The Floe Edge

The floe edge up ahead

Well, after so many weekends of bad weather; poor visibility, extreme cold, blizzard, … we finally managed to get to the legendary floe edge. I have been waiting for this event ever since the ice had started to form on the Hudson Bay in early November. Especially after reading a book called The Arctic Dream, which was given to me generously by a good friend from Vancouver. It is incredible to see, hear and experience the extremely harsh yet beautiful setting. It is basiacally a temporary ecosystem that supports many forms of life for two third of each year.

Steam rising from the open water surrounded by cold ice and air

We, my roommate Andy and our two local friends Shon and Michael, set out on two snowmobiles and two Qamutiks. Shon was driving his snowmobile with his kayak on a Qamutik, while Andy and I were on another Qamutik towed by Michael's snowmobile. It was rather a decent day to head out, -35 and wind of about 30-40km/hr, compared to -60ish we have had and are having these days. It felt pretty comfortable in the beginning, but then the bone chilling cold began to bite. When we returned home, after three hours, we found out that the windchill was -55. 

Our ride to the Floe Edge

The distance to the edge of the sea ice was about 9km, which took us only about 15-20 minutes to get there. The ice was relatively flat, hence a comfortable ride. There were mini hills and ridges of ice but mostly flat but very hard, almost like concrete, snow packed on about a meter of sea ice. The ice that is connected to the land is known as Land Fast Ice or simply Fast Ice. The ice that forms further out, and is free to move is known as Drift or Pack Ice. Not surprisingly(Tundra is known as the northern desert) there isn't much snow on the ground around here, but what we have wont melt and gets blown from place to place. The snow is so hard that most snowmobiles go through a few tracks each winter, making it an expensive way to get around!

The edge of Fast Ice

Although the Fast Ice forms about 10-15km from the shore every year, it takes years of experience to know where is safe to go and where it is risky. Not an easy task for untrained and inexperienced to tell the difference between different forms of ice. It is almost impossible to believe that where one stands can be a meter or more of ice where as a few steps forward may be as thin as a few centimetres, as our friend Shon pointed that to us very eloquently. He simple leaned forward from where we were sitting and started punching the ice beyond a ridge we were hiding behind. Sure enough the ice broke, and water started gushing to the surface. I am sure we would have been in lots of trouble had we ventured to the floe edge on our own without Shon and Michael. It is very comforting to know how good, generous, knowledgable, and extremely resilient our Inutit friends are. We sure hit the jackpot with them!  

A flock of Eider ducks out on the edge of the Pack Ice

I should repeat again that how much respect I have for anyone and anything that lives and survives out here. I can not even begin to imagine how difficult and challenging life must have been in the North in the old time. On the edge of the ice we came across a fox that was probably following polar bears for its winter sustenance. Many arctic fox follow polar bears out on the ice for scraps. We didn't see any polar bears though, luckily. Unfortunately it was too cold for me to snap a photo of the fox. Once out there, I prioritize events I photograph in order to keep my hands in relatively comfortable condition. Having said that, my hands and feet were burning with pain for 15 minutes once I got back home.

Eider duck

I was told that my heavy duty synthetic mitts wont do the trick up here, and I am finally beginning to realize that. A friend has made me a pair of mitts from beaver skin (for free) and it just might be the answer to my Raynaud's syndrome problems. It feels as though you are inside the house, almost no effects of cold what so ever. I have worn it a few times, and am very pleased with it. Can't wait to try them out on a long outing.

My new favorite possession, beaver mitts

We set a make shift camp right on the edge of the Fast Ice with our Qamutiks, and began the long wait to spot seals. Shon and Michael threw two muskox skins on the ice right next to the Qamutiks to sit on and use the Qamutiks as windbreaker and a back rest. I tried to keep warm by getting up once in a while, moving around, which I am sure wasn't the best strategy for spotting and hunting seals! There were hundreds of Eider ducks hanging on the edge of a Pack Ice and swimming in a Lead beyond it, about 40 metres in front of us. The Lead was about a couple of hundred metres wide and about a kilometres or so long. One can not help but notice how everything is so alive out there. The ice is constantly on the move. You can hear slabs crashing down or hills rising up constantly. The sound of ice is very loud as though there is a snow mobile driving by or cars of a train crashing into each other.  

Eider ducks swimming in the Lead just ahead

It didn't take long for the large Lead to disappear right before our eyes. It took less than two hours for different slabs of pack ice to come together and completely close the Lead. In fact that was the reason Shon suddenly decided we had to pack up and leave the Floe Edge. There are hundreds of stories of people getting caught on pack ice drifting away from the shore, with no realistic chance of rescue. The history of the Arctic exploration, adventure, ... is filled with people disappearing on ice, some with tragic ending. 

The ice here has its advantages too. We have been using fresh water lake ice for our drinking water. Locals tell me once you drink this water you'll never want to drink the tap water, which surprisingly enough gets delivered daily by a truck from the same fresh water lake! They are right though, and I am beginning to love the crisp, tasty, densly packed ice. Everything from tea, coffee, smoothies, and ice water taste better with the new source of water.

My friend Shon(in orange) breaking ice from a fresh water lake for drinking water