we crossed the one lane steel bridge that connects GREY CLOUD ISLAND to the mainland around 4:30 in the morning. it was cold...20 degrees below zero (fahrenheit for those of you that needed to know). we had worked furiously the night before to get everything packed up and tied down on the jeep so we could have an easy departure in the morning. our work had paid off as the only thing we needed to do was fill up our coffee thermos and say farewell to the grandparents (i couldn't tell who was more excited, us or them) there was no sense of time as we made the highway and began our northwestward journey that would take us nearly to the MONTANA/CANADIAN border before heading straight north.
REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN by 5pm was our goal as we needed to pick up our sim card for the new satellite phone before the communications store closed. we made it to and thru the border crossing at PORTAL, NORTH DAKOTA with little issue. the CANADIAN border guard, McGEE (really) was helpful in every way while we filled out the documentation for the .22 caliber rifle that we were bringing with us. he was excited to hear our plans and thought we were crazy for not bringing a bigger gun...we phoned up to the communications store while at the border before we lost our cell service and confirmed with the store manager, BRAD, that he would meet us at a store that was open later to ensure we got the right card and activate our service.
it was nearly 6pm when we arrived in REGINA and BRAD was still at the store waiting happily for us to arrive. we shared our plans with him as he set us up and activated our phone. he too was excited to hear about what we were doing and like McGEE, thought we should be carrying a bigger gun with us...starting to become a common theme...
BRAD pointed us in the direction of a burger and some poutine and wished us good luck. we zig-zagged our way thru REGINA (navigating with a small scale atlas and no google maps is a 'fun' challenge) and found our burger. we bellied up to the bar and convinced the bartender to turn on the WILD hockey game while we ate our food. we stayed for the entire game and watched our team pull out a win. the first half of our journey to MISSINIPE had been nothing but success and generosity from the people helping us to this point, so we set off for the second half of our 24 hour drive in high spirits, feeding off of our positive energy.
the TIM HORTONS in PRINCE ALBERT was our shot in the arm at 2am. PRINCE ALBERT is the 3rd largest city in the province of SASKATCHEWAN (only 35,000 people live here) and is situated along the SASKATCHEWAN RIVER which creates nearly a perfect natural border between prairie and forest. we crossed the river in the bright moonlight and could start to the trees appear, one and two at a time until they grew in their numbers and neighbors to turn into the boreal forests of northern SASKATCHEWAN.
2 hours later, LA RONGE is the end of the pavement. it is dirt road for the rest of the way to the small resort town of MISSINIPE (year round population about 20, give or take if any of the residents are out on the lakes or not). 78km (we're in CANADA now) of frozen dirt and gravel. surprisingly, the road was in decent shape. a huge difference from the ruts and bumps i had been expecting... we tested out our satellite phone and called home letting our home support know we were nearing the the air base in MISSINIPE and we would shortly be off the road and in the wilderness.
we walked into the OSPREY WINGS air base and found GL and ZACH behind the counter, sipping coffee while tracking the blip of a plane on their navigation computer. I wasn't sure what kind of reception to expect from the local guys. i mean, a couple of young guys from the states heading up into their backyard with dreams of adventure, i could just see them laughing and them grimacing at the thought of having to bail us out 3 days in...boy was i ever wrong. after telling us that we were nuts for wanting to walk in when there was a perfectly running snowmobile parked outside, GL looked over our map with us and marked it with all of the snowmobile (or SKIDOO) trails and portages. he alerted us to any areas of thin ice or places that we might lose the trail. he tried once again to convince us to take his SKIDOO instead of trekking in but we declined as we were intent on walking in, this was our journey, our throwback to adventure. days of trekking thru a snowy wilderness to the apex of our journey, the cabin. we planned on a two or three day journey to make the cabin...
we left the air base office and began to unload the gear from the jeep onto the frozen parking lot and worked on packing the sleds like we had back on the island. it was a surreal moment as we packed our sleds and gazed at the still planes around us, outfitted with skis and canvas engine covers, the summer pontoons stashed in the various hangers around the air base. most sat silent in their respective hangers or around the perimeter of the base while a few sat idle on the ice, pieces of chrome, glass and aluminum reflecting the sun brightly back at us. we stashed the keys to the jeep with GL and promised we would phone in to the air base when we settled in at the cabin.
we took off pulling our sleds thru town towards the trail across the road. the sun was high in the sky and felt warm on the face, warm to bone really...forcing us to shed our layers rapidly. as soon as we crossed the road we faced up a 150ft hill, straight up. really, straight up. feeling the fresh energy of the adventure we charged up the hill, our 130lb sleds and gravity working hard against us, the soft snow warmed by the sun giving us little footing. and finally, struggling to the top we stopped, legs and lungs burning and caught our breath. as we looked back down the hill and at the town below, we knew the tone for the trek out had been set...