Topography changing

Wednesday observations: Today we set out in a Northwest direction in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut. We’re back on skis and everything is going well. The further North we head, the topography changes enormously. It seems to be growing, undulating, not unlike a Baffin Island landscape; a lot of lakes, a lot of rolling hills, ever rising and falling.

Over the course of the day it was nice to stop for 10 -15 minutes, or thereabouts,  to take a break, especially after a lengthy stretch of skiing to fully appreciate where we are and of course, dip into our grab-bag treats. (Most enthusiastically by Richard!).

Again, we’re incredibly thankful to Canada Goose, for our Skreslet parkas. While skiing in normal conditions we tend to wear 2-3 thin layers, but once we stop it becomes important to keep precious body heat in against the -20 temps and wind. The first thing we do is reach into our sleds and pull out our Skreslet parkas. What a great piece of gear! We’d be in rough shape without them.

All the gear is holding up well so far, although crossing overland from one lake to another today, Richard broke a ski-pole. Fortunately, on expeditions like this we always have a back-up. Our Hilleberg GT4 tent is working well too.

Looking forward to heading North to Committee Bay over the next two days, where we anticipate either seeing, or encountering, polar bears. Another 21-22 kilometres down, nothing out of the ordinary. save for one broken ski-pole …which was unfortunate,

but otherwise, hey… a great, great day! [Richard, Frank and David]

 Last year, (September, 2018) the RICS, (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors), celebrated their 150th year, in part, by posthumously welcoming, Dr. John Rae, into their prestigious worldwide organization, as an Honorary Charter Surveyor, in recognition of his many achievements in Arctic exploration.

Following in Dr. John Rae’s footsteps over this frozen, formidable landscape, as we are, the team today wishes to acknowledge the significant contribution RICS has made to our endeavour. The entire Arctic Return team is incredibly grateful for their major support. A big, big shout-out and enormous thank you, RICS!  [See] https://www.rics.org/north-america/news-insight/latest-news/rics-150th-anniversary/pride-in-the-profession/dr-john-rae-honorary-chartered-surveyor/