Samuel Roberts, 65, and Mark Elson, 51, said they were not prepared to be lost along the shore of Great Slave Lake when they headed out for a short fishing trip. But it became smoky and foggy, and the men became disoriented. The following day, when the air cleared, Roberts said they couldn't recognize anything. "We had no idea that we crossed over the Dettah side and [were] headed to the East Arm," said Elson.
YELLOWKNIFE - Residents and city staff in the Northwest Territories capital are struggling to keep up with an onslaught of snow.
Not seen in at least my 15 years in Yellowknife.
The winter resupply road between Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories' three working diamond mines has succumbed to this week's warm weather.
The ice road between Detah and Yellowknife is opening Friday, a date that ties a decades-old record.
The number of vehicles reported to have gone through the ice around Yellowknife continues to rise. According to the N.W.T. Department of Environment, its spill response team has responded to three vehicles through the ice so far this year.
Darcy Bourassa was just walking around his house on Tuesday when 'I must have stepped right in the perfect spot and went through.' "What I think was happening here is there's a lot of snow built up it's really insulated in the snow and it hasn't been cold this fall or this winter so there's not a lot of ice penetration underneath that snow."
The country's 3,300 miles of ice roads are a lifeline for marooned communities during frigid winters, but climate change is making the roads unsafe much earlier.
Construction is beginning today on the ice road connecting Yellowknife to Dettah on the N.W.T.'s Yellowknife Bay, but a warm November means that it will open in January for the second time since the 2006/2007 season, and the second year in a row.
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