Saturday, September 22, 2012

Beechy Island, Glacier face, Taloyoak,

Sunsets were spectacular.  So were some of the sunrises, but with the warm temperatures we had a lot of fog in the morning.



This glacier face was about 2 Km long and probably 5 stories high.


Beechy Island.  These are graves from Franklin's last expedition.  These bodies were exhumed and examined and found to contain deadly levels of lead - probably from the canned food that they brought along.

It was cold in the wind.  The ground was entirely stone with almost no vegetation at all.

The remains of a house.  You can see the barrel hoops scattered about.


These two buildings are at Fort Ross and were the Hudson Bay Company outpost.  One had been nicely fitted out but with time and the help of  a polar bear or two the interior is in sad state.  The other building has been fitted out for campers.  Recently 3 yachts had turned up and spent the night in the bunk house.




The community of Taloyoak were very welcoming and there was a party laid on for us with dancers, throat singers and wonderful food - arctic char, seal stew, and bannock along with some other dishes.




The next day we travelled to Pointe de la Guiche where our historian, Ken McGoogan had several years earlier place a cairn and a plaque to commemorate John Rae finding the final link in the North West Passage.  Ken is on the left, with Robbie in the middle.


We were fortunate in having not only one Inuk guide, but then 2 young ladies were shanghaied in Pond Inlet and kept us company for the rest of the trip.  They were delightful to meet and gave us great insight into living in the north.  


4 comments:

Hilary said...

Even the small groups of houses look isolated and remote. It must take a very special kind of person to brave out those conditions. What a trip!

Hilary

Heather Dubreuil said...

What a unique experience Dianne. I'm sure these images will stay with you for a lifetime.

Heather Dubreuil said...
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Linda B. said...

Amazing images Dianne,wonderful to work with but I'm sure the memories from this trip will be even better