Not 1, but 2 Parkas: Impressions of Ft. Smith

Just about to depart Edmonton with Parka 1 and my lunch

Well, after a very long day of travelling (4:00 EST wake-up for a 6:30 flight to Edmonton), and yes, hauling up 2 Parkas, I finally landed in Fort Smith, NWT around 15:00 MST still questioning myself on my decision.



The 2 hour flight almost directly North from Edmonton was uneventful. I was met by my new boss, Lance Roberts. Very friendly guy originally from Timmins, Ontario, but spent most of his days working in the Diamond Mines in the North. He was my lift to the 'crew house' where the company is putting me up for a few weeks, while I settle in. The first thing he asked me was 'got your winter stuff?'

On the way to the crew house, Lance showed me around town, where all the 'hot spots' were, including the Pizza place, the Recreation Center and Hockey Arena, Grocery Store and Bank. Many thoughts were floating through my mind, figuring out how I will adapt to the changing environment, coming from living downtown Montreal and Burlington, which had large populations, compared to Fort Smith, home to 2500 at best!

Upon arrival at the crew house, I met the two other guys living there: A mechanic from Calgary, AB and another rampie, hired two weeks prior from Abbottsford, BC. I unpacked (Seen Below) and proceeded to do a second (self-guided) tour of the neighbourhood err.. town.



Up in the North, apparently there are only 3 seasons; Spring, Summer & Winter. At the end of summer (which gets up to a very dry 32 degrees Celsius) it drops off pretty quickly and it turns into winter before you know it. Last week I was told all the guys were out wearing their Parkas. Luckily I made it in on one of the very few days of 'fall' 12 degrees with all the leaves changing colours. (Word on the street is that they are predicting the first snowfall to be by the end of next week :s )

The first stop on my self guided tour was the Recreation center - where I could get back and have a feeling of what being in the south was like. Anyways, friendly staff of 3 people running the place, with more things than you could ever imagine for a town of so few. Very nice and refurbished weight-lifting room, Squash courts, Olympic size swimming pool (with hot tub, 20 foot slide, Dry Sauna and Steam room), martial arts school, yoga studio and Curling Rink (this is apparently where the greater majority of the town spends their Friday nights; Curling and drinking cold beverages in the lounge upstairs - Haven't figured out why people would be wanting anything more cold, when its -54 C outside!)

Next stop was the Grocery Store. There are two right across from each other. There is one thats the 'highly superior', however it closes early on Sundays, so the other will have to do. I'm pretty surprised how stocked they were with meats, fish, fruits and vegetables, however significantly more expensive than back at home $9 for 250ml of Olive Oil!

The last stop for the day was the Great Slave River (pictures below- sorry for the crappy quality, my phone was zoomed in all the way. I will be sure to get some better quality ones before the snow starts falling). And beside it I found this weird burial ground. All the graves looked like the bodies were right on the surface with a bit of dirt and a bed of flowers covering them. Will have to inquire about that one....

Im pretty sure they were just placed right on the grass...

Finally, the way home proved trickier than I had imagined. Although there is one main street in Ft. Smith, many of the housing complexes look similar to mine, so it took some time before I saw the familiar cars parked outside..