A year ago, I returned from my first prospecting trip, which was made possible by a friend with a keen sense of adventure. Well, him, and the Nunavut Prospectors Program, which is a program that offers funding and training to venturesome Nunavummiut exploring for minerals in the territory.

A day ago, I returned from my second prospecting trip. And while both trips were premised on the same basic activity of collecting rocks (but also all the other fun things that come along with a camping trip), this year’s was particularly memorable.

This weekend was one of those weekends that makes you sigh and think to yourself, “gosh, I love Nunavut.”

Here are some photos and stories that I hope will show you why.

This is our guide, Ted.
Ted drove his boat from Churchill, Manitoba to Iqaluit, Nunavut, graduated from the Environmental Technology Program, and sewed his own Thermos cozies so we *always* had hot drinks.
Without him, our trip wouldn’t have happened.
Without him, we may not have come back (but more on that later…).

 

Home sweet home for three days and two nights.

 

Clay, a.k.a. Camp Cook, kept our bellies full for three days, which is quite the feat considering the voracious appetites of us hikers. He also looks rather majestic flipping pierogies in the glow of the late evening sun.

 

After dinner, Ted showed us some neat rocks – ones that didn’t involve sampling or recording. The rocks formed a circle, indicating a history of Inuit land use in the area from long ago.

 

Sunset stroll along the shoreline.

 

 

What’s camping without a camp fire?
With little to burn on the tundra, we hauled some firewood from Iqaluit.
And by firewood, I mean pallets.

 

Toasty tent or awesome aurora? One of life’s better problems.

 

#IWokeUpLikeThis

 

Team Meta Incognita – Andrew, Lou, Clay, me – setting out on a day’s hike in search of diamonds and gold.

 

Nunavut’s geomorphology at it’s best: remote alpine lakes next to impossibly steep fjords.

 

When we returned to camp, Ted was laying on the tundra cleaning his fingernails with a sharp knife.
Lou said, “Ted. You look bloodier than when we left you.”
Ted just smiled and nodded his head in the direction of the beach below.
I peered over the edge and saw what we later found to be the first caribou hunted on Baffin Island in over nine months.
With the caribou moratorium recently lifted, Ted took advantage of the nearby wildlife. He later delivered caribou meat to over thirty people when he returned to Iqaluit.

 

That reflection though.

 

Self portrait. I call this one “Sara Silhouette.”

 

My dream come true and my worst nightmare all at the same time.
After two days of being “bear aware” on our trip, this little guy came poking around our camp not even thirty minutes before we started heading back to Iqaluit.
Thank goodness for our vigilant guide, Ted, who gave us a heads up. Via gunshot.
We watched the polar bear eat the entrails from the caribou Ted shot the day before, then boated back to town – luckily unscathed.

 

Heading back to Iqaluit a little heavier than when we left.
Caribou meat, shed caribou antlers, and a whole lot of rocks.