Canol Road 2013
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Transcript of Canol Road 2013
![Page 1: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
The wonder and beauty of the boreal winter
In March 2013, Pew’s Arctic Science Director Henry Huntington headed for the boreal forest with four
friends to explore the Canol Road, built during World War II to support a pipeline connecting the Norman
Wells oilfields on the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories with the new Alaska Highway in
the Yukon.
Here are some of the things they saw on their1300 km/800 mile trip.
![Page 2: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
![Page 3: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
The Yukon section of the Canol is maintained for summer use as
a gravel road.
![Page 4: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Not so on the NWT side, with the result that we could not quite reach Norman Wells …
![Page 5: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Even without maintenance, the road and equipment are still visible, seventy years later
![Page 6: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
The trip was wonderful, if cold (-42°C/-44°F was our low, and it was often in the -30s)
![Page 7: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
We traveled from the pines
of the South Canol to the
spruce, tamarack,
willow, and poplar there and farther
north
![Page 8: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Not forgetting the ambitious spruce high on the slopes, and
willows on a high plateau
![Page 9: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Plus lots of animals! Winter is a great time for tracks.
Clockwise from upper left:wolverine, snowshoe hare, wolf, caribou, moose, porcupine, fox,
least weasel
![Page 10: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Fortunately, the bears were still hibernating, but they left scratch marks on trees and
fur in the spruce sap
![Page 11: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
And the ptarmigan, one of my favorites!
![Page 12: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
The ice and snow are also beautiful, delicate, and complex
![Page 13: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
The sky offers its own spectacles night and day, from aurora to sun dogs
![Page 14: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
May the boreal long continue to inspire and delight us, and may human presence remain light and respectful
![Page 15: Canol Road 2013](https://reader035.fdocuments.us/reader035/viewer/2022062405/55679e34d8b42ada108b4669/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
From left: Glen Liston, John Burch, Jon Holmgren, Matthew Sturm, Henry Huntington