Monday, August 13, 2007

Hello Readers,

This morning we had lectures on the Canadian Space Agency and how they simulate missions to Mars by working in the high Arctic and a lecture on Arctic Sovereignty. We had these lectures as we sailed north up the east coast of Baffin Island to another island called Padloping. Just when I thought that my sore legs were starting to heal I got news that we were doing ANOTHER long hike today.

An interesting thing about Padloping is that it was an old Inuit community/USA military base that got transferred to another island. The remains of the community are still rusting away on the shore. Students on Ice has never landed at Padloping on any of its previous expeditions so there was a certain sense of exploration when we finally landed. We hiked across the beach on the shore of an interesting body of water that is a lake at low tide but becomes a part of the sea at high tide. After about an hour or so we had climbed a ridge that looked over the entire terrain. It was another one of those beautiful sights. In all my days living in Toronto I have never seen a single spot where I could not see any sign of humans ever being there. On this expedition I have seen so many pristine landscapes that I have lost count.

After we had built several Inukshuks (stone statues built originally by Inuit) we had a group picture and hug. Following that we split up into three groups. I joined a group that was going on a further hike. My new group hiked across streams and permafrost (“squishy ground”) and eventually climbed a mountain that made the ridge we were on previously look like a bump in the terrain. We also found a big pile of leftover snow where one of our members from India touched his first snow and I had my first snowball fight in August!!!! We kept on climbing until the time when we looked down on the people on the beach they looked like ants and our ship looked like a spec in the distance.

There was a smell, a clean, fresh smell that always comes with cold air and fields of flowers. On our way back to the ship we went directly through the old town and I didn’t feel particularly proud to be a human. It was a mess. When we got on the ship we had the second part of the Conservation lecture we had received at Eric’s Cove. We had the usual night until the end where I helped organize a sing-a-long of movie songs about exploration and the environment.

Tomorrow we are going to look for sea ice while sailing south to Iqaluit. We only have 2 more days left on the ship. Time has gone by fast.

Thanks for Reading,

Connor