Out For A Walk . . . Again

Road to Victor Bay

In the days after Nunavut Quest, I prepared the country foods I acquired at the community feasts.  I did find some ideas on the Internet but in the end, it was a series of culinary experiments.  I started with the walrus meat, just boiling it in water for thirty minutes.  With a little added salt, the meat didn't taste that bad.  For the next experiment, I boiled one of the caribou pieces but added sliced onions, carrots, and celery to the mix.  I think the vegetables added flavour to the meat but I couldn't tell until I got rid of the strong gamey odor.  I probably should have cleaned out the frozen blood before putting the meat into the pot.  Lesson learned.  The third time was the charm because I wrapped the last caribou piece in bacon, sprinkled salt & pepper and then roasted it in the oven.  It tasted like bacon-wrapped steak.

            

What's over that hill . . . again?

On the morning of Saturday, May 4 (aka Star Wars Day), I woke up with a wanting to go somewhere.  It had been a month since I hiked to Victor Bay and I didn't want to pass the opportunity to enjoy the clear sunny weather.  I decided to hike up the hills behind my house and photograph the town below.  Just like my previous walk, I dressed warmly and brought along my camera, binoculars, and compass.  I left my place at around 10:15am. 

            

Rather than hike directly up the hills behind my place, I decided to approach them from the side.  This meant walking up the road to Victor Bay.  The snow on the road had completely melted, revealing a dark rocky path.  The long qamutiq I photographed a month earlier was no longer near the point where the road peaks at the top of a small hill.  Someone must have removed it a long time ago.

            

After walking several more metres, I turned around to take a photo of the sun.  Just like the first time, I was enveloped by complete silence.  I thought I could hear the sound of my clicking camera echoing off the snow-covered hills.  I moved off the dirt road, photographing a point marked by a tall stick.  A minute later, an Inuit man on a skidoo raced by, on his way to a cabin in Victor Bay.  When he was gone, I filmed a 360 degree panorama view of the surrounding landscape.  I was hoping to record the silence but when I reviewed the footage, the silence was drowned out by the soft sounds of light wind and the camera's background noise.

            

I continued moving to my left (west) trying to find the right slope that would lead me to a view overlooking Arctic Bay.  After a few minutes, I assumed I had found the right slope, and began a slow ascent to the top.  I stopped frequently to take pictures of the rocky hills.  There was still plenty of snow on the ground but with more patches of brown earth and black rocks.  The pinnacle iceberg I photographed back in late March was still out in Victor Bay.  Peering through my binoculars, it looked exactly the same as before. 

            

King George V Mountain - center left.

It didn't take long for me to realize that I had gone up the wrong hill.  When I reached the top, I came to a wide plateau littered with rocks.  I could see the top of King George V Mountain (KGVM) to my left and more hills straight ahead and to my right.  I sat down on a rock to rest for a few minutes.  I filmed another 360 degree panorama view of the surrounding landscape.  This time, I was able to record a few seconds of silence.  I thought about where I could go next.  I could walk towards KGVM, thus taking me back to town, or I could choose a new path.  I decided to choose a new 'uncharted' path by walking south west.  

            

After trekking up and down several slopes for some time, I spotted a very tall mountain in the distance.  I hadn't seen it before and it looked like a pyramid with a very wide base.  When I moved closer, I saw the frozen strait that connects Arctic Bay to the Northwest Passage by boat.  What surprised me was the land up ahead had suddenly stopped.  Taking several more steps revealed that I had arrived at a line of cliffs.  To my far left, I noticed three tall figures standing at the edge of the cliffs, appearing to be looking out over the strait.  Through my binoculars I could see that they were three inukshuks.  To my right, I noticed an inward 'v' formation in the cliffs.  I headed towards the formation to see how steep the cliffs were.

            

The cliffs are steep and jagged.  If you go over the edge, you're not coming back.  The rock formations in the 'v' opening reminded me of The Three Sisters, a famous rock formation in the Blue Mountains region.  I visited this part of Southern Australia back in 2010 with my family.  (You can read about it here).  Daring myself, I lay down on the ground at certain points and peered over the edges.  I'm not sure how high I was, but the drop had to be at least 200 feet.  As I stood up, I could hear and see several ravens flying around.  They were most likely wanting me to drop food on the ground but I hadn't brought any.                              

            

I walked along the edge of the cliffs towards the three inukshuks.  I gazed at the frozen strait below, amazed by its sheer size and flatness.  An entire city could be built on the frozen ice.  Upon reaching the inukshuks I photographed them from different angles.  Their design and structure were impressive.  Leaving them behind, I continued walking east, making sure not to slip and fall.  I looked back a few times to see how far the cliffs went.  They appeared to go on for several kilometres.  Now I knew where the photos for Nunavut Tourism were taken.   

            

Aside from snow, the other endless feature of the north is rocks.  The majestic landscape is just littered with rocks in many different shapes, sizes, and colours.  The Nunavut Government could make a lot of money exporting rocks for landscaping projects down south.  The very large rocks that stand out can be used as points of reference.

            

Upon reaching the end of the cliffs, I could see all of Arctic Bay: the airport, KGVM, the Industrial Area (aka Gas Station), the road to Nanisivik, and of course, the town.  After photographing each area, I took a closer look through my binoculars.  I spotted a water truck heading towards the airport.  I followed it, wanting to see if its destination was the airport or the refilling point.  The water truck passed the turnoff to the airport and continued driving for another kilometre before stopping at a small shed near a secluded lake.  So this is where the town gets its water, I thought to myself.  After enjoying the breathtaking views, I began my walk back to town.  I was able to get some pictures of the entire town before I exhausted the battery in my camera.

            

Road to the landfill.

A lone pair on a skidoo.

The hill I was walking on had two slopes.  I descended the first slope which brought me halfway down the hill.  I passed the town's cemetery, which is a collection of crosses and inukshuks.  The cemetery is marked by a tall white cross but I was unable to see it from where I was standing.  Rather than walk all the way back to the road to Victor Bay, I decided to walk down to the cemetery road.  The second slope was a little steeper and slippery.  To maintain my balance and grip on the snow, I moved from rock to rock while I made my descent.  Once safely on the cemetery road, I walked back to my house.  The time was 2:30pm when I closed the front door behind me. 

            

My four-hour hike was scenic and fun even though I never reached my original destination.  Instead, I discovered the western cliffs and plateaus of Arctic Bay and documented them with my camera.  And yet, there is still so much more to discover.