North West Passage Campout

During the winter months when all is cold and dark in the Arctic,Inuit plan visits to neighbouring villages or Hamlets. One such visit was from Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay) to Coppermine. This visit would involve travelling over 200 miles by snow machine over mostly Arctic ice. This trip would have taken a week by dog team years before but now only two days by snowmobile.

This visit was by invitation and involved planning for our arrival to help celebrate a winter festival. Twelve groups were to travel in two convoys with the second convoy having support for any misfortune which might befall. Our group was made up of several families who travelled on the komitiks. These sleds were over twenty feet long and some had a small structure to protect the travellers. Since this was new to me I required assistance from a knowledgeable Inuit.

I rode alone and was expected to carry extra supplies for the group.A 45 gallon barrel of gas, ten gallons of white gas for the primer stoves and spare parts were given to me to manage along with my own supplies.A tent, cooking equipment, dried meat, tea and of course many muskoxen and caribou hides for my tent. Extra clothes in case of a fall through the ice packed in waterproof bags completed my stuff. I bought Wolf mitts and hat and they were invaluable to keep me warm in the 40 below weather.

This was to be a special adventure for me. Travelling at night at quite high speeds was a challenge for me but was routine for the Inuit. We left with a floury and crossed the NWP which was 60 miles wide at this point. As we approached the shoreline a quick camp was set up and tea boiled. Pilot biscuits and jam completed the 20 minute stopover and away we went. Pressure ridges, sometimes twenty feet high had to be crossed and all hands helped. Open leads , up to 8 feet wide were traversed and the Inuit had no difficulty but I was in need of help which was freely given.

Pernamiums ( open water) was a constant danger but the guides were aware of these and even in the dark we were safe at all times. There was no wind and the sky was so clear you could almost reach out and pick the stars. Northern Lights in colours of green, pink and silver crackled over our heads as we wandered along the shoreline for a few miles and then off over the ice again.

Four hours more and a sudden stop and a camp was set up. Water was boiled by the women and the men set up their tents and made the beds with caribou skins as a floor and sleeping bags of muskoxen and Hudson Bay blankets put in place.No tent pegs were required because a little water applied to the ropes immediately froze solid to keep the tent straight and firmly attached to the ice. More tea and in to bed. Forty below and snug as a bug in our tent we immediately slept. That was the others because I had to have one more look at the stars and the Northern Lights. To be continued.