Kathy Fox	Wildlife encounters

I have always been fascinated by the North. After last summer’s kayaking trip in Greenland, I wondered “What can I do next?”  

How about a hiking trip to Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve, about 500 nm from the North Pole?

An agreement between the federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories setting out the terms and conditions for establishing Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve was signed in 1986 on a snowy September day on the shores of Tanquary Fjord.

Under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, signed in 1993, government and Inuit are (still) negotiating an Inuit Impact and Benefits Agreement to formally establish northern Ellesmere Island as a national park of Canada.[1]

The Route

Black Feather (the same tour group I travelled with last summer in Greenland) offered a two week hiking trip from Lake Hazen, the largest fresh water lake north of the Arctic Circle to Tanquary Fjord, a distance of about 110 km.

The route would take us along the shores of Lake Hazen past the Henrietta Nesmith Glacier, then up the Very River to Lewis Lake,  passing just south of the Lupus Glacier to join the Macdonald River for the remaining hike to Tanquary Fjord.

Having never undertaken an extended backpacking trip before, I started training a couple of months ahead of time by hiking local trails in the Gatineau Park wearing a backpack and gradually adding weight until I was confident I could walk 15 km with 35 pounds.

While this definitely helped, hiking on Ellesmere Island where there are no defined trails and the terrain is much more difficult, requiring frequent stream crossings while carrying a heavier pack was far more challenging than I ever imagined.

The Group

The trip commenced Saturday July 2^nd when I flew from Ottawa to Resolute Bay, via Iqaluit on First Air. I met the six other “guests” (all male) and our two terrific guides Tim and Sarah for the first time on the flight.

This eclectic group consisted of three Americans (including a father/son combo) and four Canadians (three from the Ottawa/Gatineau area, and one from Ingersoll near London, Ontario) : an actuary, an accountant, an engineer, a family physician, a marketing manager, a retired fighter pilot turned college professor and me. All of the others had significantly more backpacking experience than me and I was feeling somewhat apprehensive.

On arrival in Resolute, we sorted through our equipment (what to take, what would stay behind) on the floor of the terminal building. Then we loaded up the Kenn Borek Twin Otter for our 4 hour charter flight north to Lake Hazen, stopping in Eureka (for fuel), our final destination Tanquary (for the mandatory Park orientation by the Parks Canada Warden) and then on to Lake Hazen, our trip starting point.

We were blessed with good weather virtually all the way there allowing us to see from the air some of the most stunning scenery (snow capped mountains and glaciers) I have ever been blessed to see.

It was ironic that it took 25 minutes to fly from Tanquary to Lake Hazen over much the same route that it would take us two weeks to hike back!

The landing in Lake Hazen on a short, soft turf strip, some 13 hours after leaving Ottawa was exciting to say the least. I know something about spot landings, and I have the utmost respect for the skills of these Arctic pilots and the capabilities of their Twin Otter with the big tundra tires!!

By the time we unloaded the airplane, set up our tents and cooked dinner, it was well past midnight and we were exhausted. The temperature was warm, the bugs were out in force and the sun was still high in the sky as it rotated around our heads.

Over the next two weeks, we hiked on average about 12-15km per day, sometimes more, with one and a half « rest » days, where we did day hikes without a backpack. This was in addition to end of day hikes around the campsite area.

The Terrain

The terrain varied significantly, even within the space of a kilometre - from gravel riverbeds, to soft spongy hummocks, where you stepped from one to the other using hiking poles for balance and support, to wet marshy ground, to baked clay so heavily cracked  it looked like a chess board, to walking over large rocks and boulders.

One day, to avoid a strenuous climb up over a hill, we had to creep along a slippery slope of slate, small rocks and sand.  Another day, we climbed up a 150-metre steep slope of the same scree.  In both cases, a misstep could have led to a dangerous slide down into a fast-moving river below.

We completed over a dozen stream crossings, the longest being the 3 km trek across the outwash of the Henrietta Nesmith glacier.

