Winter Caretaker’s Report Volume V

Our latest update from Gangler’s winter caretaker Ryan Yaskiw. The caribou have moved south of the lodge and with the heavy winter snow, there has not been any winter hunting pressure around the lodge.

My stay up here at the lodge has been six week so far. As usual I’ve been enjoying the slower pace than what I’m used to. The mid winter weather has been very back and forth, with stretches of average temps (0 to -10f) punctuated by four to six day cold snaps (-20 to -50f). This means I do my activities in pulses. Fishing has been okay, with days of consistent action. Wildlife photography has also been a great time filler. The camp critters give me something to roll shutters on. I did have an epic encounter with a pack of wolves on the lake, and shot some drone video of it. A substantial amount of snow has fallen since I arrived, forcing me to use the dreaded snowshoes for hiking. Not a fan of them, but using them is easier than pushing through snow up to my belly button.

As of typing this I haven’t had any visitors. For some that would be problematic, but I’m doing well and haven’t achieved ‘dull boy’ status yet. Starlink is beyond amazing for keeping in touch, and for watching Team Canada fall one goal short of gold (Congrats to all my friends in the USA!)

Looks like I’ll have a couple more weeks up here before returning to civilization. The March warm up has hit today with a great forecast, and I plan on doing a big push fishing with my time left up here. This includes a bit of exploring on Dilabough lake looking for whitefish of all things. I’ll also continue to keep my camera at arms length hoping for an encounter with a wolf or caribou.

Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.