Herschel Island
It's 6:00am in Inuvik, and time for the last shower for the next 10 days, so I make it a good one! And then a final call to John to say “speak to you when we’re back.”
Bob and I arrive at Aklak Air at the Inuvik Airport, and meet Karl, our pilot for the day, and a part-owner of the airline. We're expecting a Twin Otter so that we can make one trip with all our supplies. However Karl tells us one of the skis from the Twin Otter has had to be flown to Calgary to be used on another Twin Otter that will be flying to the South Pole to rescue Dr Ronald Shemenski. It seems extraordinary that they are flying a Twin Otter from the Arctic to the Antarctic, but that’s the way it is!
So our transport is a Cessna, and 3 trips will be needed to move us, our gear, the dog food, people food, fuel and other supplies needed for our return leg from Herschel Island across the ice to Aklavik.
Karl tells the control tower to “wait 4 hours before beginning a search,” and away we go, flying between 500-1200 feet, with fantastic views of the Mackenzie River Delta and the area we will sled through next week. Leaving the coast we’re flying over sea ice, which looks reasonably flat from the air. But as we dip lower the pressure ridges become visible, and it is clear that there are some large jumbles of ice down there.
After 1½ hours we sight Pauline Cove at Herschel Island and see the huts, tents, dogs and the “airstrip” outlined with plastic bags. Karl makes a couple of passes over the airstrip and then heads out away from the Cove. He prefers a naturally “clear” area about 2 km from the huts, and down we go – a few bumps and then we stop. Not as bad as I thought! But Karl announces that we’ve broken the spring holding one of the skis to the plane, and his mood abruptly changes for the worse.
This is not surprising since it transpires that he has absolutely no tools with him, not even a wrench, and without the ski, he cannot take off, let alone land again on the ice. Rod and Steve come to the rescue, and the spring is repaired, and away Karl goes for the next load. It will be 9:00pm before the final load is delivered and then another couple of hours before it is all sorted and checked.
The landing site is about 2km from the cabins, and after my first of many snowmobile rides, we arrive at our home for the night. I meet David and also Larry Semmler, our Inuvialuit guide.
Herschel Island is an old whaling station and there are a number of huts which can be used in the summer and winter. One has been made into a sauna, and there is even an outhouse – so the basic luxuries remain with us for one more night. Dinner is steak with rice and corn, followed by Tim Tams, other chocs and the hand-carried bottle of Noble One – all thoroughly enjoyed.
The weather is somewhat clear, with a little wind, but not too cold, and so after dinner I venture out to explore the area close to the cabins. The sun is well above the horizon at 10:30pm, and makes wonderfully textured shadows on the snow. I wonder about polar bears and so don’t venture too far away. Then to bed.