Blogs from Nunavut, Canada, North America

It was whirlwind. What just happened? I don't fully understand how my two months in the Canadian Central Arctic vanished so quickly. How does time do that? Is time less relevant at these latitudes? Does a captivating scene speed up time? Does the solitude of silence and emptiness accelerate time? Nunavutmut tunngasugitsi - Welcome to Nunavut. The season was really vivid - the colours, the people, the exploration! Perhaps the weather had something to do with the time passing so swiftly and silently? The region was blessed with an incredibly warm, sunny and almost windless two months - many temperatures soaring into the high teens, day after day. Dry ground and low water levels meant that we were almost unlimited as to what we could do. I hiked ridges and canyons, mountains and plateaus. I ran ... read more

“Across the fjord the conical mountains to the south displayed the most wonderful tints. One hill was of a dark red colour, so that, although the sky was actually clouded, it seemed as though here a flood of sunlight lingered. Nearby was a second hill which, at a distance, seemed of pale green. On the surface of the fjord there floated an iceberg, a fitting foreground to the inscrutable and snow-flecked mountains. - Seton Gordon, Amid Snowy Waters To be at sea again. To feel that cold, salty spray! We sailed through the steep sloped Sondrestrom Fjord and headed to a wild spot called Kangerlussuatsiaq, and then to the Greenlandic capital of Nuuk. These first couple of days were just a tease as the rest of the voyage had us in Canada's Arctic. The wilderness on ... read more

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