Animal Trails

I started the trip on the lower fork of the Canning river. We walked for 8 days, across the continental divide towards the Arctic Ocean. The 24 hour sunlight, scale of the landscape, the numerous unnamed peaks and lakes we climbed have etched lasting images on my mind.

There were a lot of signs of warming in this part of the world. The willows they say have gotten 2-4 inches taller. The caribou that crossed over to the American Arctic now stays on the Canadian side. We did not see any bears. We saw one Caribou that had gotten seperated from the herd.

The most fascinating experience, of sight and smell was the blooming of the Indian potato. On day four its stayed sunny for a few hours in the late evening and the blooming pink with an overwhelming fragrance was everywhere. It happened in a moment but will remain in my memory for ever.