Don's Blog Back to the Passage - Heading West

Leaving Gjoa Haven we followed the path of Amundsen through the Simpson Strait. This is the passage between the Adelaide Peninsula on the Canadian mainland and King William Island. 

 The Simpson Strait is 40 miles long and 2-10 miles wide.

We traversed  the Queen Maude Gulf, and circled the northern shore of the  Kent Peninsula which is almost totally surrounded by water. It is separated from the mainland by the Melville sound. To the north is the Dease Strait and Victoria Island. To the west is the Coronation Gulf. The northwest tip is Cape Flinders. About 25 miles from this is Point Turnagain reached by John Franklin from the west on his land exploration of 1821. It is where he turned back to the west.

Turning south we passed numerous rocky islands going into Bathurst Inlet. We took the Zodiacs ashore on the western side of Baillie Bay of Arctic Sound just below  the mouth of the Hood River.

We felt we had been in "town" too long and were happy to get our boots on the land. It was pure tundra and pure delight.

There were fresh tracks on the beach.

Wolf

and a new bear -  the Grizzly

and some others that maybe you could help identify.

After a delightful aimless walk on a sunny afternoon we headed back.  There is nothing more compelling than the endless tundra of the high arctic stretching to the sea.