Flying across the tundra on our way to Paulatuk, a community of about 300 on the edge of the arctic ocean.
After all the excitement of getting on the plane to Paulatuk, Sydney gets comfortable.
The hamlet of Paulatuk, population about 320, at sunset.
Andie join me for a hike a Paulatuk to film for the evening.
An arctic ground squirrel in Paulatuk near where we camped on our first night. After arriving in town, we were spared the trouble of pitching our own tent when a local couple Marlene and Hank brought their new double wall tent down to the beach for us to stay in. The hosptality of the folks here was really overwhelming.
The cute little ground squirrel, locally called a "Sik-sik".
Pumping some morning water before we were offered access to some local taps.
Janet and our first guide Steve Illisiak chat about the trip on an evening tour around Paulatuk.
Sunset at Paulatuk.
Our journey into the Brock River canyons began with an hour long boat ride to a local fish camp. Just before arrived on shore, we noticed this really neat lighting; kind of like a white rainbow hugging the water.
Arriving at a local fish camp, where guides Jonah and Steve were meeting us with ATVs to bring us and all our gear to the Brock River. The people of Paulatuk truly live off the land in many ways, and subsistence fishing and hunting for species like Arctic Char and Caribou form the bulk of their food year round. The warm greetings were accompanied by a warm coffee, and we visited for a while before moving on.
Inuvialuit lady cleaning a goose at the fish camp. Turns out there's more to a fish camp that fish!
On our long trek to the Brock River Canyon, I stopped as the scenery began to change to get some footage.
Though the big migrations hadn't begun while we were on the land, we did come across a few caribou here and there.
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Fog that kept us from leaving early that day, and a flat tire on Jonah's trailer, meant that we had to camp short of our destination. The fog returned again that evening creating some great lighting.
Janet takes a break by the tent before turning in. At this point it's past midnight.
Some of the scenery the next morning around "Camp 1".
Incredible amounts of rock, most like gravel, cover the region. It''s amazing that wildlife can endure these harsh conditions. In the background is our "Camp 1".
Jonah rejoins us after heavy fog separated us for some time.
Jonah, one of the most experienced people on the land from Paulatuk, brings the girls up a steep hill after we had all crossed the valley in the background. This was just a small part of the 72km that we travelled by ATV to get into the Brock River Canyon will all our gear.
The girls enjoying the ride!
After a long, but incredible ride in, we arrive at the Brock River, just west of where it enters Tuktut Nogait National Park.
One of the many Peregrine Falcons that call the Brock canyons their home.
The sun catches the far side of the canyons.
This photo shows the scale of the incredible area quite well. If you look closely, you can see a speck of yellow, which was the tent that Jonah slept in.
The stunning view from near our camp.
Looking up the Brock River from a great vantage point that I hiked down to.
Balancing rock caught in the light.
The sun goes down behind our tent as Jan gets things ready for bed.
The sun sets on our camp on a plateau at the Brock River. The great thing about the arctic sunset is that it seems to take forever for it to actually go down. Time: about 12:30 am.
Jonah husky dog backlit by the setting sun. He was our grizzly bear alarm system.
After some heavy rain and then fog locked us down for a couple of days, Jonah joined us in our Eureka Tunnel Vision tent (half is sleeping area, the other half vestibule), to share coffee and lunch, while some clothes tried to dry out.
Lunch is almost served!
While stuck inside the tent during the bad weather, I couldn't resist beginning a painting of Jonah and his big pot of coffee.
Jonah point out a piece of history on the land... likely a food cache of some kind from generations ago.
A massive storm front moves in on us, and then hits like a freight train. Our tent was near the edge of the cliff, for the view of course, and some very tense moments ensued. After, we reset camp back a ways.
The winding Brock River.
Light play.
Multi step cliffs line the valley walls.
The beautiful Brock River as it flows out of the canyon.
The grayling were very co-operative to flies and spinners. And what a background!
Steve, our much needed guide in this huge country, and real nice guy, with his first fly rod caught grayling.
Jan and the girls enjoying dinner by the Brock River.
