MUSK OX HERD

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Musk Ox Herd

by John Huston

Today was just a super awesome ski day.

On top of that, we ran into a musk ox herd and were escorted into camp by two wolves that were a few hundred yards away from us as we skied into our campsite location. One the goals of the trip is to be able to photograph and take video of the wildlife of Ellesmere Island and we were able to get some awesome close-ups of this really cool musk ox herd of about 12 animals this afternoon. We skied down a river valley and we spotted them up on a hill and Hugh and Kyle skied up there with their cameras and they got some really cool shots. So you’ll see one of those photos in the blog today. The wolves, we didn’t get a photo of them; they were too far away. Today there’s a chance we’ll see them later; they’ve been shadowing us the past few hours here and we’ll see if they get curious and come into camp.

The last two days have been just truly incredible ski conditions with even better vistas and topography then we’ve been passing through. There’s shear cliff walls, all sorts of different angles and changing light have made it just some of the best ski days I’ve had a long time. Our appetites are kicking into gear here. Toby finished his full dinner ration for the first time tonight. So, we’d like to congratulate him on that. And Kyle is not there yet, but Hugh and I have been full bore on all meals from the get-go. So the North American stomach seems to be a bit better on the expedition than the European one so far. We can’t say enough about our dogs; they are having so much fun out here, and they seem just to get stronger every single day. And our mileage has been outstanding, in part because of our dogs, our relatively light sled loads that we have right now, and the ski conditions which, I mean coming into camp this evening was just like, whoa. It was such good conditions we could have skied forever.

Weather’s been really warm. Sometimes we’re just super sweaty; other times are just perfect. It’s not uncommon for Toby, or some of the other guys to be skiing in only a long underwear top; it’s that warm in the sun when there’s no wind. OK, that’s the end of the blog. Thanks for listening everybody.

Daily Expedition Data
Date 4/9/13, Day 10
Location:N77’29”, W85’43”
Traveled: 10.25 nm
Temperatures: -10 °F am, 0°F pm

BEAR, HARE, AND HEAT

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Hugh and Axel

by John Huston

Yesterday morning we saw our first polar bear. Forty minutes into the first march, Toby spotted it about 400 yards to the north.

The landscape, almost all white, the bear appeared to be lightly cream-color. It ambled around for about 10 minutes on the horizon and never came closer than about 200 yards away. Once it caught our scents, it scurried off to the north. Our dogs never even noticed it. But it was fun to see; hopefully we get to see some more bears. We’d like to see them close up for photo and video, but we like to keep our distance for safety, so that’s our first priority.

The day before that, we took a rest day to give the dogs a break. Toby and Hugh went for a short ski and found an Arctic hare den. Three of the big white rabbits were just hanging out and Toby and Hugh sat there awhile and those hares came within a few feet of them, so that’s pretty cool. We’ll have a lot more contact like that down the road, we assume. This afternoon we saw some fairly fresh musk ox tracks as well, but no musk ox yet.

Temperatures are well above normal for this time of year, so our ski days have been very sweaty. We love the warmth, but all the sweat can make us cold very quickly once we stop skiing or if the wind picks up. For the past two days we’ve been traveling on sea ice. Tomorrow morning we head overland across the Bjorne Peninsula, which was originally mapped by Otto Sverdrup.

Everybody’s happy, healthy, and our routines keep getting better. Our travel pace has been awesome, so we’re excited about that. And our dogs continue to impress us more and more every day. So they’re getting into shape and they’re a huge benefit to have out here for propulsion and for morale and for camaraderie and that sort of thing. It’s really fun to have dogs along. OK, thanks for listening everybody. Talk to you next time.

Daily Expedition Data
Date: 4/6/13, Day 7
Location:N77'21", W86'51"
Traveled: 0 Hours, 0 Miles
Temperatures: -12°F am, -8°F pm

THE ICE SHELVES OF ELLESMERE ISLAND

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Ice Shelf Iceberg

by Tobias Thorleifsson

Northern Ellesmere’s Ward Hunt Ice Shelf was once one of the largest ice shelves in the Arctic. An ice shelf is a glacier that extends out over the ocean floating on the surface of the water.

American Explorer Robert Perry first recorded observations of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf in the early 1900’s. At that time it is likely that a continuous ice shelf washed from Ward Hunt southwest all the way to the northern tip of Axel Heiberg Island. Over the last 50 to 60 years, but in particular in the last 10 to 15 years, the massive ice shelves of Northern Ellesmere have broken off. Sometimes these break-offs have created large ice islands that have functioned as research bases on the polar oceans.

In 2002, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf broke apart, and in 2005, the same happened to the Ayles Ice Shelf. Pieces of what was once the Ayles Ice Shelf are now floating down the coast of Ellesmere Island. Maybe it was a piece of the Ayles Ice Shelf that we encountered on the Regent Bay yesterday. The piece was about 200 square meters and was stranded in the coast not far from Norstrand. It was a beautiful sight; however, it was also a reminder, of a very visible impact that climate change has on the cryosphere in the Arctic today.

