Kyle Thomas

The Website of Kyle Thomas (KyleWith)

My time at Yellow Dog Lodge

As a kid I flew by bush plane to some of the most remote places in the north and I absolutely loved it. This past weekend my joy of flying and adventure was rehatched as I spent the weekend at Yellow Dog Lodge.

Yellow Dog Lodge is about a 15 minute flight or 30 kms north of Yellowknife, on a point between Graham and Duncan Lake. The lodge is beautifully situated with viewing points of both lakes

ASW Captain

Upon landing on the cleverly named “Rainbow Dock” I had the pleasure to finally meet the lodge owner and operator, Gordon Gin. Gord has been operating the lodge for over 6 years and has done many improvements since I last visited back in the early 2000’s.

Right off the bat I was given a tour of all the facilities, and there is a lot going on. The main building houses the kitchen, dining room, lounge, and sitting room on the main floor. Then there are staff quarters below and guest rooms above, featuring spacious double beds or singles. There are then two winterized cabins and another full service cabin, which acts as the winter lodge. Of course there are then all the extras, like the wood burning hot tub, sauna and Internet.

Yellow Dog Lodge

The one facility that really stuck out to me and makes Yellow Dog Lodge unique was the dock house. Imagine a barge with Astroturf, railings all around the edge and a 12×14′ prospector tent on it. If you haven’t guesses yet, it is a floating campsite, fully equipped with a BBQ, stove, generator, camp supplies, canoe and an onboard lou.

Yellow Dog Lodge

While many people travel to these lodges for great fishing and meals without having to worry about anything, some are looking for that great outdoor adventure. They are wanting to experience the Northern Frontier and the dock house is perfect for them.

When I first arrived at Yellow Dog Lodge a couple, originally from Russia but living in the USA, were heading back to Yellowknife after spending an entire month on this dock house. They couldn’t have been happier I heard them saying to Gord as they boarded the plane.

It is pretty simple to stay on the dock house and Gord will help with logistics, like food and getting to it, but it can be completely a self-service operation. The dock house is also equipped with an outboard motor so if a person so choose they could have a different view each morning, move out of bad weather if it appeared or even move to where the fish are biting best. This truly is a unique northern outdoor adventure you are not going to find anywhere else.

Yellow Dog Lodge

To me Yellow Dog Lodge isn’t a place to go trophy fishing, although the fishing is amazing, it is a get away vacation spot where you come to bond with your friends and family. It is where you would go to have a special time with those you are with. I imagine a father and son coming to the lodge and spending the weekend fishing and hiking together or an office get-together to unwind after a big project is complete.

It is also a place to make new friends and swap stories. I spent many evenings and meal times conversing with Gord, the cook Heddy and another guest Lisa from California. We all came from different walks of life, different experiences and had different stories but now we are all connected because we were all at a remote lodge in the middle of nowhere together.

Yellow Dog Lodge is right in my backyard but when I was there I felt like I was a million miles from anything. It was without a doubt peaceful.

*Disclaimer: Yellow Dog Lodge is a client on mine through my day job. I was flown to the lodge by the owner for a meeting. I was not asked to write this article.

Heading north to Inuvik, NT for the weekend

I have lived in the north practically all my life but I’ve never actually been to Inuvik, NT. I’ve actually been to more of western Nunavut than western NWT. I’ve been to Cambridge Bay, NU, Kugluktuk, NU, Bathurst Inlet, NU and so on.

I’m excited to see what is going on in Inuvik. The terrain has always intrigued me and been somewhat of a mystery to me. It is further north than Yellowknife but is still below the treeline and lies along the arctic coast.

Welcome to Inuvik sign

The point of my trip to Inuvik is business but I will have the flexibility to explore the area and find out what is going on up there. My goal is to try and experience Inuvik as if I am a tourist and record everything I am seeing and doing.

While I’m in Inuvik the Great Northern Artists Festival will be taking place, which will be one of the events I’m going to check out. The festival features artists from all over the north showcasing there art and taking part in workshops.

Tomorrow I may even get the chance to go to Tuktoyuktuk, NT, which is an even smaller community.

Let the adventure begin.

My first big proposal: NTT

I have been at KELLETT now for just over a month and half and I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when I started. I didn’t really know what I was going to be doing orwho I would be working with, I just knew it was a good decision and that it was.

