Yellowknife....

Yellowknife, 2010

..Northwest Territories, known for it's copper and gold,
named for the tools the First People made, in the days of old;
the population decreased as the gold output was down, measured not in ton but by the pound,
then some people started to move back in because in 1991 diamonds were found.

It's the Capital of the Territory and the largest city by far,
and things have changed quite a bit, now you can go by car;
it's isolated and possibly cold, and either light or dark,
but 250 miles for the Arctic Circle, it's not a walk in the park.

Yellowknife in the 1940's and 1950's (when this geezer was a boy)

Daytime in the winter (reminds me of Iceland)

The "Ice Road", winter means a shorter trip

Great Slave Lake...

Utsingi Point Great Slave Lake

...Northwest Territories, over four times the size of Delaware,
ninth largest in the world, deepest in North America, wind can cause a scare;
and if all of that isn't enough, it's not the largest up here, so all records are not set,
Great Bear Lake is larger, but we're not going there, at least not yet.

Hay River is the town on the south shore of the lake,
Yellowknife is larger, north shore, what can it take...
..to drive around of go across, 6 months of the year,
when the ice is on it's straight we go, with just a little fear.

Northern Bay

Red granite cliffs-click

Hay River Inlet, the McKenzie is the outflow

Hay River...

Inuksuk at Town Hall-click

...Northwest Territories, on the south shore of Great Slave Lake,
people gather in winter for the drive across, don't forget to take..
..two sets of chains for the dangerous ride,
featured on TV, now that's civic pride!

A fur post established in 1868, now the center of the sea lift..
to the Arctic Ocean researchers, who accept the gift,
this was the first town in these Territories connected by road...
..to the rest of Canada, the McKenzie Highway now carries the load.

Shore, Great Slave Lake - click

Alexandra Falls on the Hay River-click

Hay River Gorge-click

Wood Buffalo National Park...

A Wood Bison (Buffalo)

...Northwest Territories,this is one cool place,
there is so much here, I feel like I'm in a race;
the last surviving herd of the namesake creatures,
only nesting place for Whooping Crane, among the features.

Glacier leftovers like a "salt" lake,
karst sinkholes, how much can I take;
it is a very large park, I guess it needs to be,
oh, and a beaver dam people in space can see.

Notes at the end.

A saline (salt) lake, the white stuff is salt.

American White Pelicans at the Rapids of the Drowned, Slave River.

Pine Lake

Notes: A karst (dissolved soft rock) sinkhole is a cave with an open roof, that sums it up.
           The beaver dam is 2750 feet long, that's a little over a half mile, it's very old and
           still active, the recent work has taken 20 years.