Manitoba Muck

Manitoba may have lots of fertile soil, but we also have lots of clay. It gets stuck on the bottoms of your shoes and you feel like you’re a foot taller.

I decided to head out late on November 12 (or early on November 13, I suppose) to check out some reported auroral activity. There was green in the sky but the really dramatic portion had passed.

Continuing west, I found a train leaving Elie, so I set up in Dacotah. I wanted to include the aurora, so I parked on Elevator Road, near where the Paterson grain elevator used to be.

I’ve shot at night in Dacotah before. This was a better angle, omitting the crossing lights and bright street lights.

Near Fortier, I spotted another train. Unfortunately there was a little traffic (a garbage truck at 1:30 AM?) and I “settled” for a distant shot.

It turned out better than I had hoped for.

I spotted another train following that one. I decided to try a different location, between Fortier and Oakville but a mile or so east of my usual location.

At this point I’ll draw your attention to the limited snow on the ground. We had some snow in the fall but it was unseasonably warm, and the roads were a little mucky.

I had been avoiding driving off the pavement or gravel roads, but I thought this particular location would be okay because there was a house between the gravel road and the railway crossing.

Well, the road was okay up to the house, and then… muck.

In my car’s headlights, I spotted puddles on the dirt road. At that point I was committed, so I gave the car a bit of gas and kept rolling forward. The wheels started spinning and my Civic’s traction control kicked in, the snow tires dug in and I kept forward progress toward the crossing.

My thinking at that time was that if I could get near the crossing, the ground rises, so it should be higher and drier.

The Civic and I managed to get onto the upslope, and I brought it to a halt with the front (drive) wheels on reasonably firm ground.

I felt sick. Getting stuck in the middle of nowhere near 2 AM was not what I wanted at all.

The approaching train was still a mile or two away. I figured I might as well get the shot, since I was there, so I grabbed my tripod and walked across the tracks to set up for a north-facing shot.

I was super pleased with that shot. Of course, my predicament was still weighing on my mind, but I tried to focus on the positive.

After the train went by, I surveyed the situation. There was no point in driving across the tracks, because there was nothing on the other side of the tracks but more mucky roads where I would be sure to get stuck somewhere.

I used my cell phone as a flashlight to check out the ground near my car. I thought that if I could get turned around, I could make a run back the way I came and I should be able to get out.

After about a 19-point turn, I had the car pointed the right way.

I took a deep breath, put it in drive, and gave it the gas.

We splashed and skidded, wheels spinning, fighting our way through the muck, and emerged on the other side, safe and sound.

The Manitoba muck didn’t get me this time.

I filed that away under “lessons learned” and headed up toward Marquette and Canadian Pacific territory.

Approaching Marquette, I saw a westbound train rolling through the town, but I was a few minutes late to the party. I carried on east toward Winnipeg and stopped for a little auroral selfie.

I didn’t see any more trains, but I was very happy with the photos I made, and relieved that I didn’t get stranded.

I’ll close with one more shot, featuring the hero of the night, my trusty Honda Civic.