Kuujjua 2012

KUUJJUA, Victoria Island, Northwest Passage, NWT

July 13 - August 6, 2012

LOTS of Musk-Ox & Wolves.

Find a few pictures here and check out our

Arctic Wolf vs PakCanoe experience with a very hungry & persistent wolf!

Check out Chris' "Musk Ox & other Critters" compiled from video shot on this trip.

We had a GREAT group of people (7 of us) to share the fun & chores with.

We are impressed with our first western Arctic experience - incredible scenery & wildlife, awesome weather

(cool, but we only packed up our tent wet twice vs the usual only packing it dry twice

on most of our Ungava expeditions).

Many thanks to PAKBOATS for providing us with a 17' skin-on-frame canoe to test out

- it saved us a bundle on shipping and performed amazingly well for us.

Map of our progress

Detailed topo maps

Video shot on this trip: Musk Ox And Other Critters from Crush59 on Vimeo.

KUUJJUA TRIP JOURNAL

Written by Laco, not yet edited by Lynette

July 13

Plane Hopping across Arctic Canada

Ottawa > Iqaluit > Arctic Bay > Resolute Bay > Cambridge Bay

We (Chris and L&L) met Dave, Mark & John at the airport. It was very hot weather in Ottawa, thus many scantily clad women everywhere, so beautiful. It made Laco wonder why we go so far north each summer... Lots of fuss at the First Air. They charged us for extra bag $84.75. They sent us to deposit our bags at oversize drop-off and that's where the "fun" started. It was extremely slow and the lineup was growing fast.

They discovered strange substance on one of David's bags (gun powder?). It had to be emptied & thoroughly investigated and David was searched in detail (he never told us anything about it & we wondered why). Finally we got to the gates, but we almost missed our flight because we were waiting at the gate 16 instead of 15. From the plane we saw our barrels & other stuff on the cart at gate 16, which made us quite uneasy & scared. It was bit cooler in Iqaluit, big relief. Laco understood now that he needs these northern summer trips in order to avoid overheating death at home. We walked a bit to one shop where John bought special Inuit book (more about it later) and then we admired St. Jude's cathedral from the outside. It was even colder in Arctic Bay & Resolute Bay. In Resolute Bay there is one frozen iceberg in the bay for 11 years. Old decrepit hangars built by US Army.When we reached Cambridge Bay, bugs (esp. mosquitoes) were crazy. 3 David's bags were missing. Woman at the desk (manager?) promised to get them in next day by 11am (if they didn't appear, we would be well screwed). Christina waited for us at the airport with Greg, Aliza's boyfriend. Aliza offered us her house for a night to stay. Some of us wanted to hike Mt. Pelly overnight (sun is up whole night long, and this was especially sunny night), but the access road was flooded at one point so we missed the opportunity none of us will probably ever get again. To the bed very late.

July 14

Beaver Hopping to North of 70°

Cambridge Bay > Headwaters of the Kuujjua @ Lake Hope

Laco, John & David hiked a bit through the town, found huge pile of muskox hides. Visitor's centre was closed. Limping puppy joined them on the hike to the airport. They met RCMP officer fully armed and in the bug jacket. All 3 David's bags arrived at 11:20am, big relief. Fred's (Fred of Arctic Lodge) employee John came for us to the airport. We loaded all our stuff to his van and drove to the bay where Fred waited with his Beaver airplane. David, Mark & Laco with lots of gear flew first (to the Lake Hope on the eastern branch of Kuujjua River). They saw some muskox as they flew over them. Incredibly warm & sunny. First flight took from 12:45pm until 3:00pm (departure back time, after unloading). It was very hot & buggy, mosquitoes were crazy as the trio built tents & pakcanoes.

Before the trip, Laco glued felt soles on his shoes and for a short watery walk from the plane to the shore they proved themselves well. Lake is shallow and water seem to be warm enough for a swim, although nobody tried. Lone caribou visited working crew at the campsite. Meanwhile, Lynette, Chris & John went for a tour of Cambridge Bay and checked out the Coop store, little souvenir store, the library with lots of very nice exhibits and the visitor's centre which was now open. Fred brought back from the first flight a load of arctic char, so the cabin smelled long after like a fresh fish. As the second party finally flew back, Beaver was so heavy that the back of floats were under water as Fred left the dock. He taxied for a long time before finally turning into the wind for a long take-off. It was a long flight over the tundra, desert, large frozen lakes and very interesting polygonal earthy formations. It didn't seem like much wildlife - no caribou trails to which we are so used in Nunavik. A few small groups of muskox, snowy owls, swans, cranes, a grizzly with 3 cubs, 1 caribou. Beaver came back to Lake Hope with the rest of the crew at 8:30pm. Everything was set-up, including our new red tent which Lynette hasn't seen yet - what a palace. Christine brought muskox meat from Vancouver (it was in the freezer until July 14 morning) and David cooked it as fajitas inside his huge green kitchen tent. Red wine and smoked trout as appetizers. It was 20°C at midnight with sun high and shining from the North. There was some water bird singling on the Lake Hope, similarly like the loon. Camped at km 348.

