Yellowknife ice trucking

[mchester]

That just made my day... Thanks...

[gsd4me]

Originally Posted by squonker

An Aussie truckie walks into an outback cafe' with a full-grown emu behind him.

Good job I`m originally from New Zealand......Speaking of which.


Kiwi`s are distraught; with the world economic meltdown and attendant price rises etc, the cost of lamb in NZ has gone up to $40.00 per hour.

I`m sure some people won`t "get it".

[squonker]

Originally Posted by GSD4ME

Kiwi`s are distraught; with the world economic meltdown and attendant price rises etc, the cost of lamb in NZ has gone up to $40.00 per hour.

Same goes for Wales too, presumably.....

[squonker]

Not sure if I posted this pic or not yet.


Reading my notes here, trip #4 appears to have been quite boring. I got up at midnight, called dispatch and was given a t-time of 3.20am. I wrote that my trailer seemed unusually long and low. It would have been a 53 footer and therefore a regular length, but I also noted that my r/h mirrors seemed out of adjustment for this trailer and that I couldn't work out just how they were wrong. (I think possibly I had smoked a big crack joint earlier in the day...)

I had real trouble staying awake on the road to Lockhart on this trip, and had to resort to a Red Bull for the first time this season. That's usually my emergency 'I won't get to the next rest area without crashing if I don't do this now' last ditch attempt to remain awake and I know things are getting pretty bad when I have to do that. It worked, but only for an hour and then I was right back to square one. Yikes!

I was a little slow with my trigger finger on this one, galute


Eventually pulled in to Lockhart at 11.20 that morning, and slept for 1.5 hrs after which I felt like a new person. Just as well because I was heading to Diavik and that meant crossing Mackay Lake for the first time this season. It took 7 hours (up from the usual six) to get from Lockhart to the mine for two reasons. Firstly, you always used to be able to speed up to 30 km/h once you pulled out of Lockhart heading north, but this year they restricted you to 25 km/h until 5 km into Mackay Lake - and it takes something like 2 hrs from Lockhart to reach that point. Secondly, there were something like 7 or 8 pressure ridges on Mackay Lake, and each time we cross one we have to slow down to 10 km/h for a few minutes. I'm not sure why this was the case this year, because my understanding of pressure ridges is that they are in some way related to the depth of the water below them, and therefore they'd always occur in the same place. Makes sense to me to change the route a couple of hundred feet one way or the other to stay clear of them and let us keep up to speed, but perhaps I don't understand them correctly. Have been meaning to look them up on Wikkipedia -after all if I read it on the internet it must be true, right? You've no idea how heartbreaking it is to have to slow down to 10 km/h for a kilometer or so at a time when you're only doing 30 km/h to begin with. And you're out on a massive lake above the treeline so there is absolutely nothing whatsoever to see. You're already bored out of your skull and here you are moving at a snails pace. Aaarrgh!

Anyway. We made it eventually - Art had left Lockhart a little before me and was in the convoy ahead and I was running with a nice young guy called Tyrone. We pulled into Diavik at 20:20 and the girl at the dispatch office said she remembered me from '05, although I have no recollection of her. She's very nice though and it paid to have a friend who worked there. (Better yet, I also knew a woman who worked there on the opposite shift, so whatever time of day or night I turned up I always got special treatment. Right on!)

A quick unload saw us gone again exactly 2 hrs later at 22:20. It's a 4 hr drive back to Lockhart from there - I noted that Mackay Lake was quite foggy that night - and we were back at Lockhart again at exactly 02:20.

Stupid pressure ridges!


We slept in until 6am, had a quick breakfast and were on our way again. Arriving back in Yellowknife at 13:30 we were told to drop our trailers and call back at 16:30. At that time they told me to hook up to a load of mesh in the quarry, only there weren't any loads of mesh left. So they reloaded the same trialer I'd just dropped off a few hours earlier with...well whaddaya know, I didn't write down what I carried that load! Oh, here we go - mining roof tiles. Trailer number 46599 if you're interested. I think mining roof tiles are what they bolt into the roof of the underground shafts, but I'm sure someone here knows more about that than me. My job is just to get them there!





This flood truck has an ice auger built onto it, running off a pto. Sweet.

[gefr]

In your photos th weather is usually sunny and clear. Could it be dark and cloudy and stormy? Or because of the low temps there is no humidity and that explains the clear weather?
Good writing. Cheers.

[inverted]

Originally Posted by gefr

In your photos th weather is usually sunny and clear. Could it be dark and cloudy and stormy? Or because of the low temps there is no humidity and that explains the clear weather?
Good writing. Cheers.

lol....yes, it can be dark and cloudy, or storming and a white out....just that those pics prolly won't show much....

[squonker]

Originally Posted by inverted

lol....yes, it can be dark and cloudy, or storming and a white out....just that those pics prolly won't show much....

gefr, I was wondering today how to reply. The truth is very boring so I'll entertain you with two much more interesting answers first:

1) Those snow storms, white-outs etc do not happen in real life. The History Channel CGI'd them into the show to create more drama.

