We strike out from Resolute, one of
the northernmost towns on earth, for
the berg-thronged, fjord-lined, mountainbordered
waterways that lead to Baffin Bay,
Greenland, and the ultra-remote east coast
of Ellesmere Island—“Wild Ellesmere,” Barry
Lopez called it in his classic Arctic Dreams,
“with its Agassiz Ice Cap and exotic plateaus,
the daydreamed landscape of my youth.”
A cautionary note: it’s unlikely you will
read Arctic Dreams and not begin scheming
to visit the Far North. And if you need any
more temptation, read Gretel Ehrlich’s The
Future of Ice or This Cold Heaven.
Our cruise aboard the Kapitan Khlebnikov is a case study in the Arctic’s serene beauty and isolation: islands like Devon, Beechey, Coburg, and Bylot (another great read is Alvah Simon’s North to the Night, about a solitary winter on this glacier-clad isle). And of course the dizzying northernness of Greenland (“We arrived at Qaanaq at two in the morning,” Ehrlich writes. “The sun shone bright”) and epic Ellesmere Island, population 168 at last count, to which we helicopter and Zodiac for some astounding glacier-gazing, tundra-appreciating, and musk ox–viewing (Barry Lopez: “[Their] movement is Oriental, and the pose one of meditation. . . . The musk ox settled in my mind as a Buddhist monk, a samurai warrior”). We close, as we did in the last edition of this catalog, with a quote from the tough, wise, and talented Ms. Ehrlich, writing about the glaciers that animate, enrich, and form the landscapes of the Arctic. These are words about rivers of ice, but they apply to much of the wild world: “Glaciers represent what is bold, inscrutable, exposed, quiet, and glinting in us, as well as what is delicate, dynamic, and precise. If we walk among them long enough, perhaps we can learn from them.”
Our cruise aboard the Kapitan Khlebnikov is a case study in the Arctic’s serene beauty and isolation: islands like Devon, Beechey, Coburg, and Bylot (another great read is Alvah Simon’s North to the Night, about a solitary winter on this glacier-clad isle). And of course the dizzying northernness of Greenland (“We arrived at Qaanaq at two in the morning,” Ehrlich writes. “The sun shone bright”) and epic Ellesmere Island, population 168 at last count, to which we helicopter and Zodiac for some astounding glacier-gazing, tundra-appreciating, and musk ox–viewing (Barry Lopez: “[Their] movement is Oriental, and the pose one of meditation. . . . The musk ox settled in my mind as a Buddhist monk, a samurai warrior”). We close, as we did in the last edition of this catalog, with a quote from the tough, wise, and talented Ms. Ehrlich, writing about the glaciers that animate, enrich, and form the landscapes of the Arctic. These are words about rivers of ice, but they apply to much of the wild world: “Glaciers represent what is bold, inscrutable, exposed, quiet, and glinting in us, as well as what is delicate, dynamic, and precise. If we walk among them long enough, perhaps we can learn from them.”
Day 1: fly to Ottawa • Day 2: fly north to Cornwallis Island and Resolute, board Kapitan Khlebnikov • Days 3 & 4: sail into Lancaster Sound • Days 5 & 6: Qaanag, Greenland • Days 7-9: Eastern Ellesmere Island • Days 10 & 11: Coburg Island • Days 12-16: Baffin Island • Days 17 & 18: Iqaluit to Ottawa • Day 19: fly to USA
Arctic Quest
Trip Details
2008 Departures:
19 Days
Activity Type:
Expeditionary Voyaging
,
Small Boat Cruising
,
Exploratory
Trip Price:From $14,500
- August 25 - September 11
19 DaysActivity Type:
Expeditionary Voyaging
,
Small Boat Cruising
,
Exploratory
Trip Price:
From $14,500
- More Arctic Trips
- More Expeditionary Voyaging Trips
