Route

Route
Jonathan and Kirti Walpole's 950 km canoe journey across Northwest Territories and Nunavut in July and August of 2014

Day 20

Weather: Sunny, windy. Distance: 0 km
Location: Latitude:64.60683, Longitude:-98.49954 at 08/01/2014 14:42:29 PDT
Map link: Click here

We had a very windy night. The tent was flapping and buffeting so loudly that it was difficult to sleep. It is still windy today, and finally we have a break from the black flies. The wind is about 25 mph and coming from the west. There are lots of whitecaps on the lake, so we decided that this would be a good day for hiking. We are particularly well positioned for a hike up Peqetuaz Hill, which is very rugged and rocky with multiple layers of escarpments. It is one of the higher hills we have seen, at 237 meters.

The hike was excellent. We were able to keep our bug hoods down all day, which was a new experience for this trip. The views were excellent, and we even saw a lone muskox grazing not far from our camp. We also saw a caribou on the beach. The huckleberries and cloud berries were abundant and we gorged ourselves.

This sunny but windy weather was lovely. It actually felt like we were on vacation. By 4pm the wind dropped slightly and the black flies came out again. They were hitting our hoods hard and it sounded like it was raining.