I've been neglecting my duties as narrator of the north. My apologies to all of you who've been wondering what happened to me. Mostly, work has been happening to me, but it's not a bad thing.
Here are some pictures I took about a week and a half ago on my way to work. I don't have time for things like picture taking in the morning, but I was going in for a few hours on the weekend and decided to take some photos en route.
This is the route I take every morning to get to work - and again on the way home. I leave my apartment (sorry, no pics - I didn't think to take any yet and the camera is at work), bicycle about a kilometer on city streets, then cut off by the hospital to hop on the Frame Lake trail. I stay on the trail for several kilometers before leaving it about a kilometer or so before I get to work. I don't know the exact distances because I lost my bike computer in the move, but I bought a new one today and should know soon exactly how far I travel.
The Frame Lake Trail is great. I call is my bicycle expressway because it's not only scenic but also allows me to bypass almost all traffic lights (and traffic). It's popular with both pedestrian and bicycle commuters as well as recreational users. The entire trail encircles Frame Lake, which is (sort of) in the middle of Yellowknife. Parts of the trail are not great for biking because they're too rocky etcetera, but the section between where I live and the downtown core is well maintained and makes for a quick trip.
It takes me less than fifteen minutes to get to or from work under current conditions.
Okay, enough talking already... here are some pictures to show you what a nice way I start and finish each work day.
Almost as soon as I get on the trail, I'm on a downhill slope to lake level. This is my first downhill and first real lake view each day. As you can see, this section of trail is paved and wide enough for several pedestrians walking abreast.
At the bottom of the hill, the trail swoops by the side of the lake before a short climb.
Incidentally, the downtown core -- my destination -- is roughly in the middle of the horizon in this last picture. Roughly. You sure can't tell, can you? It's one of the great things about this trail: you're rarely more than a hundred meters from buildings, but much of the time they're unobtrusive or downright hidden.
I try not to stop at either the bottom of a hill or part-way up a hill, so here's a picture looking back at the short climb I mentioned.
I have another downhill with a hairpin at the bottom. Alex, my young roommate, says he missed that corner once and ran into the bench beside the lake and almost ended up in the lake itself. I slow down partly to make sure I navigate the corner safely, but also to make sure there isn't anyone hidden by the trees and bushes. While I look ahead on the trail as much as possible, there are a number of blind corners and I've had to brake sharply to avoid the odd child or dog if I am not watching my speed. Now that I know the trail better, I know the blind spots so I can better adjust my speed for the various sections.
Once you clear the hairpin corner, you get a nice level stretch that includes this well-built wooden bridge. Frame Lake is still on the left - the water to the right of the bridge is more of a pond or lagoon than anything.
Farther down the trail, I pass my first playground. This is shortly after I pass the mini-golf course on my right (at least the back side of the course) and before the second playground, which is near my jumping off point.
I travel a section of trail that is pea gravel. This is actual my favourite surface along the way. I don't know why I like it better than the paved sections, but I do. The lake is still on the left behind a narrow band of vegetation.
As I get closer to work, I can finally see some of Yellowknife's buildings. The first ones to come into view are some of the government buildings on the lake shore. The large building on the left is the legislature, although it is more commonly called "the leg" by locals. Following the line of flags to the right of the leg, you hit the Northern Frontier Visitors' Centre, although it is difficult to see it in this picture because I had to shrink it for space. At the far right is the edge of "downtown" which includes taller office and apartment buildings.
Although there are several places where I can leave the trail and get back on city streets, usually I cut through Somba K'e park. It is the location of the second playground on my route as well as this richly-painted concert stage.
On the other side of the park, I come out on 49th Avenue. It runs parallel to Franklin Avenue, also known as 50th Avenue, which is the main drag in Yellowknife. Many government buildings -- City Hall, the RCMP, some DND buildings, etc -- are on the Frame Lake side of 49th Avenue. Here's a shot of City Hall as seen from the street (the Frame Lake Trail continues behind City Hall):
A couple of blocks further, I turn on to the school's street - 49th Street. Yellowknife uses the naming system of streets going one way and avenues going the other. However, nobody can explain to me where the avenues and streets below the forties are. Our best theory is that city planners are allowing room for Yellowknife to grow so they set 50th Avenue (Franklin) as a baseline number rather than getting into compass quadrants like in Calgary and other cities. However, there is no room for more avenues between 49th Avenue (the lowest number I know of) and the lake, so I don't know how much sense this theory makes.
As I turn on to our street, I pass the courthouse. I like this partly because of the art work you see here, but also because I can check out what (if any) media presence is at the courthouse on a given day. Usually there is none, but occasionally I see a news camera or maybe a CBC vehicle.
Half a block later, I'm at work. Not a bad way to start and finish a day, huh? Of course, the weather is still civilized right now... I've only had to wear mittens on my bike for 3 days so far, and usually I haven't needed them by the time I went home. I've heard some people bike all year -- the weather is so cold that it isn't really slippery, or so they say -- but I doubt I'll last that long. I think I'll be doing well to stay on my bike until November, but I may surprise us all.
Well, I think I'm for bed now. I'll try not to be so long before my next update.
Jan