Hello. David here. The whiteout blizzard we experienced yesterday curtailed our progress a little bit. Never a good idea to try and navigate in an Arctic blizzard, so we put the tent up (without incident) and hunkered down a couple hours earlier than what would be normal.  The wind was still blowing this morning. Heading […]

David Reid, and the ritual of boiling snow to water on the expedition. Photo: Garry Tutte/Arctic Return Good evening. It’s Richard here, (and David of course), checking in on Sunday, the 21st of April, Easter Sunday. The stove is on (mainly for the heat). David, is already in his sleeping bag…wasting little time in doing so, […]

In one long day, we have concluded Simpson Lake: an historically significant body of water lying roughly East to West this region of the Arctic; a lake that  is mentioned numerous times in the journals that recorded Rae’s travels. A good day for Arctic Return. It’s been very cold. Richard’s thermometer isn’t even registering. Best […]

We woke up today, to biting winds and -30C temperatures. No surprise, the extreme cold was expected; as was the headwind we skied into all day long. A little bit of ‘frost-nip’ to contend with as a result, but that’s ok.  I’m delighted to say that we are now on Simpson Lake. A big lake, […]

Under blue skies, we continue to head West, hoping tomorrow to reach Simpson Lake. Tonight we are catching some much needed rest, camped approximately 10 kilometres East of the lake. With Frank now also having left the expedition team, it is fair to say that there is a new and different vibe to our journey, […]

A few things to Report. In the overall, all is well. Yesterday, (Tuesday) for medical reasons, Frank (he is ok) had to leave the expedition. We organized a plausible rendezvous point and a pick-up with two hunters from the area. We had actually split earlier in the day, knowing that it was necessary for Richard […]

Good evening.  With your kind permission I would like to turn the clock back in time for a wee moment, to share this passage from author, Ken McGoogan’s, Fatal Passage (2001). “ …By April 10, when the party reached the point on the coast of Committee Bay from which the explorer intended to travel due […]

_____ HELLO ORKNEY!  You have such a big part to play in this expedition. To the man, we could not be happier, more honoured or proud, to have this opportunity to shed light on a great Orcadian. …So, were we to have even an imaginary glass with some Highland Park whiskey in it, we now do […]

We woke last night to a bitter, bitter cold — the windchill, a degree or two shy of -40C, best guess. So, it was a little chilly you might say, when we all woke up this morning, still nicely cocooned in our sleeping bags. I don’t think any one of us wanted to get up […]

Richard from Camp 15, located: 68º 11’ 12” N, 89º 30’ 44” W I am pleased to relate that we woke to sunny blue skies this morning, which was very nice indeed.  Especially so, after all the flat light we’ve been having. ‘Three days in a ping-pong ball’, according to David. The early morning wake-up […]