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Home , Beechey Island, Bellot Strait, Dundas Harbour, Greenland, James Ross Strait, Northwest Passage

Out of the September 5 - September 21, 2015 aboard the Ocean Endeavour

An iconic journey, the Northwest Passage remains an adventure today. Leaving , we head east, traversing en route to , where Amundsen honed his polar skills. Passing through , we watch for , , and . At Beechey we pay our respects at the Franklin Graves. On , we visit the ruins of the Dundas Harbour RCMP and HBC posts, before calling in at ’s most northerly community, Aujuittuq ().

Continuing into the wilds of we expect ice, ice and more ice! We trace the routes of famous explorers such as Rasmussen and Peary as we call in at ’s northernmost community of Qaannaq. Sailing south admist towering , we’ll witness calving , explore deep fiords and visit the UNESCO world heritage site of the Icefjord. In remote waterways, weather, and ice conditions, and safety will determine our daily progress. Our actual route may vary from the proposed one. From $8,995 USD per person For full pricing details see Page 52 HIGHLIGHTS Out of the Northwest Passage

• Travel the route that obsessed explorers for centuries • Enjoy the legendary hospitality of vibrant communities • Find and photograph the wild creatures of the Arctic wilderness • Experience the Arctic with our expert artists, lecturers and hosts

PROPOSED ITINERARY

Day 1: Kugluktuk (Coppermine), Day 2: Day 3: Gjoa Haven Day 4: Bellot Strait Day 5: Fort Ross Day 6: Day 7: Day 8: Devon Island Day 9: Aujuittuq (Grise Fiord) Day 10: Smith Sound Day 11: , Greenland Day 12: Kap York Day 13: Day 14: Karrat Day 15: Ilulissat Day 16: Day 17: , Greenland

Northbound Southbound Pre and post hotel nights are available Edmonton, Alberta to Kugluktuk, Kangerlussuaq, Greenland to Toronto, in Edmonton and Toronto on request. Nunavut Ontario Charter flights are available Date: September 21, 2015 Overnight accommodation in Toronto for this expedition. Date: September 5, 2015 recommended. Early evening arrival Early morning departure Roundtrip: $2,195.00 USD per person inclusive of taxes and fees. EXPEDITIONS 45 Dear Adventure Canada:

There’s nothing like you. Really nothing.

Graeme Gibson and I don’t go on tours or cruises, as a rule. But we were lured by the promise of seeing the Arctic in a way that can’t be done up close and over a wide except on a boat. And we were lured to Adventure Canada in particular by its mix of expertise, informality, and humour.

That must be why Adventure Canada attracts so many multi-trippers: the experience it offers is profound, but it’s also entertaining. It takes its subject matter seriously, but not itself. That, to me, is deeply Canadian: we don’t suffer stuffed shirts gladly.

It’s been not only a pleasure but an honour to travel with your various resource people over the years: each one a fund of information and skill, each one a joy to know.

And how else would I ever have been able to write a murder story set on a in the Arctic, with a 1.0 billion year old stromatolite as the murder weapon? The story is “Stone Mattress” (New Yorker, 2011), and it’s the title story of my forthcoming collection for fall 2014.

Very much looking forward to and in the summer of 2014 and Out of the Northwest Passage in 2015 (“Ah For Just One Time”…thank you Stan Rogers) next summer.

Going up North in this way will change your mind forever. So thank you, Adventure Canada. I’m a different person because of you. (But who? And while you were at it, couldn’t you have made me 21 and a blonde?)

Very best,

Margaret Atwood

Join Margaret on our Out of the Northwest Passage expedition 2015 Out of the Northwest Passage ITINERARY DETAILS

