I am an TOC for the district, but 2 schools have priority of me. Alvin A. McKay (AAMES) which is next door and Nathan Barton in Ginglox, which is 30 km away on the mouth of the Nass. Most of my call outs have been for Nathan Barton, so I have gotten to know the road and Ginglox very well. The name Gingolx refers to as the place of skulls. In the past, the Nisga's people here placed skulls of their enemies on the edges of the village to warn enemies to stay away. Today, Ginglox is home to 450 people, who spend most of their time on the water. It is the seafood capital of the Nass Valley and I have had my share of oolichan, canned salmon, and fresh dungeness crab. It is also home to Crabfest, a music festival in July. This year it is on Canada Day and I am excited. The highway to Ginglox is interesting. It's super hilly and twisty and has has a history of road closures. Most of the 30km stretch is no-stop areas with high avalanche and rock slide risks. The hills are super steep, in between 9 % to 16% grade. For a large part of the drive, there are cliffs on one side of the road going straight up and 5 feet off the other side of the road is the Nass. There is no room for error, swing off the road and you plunge into the frozen Nass. Did I mention that there is no cell phone reception in the Nass Valley and that most people carry VHF radios. I have yet to receive mine.... hopefully no car crashes in my future.
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