Resolute Bay refuel

Bucket-list marathon complete.  Just a few Arctic days remain.  No runners in the house.  Musk ox scientists, deep-ocean fishermen, fat tire-cyclists from Vancouver, couple über wealthy families & of course, our hosts & staff at the Camp.  Only my solar-charged iPhone remains for pics/videos.  Camera lost in an Arctic Ocean kayaking mishap.  Tough to image-capture musk oxen & polar bear far in the distance — but know they’re there, along with… Arctic white wolves, guides have been actively following.  Pack has pups.  Feeding on summer vermin, ptarmigan eggs & caribou.

Guides: hunters, skiers, fishermen.  ATV’d/hiked with the musk ox scientists for a day.  Read books in the Camp library.  Watched video/listened to stories from adventurers presenting on inclement (high wind/sleet) days.  Time’s a wastin’.  Most likely, my one & only Arctic Circle adventure.

Long run please.  Like… really long.  40 miles ‘cross Somerset Island.  I’ve studied/almost obsessed with maps.  I don’t have a death wish.  I’ve seen polar bear on the ice.  I’m wary, honest.  But… I WANT this.  Paid for evac insurance; they can drone-locate my body — no other human placed in danger.  24 hours of sunlight.  I’ll pack lite.  Eat/drink what I gather.  Back within a day.

Signed a waiver, packed a can of bear spray, BEGGED (no guide could match distance/15-hour goal).  And… my ‘spirit’ run began.  July 8th.  2022.  Aside from the physicality/joy of running & hiking — the opportunity to be alone, all alone… no human noise, no machines.  Just you, your brain/inward-outward talk for company.  Whatta amazing life treat!  Super appreciative.

10 days in: [like a] final exam in school.  Wildlife.  Edible plants.  Drinking snow melt.  Avoiding crevasses.  Canyon climbs. Ocean.  Boulders, wind-swept terrain.  Every bit of info sponged from folks staying at Camp — today, I’d recall stories, strange jargon, words read from books.

Life is meant to be lived.  I was here, inside the Arctic Circle.  Blessed.  I’ve lived an amazing adventure ❤️

Somerset Solo Hike (Part 1)

Somerset Solo Hike (Part 2)