July 15

Headwaters of the Kuujjua, Lake Hope > Lake Aliza

Km 348 > 337.5 = 10.5km

Eggs benedict for breakfast while caribou passed through our camp. Laco hiked to the Kuujjua River coming in from the North-East. It looked passable and very pretty. We packed up, got organized, shared out the load and at 10:20am, headed into the wind with Mark soloing. He did very well indeed. As soon as we reached the outgoing river, it became very shallow. We started to walk the canoes, but they were heavily loaded and bogging down in the shallows. The bottom of the river was very soft and we were sinking fast with our loads, even when stepping on rocks - the bottom would look firm, but the rocks were just a thin veneer over the soft, light brown mud. We portaged most of the load over dryer land and pulled/pushed/walked the lightened canoes down the stream. The mud sucked one of Laco's glued-on felt soles right off his shoe. Lynette, who'd had hers glued on professionally by Max's Shoe Repair, kept her felt soles right to the end of the river & still has them. We had lunch at the start of Greg Lake, startling the occasional passing caribou. As soon as we crossed the lake, the river became as shallow as before, but this time we were ready and were able to paddle & push/pull fully loaded canoes quite a distance. Eventually we portaged into a shallow bay of Lake Aliza. Mosquitoes were bad, but the wind over the open barrens kept them more at bay than the day before. Otherwise it was sunny & actually quite a hot day.

We paddled a bit into the lake, and when David decided to stop, it was about 6:20pm. Lynette cooked curry chicken. Camped at km 337.5.

July 16

Hot & sunny. Laco went for a hike behind the Round Lake in the morning. Wind from South or South-West i.e. mostly with us. On the water around 9:40am. There were whitecaps on the lake. We saw caribou with baby. We portaged through narrow neck of the peninsula, to avoid possible shallows if paddling around. Soon after, real river started. It was much better than day before. There were many shallow spots, but we were able to walk it all (not everybody did; there were some short portages by the shore). Caribou crossed the river between our canoes. During the lunch we discovered that one bread we brought is badly molded. Laco got cold due to the incessant wind and wore sweater for the afternoon. It doesn't usually happen. But wind was good, to our back, and it kept bugs down. We paddled until about 5:30pm. Caribou on the other side of the river. David's dinner was huge, with several courses. Lynette noticed 2 wolves on the other side of the river. They were dive-bombed by a hawk. They moved down the river and crossed to our side, curious about us. We did some pakcanoe patching, especially Chris's canoe was beaten. Lots of muskox hair at this campsite.Still sunny by 11:30pm, but not too hot by then. Camped at km 317.

July 17

Muskoxen across the river in the morning!! Everybody still sleeping, so Laco hurried across the river for the hike on the other side. He took a lot of photos. Then even fox & wolf showed up. It threatened to rain as we were packing up. It was much colder day with small rain here & there.

Walking & dragging a lot. Some paddling in between. Cold. Mark "played" with the fox, which was later dive-bombed by jaegers. Cold lunchbreak. David discovered in his bag furry Russian winter hat and put it on along with drysuit. Eventually river became more paddleable, but it took a long time. Chris discovered fox & snowy owl babies. Few last kilometers before the junction with the Kuujjua North were again shallow. We camp at the junction in the middle, which doesn't allow us any good hiking. We had instead nice evening in the David's huge green shelter eating & drinking as it rained outside. All to bed early under dark overcast skies. It rained overnight. Camped at km 305.

July 18

We woke up to light rain & everyone was slow to get going. Even Laco woke up at 8:20am. Slow breakfast & lots of yakking as we ate. David's Atlas shelter is much appreciated as group shelter from bugs, rain, wind and for social time. But it's not for lightweight tripping and requires time to set up and put down/pack. We packed up wet and were very late on the water - after 11am.

