Day 1: Sunday: Travel to Arctic Watch and Arrival
Air Canada, First Air and Canadian North offer daily jet service from Edmonton, Alberta to Yellowknife, NWT. Guests meet at the airport in Yellowknife to board a charter Dash 8 aircraft for the four hours, 1000 mile flight to Arctic Watch. The flight departs about 10:30am. There is one stop for refueling in the community of Cambridge Bay. In the afternoon, you land on a private airstrip next to Arctic Watch on Somerset Island.
Everyone receives a tour of the facilities, puts their luggage in their cabin, then meets in the Great Room for a welcome and to meet the staff. Dinner is served in the cozy dining room. Day 2: Monday: Beluga Whale Watching, Short Hike to Waterfall, ATV Driving Lesson
Breakfast is served at 8:00. There is a hands-on introduction to driving All Terrain Vehicles (ATV). These practical vehicles are easy and fun to drive. Then hike a short distance to the Cunningham river estuary for whale watching. Beluga whales frolic in the shallow water only a few yards off shore amongst the ice floes. This site is unique in the world because of the density of the whale population and their proximity to guests. Frequently, CAH is within a couple of yards of the animals. You can clearly hear their communication calls. Because the whales are close to the lodge, you can return almost any time.
Buffet lunch typically includes: nutritious soups, such as French Canadian Pea, leek, potato, and cream of corn; freshly-baked sourdough and rye breads; specialty meats and cheeses; fresh vegetables; and homemade desserts.
In the afternoon, hike to Triple Waterfalls, a five-story torrent of free-falling water. There you will see nesting peregrine falcons and other birds such as loons, snow buntings, sandpipers, and rough-legged hawks. Explore the canyon and see wild arctic flowers. Encounters with muskox are common.
Evening meals typically include a main course of baked arctic char, grilled muskox, barbequed pork tenderloin, or other meat. Side dishes of oven-roasted vegetables, red and white wine, fresh bread and homemade desserts round out the meal.
Evening activities include free time for local exploration. The library has a broad selection of arctic and polar titles. The Interpretive Centre contains collections of local fossils, skeletal remains of arctic fauna, and collection of traditional Inuit skin clothing from Canada, Greenland and Siberia. Day 3: Tuesday: Look for Muskoxen, Foxes, Inukshuk Lake, Arctic Char Fishing, Evening Lecture
Breakfast, served at 8:00, typically includes fresh coffee, home-baked pastries, muffins, cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, yoghurt, muesli, French toast or pancakes with Quebec maple syrup, eggs, double-smoked bacon, sausages and various other snacks. Travel by ATV, crossing the Cunningham River delta, then along the Muskox Ridge trail. This affords a scenic overview of the whole area. To date, every excursion has encountered muskox. Pass an impressive arctic fox den, frequently watching fox cubs at play.
A picnic lunch at Canadian Arctic Holidays' shelter at Inukshuk Lake is followed by the opportunity to fish for arctic char. Fishing gear is supplied. Returning on ATVs, take an alternate route via the river trail, viewing hoodoos (sculptured sand pillars), and local coal deposits.
The evening begins with fresh arctic char sushi made from the day’s catch. Another fabulous dinner follows.
This evening, Richard Weber, internationally recognized polar explorer, offers an informal lecture on his North Pole adventures. His historic 1995 unassisted journey to the North Pole and back, a feat that has never been repeated, will be highlighted. Day 4: Wednesday: Sea Kayaking with Whales
Another hearty breakfast is served at 8:00. Today’s focus is on sea kayaking in Cunningham Inlet. All equipment and basic instruction are provided. Paddle amongst icebergs, ring seals and bearded seals, watching for beluga whales. Frequent sightings of sea birds, including arctic terns and eider ducks, can be expected.
Lunch is a picnic on the shore. Then it is back to the boats. Often the beluga whales will follow the kayaks, swimming under and around the boats. CAH uses a hydrophone (underwater microphone) to listen to their calls.
Evening meal and free time are the same as described in Day 2. Day 5: Thursday: Hike or Drive to Flatrock Falls
Please see Day 3 for outline of today’s hearty breakfast. Following breakfast, depart, crossing the Cunningham River delta, with the ultimate goal of Flatrock Falls. Guests have the option of hiking, or traveling by Mercedes Unimog truck, mountain bike, or ATV. On the other side of the delta, hike up to ridge and then parallel to the coast, then down to Flatrock Falls, so named because of the huge rocks that look as if squared by human hands. Somerset Island canyons are as yet un-named. They were formed as the result of a shifting fault lines and their walls, mostly vertical, vary from 200 to 1000 feet. A picnic lunch is served directly on the flat roacks that surround this canyon. Hundreds of fossils of prehistoric plants and animals litter the ground. Today’s trip also offers opportunities to observe nesting sites of local birds including terns, plovers, and snow geese.
