Blogs from Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada, North America

Somewhere during my adventures I found a journey - a journey of falling in love with the polar regions, the barrenlands and the inhabitants.” Anon. The Frozen Maze The Arctic Waterways are truly spectacular from the air! Bathurst Inlet and the Kent Peninsula, Coronation Gulf and the massive Victoria Island… Peninsulas and bays, islands and frozen channels scatter in the dazzling void. There is a wilderness in the northern parts, but beyond the wilderness is an emptiness, then beyond that, is a stark bleakness and silence.. The Frozen Community Three kids (Jenny, Neil and Inooki) accompanied us on our stroll through the Northern community of Resolute. The community doesn’t get too many visitors (maybe one hundred or so per year) so it was evident that the kids wanted to engage with us. We chatted as we ... read more

Most consequential choices involve shades of grey, and some fog is often useful in getting things done. Timothy Geithner It has been an unusually damp and foggy summer up here at latitude 74, but that has not hindered our ability to find adventures… Google in the Gloom I have become very fond of Google Canyon, a very narrow and fairly small canyon on a nondescript region of plateau not too far from camp. I go there occasionally, when I have some time in the evenings. Even if it’s gloomy, it’s still a very nice place… It was one degree Celsius, foggy and drizzling when I left camp for a hike. At first I decided I’d stay in camp, but I knew deep down that I had to go. I left alone, nobody else wanted to accompany ... read more

There are two kinds of Arctic problems, the imaginary and the real. Of the two, the imaginary are the most real. Vilhjalmur Stefansson. I have become quite familiar with Yellowknife airport. It is a small, single terminal, three-gate affair, with a nice coffee bar called Javarama. I also know Pete, the guy at the desk. And Sarah, and Kevin. Much of our five days in Yellowknife were consumed by dealing with flight cancellations and delays, switching airlines and re-handling our massive amounts of freight. I have even started calling the airport by its international three-letter code now ‘YZF’. It’s just what happens I guess? However, as the expression alludes to, ‘good things come to those who wait’. The eight of us eventually boarded a Buffalo Airways,1938, Douglas DC-3. This vintage aircraft took us into Canada’s high ... read more

Beechey Island is the site of several significant events in the history of Canada's Arctic exploration. In 1845, the British explorer Sir John Franklin commanded another search for the fabled Northwest Passage with his two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Franklin and his crew were never to be seen again - even today, the true fate of the expedition and the 129 men remains somewhat mysterious. Franklin chose Beechey Island as a wintering site due to the sheltered bays that would help prevent the ships from being crushed by the winter sea-ice. The high sea-cliffs made the island very distinct in the surrounding shores and would be easily recognized by other ships. A few years after the disappearance of Franklin's ships, several search parties were sent to look for clues - ... read more

The Girl Who Eats Hearts… We flew for 40 minutes to a small gravel beach near the mouth of the Union River that spills into an unnamed inlet of Cresswell Bay at the southern end of the upper part of Somerset Island. A few small and somewhat abandoned cabins were scattered along the otherwise untouched shore, and sea-ice reached to the horizon. Aleeshek is an Inuit lady who married Ozzie (the Arctic Guru from Resolute), she came along to fish with us at this ultra-remote location. Aleeshek was born here in the fifties and grew up on the land hunting and gathering in what must have been amongst the harshest and inhospitable areas to live in. In her early childhood, the Canadian government of the time forced thousands of people into prefabricated communities in strategic geographic ... read more