Weather seemed not too bad but it got worse. River is much bigger now and we were able to paddle most of the day with intermittent walking only. Enough water now that we can actually call 1 swift and 2 R1s. South branch which joined main river was full of meagres (rocky shallows, rock-gardens). There were two other wider southern tributaries - one completely dry, second with little water. All tributaries, including tiny blue lines on the map, have huge piles of rocks (deltas) pushed into the Kuujjua. We saw many snowy owls sitting on the knolls watching us as we pass, sometimes taking flight and calling. Arctic loons have a similar yet different call from the common loon we are familiar with. Lots of water birds: Canada geese, snows & blues (?) running along the shore, dudes, buffleheads (?), falcons, jaegers. We found muskox skull with horns sawn off. Lots of shallows - we need to be good at picking out where deepest water goes. Glad we have short fat-bladed paddles - long & skinny flatwater paddles would be useless. Mark stayed back to fish. Stiff cross winds, then head winds. On and off rain, the hard rain. We took right side of the island and had to walk. Mark said left side was Ok, but then his boat is not that heavy. Seat came off twice, so we had to tie-wrap the joins. We camped just below the island. Laco found there nice muskox skull. Two small fish caught, one by Mark, one by Chris. Camped at km 278.5.

July 19

It rained on & off through the night. Big and very looong breakfast with several entres, including 2 fish. No lunch, though. It was a rest day. Everyone went after own business. Many guys fished and walked in the river, but no fish was caught.

Lynette suffered MSG allergy and stayed horizontal in the tent. Laco went hiking this (i.e. Northern) side of the river and met Christine at a certain point. Nice cliffs. Later Laco talked John into hiking South side cliffs, crossing the river by the canoe. That required switching to the wet shoes for the river crossing, both ways. Fantastic cliffs, with many towers, on one of them nest of peregrine falcons with 3-4 babies. Lynette made chalupa for dinner & Chris got very excited, claiming it was the best dinner so far. After dinner Chris talked Lynette, David & Mark into hiking Southern cliffs again, so Laco went along to show them the most beautiful spots. Thus Laco hiked about 15 km altogether. We saw one fox. We found another muskox skeleton & head. Sky opened and we got beautiful sunshine, great for photography. In the bed past midnight. Camped at km 278.5.

July 20

Cold overnight - just above freezing. Laco up early, but most of the group were slower. Beautiful weather - cold but sunny with light breeze. Scattered clouds. We packed slowly and left beautiful heavy muskox skull at the campsite.

Gentle current with breeze keeping bugs down. Beautiful scenery. Basalt bluffs & mesas, green valleys, dry riverbeds, desert areas. Lots of wildlife - one caribou, a small group of muskoxen (5-7 ?) which we stopped for and gently approached fairly close to photograph. Chris caught one nice fish. We paddled 30 km fairly easily. Water colder, clear & emerald green when deep enough. There were many shallows - we had to walk a tiny bit and follow deepest channels carefully. David was tired and grouchy at the end of the day, but all went OK anyway. Enchiladas good but too much and we overate again. Mark, Chris & Laco went for a hike (10 km) across the river to Mt. Mirage. Lynette watched them through binoculars as they reached the summit. It was bright sunshine when they returned to the campsite well past midnight. Camped at km 256.

July 21

We woke up very late (8:50am). Everything was delayed. We got on the water very late. It was dark & quite windy. We L&L had to tow mark all the way. We stopped to watch (and photograph, and film) muskox. We found strange plastic bag with white tarp, rocks & blue tie-wrap - it was probably serving as anchor(?)... When we stopped for lunch we cooked pea soup (to warm up a bit) and built inukshuk. We found another strange bag with tarp & rocks. Later down the river we visited historic site - tent rings.

Wolf appeared on the left shore, seemingly following us. Wind went down a bit. Laco tried hard to get group to camp near interesting white hill at around km 225 (yes, we finally past first 100 km on the river), so that we could go for an interesting hike later in the evening. As the wind dies out, we untied Mark and let him go free about 1 km before that - maybe a mistake in retrospect? You let him go, and he gets into trouble... While there were several fish already caught by Chris by then, everyone stopped & fished, while we L&L continued last kilometer to find nice campsite & pitch the shelter. We found nice spot (fox was running there) but as soon as we brought green bag with shelter up, we heard loud bang followed few seconds later by another. Unsure what was going on, we brought everything down to the canoe and then walked a bit on the shore and waited for the rest of the group. It was the issue with the wolf which came after Mark who was the only person fishing off the shore. Wolf was interested to take Mark's canoe. Mark fought wolf with the paddle and yelled something like "I am not your food!" and then jumped into the canoe trying to get away. Wolf bit the canoe, making several holes in the hull. It held on the canoe until some distance off the shore, eventually letting go (after David fired two bear-bangers). There was lots of discussion about the wolf incident in the camp and Mark enjoyed being in the role of a hero. We pitched tents close together, just in case... After fish got eaten, Chris and Laco hiked to the summit of the White Mountain, which was made off white shale. It was well after the midnight. We found wooden stake there - sign of civilization. Back to the camp at 1:20am. Camped at km 225.

