All posts by Tom Koelbel

Warm, welcoming, wonderful people!

L-R: RCMP officer, Josh Dubois, with wife Natalie (far right), son Aiden and daughter Sarah (front). ©Arctic Return Hello, Richard and David checking in again from Gjoa Haven. What a great start to the day! We were delighted to be invited for breakfast to the home of the local RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) officer, Josh […]

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A good day and great evening in Gjoa Haven

AR flag presentation at Gjoa Haven Community Hall. ©Arctic Return   Today was a full day. So much happened, I am not exactly sure where to begin. A good place to start, I suppose, is that we checked out of Jacob’s comfy fishing shack accommodation on the sea-ice after a good night’s sleep, to check […]

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A wonderful day…start to finish

L-R: Marvin, David, Jacob, Richard and Sam and children enjoying a very social evening. ©Arctic Return   David and Richard calling in.  Thought we should catch up on our very eventful days. It’s hard sometimes to keep track of which day, or what has happened (and when?) after such a long journey, but we think […]

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It was fitting that we should stay here

Hello,  David and Richard here. It’s Monday afternoon. We are still at Point de la Guiche. Thinking on it, it just seemed natural and appropriate, having come all this way to honour Rae, we should stay for a bit, in awe and appreciation for where we now are. So we made the decision to camp […]

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Point de la Guiche

Richard and David here. We are delighted to announce that at 2:30 this afternoon, the Arctic Return Expedition is finally at Point de la Guiche, after a month’s travel.  Upon arriving at Point de la Guiche we found the plaque that was presented and placed here 20 years ago in 1999, by Louie Kamookak, Cameron […]

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Out here, in the… ‘deep wild’

Hi,  David and Richard A stiff wind today, and yes, it continues to be very cold. Richard’s thermometer, limited to indicating temperatures down to -30C, wasn’t even registering today. So again, we had to keep moving.  Describing the topography of the land as… a land so starkly flat and featureless…it remains nothing short of remarkable, […]

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There’s nothing for it…we keep going

Thursday, April 25th. Another bitterly, bitterly cold day today, with a slight wind out of the North!  It’s been a few days now that I’ve had to ski with my down jacket on, on top of all the other layers. I still didn’t feel properly warm. Neither did Richard. One of his feet was particularly […]

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Ready to push on…it’s cold!

Hi, Richard and David, calling in from Camp 26 – situated: 68º 49’ 3” N, 93º 30’ 7” W. It is Wednesday evening—we think; just after 9 o’clock. A really cold day today. A day of very little wildlife. Only a couple of ravens. That was it. Barrenness aside, what really continues to strike us, […]

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John Rae’s achievements really hit home

Good evening. Richard and David reporting in, Tuesday night, the 23rd of April. With yesterday’s breathtaking scenery still very much fixed in our minds, we woke this morning to a thick, lingering fog — a whiteout. We quickly came to the realization that it would be another challenging day’s journey westward across the Boothia Peninsula.  […]

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