Day 1: Kugluktuk (Coppermine), Day 3: Gjoa Haven Day 5: Fort Ross Nunavut In 1903, explorer , while Fort Ross is an uninhabited former trading Located at the mouth of the Coppermine looking for the Northwest Passage, sailed post in the of Nunavut, river to southwest of Victoria Island on the through the James Ross Strait and stopped Canada. Founded in 1937 it was the last Coronation Gulf, Kugluktuk is the western at a natural harbour on the island’s south trading post to be established by the most community in Nunavut. . Unable to proceed due to sea ice, he Hudson’s Bay Company. spent the winters of 1903-04 and 1904-05. Originally named Coppermine, it was Situated on the Bellot Strait at the renamed Kugluktuk according to its There he learned Arctic living skills from southeastern end of Somerset Island, it Inuinnaqtun name meaning “place of the local , skills that would was operational for only eleven years moving waters”, on January 1st, 1996. later prove invaluable in his as the severe ice conditions rendered it . He used his ship Gjøa as a uneconomical and difficult to access. This The Coppermine River itself is designated a base for explorations in the summer of left the island uninhabited. The former store Canadian Heritage River for the important 1904, sledding the and was recently refurbished and strengthened, role it played as an and fur travelling to the magnetic . and is still used as a shelter by Inuit caribou . deposits along the river hunters from , and as a refuge for attracted the first explorers to the area. Amundsen finally left, after 22 months on researchers and small boat travellers passing the island, in August 1905. The harbour through. Because the is close to the , where he lived is now the island’s only a variety of wildlife can be viewed in the settlement, Gjøa Haven, which he called Day 6: area, including grizzly bears, wolverines ‘the finest little harbour in the world.’ The tall cliffs of Prince Leopold Island are and moose, as well as tundra wildlife, such one of the top bird sites in the High Arctic as muskoxen, caribou, foxes and wolves. Today the population has blossomed from both during the breeding and summering 110 in 1961 to 1, 279 in 2011. seasons. It is a breeding site for Thick- Day 2: Kitlineq (Victoria Island) Billed Murre, Black-legged , The eighth largest island in the world, Day 4: Bellot Strait , , and Black Victoria Island is found on the border Bellot Strait marks the first meeting of the Guillemot. It was beneath these tall cliffs, between Nunavut and the Northwest and Pacific tides north of Magellan that Sir , perhaps the . The main community to be Strait. Suprisingly, the strait was missed by greatest polar explorer of the 19th century, found here is , with a John Ross and wasn’t discovered until 1852 was based in 1848-49. Ross’s 1848- population of just over 1,000. Depending on by William Kennedy, who named the strait 49 expedition in search of the Franklin conditions, we may stop at the community after his second-in-command, Joseph-Rene expedition was not successful; they spent or make an outdoor expedition stop. Bellot. a frustrating winter locked by ice in on the northeast coast of Somerset recently announced a new initiative to locate Day 9: Aujuittuq (Grise Fiord) Island and returned to England the following the missing Franklin vessels. Aujuittuq means ‘place that never thaws.’ summer. It was also from this area that Sir That’s apt for this peaceful hamlet, 1,150km John Ross (James’s uncle) escaped in 1833 Day 8: Devon Island above the - Canada’s northernmost after abandoning the Victory and spending The largest uninhabited island in the world civilian community. We’ll be welcomed by the four harrowing winters in the Arctic. supports significant concentrations of wildlife, population of about 165 souls. including 26 species of and 11 Day 7: Beechey Island species of marine mammals. Our activities will centre on the school where In 1845 Sir took his expedition we will have a chance to meet members of the of 129 men in two ships into the Wellington At Dundas Harbour we find the lonely community and learn about their way of life. Channel. Not a soul returned from the fateful remains of an RCMP station dating from the expedition. It was two years before search 1920s. We have also spotted walrus, polar Day 10: Smith Sound parties were launched. Aside from the bodies of bear, muskox and caribou here. We will spend a day exploring north into this three souls buried here, only relics were found fabled body of water that served as the main as clues to the disappearance. Until recently, At nearby , we have a chance route for explorers and adventurers searching the three graves had left no indication as to the to Zodiac cruise though this scenic bay and for the North Pole. , Sir George fate of the rest of the British party. Such is the marvel at icebergs, freshly calved from the Nares and all travelled these interest in this story, the Canadian government at the head of the bay. waters with varying degrees of success. The Sound was named by his achievements on the . Sailors’ and Our visit will include time in the colourful after Sir , promoter of ships’ logs record multiple climbs of the town and a chance to hike out to an elevated voyages to find a Northwest Passage. cape in order to survey the ice conditions in viewpoint where we can observe the great Qimusseriarsuaq. fields of ice. We will also cruise in our fleet Only 48-72km wide and 88km long, Smith of zodiacs in the UNESCO World Heritage Sound is often packed with ice and provides Day 13: Melville Bay Site of the . favourable conditions for wildlife viewing. Melville Bay (Greenlandic: Qimusseriarsuaq), is a large bay off the The Icefjord is where we find the Sermeq Day 11: Qaannaq coast of northwestern Greenland. Located to Glacier, one of the most active and Artistic talent runs high in this most the north of the Archipelago, it fastest moving in the world at 19m per day northern community, and visitors are often opens to the south-west into . Its and calving more than 35 square kilometers in search of the distinct art pieces that are Kalaallisut name, Qimusseriarsuaq, means of ice annually. The glacier has been the created here. One of the hardest places to “the great dog sledding place”. object of scientific attention for 250 years. reach in the Arctic, it is easiest to visit by ship. Not only is it the northernmost civilian Day 14: Karrat Fjord Day 16: Sisimuit Coast habitation on , Qaanaaq is also the In Karrat Fjord we will cruise one of The west Greenland coastline is a rich most northern palindrome on the planet. Greenland’s most spectacular . During mixture of communities, myriad A well-appointed store offers outstanding ice breakup, and seals use the long and complex coastal waterways. hand-carved jewellery and art pieces. leads created by high winds in this region to hunt the rich waters of the fjord. We will be making an expedition stop here Day 12: Kap York to explore the Greenlandic landscape. The rugged coastal environment at Kap The cliffs within the fjord should give York is rich in wildlife and is part of an us good opportunities to see of Day 17: Kangerlussuaq extensive network of traditional dovekies. Lying at the head of the longest fjord in grounds. western Greenland, Kangerlussuaq has one Time spent on deck today will likely of the most stable in the region During the spring and summer months the result in some good wildlife sightings, though temperatures can range from -50C in skies and cliffs are dotted with millions not to mention unbeatable photographic the winter to as high as 28C in summer. of birds, primarily and murres. This opportunities district boasts the largest population Kangerlussuaq, which means ‘The Big in northwest Greenland. Day 15: Ilulissat Fjord’ in Greenlandic, is appropriately Ilulissat translates literally into “”, named, as it’s 168km long! Whalers and explorers often entered these and there couldn’t be a more fitting name waters and later Admiral Peary’s for this stunning coastal community. family raised a monument in honour of