July 22

We woke up to very cold windy rain. Everyone was slow to get up. We all wore drysuits to paddle. The wind had switched and was behind us most of the way, so between that and fairly good current we averaged about 7km/h and stopped early for the day. No luck fishing. Guys did a short hike before dinner. David did elaborate turkey shepherd's pie with stuffing & cranberries.

Then we decided we needed to hike off all the calories & all except Christine headed up the summit of Ekpakohak Hill behind the camp. Lynette also made it half-way, so Laco went up & came back to Lynette. Everybody got spread-out and did their own thing. We inspected all archeological sites at this camp - tent rings, caches and maybe a fish weird (?) at different levels & with great views up & down the river. All wandered back into camp except of Chris. We were all bit worried about him, not sure how long to wait before initiating search & rescue. We assumed he had his bear-bangers and could signal if he got in trouble. We know he like to wander & photograph. Weather was cold, 6 or 7°C, blustery, intermittent light drizzle, mostly overcast. Chris appeared back in the camp at 12:20am, had a great hike. Camped at km 197.5.

July 23

Laco woke up with sore throat. It was windy & cold. Everybody in drysuit. Scattered rain showers. Good current. Lunch at historic inukshuk & good fishy spot. Sun came out & we sat on a South facing slope out of the wind so we sat for a while.

David left us behind when we stopped to fish. Chris got one and John got two lakers - enough for dinner. Paddled & paddled 30km, 35km, 40km, wondering if we ha's somehow passed David & Christine in the braids or on another side of the island, then caught Mark who looked seriously tired paddling alone into the wind. We offered to tow him, but he was OK. Fun trying to pick the right channels, deepest current etc. We missed muskox grazing on the shore. We finally caught up with David & Christine at the campsite at the start of the lake at km 153.5. This means we are in the second half of the trip. Nice red hill behind the camp in shape of polar bear like Nunavut plates. Guys hiked up the red hill after Chris's dinner of cajun fish and jambalaya. Camped at km 153.5.

July 24

Beautiful hot sun in morning but wind started early & built up quickly to whitecaps so we had a usual slow breakfast and decided to hike for the morning and delay departure until wind drops. Girls went up the red hill and Chris, John & Laco crossed the creek to climb the ridge. When we all came back, we broke the camp and had lunch in the tundra tent while the wind dropped. Then we headed out into the wind to cross the lake full of sandbars (Bastard Lake). Lynette took far left deep channel while other canoes walked shallow sandbars in the middle. Mark tied on behind L&L and we ended up ahead for about 10km when we stopped for a break. We smelled the smoke in the air.

Very strange, nothing to burn here, so it must be coming from far away. David took off from the break first and left the rest of us behind again. We paddled hard into the wind.We stopped for another break and fished & released three lakers. We found David stopped to camp at km 129. We got camp set-up before light rain started. Fox came & played around for almost an hour. David spilled tapioka pudding on himself. Very windy night. Chris & some other guys went for a hike and found bones of muskox. Camped at km 129.

July 25

Cold & windy as usual. It didn't rain, though and sun showed up briefly on occasions. During the poop duty Laco found a wooden plank and Lynette a coke bottle. We started again very late and towed Mark right from the start. David saw muskox on the rights shore. It was a usual fight with the wind. We forced David into the lunch - a soup. We paddled through Kuujjua Gate and character of the river changed. Lots of enjoyable rapids, far from being scary as previous reports suggested.

Soon after the Valley of Dry Bones there was an R4 we lined on river right and Laco's leg got caught in the line, but he was fast enough to get away from dangerous situation. Then ugly sieve followed and Chris had to yell at John and John got offended. We camped at nice campsite river left shortly before the Big Fish Canyon. Chris & David went fishing to the ledge in the Big Fish Canyon and brought 2 big fish. Beautiful place at the foot of Saneraun Hills. Camped at km 103.5.

July 26

Lazy slow morning. After breakfast, everyone tended own business. Chris & Laco went for along hike into Saneraun Hills (about 18 km altogether). Absolutely incredible scenery. Chris found green bearberries. John discovered wolf den with 3 puppies, but didn't take any pictures @#$%^!! Chris & Mark went there after the dinner, but didn't find anything. Mark claimed he saw two grizzlies, though. Laundry & hygiene day.

