SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A glimpse of the Robertson Headframe once inspired city councillor Julian Morse and some of his kayaker buddies to paddle dozens of kilometres back to Yellowknife instead of making camp.

Morse said about eight years ago, he and a group of friends were out on the North Arm of Great Slave Lake, on a return leg to the city. Morse said the group was about to set camp when they saw the headframe peaking over the horizon and decided they were within striking distance of home.

"Seeing the shaft kind of reinvigorated us and we decided (to paddle) the whole way home in one day," he said. "If the shaft hadn't been there, we wouldn't have had any idea how close we were to town. We probably would have just camped."

Morse said most people heading out on the lake take a GPS system with them, so the headframe is not as important as a navigational aid today as it was in the past. He said he thinks the city's tourism interests missed an opportunity to make something out of the aging structure which is slated for deconstruction

in the coming weeks.

"It would have been cool to get (tourists) up there," he said.

Morse, who moved to the city at a young age, said the headframe has been a part of his routine for a long time. He said he often goes cross-country skiing on the trail near Rasmussen Road, which cuts off into the bush about 200 metres from the foot of the structure. Morse said the red-capped rectangle has always been within sight on those trips, so it may take time to get used to its absence.

"It's really sad," he said. "I'd like to have seen it saved in some way. But it was a decision of the previous council so I can't really speak to it from the perspective of a councillor. It sounds like (the last council) looked into it pretty in depth, and without a private interest stepping forward it just wasn't a liability the city was able to take on."

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