Nunavut Canada Exped – Day 6

Blog for Website Valentin& Ansgar- 19th August 2011

The whole night it wasn’t completely dark, so we woke up early. When we opened the tent, the smell of our feet was released into the beautiful scenery of glaciers, mountains and fjords

For breakfast we enjoyed porridge, freshly cooked by Mike Horn himself. He told us to stuff ourselves as we’d need the energy. Then, after a nice cup of tea, we started walking again. Under our feet the crampons crushed the ice and in our back we had the heavy sleds with all the equipment. Again, we were more than lucky with the weather. The sun was shining in our faces and it was not too cold.

The distances didn’t seem far at first sight, as there’s nothing around but snow and ice. Soon we noticed, though, that we had to work hard to reach our goal: first humans ever to cross these glaciers.

Mike led us with all his experience safely over all crevasses and moraines. During one break we all wrote messages, put them in a plastic bag and hid them under an Inukshuk that we built (N 70 40’ 182// W 071 53’ 958)ͦ. An Inukshuk is a stone figurine that the Inuit used to mark caribou traveling routes.

Back on the way we enjoyed the amazing views. Especially the colours of the glacier fascinated us. The light blue of the streams and the pure white of snow.

We set up our second camp in the early afternoon. When choosing a campsite it’s important to have a creek with fresh water close by. We had Instant noodles, some of us rushed them into their mouths as they had eaten their daypacks already one day before.

After this strengthening we climbed up a peak. There we had a breathtaking panorama view. This unspoiled environment and the knowledge, that there are absolutely no people around was very very impressing. Compared to all these massive glaciers and the high mountains we felt quite small.

We finished the day with a rapid sled ride down the hill.