We paddled Big Fish Canyon and warmed up during the short portage. Then we came to the Falcon Canyon and scouted from the South shore cliffs. We went to paddle first R3 above the ledge, with the intention to line the ledge, but once we were there Lynette made decision to run it, so everyone ran it (except Mark, who's solo was paddled down by David). We finished the day shortly after canyon and went scouting what is next. There was a single muskox grazing on the opposite shore & falcons squealing on the cliffs above our campsite. Chris & David brought 2 big fish for Lynette's dinner. Laco went for a brief midnight hike up the cliffs to annoy falcons and found playful ermin. Camped at km 92.

July 28

Calm & cold overnight. Cold morning - about 6°C, wind up. Started to paddle at around 11am. It was an easy run into sharp turn right at the canyon, then eddy on the left to scout the ledge. L&L decided to to run, but waited for others to line easy left. Wind blew us slightly off the line and we got bit wet, but it was fun nevertheless.

Pakcanoe skirts act like funnels & our shoulder straps (modification made by Lynette) didn't hold. R1 below that was easy run down to a cliff face which directed river to the left. Shallow spots were hard to negotiate to avoid getting stuck. We came to a steep drop where we snuck left around the large boulders across the top and dodged a couple hydraulics to a haystack runoff. Next R3 was a dodgy rock garden with shallow boulder fan at the bottom - we all did well. We stopped for a lunch in a lee of a steep shore in a nice sunny spot. We thought the wind was down, but that proved to be false when we headed out around the corner into a big lake with big blowing sandbars. Aerial phto maps showed channel along the left shore but David went right. Rest of us obeyed the map and went left battling the headwind in a deep water. We got Mark into tow again and picked up speed once it shallowed and current followed deeper channel. We stopped at the sand bluffs at the end of the lake to wait for David who had eventually turned back and ended up following us about 2 km behind. We heard trumpeter swans and sand cranes (?) but could not see them. Beautiful sunny day, no bugs, windy and warmer than previous days. Amazing views all around. Binoculars proved to be very useful on this trip. We named this lake "Dave's Lost Lake" in honour of the occasion. We hope our wait will now let the message through and David will not leave the group behind next time. We continued as a group into the river again with shallow rocky rapids where we had to search for deepest channel, but it was impossible with bright sun directly into our faces.

So we got stuck on the rocks, and stuck in the wrong channel, etc. We could not continue so we had to stop for the night before upcoming bigger rapids and paddle them earlier the next day. Top of the stove (fuel dispenser) was lost on one of the two David's stoves. We had to use Lynette's stove for the very first time. The dinner was so delicious that we decided to keep Chris's and John's fish for the breakfast. Laco built an inukshuk on top on nearby hill. We camped at km 78.

July 29

Clear hot sunny, breeze from behind, no bugs. In the morning a new, smaller inukshuk appeared beside Laco's. The second was built by Chris. Chris also brought muskox skull into the camp. We tried unsuccessfully to start day earlier, but it proved to be beyond this group's abilities. We were on the water at 10:30am. We ran R3s in the Little Canyon. Lots of rock dodging. At R3-4 we took sneak on the right, while David & Christine did the middle. We saw fish in the water afterwards so we stopped & caught six to fillet. Lots of swans all around. They have black beak - tundra swan/whistler? They ran flapping across the water - they seemed to have no primary feathers on wings at all so wings looked very stubby/naked. L&L paddled R1 into the Swan Lake and washed their hair while waiting. We took left channel out of the lake which brought us to two shallow drags. Right channel may be better. Nice easy rapids followed. It was very hot in the drysuits. We had to swim to cool off during the lunchbreak. Shallows into the Lake Good Fortune. Light breeze behind us. Mark led through the lake but we all had to walk shallow sinking sand at the end. We turned right into the shadowed Surprise Canyon and stopped to put drysuits back on when rapids started, but David just kept going. Message didn't get through. Series of shallow R2s then R3s.

Sun into our eyes made negotiating rapids very hard, but we well deserved it. Day was getting late but with David gone we had no option just to continue paddling. Mark managed to lose his spray deck rod when he got stuck on the rocks. We L&L got stuck and guys passed us, then they got stuck and we passed them and suddenly found ourselves heading directly into ugly sieve without any chance to stop or have any time to make decision. We behaved bit carelessly, because with David's canoe ahead we expected that they would wait at any serious rapid, but David didn't play that game. It was too late to get into the very left lane so we got stuck in the sieve but luckily made it through (Lynette had to step out in the ledge and push the canoe) as surprised muskoxen watched us from the river right (we were on the left). Chris and John watched our predicament and then managed to get into the left line OK. Mark got stuck much further right but was lucky to find his rod just below the ledge. Eventually we found David's canoe on the right shore about 1 km before the Copper Canyon. It was 9:10pm. We decided to camp there. It was buggy & wet site. At 11pm Chris hooked fish & we had spaghetti pasta. We shot banger in the celebration. Laco built inukshuk above the camp. Beautiful sunset reflected off Copper Cliffs. Camped at km 41.

