Mission accomplished! We are all safe and happy at the end of the trail.
Today began as any other day, but with excitement as it was our last day in the trail. We headed out on the frozen river, but the river is very wide and shallow at this point and there is little snow so we had to follow the thin white line down the valley.
About 2km out of camp we crossed the arctic circle at 66’ 33 N. it was exciting to cross this line which marks the point in earth where we experience 24 hours of dark in the winter and 24 hours of light in the summer. We stopped at an inukshuk marking the spot and many photos were taken.
We continued down through the rapids at Crater Lake and back into the flats. The snow is thin here and there are many sandbars so we had to meander and pick our way. After about 24km and 5 hours on the trail we arrived at our last camp site with Mount Overlord watching over us.
We set up the tents on the dry river bottom pounding out tent pegs into the frozen dirt. After dinner each pod took time to debrief their experience and it’s significance to them. It was a meaningful and emotional time for all.
Everyone is warm in their sleeping bags now. It is about -15 but there is no wind. Tomorrow morning we will get picked up and taken to Pangnirtung for showers, celebration and various events in town.
Overall it has been a powerful experience for all. It was hard, uncomfortable at times, always beautiful (al least when we could see), and well worth the effort. A group of strangers, soldier and civilian, came together to meet this challenge and to do so for a great cause. Well done TPL team!
Team Baffin.