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Published: September 15th 2012
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Disclaimer: This is not really a blog, but rather some practical advice to the hikers heading to the park. When I was preparing for the trip, I found that there was only a very limited information on the web.
There are about 400 hikers and mountain climbers visiting Auyuittuq National Park each year. Although the park covers a huge territory, there is a single established trail - Akshayuk Pass trail. The trail is North to South, going up the Owl river valley, and then down the Weasel river valley. The two valleys are separated by a low Akshayuk pass (elevation 400 meters).
The Northern end is accessible by boat (in summer) or snowmobile (rest of the year) from Qikiqtarjuak (population 700), while the Southern end can be reached in the same way from Pangnirtung (population 1500). Most hikers in fact do only the southern portion of the trail, returning back to Pangnirtung. We (3 guys) did the whole trail though.
The main challenge of this hike is not the distance (total length is 100km), nor the elevation (virtually none). The technical difficulty is in crossing the rivers, and being prepared for unpredictable weather. Although generally the climate is
Iceberg
On the boat ride from Qikiqtarjuak into the park. The water is amazingly clear and pretty much the same colour as in Adriatic - a bit colder though.. dry, it is the Arctic, and a significant snowfall may happen any day of the year. We were lucky with the weather - it was unusually hot (up to 20C), sunny, and it rained only once at night. A couple of days were foggy though. In a way, good weather made our life more difficult: the glaciers surrounding the valleys were melting fast, so the rivers were very strong.
A note on river crossings. The most important thing on this hike is to have a cool head and to know when NOT to cross a river. Going into a river that is too deep will have disastrous consequences - at best one can lose a backpack. Keep in mind that the water is flowing right from a glacier, so it is 0 degrees Celsius. The first time we walked into a river it felt like an electric shock, but later we got used to it. Nonetheless I can't imagine that one could swim well in that water. Crossing a river is possible when it is at most thigh deep; waist deep would be already too much - since it is not just the depth and the temperature - these
River crossing
This is an easy river. There were a few of challenging rivers when you do not think of taking pictures. rivers rush really fast.
Because of the warm weather, even the rivers considered minor were not crossable in the afternoon. Fortunately, the water levels dropped dramatically at night. Although it was never dark in July, the sun still does goes down and hides behind the mountains at "night", and the glacial melting slows down. The difference in water levels is incredible. The best time to cross rivers is at 2-4am. For this reason we have adjusted our daily schedule to get up at 1am. We were then hitting the trail at 2:30am and had a good half a day with favourable water levels.
Once we were reaching one of the major rivers, we would be forced to camp, so that it can be crossed early next morning. It is important to be patient.
No complaints about sunny weather, of course. It would be much worse to have days of rain. In that case rivers are overwhelmed day and night, and the only solution is to camp. For the case of extreme weather and other emergencies, the park has about 8 small shelters along the way (to be used in emergency only). These shelters are equipped with radio
Mount Asgaard
Mount Asgaard is notoriously elusive - most of the time it is hiding in the clouds. We saw it from a distance, but when we were close, could not see it at all. transmitters, but those were out of order in some shelter.
Notes on equipment:
- 2 hiking poles (you would need them for river crossing, and they are very handy in the Owl river valley, where there are large patches of wet grassland)
- satellite phone (keep its batteries warm)
- light water sports shoes, for river crossing (bought mine for $10, did a good job)
- stove ("white gas" based recommended, as this type of fuel is more readily available in the Northern communities. The recommended amount of gas you need: 100 grams per person per day. We used about 70 grams, but having extra gas does not hurt.
- map (there is an excellent map of the trail made by Chrismar)
This year the Park started issuing kits with "bear banger" guns - they shoot not bullets, but a noise-making projectile. We did not see any polar bears, but they are more common at the northern end of the trail near the fjord shore.
Some people send items like fuel well in advance using special "dangerous goods" flights. We did not see the need for that. Of course one should not
Coronation Glacier
This photo was taken from the airplane on our flight to Qikiqtarjuak be taking fuel on board, but these things are available locally - check with the local outfitters, to be certain. By the way, for the flights going north from Iqaluit (Nunavut's capital), there is no security checks - just walk on board. These flights are quite funny, actually. We took seats according to our boarding passes, and then the flight attendant looked at us and said: "You got this is all wrong - you should all go down and sit at the back of the plane, to give the pilot a better balance during take-off and landing". During the flight we could move and take pictures from the windows - the landscape below was amazing!
There is good general information on the webpage of the National Park, including contact information for the outfitters who can take you by boat to the park. In Qikiqtarjuak we highly recommend Billy Arnaquq ("Nunavut Experience Outfitting"), and in Pangnirtung: Peter Kilabuk ("Peter’s Expediting and Outfitting").
Being a Canadian, one gets questions from people living in warmer countries: how do we survive snow? Well, I asked an Inuit a similar question - what do they do in winter, when it is cold and
dark? The answer made me feel as an ignorant southerner: "Winter, summer - what's the difference.."
I wish to go back one day and get to know Inuit culture better. What impressed me is the way they take care of the language (keep in mind that there are only about 40,000 Inuit in Canada). There is a committee that finds a translation for every single "modern" word into Inuktitut. For example, in all languages I know, Internet is just Internet, more or less. In Inuktitut, there is a special word for Internet, which literally means "Brain Storage". Cool, isn't it?
You will probably spend a day or two in Iqaluit. There an obvious choice for coffee is Tim Horton's, but I would recommend for breakfast a small diner "Brew N Stew" - the place definitely has a character (and inexpensive on the local scale of food prices). This place is further down the street from Tim Horton's, across from the fishermen's warf.
On the way to/from the park, you will be visiting Inuit communities. Plan to buy a stone carving or a print - this is an exquisite art and extra cash you spend helps the community.
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