July 30

Up late to a beautiful day. Hot sun , light breeze, no bugs. John, Chris & Laco crossed the river to climb the Copper Cliffs and built big inukshuk on top. They watched as swan easily swam heavy rapids of Copper Canyon. Bath and laundry day. We scouted the canyon after the lunch. Top set is runnable through canoe-sized slot in the right side of the ledge but lower set is very messy with several ledges. Thick bearberry patches with lots of berries. Many lake trout in the pools. Fox den with pups. Ancient tent rings with fire rings with lots of caribou bone shards. No bugs. We hiked all over the place. Some of us napped on soft patches. It's warm enough to stand naked for wash-up in shallow water. We tried to call for the first time (to Ulukhaktok to Pat Ekpakohak who was supposed to motorboat us out of Minto Inlet at the end of the trip; we were supposed to call him 5 days before the pickup). Mark was in charge of the satellite phone - he rented it & brought it along. All was fine, except that he put it in the soft cover and squeezed in into his other stuff and broke of the antenna.

David carried the Spot, but didn't arrange with his wife - a message recipient - what would Help message mean and what should she do upon the receipt of such a message. This should be a good lesson for everyone reading this - always make it clear with message recipient(s) what to do when Help message comes (which is neither OK nor Emergency 911). The situation was now very serious. David tried to solder it on using nail & stove, but no success. We will have to try again. Yummy jambalaya dinner with lemon fish and bearberry muffins and wine. We were not feeding leftovers to fish any more - we may end up having to paddle the coast all the way to Ulukhaktok. On the way to bed we noticed two wolves running up the opposite slope where the guys had hiked up. Lots of muskox signs here, wolf, fox, goose, raven (?) tracks. Incredible open landscape perfect for hiking. Willows are now taller than Lynette in certain places - looking like they are regularly pruned by either weather or muskox. Wind picked up late in the day and became very blistery, shaking the tent and blowing sand. Wind gusts all night. Camped at km 41.

July 31

Close to 2am we were woken up by David. He told us they (Mark & himself) were able to fix the antenna & call RCMP in Yellowknife to relay message to Pat in Ulukhaktok. Laco caught Mark shaving with small electric machine in the morning. Incredible what useless things some people carry into the wilderness. David made several phone calls in the morning, but was only able to leave messages - to Pan and Ken the RCML officer, both in Ulukhaktok. As we learned later on, the life in Ulukhaktok is at its prime around 2am and nothing moves in the morning.

David would have been more successful if he called right when he made antenna working. It was another extremely late morning. we are trying to outdo previous late morning record every day. We left the campsite past the noontime. Mark had some problems to catch the eddy above the first ledge. Lynette finally took over the GoPro - videos are much better with person in bow visible in the view. We ran nicely the first ledge in the Copper Canyon and easily lined the second set down the right side. The loons were singing for us nicely on the Loon Lake. There was no whitewater between the Look Lake and Gull Lake, but we scared four swans there. Weather was beautiful, sunny and wind was all day with us. There were many seagulls on the next lake. We chose right channel around the island as map suggested there are no shallows there. But they were there. It was again sucky mud, worse than previous experiences. We had to walk fast, otherwise we were sinking. Laco managed to fall back and sat in the sinking mud... Most of the group overshot and missed the Lake's exit on the right. David pulled the fast one and stopped for lunch after first rapid (it was almost 4pm). During the break we had to pull out the blue bag out of the spraydecked canoe, because we forgot there maps for the next section. David meanwhile cooked the chowder soup. Then we went down series of fast, mostly shallow rapids. Mark hit rock hard once. Poor solo pakcanoe! Very little water running through very shallow rock garden. The river level has been dropping through most of the trip - not much rain, very dry terrain, permafrost. We had packed tent wet only once; it is incomparable with our Nunavik experiences. We turned left on the Muskox Lake beside the shore and we managed to paddle all the shallows.

