Thanks,BruceB

[onceabull]

Making a new thread,in order to not get away from wheelguns(& Colt Woodsman)in the K-38 thread.. Bruce's vignette piece there mentioning the Nodwell tracked vehicle tickled up memories on some investment research I did a long time ago;so with the magical capabilties of the internet I searched up a brief biographical sketch on Bruce Nodwell.. a real life story proving the worth of that motivational phrase "endeavor to persevere". Also found some photo's of the company's recent and present models...Five dead and one incapacitated arctic Wolves,and still cartridges left in the magazine. Long live the Woodsman !! :drinks: Onceabull

[BruceB]

Christmas was approaching quickly while we were on that job, and weather was looking dicey for getting an airplane in to get us to Yellowknife for the Holidays. We had decided that if the ice-fog and obscure conditions extended through the 21st of December, we were going to load up the outfit and drive the 200 miles cross-country to town. Half of it was Barren Grounds, and the last half would have been within the timberline...scanty stuff at first, but thickening as we got further south. The lakes were frozen amply deep to allow the equipment on the ice, except for the odd thin spot from underwater currents, and we THOUGHT (!!!) we knew where those spots would be. Fortunately, we managed to get an Otter in to take us out instead.

We were camped at a long-deserted mining camp which offered some rather decent old empty buildings for sheltering ourselves and even the Nodwell and J-5. Geophysical work is made easier by the very limited influence of the sun in winter at those latitudes, when it was only above the horizon for a couple of hours. We were almost right on top of the Arctic Circle. We never left camp in the machines without at least eight 55-gallon drums of gas, and several 100-pound propane cylinders, just in case of "eventualities" which might see us immobile for several days away from 'home'. In 40-below (or colder) weather, there are NO "minor inconveniences"...any minor flaw or incident can instantly become a survival question.

I went back to that same camp the following March, following-up on some of our earlier findings. We had a Hell of a snowstorm that kept us in camp for eight days....four men and a Newfoundland dog cooped-up in a building about 20'x25'. We'd insulated the old shack and heated it with a good oil stove, so it was comfy....but we had to nail a blanket over the doorway to keep the snow out. The high winds drove the stuff through even the tiniest crack. It made nature-calls a team effort. Once EVERYONE had to "go", we undid the blanket, opened the door, shoveled out the snow that fell in, and everyone including the dog went out for a pee. There'd be a line of us leaning back into the gale, and the FROZEN pee was landing fifteen feet or more downwind of the line-up. Even the dog quickly got used to the procedure. Those needing more than just a pee had a (frozen) chemical john in the old mill building with our snow machines.

When the blizzard finally blew itself out, we found our shack was in a bowl formed by the snow and wind. Clear bare ground extended about ten feet on all sides of the building, and then there was a vertical snowbank ten feet high or more all the way around the shack. It was a long eight days, but fortunately all of us were readers and had an ample supply of stuff to keep our minds occupied.

[mtngunr]

Great story, and I would have been honored to have had it in the K38 thread....tangents are what makes the world interesting, just like your memories shared....