O Canada! Churchill to Thompson, Manitoba — Day 8 — 2014-07-10

Day 8 – Today will be our last day in Churchill. We will take one final tour of the shore road then pack our bags and make our way the short distance to the Churchill airport. There, we are scheduled take the 1-hour, puddle-jumper back to Thompson for the night.

So, we head out to take one last stab at finding another Polar Bear. Along the way, we see the familiar sight of Spruce trees, rocks, and tundra:

This is a landscape that is very foreign to me, having grown up in the southeastern U.S. with its rolling hills and deciduous forests. In our neck of the woods, you can’t see the horizon for the towering trees. Up in the far reaches of Manitoba, Canada, the landscape is stark and unforgiving — it gives one only a temporary sense of well-being, knowing that a long, bitter winter is just around the corner. I actually think the angle of the sun plays a big part in this feeling, since it never really gets high overhead. We are almost at the 60th parallel, after all…

Back out on the gravel road that skirts the endless tundra, we spot a brown figure, moving slowly through the scrubby landscape. We are delighted to see that it is our buddy, the Caribou. It is probably the same lone beast we spotted the other day. Today, however, it is moving in a direction that will allow us to approach it via the shore road. As it creeps forward, munching on tender green shoots in the tundra, we also creep forward, not wanting to get close enough to spook it, but needing to get close enough to be able to position ourselves for a photographic opportunity.

I attached the longest lens I have to my camera, and snapped a couple of shots before it crossed the road:

Just as I do, it looks directly at me. It is still a pretty good distance away, but it knows that we are out there. Ms. Caribou then proceeds to walk toward our gravel road. By now, we have approached as close to this crossing point as we dare. It climbs onto the road bed and takes one last look at us, curious about what we are doing in her territory. Yes, it’s a “her” — even female Caribou have antlers:

A few seconds of stare-down, then she ambles off into the endless tundra, soon to become just a speck on the horizon.

Apparently, we will not see any bears today in this area, so we head toward town, where we will have one last meal at Gypsy’s Bakery and Restaurant. When we arrive, some of the crew want to take a brief tour of town, so we all split up — I’ll be heading to a spot on the edge of town where I saw orchids blooming as we passed by.

Obviously, this was once a seaside bog, since the ground actually springs up and down as I walk out into the several-acre field. I had seen large clumps of Cypripedium passerinum or Sparrow’s-egg Lady’s-slipper orchid from the van as we made our way into town. I don’t think the land can ever be built on since it is so boggy, but it is currently flanked on all sides by gravel roads, and there are small apartment buildings lining one edge of it.

At the risk of being repetitive, I will show you one last set of images of this thumb-sized orchid. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was a bit overwhelmed with seeing the sheer numbers of this fine orchid which makes its way into the lower 48 states only in the upper reaches of Montana — this is truly a boreal species:

Large drifts of this orchid are nestled against the shrubby perimeter of the bog and line a rocky trail that winds through the edge of the bog. Just as Lorne had said, “as thick as weeds”.:

Also in the bog, were many of another of our favorite orchids, Amerorchis rotundifolia or Round-leaf orchid. Although I searched the area carefully, I could not find any of the rare, forma lineata in this population. What I did find, however, was one clump of Amerorchis rotundifolia which had very dark purple stems:

Of course, there were plenty of the typical variety in the bog. Here is a full shot that shows the single, round-ish leaf at the base of the plant:

Another orchid that I was pleased to find is Platanthera obtusata subsp. obtusata forma collectanea or the dwarf form of the Blunt-leaf orchid. Compare its size to the 3-inch (7.5 cm) tall Amerorchis rotundifolia just behind it:

This is a bog that also supports other wildflowers besides orchids. Nearby, were several Pedicularis sudetica or Purple rattle also known as Swedish Lousewort.

While I was photographing the Swedish Lousewort, I noticed a purple shape out of the corner of my eye. It was Rhododendron lapponicum or Lapland Rosebay. This species is quite common in the Churchill area, and in fact, it will cover the ground in some places with a beautiful carpet of 1-inch (2.5 cm) wide, magenta-pink flowers. We were a few weeks late to see it in bloom although we saw the plants at a number of sites we visited. Lucky me to find a single plant in bloom with two flowers!:

Again, Bartsia alpina or the aptly named Velvet Bells:

It was time to head back to Gypsy’s Bakery and Restaurant to join up with the rest of the group. But on the way back, I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful, low-growing Matricaria ambigua or Sea-side Chamomile. It’s bright white and yellow flowers wouldn’t let me pass until I photographed them:

They were growing in the sandy gravel just next to the road. I suppose it’s a cousin to the plant from which they make Chamomile tea.

The day and the trip were winding down, so we made our way south to the Churchill airport where our luggage would be awaiting us. They were taken to the airport by the staff of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. I cannot say enough about the treatment we were provided while staying at their facility. To know that there is such a place out there where Arctic researchers can go to perform their studies and laboratory work is just fantastic. There will always be fond memories of Churchill because of the Centre and their staff. I should be so lucky as to revisit Churchill again one day…

Our flight to Thompson was delayed due to the plane not being able to land at another site farther north before it reached Churchill. We already had rooms booked at the Burntwood Motel in Thompson, so the delay did not cause us any problems. Once on the plane and off the ground, I retrieved my camera from the overhead bin and took this one shot through the scratched airplane window of the clouds below:

Once we arrived at the motel, we got our assigned room keys and said our goodbyes, since most of us would be going our separate ways back to Winnipeg. Although there is only one good road from Thompson to Winnipeg, we would no longer be traveling as a group. That did not prevent us from seeing each other from time to time as one car would stop for wildflowers or wildlife along the way.

–Jim