Cabins were well visible from the distance. We sailed & ruddered to them and stopped to see if anyone was in but all the litter indicated it was a winter ice-fishing camp: nets, augers, ice crawlers, muskox parts everywhere. There were many cabins - all small plywood boxes with space for a sleeping platform and a corner to cook in, very low with half-doors, some locked, most not. Garbage everywhere. We spotted herd of muskox on the opposite bank, so we crossed and crawled up hill to watch them. We kinda encircled them from 3 sides, mark alone holding/guarding farthest side. It was the biggest group we saw during our whole expedition. There was one "social outcast" - bull who was bit out of the group, yet still keeping out with it. Eventually group got spooked and ran away, creating cloud of dust as they galloped. They crossed to the land (left shore) over the driest spot possible. We continued our canoe trip (it was quite late already). We almost got lured down the left side which became rocky garden, but luckily realized what's going on early on and turned and got to the right channel. We camped on the goose-poop campsite river left. Lynette's spaghetti dinner with Tatra-Tea 72%. Huge moon rose over the horizon. Mark burned garbage and made huge fire using dried willows. It was well past midnight. Chris went for a hike hoping to find the same muskox herd, but wasn't successful. Camped at km 16.5.

August 1

Sunny and warm, but almost no mosquitoes. Laco played with ermin for about 10 minutes. It disappeared only after Lynette brought the camera. We packed up slowly and headed into the rapids well into the afternoon, sun blinding us as we paddled.

Non-stop action: drops & pools. Lots of rock gardens. Couple rapids ended in boulder sieves. Mark got stuck but survived. We paddled past many muskox. Some challenging rapids & boulder ledges. One ledge was big - we had to walk it a bit on the top and then it was exciting run. We stopped for lunch afterwards. After some more rapids we stopped to investigate muskoxen on both sides. Chris, David & Christine got quite close - amazing photos. There were two more muskox on the other ride (river right). This break cost us some time and paddling against the sun became even more difficult. There were two melted and washed out pingos on the river right. Others were melting, too, so the river at one exact point (below pingo) became silty and we now really couldn't see anything in the river. Last rapid was nice, exciting R2-3. And then the river flattened. It was freshwater first, but soon became salty. We stopped over kilometer before the end and investigated what is where and where to stop for the night. We camped on the island at Minto Inlet. Right channel around the island starts as a creek, but finishes disappearing into the gravel.

The cabin on the island is the one from previous trip reports - Kuujjua Goose Cabin - but now is completely destroyed, probably by polar bears. Midnight at the campsite as usual - guys trying to burn anything they see. Chris & David brought water in the barrel from ponds near landing strip. Camped at km 0.

August 2

Heat woke us up in the tent at 6:30am (now, when we don't need to go anywhere, we can wake up early). It was like in the sauna, even letting wind/breeze across didn't help too much. Day again very beautiful, even hot, but windy. Laco couldn't sleep in the heat, so he disassembled pakcanoe and went to hike up to the summit of Mt. Goose (1.5 hour there & back, including photography) - it was about 230 m elevation difference. After his return we had breakfast/lunch, hard to say what it was. Everyone disassembled pakcanoes & packed them in the bag. But Pat from Ulukhaktok didn't show up. Eventually Lynette, Chris, John & Laco went for a hike. We first explored huge whale vertebrae (very heavy) and then discovered mermaid Christine by the shore. We found patches of blueberries just before seashore cliffs. We also found several muskox skulls & skeletons and decided to take smaller skull home in the barrel. We saw ptarmigan and one big muskox. We climbed Mt. Goose from the North side. Then we split and Lynette & Laco went down South to pick up smaller muskox skull. At the end we bought 3 skulls to the campsite. Luckily, Mark had already brought barrel full of water. We were very thirsty - day was hot. There was firewood ready for a big fire, but nobody started it. Muskoxen in the distance on the other side of the river. To bed early at 11pm. Wind seems to be increasing.

August 3

Wind blew all night like crazy. There was a brief lul in the morning, but it was short-lived. Sun is again very bright and it makes us feel very uncomfortable hot in the tent. Desperation is setting in. Lynette didn't even come out of the tent for breakfast, reading Arctic book. Eventually - close to noon - she appeared. Chris & David cleaned up the Goose cabin as much as possible and we all signed our names on the wall, beside famous paddlers of the years past. David called Inuit Pat again around 2pm and there was no answer, so there is a hope (they may be on the way). Wind came down and it seemed that rain is getting in. But it actually didn't rain.

