Arctic Adventure on Land and at Sea

Vacationing in the rugged chill of Arctic Canada might not seem like a peaceful vacation, but as Margie Goldsmith points out in her article, "Running a Marathon in the Canadian Arctic, even far up north where you only picture snow and ice, you can find adventure. She took a cruise ship, Cruise North to tour the beautiful arctic. I would love to take this trip despite the chill, for the experience of a life time, learning about history not taught in classes, seeing whales, icebergs, and more.

I’d signed on partly because the cruise promised icebergs, beluga whales, musk ox, walrus and polar bears, and partly because Cruise North is an Inuit-owned tour operator with Inuit staff onboard, and we’d be stopping at Inuit villages along the way; but mainly because midway through the voyage, there’d be a 26.2-mile marathon to be held on top of a 3,000-foot-high fjord.

Churchill is the polar bear capital of the world, our bus driver/guide said, but that’s in the fall when polar bears migrate out to the ice; this was July. That was one surprise. Another was that the temperature here was 90 degrees Fahrenheit, not the 50-degree average for July.

“They are thought to be ancestors of Native American Indians. The early ancestors of the Inuit are believed to have crossed the Bering Straight 10,000 years ago, migrating from the area currently known as Mongolia. It seems unfathomable to think all the world’s people simply went about roaming the earth ceaselessly. Yet, the logistics of such a migration offer a realistic perspective. The circumference of the earth is approximately 40,000 kilometers (about 25,000 miles)."

There were no spectators, but Inuit volunteers from Kangiqsujuaq, a village three hours away, had come out early to build Inutshuks out of rocks at each kilometer marker. They manned the water spots every four miles, and cheered us on. The average time was four hours and change. I was out much longer because I hurt my foot on a rock. That left me little choice but to walk the entire second half of the race.

The Perfect De-Stresser Vacation

Being a woman, and in need of a vacation i saw Bonnie Way's article, "Jasper, Alberta: A Great Girlfriend Getaway." The beautiful scenery set a sence of tranquility as i was reading her story. I am desiring a getaway just like this after her explanations of the beautiful scenery, getting away from exams to enjoy outdoors instead of stuffing our noses in our studies. Bonnie Way sold me on the trip to Jasper, Atlanta for sure.

“It’s too bad we’ll be driving the most scenic part of the highway at night.”
We’d miss most of the mountains that made the last hour’s drive between the park gate and the town of Jasper so beautiful.But as our truck followed the curves of the highway through the mountain valleys, I realized how wrong I’d been. A full moon hung low in the sky, casting its silver glow over the snow-capped mountains, wide rocky riverbeds, and smooth ice-bound lakes.

A short bridge took us across to an island on the lake, dotted with picnic tables and benches for best viewing the scenery around the lake. In March, the bridge wasn’t necessary -- the lake was frozen solid and we could have walked out to the island. Smooth, white snow spread out for miles around us, stretching across to the foot of the mountains rising on the far edge of the lake.

Some hikers before us had made a snowman on the lake, who grinned merrily towards the bridge while pointing one stick hand up at the mountains over his shoulder. The early afternoon sun brought out the shadows and contours of the snow covering the peaks and made the snow on the lake into a million pieces of cubic zirconium sparkling at us.

As we rambled back along the trail, lost in our thoughts, I caught sight of a large elk standing just up the hill from the trail.“Don’t look left, Carrie,” I said in an even voice as I reached for the camera on my belt. Big animals made her nervous, and so Dawn and I kept up a smooth, rambling conversation, just to let the elk know we were there, while we continued our even pace past him. Another curve in the trail made us pause at the sight of nearly half a dozen more elk. Instead of heading to the trailhead at a parking lot near the Jasper Activity Center, we decided to take a shortcut straight down the hill and back into town, leaving the elk to peacefully munch whatever dry grass they could find.

Athabasca Falls is another popular tourist destination, crowded with tour buses in the summer, but virtually abandoned in March. Here we found more ice than other places we’d hiked, because of the spray from the waterfall. The steps and walkways were icy, particularly the stairs which were no longer stairs but instead a slide.The falls themselves had frozen into icy white formations, with turquoise-green water bubbling and churning in small holes, hinting at the spring to come. Though it was much less water than usually flows through the falls, it had worn the ice as smooth as the rocks around it that had been polished by thousands of years of water.

A Canadian Escape - Anticosti Island

Finding the perfect escape can mean simply talking a hike through nearby woods, or traveling off to the end of the earth in search of adventure. An article I found online could be useful if you are one of those looking to go far away. It discusses Anticosti Island which can be found north of the United States, in Quebec, Canada. So if adventure, peace and quiet, and a great get-a-way are on your travel list, check out more below from Anticosti Island: Quebec's Best Kept Secret

Anticosti is one of the best kept secrets of North America for travelers who appreciate nature and want to get away from stress, noise, rush, traffic,and poluted air. This island, at the mouth of the great St. Lawrence River where it forms the Gulf of St. Lawrence at the Atlantic Ocean, is the perfect discovery for anyone seeking crisp, cool, pristine nature, quietude, clean fresh air, glorious clear skies or mystical fog, hundreds of kilometers of driving on excellent gravel roads with no other vehicles for hours. You'll experience breathing deeply the Christmas scent of evergreen forests, listening to whitecaps lapping the sandy coast, finding intact shells that are impossible to find on crowded beaches, fishing in glass-clear pure rivers, diving beneath waterfalls, hiking deep canyons, photographing huge limestone cliffs and brilliant sunrises.

Anticosti is 8,000 square km, one-third larger than the well-known Prince Edward Island, and is also about the size of Rhode Island, but only 265 people live there year-round.

In 1534 Jacques Cartier, the first explorer, thought he had discovered the Northwest Passage when he navigated the largest of the many rivers on Anticosti. Later this was named Jupiter River. Cartier thought that peat bogs were rich farmlands and encouraged settlers to come, but they quickly discovered that peat bogs will not grow any crops. Settlements became ghost towns.

Residents know, love and care for each other. A resident told us, "Everyone here, including tourists, follow the golden rule, so it works." The island has long been a favorite place for hunting deer and fishing, especially for salmon. Now adventure and outdoor travelers can enjoy exploring the island any time of year. Travel agents offer value-priced packages, which include your transportation from Quebec mainland and, when you arrive in Anticosti, a four-wheel drive vehicle with your personal driver/guide, very clean accommodations or outfitted camping facilities, and fabulous meals.

For more information about Anticosti Island, visit Real Travel Adventures