N E WS STORY AND PHOTOS BY JIM BAIRD
JOURNEY DOWN THE REMOTE KUUJJUA RIVER REVEALS DANGER AND HISTORY
ARCTIC MEN
The dream began in late February 2007,when I picked up a book at an Inuit art shop. Already having a passion for canoeing and remote rivers, the epic journeys in Ernie Lyall’s An Arctic Man hijacked my thoughts. It was years later that my brother and I finally set out on a five-
week expedition on one of the most remote rivers in the world—the Kuujjua, a river that was located near many of Lyall’s adventures during his 65 years living with the Inuit people. We wanted to experience a small part of what life was like during
Lyall’s time before climate change permanently changes the North. Well-versed in the history of exploration and hardship in the area, little did we know that we’d soon face an adventure of similar pro- portions to An Arctic Man. The Kuujjua’s trout-choked waters flow west from the interior of
Victoria Island and pour into the Beaufort Sea. After completing 220 river miles, our plan was to paddle 70 miles on the tempestuous ocean, finishing at the community of Ulukhaktok, NWT. Thick lake ice remained despite a mid-July fly-in date. Low river
levels meant starting our journey by dragging our heavily loaded, collapsible canoe for 18 miles—two full two days. We dragged until we wore holes in the bottom of our boat and our Achilles burned. While patching the holes on the Packboat, my thoughts drifted to
Lyall’s stories and his long treks by dogsled with the Hudson’s Bay Company—I found myself relating to the labors of his dog team. For 220 miles we were surrounded by desolate cliffs and rugged
canyons. We saw caribou and musk oxen daily and spent a day being tracked by a wolf pack until a bear banger scared them away. As we neared the coast, the weather took a turn. Upon reaching the mouth of the river and Minto Inlet’s high cliffs, we found white- caps breaking to the horizon. With freezing rain stinging our faces we decided to wait for a break in the weather in an abandoned cabin. Four days later the weather had still not broken. With only five days left to complete our 70-mile ocean route and not knowing how much sea ice would stand in our way, Ted and I grew restless. It was now or never. We loaded up our canoe and headed out into the waves wearing dry suits and with satellite phone, GPS, survival gear and colored smoke signals waterproofed and strapped to our bodies. After inching through 10-foot swells for an hour we had only
made it three-quarters of a mile and we were running out of gas. A small break in the cliffs was a welcome shelter—the waves surfed our canoe into shore, but then pounded it against the rocky shore, tearing the outer skin while bending and breaking its internal frame. Ted and I were both swimming in the ocean, frantically trying to unload our boat so we could lift it out before it was damaged more. A satellite phone call that night revealed that the R.C.M.P. office
in Ulukhaktok, our final destination, was also getting pounded by the storm—there was no way any one could get us until the weather broke. We’re not religious men, but we both prayed that night. The next morning the winds had calmed. We sprung into action,
patching the boat and splinting the broken frame with a tarp pole. Unsure of how long the good weather would last, Ted and I paddled the remaining 64 miles of coast in 36 hours, arriving ahead of schedule. In the traditional Inuit community of Ulukhaktok, we talked with
some of the older people and heard stories that rivaled Lyall’s in An Arctic Man. Though technology has rapidly changed the north, the Arctic remains a place where true adventure still lives. I hope it remains that way.
16 PADDLING MAGAZINE
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