We slept and snoozed and did nothing. If we didn't disassembled pakcanoes, we could have hiked beautiful valley on the Southern shore, but because we had to be ready for Pat coming anytime, we would not have time for dis-assemblage after he came. Mark killed lemming, but it didn't seem to be desperate act to avoid starvation, because he refused to eat if afterwards. Davis tried to fish with no luck. At 6:30pm David called Pat again. By then it was deadly calm with few brave mosquitoes around. Pat's wife told David pat is about to leave. David was so happy that he baked us all pizza. John tried to call hotel in Ulukhaktok (he likes comfort) but sat phone antenna got broken again. Finally Laco heard two engines in the distance. Aging man, his hearing is still sharp. Two motorboats with four Inuit came at about 9:45pm: Pat, Kirsten (only girl), Elliott and Bret. Boats seemed to be relatively small, but modern and in a good shape and we fit it all in relatively easily. We took off at about 10:15pm, travelled through North-West Passage while the sun finally set below the horizon and arrived at Ulukhaktok at 1:15am. It was relatively cold ride (speed 30-50 km/h). Ulukhaktok was busy with life at that late hour, kids everywhere, bit annoying. Main life in the hamlet is apparently between 8pm and 4am. There were two sailboats moored in the harbour - some visitors attempting to get through North-West Passage, who came day earlier. We got lots of help from many people but especially from Roger, man with a truck. We were surprised to see Inuit towing qamutiq behind the ATV on the gravel, as if it was snow. David & John went to the hotel where, because of the late arrival & no breakfast, they were not charged anything. The rest of us went to Rebecca's house. Rebecca was discovered by Christine via online search. She is in Ulukhaktok for 8 years now and considers it her home. She works as adult education teacher. We had shower and slept in a soft bed, with thick curtain blocking all light from outside. Slept from 3:45am until about 9:30am.

August 4

Bit of breakfast and more talk with Rebecca. All shops closed in town, including Northern. People are waking up late. While small muskox skull is securely resting in the barrel, we packed two bigger skulls into box from Rebecca's A/C unit. Roger drove us all to the airport.

Lynette found out that she is missing credit card (oh, those problems of civilized world!), so Roger drove her fast back to Rebecca's house where it was found under the bed. Thank you, Roger!! Flight to Kugluktuk was uneventful, we ate a lot of chips. Quite windy in Kugluktuk, we stayed in the plane. Yellowknife welcomed us with rain, wind & grey clouds. Here the path of expedition participants separated and everyone went on their own way. We managed to squeeze all our stuff to small taxi of Matt from Sudan. Dyan and Spike were gone, but Czech woman Irena was looking after their house & mushing dogs. Lots of dogs here!! Matt came later for us to bring us to Bullocks Restaurant to meet our Kuujjua partners for a beer fest. Bullock Restaurant was noisy, full & very expensive. It is run by three women, one of them with strange unusual tick. Many items on the menu were not available.

We ate char & bison and drank a lots of beer. All was paid by John at the end. Chris & John really like each other. We walked a bit with Chris to his hotel and then taxi back to "our" place.

August 5

We spent a day in the town. It was cloudy, with bit of rain here & there. Art shopping. We ended in Boston Pizza - the only restaurant open on Sunday night and watched women's marathon at the Olympics. Ethiopian won. Bottle of wine with Irena back "home". Laco forgot his reading glasses at Boston Pizza.

August 6

We met Dyan in the morning - she arrived after midnight. Lynette talked to her about muskox skull and as a result box with two skulls remained in the basement. Dyan drove us to the airport. We met rest of the group later there. Mark had problems to pass through security due to his fancy shaving machine. We saw/met Kevin McNulty at the airport. We flew home and that was it.

Paddling the Coast

Magazine Article on both the Nanook & Kuujjua Rivers on Victoria Island:

Jim and I (Brian Johnston) have an article, Paddling Victoria Island: Seeking adventure in the far north, in the March/April 2014 issue of Above & Beyond, Canada's Arctic Journal. Visit the online edition at: issuu.com/Arctic_Journal (Best -- full magazine) or www.arcticjournal.ca (article text version or link to read the digital edition). The index is on page 7, and the article starts on page 33.

1) Johnston, B. B. (2014). Respectfully Coasting Victoria. Che-Mun, The Journal of Canadian Wilderness Canoeing, Outfit 156, pp. 1 and 6-8.

2) Gallagher J. and Johnston B. (2014). Paddling Victoria Island: Seeking adventure in the far north. Above & Beyond, Canada's Arctic Journal, March/April 2014 Vol 26 No 2, pp. 33-38.

Jim & Brian paddled the final section (120km?) of ocean coastline from the mouth of the Kuujjua to Ulukhaktok (Holman) and generously provided pdf's of their annotated maps of the coastline which we have attached at the bottom of this Trip Report. Thank you Jim & Brian!

The Baird brothers (Jim & Ted) also paddled the coastline section and encountered weather that turned the experience into a life-threatening adventure that they did not enjoy. See their Trip Description at http://www.canoebeyond.com/kuujjuareport.html

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