March 3rd (Day 6)
Garrett starts the fire at 6am…he prelaid a bundle of kindling beside the tent and just had to reach his arm outside the sleeping bag to light, keeping most of the body warm. We are going to camp here again tonight thus are in no rush to go anywhere. Great, gives my legs and feet time to adjusted to the soft moccasins and snowshoes with out the burden of hauling a tobaggan.
We head out looking for some ptarmigan which are spotted trying to hide among the willows – their black combs give them away otherwise they are pure white. It takes us about 90 minutes to walk 3km and this is without sleds. Leif and Joe chop a hole for fishing….the ice is about 2 or 3 feet thick. I jig as well but no bites. It’s cold and blowing, -25C with snow and winds from the east or coming off Menihek Lake…I’m glad we didn’t move! Chicken stew, popcorn for dinner.
Later: should have kept my mouth shut – obviously, I have forgotten the basics about group camping…seem to have riled some important feathers with comments on a particular book. Opps, what a way to start the trip. Not good but once said can’t be retracted. If it was a test, I flunked the interpersonal part already.