Yellowknife is a small town with a competitive marketing industry which is why the past couple weeks have been somewhat awkward for me. I’m so use to publicly shouting out what I am doing on a regular basis, but with this I couldn’t. To make matters more awkward I have a good relationship with many of the people that work with these other companies and I certainly hope work aside we can continue that.

What I am referring to is of course the Northwest Territories Tourism Account, which KELLETT has submitted a proposal for.

I’ll tell you right off the bat that tourism, especially in the NWT, is something that I have a deep passion for. It is something that I have thought about for many years stemming back to before YkOnline.ca, to the days when I worked for a tourism operator. This place is my home and I want to share it with others.

As the proposal was coming together I was ecstatic to be apart of it. There were so many aspects that were getting me pumped about the future. The first was all the really creative ideas we talking about as we were building the proposal and of course the second was the team. I have come to learn that the team I’m working with is one of the best and no matter the project they will be a blast to work with. The late nights with them at The Black Knight are fun too.

I know no matter the outcome I will work my best to do great things and to think different.

To kind of show some fun in what we were doing I came up with the idea of the following video, shot and edited it together. It is staring friend, James Rubec, as the hyper active northern delivery boy.

I ask that you share this post or the video around to help spread the word that KELLETT and myself are in relentless pursuit.

On my way to Jasper, Alberta

If you have been following me for over a year, you’d know that Jasper, Alberta is one of my favourite places. I love the Canadian Rockies, the animals and of course the tourism industry that comes along with it.

Last September I went through Jasper by my self on my mini get away. Then in December I was introduced to Jasper in the winter, which I must admit was pretty cool, although I’m not much for Skiing or Snowboarding.

Anyways, tomorrow I will be getting into Jasper once again and this time I am very excited because this trip was planned specifically for Jasper. I hope to do lots of hiking, biking, touring the town and heading up the tram for old times sake.

I’m not sure how much I will be able to blog about it while actually there, but check back and check photos.kylewith.com.

Jasper, Ab and stuff

Treeline Lodge the Lodge itself (Part 1)

This is another post on Treeline Lodge, the lodge I spent a few summers at as a teenager. You can read my introduction to the lodge here, but basically it is a Tourism/Outpost Camp 150 miles north of Yellowknife, NT in the Arctic Tundra.

I’m going to try to describe the actual lodge in this post. I attempted to get an image from Google Maps, but do to it location, in the middle of nowhere, the quality stinks. I’ll start with everything that was within the “bear fence”, which was basically an electric wired fence that was meant to slow a bear down enough it can be dealt with.

First was the kitchen building, which was a long rectangle building. One entrance at the front of the building and another at the back for the cook and staff. As you walked in there were 4 large picnic styled tables with benches around them for camp residents to eat meals. About mid way down the building you would approach a built-in serving countertop, where residents would get their meals. As you went into the kitchen you would find an industrial sized grill and oven – I mean some means eggs on that grill. On the other side was an industrial sized sink, with countertop scattered throughout. There was also a large island table in the middle of the kitchen. As you passed through the kitchen you would walk into the pantry, with a big built-in, walk-in fridge on you right and freezers on the left.

Running parallel off the right side of the kitchen building were two building for sleeping quarters. Each building had 12 rooms with two beds in each room and a hallway running down the middle. They were very basic rooms, each bed with closet and bedside table.

Attached to the lodging building closest to the bear fence was a hallway that lead to a few different places. The first was the fully functioning bathrooms and laundry room. Each bathroom (Men/Women) was fitted with actual toilets, sinks with running water and showers. If you made a left turn while going down the hallway you would pass a very small room which housed two very large water tanks. These tanks – which I had to fill from the lake on a daily basis – were for drinking and washing water. Water was pumped from a clean lake and then filtered to the max and then pumped into the hot water tank or throughout the buildings. Continuing down the hallway would get you to the final room. This room was the rec room. There was a small library, a few table games and SATELLITE TV. The TV was a big deal, guys would come in from the field and this is where they would ended up after supper. The other reason that made this room unique was it 25ft (I don’t actually know) ceiling. I never did know why it was so high. At one point I thought it was because someone might have wanted to build a second floor, but I never found out.

As I have become long winded about the Lodge, I’ll break this into two posts.

Treeline Lodge, NWT