Waking up in the wilderness

Next morning – albeit rising early after a late nighter – we woke up pretty well rested. There were still embers in the stove – so we put on some logs to build the fire up again. Looking out of the window, I saw the chair still blocking our terrace stairs. So, luckily, no bear did try to climb up onto our terrace at night. The morning air looked crisp & cold and the night chill had left its frost white on trees & ground.

Grapping our bathroom kits, we rushed through the cold into the main lodge, where delicious smells of freshly baked bread, fried bacon and eggs welcomed us. A quick shower and shortly after meeting up with the others in the dining room.

NASA, Windsors and hidden coves

Frankie had a hearty breakfast buffet prepared and while enjoying our meal, she entertained us with stories from her chef’s career. Wow, she did cook for the astronauts from NASA. For me, her most entertaining story was the visit of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge to the Blachford Lodge – only a few flight minutes away. The famous Windsor couple stayed there when visiting Canada a few years back and Frankie cooked for them. Before they arrived, everyone got an etiquette briefing. Everyone but Frankie, who wasn’t there that day. So, when the seaplane docked, Frankie welcomed William and Kate charmingly unconventional. Everyone cringed, but the Royal Couple didn’t mind. And, they did like Frankies food that much, that they took her with them for their Calgary stop to cook for them some more.

So, on our list for that day was fishing – of course. But first, we went on a short hike with Gord to see some more of the property. As “wide as the eyes can see” the acreage belongs to the lodge and trails start right from its doorstep. Important: before going on a hike, always make sure to let the Lodge Team know where you’re going and dor how long aprox. They’ll give you some gear and keep track of you coming back. We called the dogs and went up into the hills behind the lodge. Hiking along the ridges, we spotted some hidden bays and got a nice panoramic views back at the lodge. Gord pointed out some herbs and berries – like the knickknick berries – and told us the story of the original yellow dog.

Angler’s luck and marooned on an island

Back at the lodge, Aaron did already perpare the boats. We hopped into waders and coarse jackets and off we went onto Duncan Lake – the larger of the two lakes. We girls went in a boat with Gord, who headed swiftly away from the other boat to a spot closer to the lakes North Shore.

Onde we reached our angling spot, we did cast our first line and it only took a few minutes for the first trout to fall in love with our lures. First fish in! A second followed suit shortly after. That really was a good fishing spot. Until the radio call came in. The one that really made us laugh out loud, but also to reel in the lures and set out for rescue. What happened? The boat with Aaron and the boys had lost its propellor and was now floating idly on the lake. We reached them in no time – still laughing – and towed them over to a small island, where we unloaded both boats. Gord then took our boat back to the lodge to fetch a new propellor.

Meanwhile, we explored the island, did cast linse from the shore, made jokes about Gord not coming back to get us and being marooned on the island – left to live off lakewater, berries and the fish we caught. Luckily, Gord made it back with a new propellor, some snacks and a cooler with some nice beverages. Aaron meanwhile cleaned the – already caught – trouts and we had a very tasty island lunch.

Freshly caught fish is the most delicious!

After fixing up the second boat we set off onto the lake again and caught some more lake trouts during the afternoon. Later on our way back to the lodge, we stopped at a designated cleaning station right on the shore. Of course as far from the lodge at necessary not to lead wildlife back to the house. We cleaned the fish and left heads and offals for the wild scavengers.

In the evening Frankie prepared some of the trout for dinner and it was fresh and self-caught delicious. Later we met again in front of the wood stove for anglers tales and drinks. Oh, and the Northern Lights came out to marvel us again.

Next morning we were very sorry to leave the awesome lodge team – that did become friends in this short a time – and hop back onto the “Ahmic Air” seaplane back to Yellowknife.

We were travelling with “Spectacular Northwest Territories” when we visited the amazing Yellow Dog Lodge.