Day: 62

Arrival into Baker Lake!

Temperature: -42F

Location: Baker Lake, Nunavut

Distance Traveled: Not reported

In Baker Lake. We had a really good day today. It was 42 degrees below zero Fahrenheit when we woke up, but it was actually a warm 42 below. The sun was out, and it was pretty calm. We traveled a long 25 mile day.

The wind picked up during the day, and the temperature rose to about 35 below. We saw the town about 17 miles away, around 11 a.m. This really put into perspective what we have done, traveling 780 miles from Yellowknife to this little speck of a town on the horizon. I have been at Baker Lake twice before, 1992 and 1980.

It was a long day getting in. We arrived just at dark. The windchills were extremely cold. We had a northeast wind against us, directly in our face, and the windchill was probably 80 below. But we had a really warm welcome. People came out on snowmobiles, and when we got into the village the trucks came out and little kids lined our path, waving, at 45 below.

We tucked our dogs away. Hugh and I are staying with a family, and the other four are in a hotel right now. I’m outside at the moment, and it is extremely cold. Green northern lights are in the sky.

We will be here for a whole week. We are leaving a week from today, on Monday morning. My main goal here is to interview the elders about what they have seen with the recent climate change. I’ve already set up a number of interviews.

We have been very well received. People are very respectful of what we have done, and entering a village like this with dogs is a way of getting in with the people. They automatically accepted us, everyone welcomed us.

I’ve got to run right now, my fingers are freezing. I won’t be doing journals for a while, but mostly dispatches over the phone. We will be recording and videotaping these interviews, which should be on the website in about ten days.