2) When the sun shines brighter and the days get hotter, there is a chemical reaction between the sun's rays and the ice that actually makes the ice stronger. It is on these days only that I have the confidence to take my left hand off the door handle to use a camera - usually it's on the handle the whole time so that I can bail out in a hurry if I need to.

Ok, smart alec answers done with and I'm not poking fun at you, I promise. Yeah, it's like inverted says - photos on sunny days look better than photos on shitty days, that's all. There may be a bit of truth to having to concentrate more when the visibility is worse (trying to avoid those pesky pot holes and the bigger cracks which, believe me, you'll know you've driven over if you don't see them to avoid them), but that's about it. Later in the season there's going to be more sunshine, of course, and this time of year it is often very clear and sunny. I think there a few photos earlier on in this thread that I took in shitty conditions, but those days hardly inspire me to dig out my camera.

And there you have it - the boring truth! (I prefer answer number 2 myself - a chemical reaction between the heat from the sun and the ice making the latter stonger...I should write a book!)

Cheers

[mchester]

Originally Posted by squonker

...I should write a book!)

Cheers

Ummmmm.... I think you have... Just a little filler in between your short stories and I think you'd have it. And it'd be a worthy read at that.

[mchester]

Originally Posted by GSD4ME

Good job I`m originally from New Zealand......Speaking of which.


Kiwi`s are distraught; with the world economic meltdown and attendant price rises etc, the cost of lamb in NZ has gone up to $40.00 per hour.

I`m sure some people won`t "get it".

OK, that's just baaaaaaaaddddd.... (imagine a sheep saying it)...

Same joke in Ohio about the Sheep farmers in some neighboring states.

"I was just helping the sheep over the fence officer, really..." (farmer quickly pulls up pants)...

[squonker]

Originally Posted by mchester

Ummmmm.... I think you have... Just a little filler in between your short stories and I think you'd have it. And it'd be a worthy read at that.

That reminds me:


Huge pic, I know, but finally a book that doesn't cost $600! In case that's too small to read, the book is called 'Dennison's Ice Road' and it is by Edith Iglauer. This a very cool book - Iglauer is a New York writer who spent a month with John Dennison's crew while they pioneered the ice roads. Dennison was the first person to build ice roads in the NWT, and began to do so in the '50s or '60s (it's been a few years since I read my copy). This was back in the days when they needed supplies at the uranium mine on Great Bear Lake, and Dennison (who was then linked to Byers Transport) was the only person foolhardy enough to give it a try. He literally put a plow on the front of a transport truck and drove out onto the ice when he thought it was probably safe to do so. There are numerous instances of equipment going through the ice here, and it gives you a decent idea of the less than luxurious conditions that these guys had to live in, too, while they were doing the work. Dennison died only 2 or 3 years ago. Best of all, the book is available on Amazon for less than $15. Check it out - you won't be wasting your time if you've enjoyed this thread.

And there was this link: http://www.iceroadtruckjobs.com/. I had a quick look and have to wonder how many people gave this outfit money. I'll read it through thoroughly when I get the chance.

[hardwaregrrl]

Hey, you could use ride reports and working for the govt of CA as filler!!! I'd buy it.. don't be offended, but i wouldn't buy it for $600!!! maybe 20$!!! But I did just pay $87 for an ice road trucker ebook!!! Thanks Ben. I'll be making 40 grand a month in no time!!!

[squonker]

Originally Posted by hardwaregrrl

Hey, you could use ride reports and working for the govt of CA as filler!!! I'd buy it.. don't be offended, but i wouldn't buy it for $600!!! maybe 20$!!! But I did just pay $87 for an ice road trucker ebook!!! Thanks Ben. I'll be making 40 grand a month in no time!!!

Is that what they want? $87? Holy shit! I read through their site earlier and it was so untrue that I actually had to take a break from it at one point. I emailed them pretending to want to become an ice road trucker and asked them a bunch of questions. Am looking forward to the answers....

And hey, when you earn $90,000 in your first season as an ice road trucker yourself, you'll darn well be able to afford the $600 for my book!

[fatdr]

I read through the whole thing and just want to know how it feels when the workers at the mines cheer your arrival.
Does everyone in YK know your name? That must just be frikkin' excellent.
I've been lurking around this thread for quite some time and am really enjoying it.
Thanks and keep 'er going.

[squonker]

Originally Posted by fatdr

I read through the whole thing and just want to know how it feels when the workers at the mines cheer your arrival.
Does everyone in YK know your name? That must just be frikkin' excellent.

We had a laugh in the shop this afternoon about that. There were 4 or 5 of us who have driven the ice and I told them some of the things it had said on that site - pricless! I didn't hear back from them yet but I really don't expect to having asked them how many people they have found ice road trucking jobs for, and with which companies. Will let you know if I do, though.

Originally Posted by fatdr

I've been lurking around this thread for quite some time and am really enjoying it.
Thanks and keep 'er going.

Thank you - I will (for as long as I can!)

[rusty43]

[quote=squonker]That reminds me:


It's a good read, what a work ethic these guys had. I found my copy at a garage sale somewhere. That author had some gumption to hang out with that crew.
Was talking to RTL at Enterprise and found out they're hauling another 25M litres of fuel to Yknife this spring, so they'll be busy on the "other" highway for a while.