my old friends the bison again. Whenever they looked at me, I’d get a little anxious. But I’m getting really used to them staring at me now. Hopefully, I can maintain my friendly relationship with the grazing, bulky rulers of this land between Behchoko and Fort Providence. 

On the road back from Hay River, I stopped at the famed Alexandra Falls to hear her roars. A beautiful sight! The colors of the leaves almost match the tone of the brownish waters. The Elders told me to respect the waters. How can I not when faced with this majestic manifestation of power and force in front of me? 

p.s. a mischievous little fox stole my machete while I was taking pictures...gotta be careful of those little tricksters!

I’ve been to Prelude Lake a couple of times but never did any of the trails. So that day I told myself that I’d do one of them. I saw some amazing views after a short hike up the ridge of a mountain. The yellow leaves indicated the coming of Fall (and soon...winter...).