Taking pictures of the community on
March 30 made me think of another place I hadn’t been to in many years: St.
Georges Society Cliffs. The last time I
walked along the top of these cliffs was in 2013. They’re commonly known as ‘The Cliffs’, most
likely because saying the official title all the time is exhausting. Similarly, we just say ‘King George’ instead
of King George V Mountain. I decided to
hike to The Cliffs on April 5. My skidoo
was in the shop being fixed so I didn’t have a choice.
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| Arctic Bay Airport |
I packed for a day trip. My essentials were: GPS, SPOT, batteries,
gun, ammunition, machete, binoculars, toilet paper, snacks, juice boxes, Ziploc
bags, matches, mirror, and a spare pair of gloves. I doubted I would encounter aggressive
wildlife, but you can never be sure.
I stepped outside, wearing my heavy
Canada Goose clothing. My backpack was
full and my .22 rifle was slung across my chest. The trigger & bolt locks would be removed
when I reached the outskirts of town. There
were some clouds in the sky but for the most part, the weather was all sun
& clear blue skies. I was wearing my
heavy clothing because I didn’t want to get stuck at The Cliffs, cold, and
underdressed. Even though it’s early
spring, the weather can still suddenly change, especially at higher altitudes.
I began my hike at 10:30am. The community was relatively quiet. I followed the road to Victor Bay, listening
to my boots crunching the snow on the ground.
A pickup truck drove by while I was near the top of the hill where the
road crests and can no longer be seen from Arctic Bay. I wondered if the driver saw my rifle and
assumed I was going hunting? I stopped
at the wooden iglutaq I previously photographed and removed the two locks on my
rifle. I loaded a magazine and checked
to make sure the safety was still on.
Now I was “packing heat”.
I walked across a frozen pond,
passed the spot where I slid down a hill, and ascended a snow-covered
slope. I’m not sure how much weight I
was carrying, but it felt like a lot. I
thought I would be a few pounds lighter by the end of the day. I continued walking south, looking at all the
rocks littering the snowy landscape. I
returned to the place where I photographed Arctic Bay on March 30. I took several more pictures.
I stopped next to a big rock to
catch my breath. I marked the large boulder
on my GPS as a future point of reference.
The GPS was also tracking my every move and displaying the path I was in
the process of creating. I continued
walking towards The Cliffs, the crunching sounds of snow being my only
companion. The second big rock I marked
on my GPS was on top of another hill. I
hiked up this hill by moving from one small rock to another so that I wouldn’t slip.
I knew I reached The Cliffs when I
saw an inuksuk sitting on top of a rock.
However, there was only one.
There were three inuksuks in 2013.
I was certain I was in the right place.
The natural elements must have knocked over the other two. I took a picture of the remaining inuksuk and
then began inspecting The Cliffs.
The Cliffs haven’t changed much in
the last 7 years. In fact, I don’t think
they have changed at all. The land
changes very, very slowly. The Cliffs
are still rocky and jagged. I walked
carefully and snapped as many pictures as I could. I also aimed my camera at the large pyramid
shaped mountain on the other side of Adams Sound. The Sound was completely frozen.
There
were two visible skidoo trails in Adams Sound.
Both began at Arctic Bay on my left but split into two different
directions. The first one extended diagonally
across the Sound towards Cape Cunningham while the second lay parallel to The
Cliffs. I spotted two skidoos driving
along the first trail. The second skidoo
was pulling a qamutik. The first skidoo
was way ahead of the second one. I
assumed the people down there were going camping / hunting. They were taking social distancing to the
extreme. I could still hear the engines
roaring along even though I was far away.
I sat down and rested for some time. The sun was still shining and the sky was mostly blue. The views of Adams Sound & Admiralty Inlet were great. There was a very light breeze in the air. Silence was omnipresent. It was just me & my thoughts. My Canada Goose clothing kept me quite warm. If I had stayed in that spot for a little while longer, I probably would have dozed off.
I
continued walking along the edge of The Cliffs and took more pictures. Suddenly, I spotted a large rock with a giant
crack down its centre. This was my first
time seeing this rock. I was perplexed as
to how this giant boulder could have broken into two pieces? Was it gravity or years & years of slow
erosion? I took a closer look at this
giant boulder before returning to photographing The Cliffs. Satisfied with the many pictures I collected,
I turned north, heading inland, towards the hill I ascended at the beginning of
the hike.
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| Victor Bay. |
The return walk took me across two small
frozen lakes and two rocky hills. I used
my GPS to guide me back to where I started.
The trail I created somewhat resembled an oval. Victor Bay came into view after an hour of
walking. I photographed the bay, noting
a long skidoo trail extending across the entire bay and beyond. The trail leads to the floe edge.
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| Victor Bay. |
A large white hare ran across the snow
when I entered the community. It stopped
several times to eat and look around. I
used these precious moments to photograph the animal. The last time I saw it was next to an orange
loader.
Overall, I enjoyed my hike to The Cliffs. I came, I saw, I photographed. The activity gave me the perfect excuse to go outside & get some exercise for a couple of hours. I didn’t have to worry about social distancing because I was alone.
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