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From Alert, we flew southwest over the Ellesmere Island icecap, with dramatic views of glaciers and mountains. Our first stop was in the small hamlet of Eureka, which was founded as a weather station in central Ellesmere Island.
Andy really needed to catch up on sleep.
From here, we flew to Resolute, on Cornwallis Island. We then transferred to a slightly bigger plane and flew to Cambridge Bay, on Victoria Island. And then on a small jet to Yellowknife, North West Territories. We all got off, went through customs, got back on, and finally landed in Edmonton, Alberta. We stumbled into an airport hotel and konked out. The next day, we flew to Vancouver, British Columbia, and then took a limousine south to Seattle, Washington. (Don’t ask… it has to do with U.S. gov’t rules about flying into or out of the country on foreign carriers.) We arrived in style, 2 weeks after departure.
People asked me if it was a shock to experience air temperatures above freezing. Yes, that was nice, but by far the biggest shock was the riot of color that springtime in Seattle brings. The arctic is a wonderful, beautiful place… but in May, nature’s palette is mostly limited to blues, whites, and grays. |