The deeper streams went up to mid-thigh and the strength of the current forced us to cross in groups of three – arms linked, gripping our poles and side-stepping across the stream while facing upstream, back pack straps unhooked in case of a fall…which fortunately didn’t occur to any of us.

The water was very cold, and the act of having to change into and out of our wet footgear and clothes slowed down the whole process.

The weather was generally superb for the most part – warm and dry enough to hike in shorts and T-shirts though I preferred long sleeves and pants because of the multitude of hungry mosquitos – the worst I have ever seen. Weather could change suddenly though and we always had warm clothes close at hand when the wind came up or the sun disappeared behind a cloud.

Arctic Desert

Ellesmere is very dry with an average annual precipitation of only 6 cm.  Although we did get some rain on the trip, the evidence of rain quickly disappeared. It was amazing to see a very rocky area, punctuated by small areas of colourful and hardy orange, purple, red, white and yellow Arctic flowers.

Highlights

The trip offered many highlights :

·   huge vistas made possible by “you can see forever” visibility that teased you into thinking that next point of land was just a short distance away when in fact it was many miles distant;

·   abundant wildlife encounters including wolves, muskox, hares and many birds;

·    fresh water streams you could drink from without filtration, although I did exclaim one day “There’s a fish (fairy shrimp) in my water bottle!” which I never could bring myself to drink though I was told it was harmless;

·   24 hours of daylight;

·   the complete absence of any other campers or signs of campers (with the exception of some Park staff who hiked the other way to open up a base camp for some researchers at Lake Hazen). We did  however see ancient Thule tent sites, surrounded by circles of rocks;

·   camping beside a glacier and watching the shadows play across it as the sun changed positions overhead.

 Wildlife Encounters

My most memorable experience came on Day 7 when two wolves walked through our camp just as we were packing up after breakfast. I had gone off on my own and only observed the wolves as I was walking back and still about 150 metres from the group.

So as not to startle the wolves, I stood stalk still and waited. After the male and female pair trotted past the rest of the group, they continued in my direction. Only then did the other members of the group become aware of my position.

 Armed only with toilet paper and a lighter (alas…no camera), I tried to look as nonchalant and non-threatening as the wolves approached within about 10m. I saw only curiosity in their eyes, and no sign of menace, though I was wary when the male wolf circled behind me while his mate was in front, fearing I might be stalked.

 I rotated my head to keep both in view and after a short stand-off they continued on their way. Fortunately, others snapped photos so I will have a permanent memento of this encounter with arctic wolves.

 On another occasion, we encountered a muskox while hiking along a dry river bed. These majestic animals weigh on average about 340 kg., yet can run incredibly fast, even uphill and may charge if provoked.

 In earlier encounters, we had seen muskox express their displeasure at our presence by pawing the ground, shaking their heads and snorting. On this occasion, in addition to these signs, the muskox closed the distance to within 150 metres of our group’s position.

 Our guide Tim had us stand close together, ready to drop packs in a circle and hit the deck behind them if the animal charged. He was finally dissuaded when Tim fired off a “bear banger”, a flare with a firecracker , and after a pause to consider, ran off away from our group.

There were low points too. I don’t have the best feet and knees for this type of travel, and I remember lying in my tent after one day’s particularly long hike “aching from my teeth to my toes”.

During the first week, I developed blisters which made each step painful. However, I reflected on the accomplishments of NAV CANADA employees like Kelly Smith and his comments on attitude and motivation.

And I was particularly inspired by a quote from Lance Armstrong, in an article I read on the flight north just prior to the commencement of the Tour de France, where he said he often reminds himself that “Pain is only temporary but quitting lasts forever”.

I will always remember the feeling of accomplishment I had as we crested a hill, above and about one mile back from the Park Warden’s station at our final destination, Tanquary Fjord.

We all cheered as my GPS counted off the final distance and beeped when we arrived at the point I had previously set two weeks earlier.

While I am sure I will undertake other adventure trips in the future, it will be hard to beat the haunting beauty and remoteness of Ellesmere Island, and the challenges of hiking “on top of the world”.