Ibex Valley yurt camp - 12 months earlier

I was relaxing in the main yurt in the Ibex Valley in the southern Yukon, having mushed in from Uncommon Journey’s homestead, 25 km away.  It was February 2000, and my 2nd day driving a team of 6 dogs as part of "Mushing 101."  

Rod Taylor was preparing dinner and telling me about a reconnaissance trip that he and Steve were planning for May, in the Arctic. His question was "would it be possible to take a group of people by dogsled across the sea ice from Herschel Island to Aklavik?"

Although having been thrilled by the experience of mushing through the trails near Whitehorse (glorious views between urgent corrections to avoid crashes), I really could not imagine doing anything more extreme than I’d just experienced.

A few months later, they had negotiated the first licence for the northern area of the Northwest Territories, Canada, and the description of the planned trip was on their website. It sounded compelling, even the section describing the delays due to exceptionally strong winds, and landing on the sea-ice at Herschel. The photos were enticing.  It was a new century,  I was building a new biotech company, raising capital.  I found myself looking at maps to work out exactly where Herschel Island is and searching the web for information on the area and the people. 

I e-mailed Rod to find out more. He assured me that the sledding was technically easier than we had experienced on the trails (a good start), and that I needed to be sure that I could work in the cold and stay in a tent for 24 hours or so if a storm blew up. By August my reservation was confirmed!  In April 2001, I would be on my way.