Daily Expedition Data
Date: 4/4/13, Day 5
Location: N77'06", W88'24"
Traveled: 0 Hours, 0 Miles
Temperatures: -8°F am, -8°F pm

SETTLING IN

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Hugh's New Beard

by John Huston

So far, so good. We are traveling well. Our pace is very good. Our tent routines are forming up. We love our food. Team dynamic is excellent.

Our dogs are happy, friendly and eager, and ski conditions have been awesome. We’re taking it easy schedule-wise and will continue to do so for at least another few days. We basically see these first two weeks as a training period. This allows us to be patient and safe, and work out all the little details that once in place make the foundation for us to travel longer hours. Plus our bodies can go out and fully get into the groove.

No animal sightings yet, but several signs, Arctic fox tracks, lemming tracks, Arctic hare scat and tracks, musk ox tracks, old polar bear tracks, and keenly sighted by Toby, two musk oxen that upon closer inspection turned out to be rocks. We are happy; we’re ready for a big sleep. Today’s afternoon sun drained us pretty good. This place is super beautiful and it feels just awesome to be out.

OK, thanks for listening. Until next time.

Daily Expedition Data
Date: 4/2/13, Day 3
Location: N76'58" W88'58"
Traveled: 6.25 hours, 7.9 miles
Temperature: -20°Fam, -18°Fpm

ELLESMERE EASTER

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Small tent, big fjord.

by John Huston

The New Land 2013 Expedition is under way. At 12:15 p.m. today our chartered De Havilland twin otter deposited us at the northern end of Goose Fjord.

This gorgeous cliff-lined fjord was home to Otto Sverdrup and the Fram from the fall of 1900 until August of 1902.

It is really cool to look across the ice and imagine the scene 112 years ago. Sverdrup and his team made a lot of navigational and topographical rock cairns here. We may have found one or two this afternoon when we walked the eastern slope above our camp.

Goose Fjord is lined with 1200-foot cliffs and is about 1 ¼ miles wide where we are camped. Right now the wind is humming through from the north at 15-20 knots. That wind made the expedition start a bit chilly, but now we are all warm and happy in the tent with our bellies full of buttery noodle and meat soup.

It’s a huge relief to have the seemingly endless preparation phase over with. We are pumped up to start skiing tomorrow and it appears that our dogs are even more so.

OK, thanks for listening everybody. It feels fantastic to be underway. Over and out.

HURRY UP AND WAIT

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Hugh & Toby, Looking for Otto

by Kyle O’Donoghue

There is something surreal about taking your last shower for 72 days, so this morning I stayed in longer than usual thinking about what lay ahead.

Today was our day to fly to Goose Fjord – the deep picturesque fjord where Otto Sverrup’s ship, Fram, was frozen in the ice for two years. Last night we were up late packing our sleds and sending our final emails. I checked and double-checked the filming equipment to make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything. It would be horrible to watch the Twin Otter airplane take off and leave us on the ice and then realize that I’ve forgotten the camera memory cards.

After almost two weeks of preparations, packing food, gear modifications, and working with our dogs we were ready to go. However, as I’m learning, the north has on its own time. Poor weather and some flight delays on other flights pushed our flight to Sunday.

The team is using the time to look at maps of the early part of our trip and read Sverdrup’s diaries. One place in particular, called Trold Fjord, sounds spectacular. Sverdrup described the northern exit to Trold Fjord in 1901 as “…a horrible hole we had gotten into with high threatening walls of rock on both sides.” Adventure awaits us, but for now we have to wait for the Arctic to allow our adventure to begin.

We are scheduled to depart tomorrow morning…if the weather cooperates.

ANGUTIKUTAT NUNAVUTMI

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Hugh’s New Hairdo

by Hugh Dale-Harris

Angutikutat Nunavutmi is what we are – Tall men in Nunavut. Angutikutat who are so very thankful to be here in this amazing territory just days before it’s 14th anniversary on April 1st.

So few people in Canada get to spend time traveling here or better yet living here, and yet it is such an important part of our country. For many outsiders it’s the frontier, the edge, the boundary into extreme wilderness and some of the world’s coldest and harshest environments.

It’s also home to 24-hour sunlight, sastrugi, flexible sea ice, amazing unique wildlife such as muskox and polar bears, and jaw-dropping scenery. All of which we’ll experience in one way or another on our 72-day expedition.

However, for people who live here, these things are a part of every day life. I used to live in Nunavut and I miss those things. I also miss the incredible generosity and support people give each other, which is just a part of everyday life. I was reminded of that during this past week or two of preparations since leaving Ottawa. All four of us feel humbled by the support and hospitality we’ve gotten in Iqaluit and Resolute.

People from these communities have had us over for incredible meals of country foods like caribou and arctic char, helped us source hard to find expedition items, modified some of our clothing, made us fur ruffs, told us hilarious stories, helped us with our dogs, and even provided barber services.

As Angutikutat moving forward on this expedition, without a doubt, a big part of the people of Nunavut will be with us on this amazing adventure. Quanamiq (Thank you).