Today’s eventful trek is followed by another exceptional dinner at Arctic Watch. This evening, guests have the opportunity to watch, or for the more adventurous, participate in, demonstrations of traditional Inuit games and throat singing. Throat singing is unique to the indigenous peoples of the polar regions of the world and is unlike any other vocal music in western culture. Day 6: Friday: Trip to Cape Anne Ancient Inuit Campsite and Tour of the Northwest Passage
Eight o’clock breakfast starts another day at Arctic Watch. Today’s excursion is by ATV to Cape Anne along the fabled Northwest Passage. Visit five Thule sites along coast. The ride includes scenic vistas, icebergs, ancient Inuit campsites and prehistoric giant whale bones. The Thule culture was a bowhead whale hunting culture, ancestors of today’s modern Inuit. The Cape Anne Thule site is the largest in the area and includes the remains of 15 stone and bone houses. Return trip is overland via the Red Valley and guests can expect to be inspired by the magnitude of the landscape.
At the end of a long day, enjoy another delicious dinner at Arctic Watch. This evening guests can relax with a lecture by Richard Weber. His presentation includes stunning images and fascinating stories of Arctic expeditions to Baffin, Ellesmere and other High Arctic islands. Day 7: Saturday: Raft Float Trip on the Cunningham River
Begin this final day with one of Josee’s wonderful breakfasts. The first leg of today’s journey is covered by Mercedes Unimog truck. The goal is to reach the raft and kayak put-in on the Cunningham River, 20 kilometers from Arctic Watch. Typically, you'll hike the final six kilometers through badlands, passing the skeletal remains of two bowhead whales dated at four to five thousand years old. Not uncommonly, you encounter muskox, snow geese, jaegers, arctic foxes, sand pipers, and rough-legged hawks.
A picnic lunch is eaten on the beach beside the river, while the staff prepare the rafts and kayaks.
On the return to Arctic Watch, guests have the choice of paddling their own kayaks, or traveling by raft. The river is swift flowing crystal clear water with no difficult sections or rapids. The views are amazing and include steep canyon walls and at one point, a 180-degree turn. Guests can expect to be on the water for two to three hours.
Guests enjoy their dinner and evening - for those on the seven-day tour, their last dinner and evening at Arctic Watch. Day 8: Sunday: Easy Day at Arctic Watch
Breakfast is served early as the Twin Otter aircraft arrives about nine o’clock to carry guests who are leaving back across the Northwest Passage to Resolute Bay.
Today is an easier day. It is a good time to climb the mountain behind the lodge to clearly see all of Cunningham Inlet. Or perhaps to look for fossils; trilobites or corrals on the hillside. Day 9: Monday: Sunday Lake, Upper Gorge of Cunningham River
This morning, take the ATVs to Sunday Lake. Hike along the lake shore. There is normally a group of snow geese with chicks here. The muskox like this area. It also has some of the biggest "trees" - Arctic Willow - all of 3/4 of a inch in diameter. After a lunch over looking the river, go upstream. Here the Cunninham is a deep gorge. There is a perigrince falcon next on the cliff. Day 10: Tuesday: Sea Kayaking
This morning, don the dry suits for kayaking. In the boats, paddle to the end of Cunningham Inlet. Here a small island is home to several hundred arctic terns who nest in the gravel. Eat a picnic on the shore, then paddle to an ancient Thule (Inuit) house. There winter homes were built with stones, moss, whale bones and skins. Low walls and big whale bones remain. On the way home, perhaps the whales will join you again, or perhaps you will see some seals. Day 11: Wesnesday: Polar Bear Tour
Today, departure is timed with the tides. Sneak by some cliffs on the shore, go out of Cunningham Inlet and turn east along the Northwest Passage. Here is perhaps the best chance to see a polar bear. The shore is dotted with huge bowhead whale bones left behind by he whalers and the Inuit. A low penninsula is home to many types of birds; snow geese, ducks, terns, loons, and sand pipers. Day 12: Thursday: Hike Above the Northwest Passge
This morning, take a short drive along the coast before leaving the bikes. Hike up the mountain over looking the Northwest Passage. The view looks over the water and pack ice. Icebergs drift in the Passage. In the distance, you'll see Cornwallis and Devon Islands. After a picnic lunch, head slowly home. Day 13: Friday: Gull Canyon and Muskox Ridge
This morning, take the Unimog, the ATVs or hike across the Cunningham River delta to Gull Canyon. As you enter the canyon the rocks are barrren - turn a corner and the rock walls are suddenly lush and green. Dozens of gulls swoop overhead and nest on the cliff walls. This spot was recently visited by the Canadian Wildlife Service, not only to view the gull rookery but also the presence of peregrine falcons. Their comments were that this spot is a unique and special micro-ecosystem. After a picnic lunch, hike over to the muskox ridge. This is an ideal place to sit and see the entire area, to feel the huge space that is "arctic". It is also a great spot to see herds of muskoxen. These pre-historic animals once walked with the mammoths. Day 14: Saturday: Your Choice
This is your last full day at Arctic Watch. By now you have visited many places and heard many stories. What do you want to do? More fishing? More whales? Sea kayaking? Arctic flowers? CAH will plan an outing based on your wishes to be sure that you have had the most extraodinary experience. Day 15: Sunday: Iqaluit
Today is your last day in the High Arctic. by now you are familiar with our corner of Somerset Island. There may be an activity that you missed during your stay (bad weather) or an activity you particularly enjoyed and want to repeat, such as a final visit to the whales, or see the muskox herd for a final time. Today, we do the activity that you want.
In the late afternoon the plane will arrive and take you back to Yellowknife. |
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