Adventure 16: Outdoor and Travel Outfitters - Since 1963

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The Canadian Arctic: Fjords of Ellesmere Island

Kayaking in Canada with Explorer's Corner LLC

Highlights

  • Intermediate kayaking with some medium-difficulty day hikes
  • 14 nights wilderness camping in tents 

Full Description

During the past 25 years we have conducted many kayak expeditions on Ellesmere Island, and we remain convinced that this trip is the ultimate adventure for sea kayakers and Arctic aficionados alike.

Ellesmere is one of the world's most pristine wilderness areas. In this dramatic fjordland, located northwest of Greenland at nearly 80° North latitude, we retrace the footsteps of the earliest polar explorers, and in our kayaks we travel as the ancestral Inuit might have done. Paddling among calving glaciers and icebergs, our expeditions pass by numerous habitation and hunting sites of prehistoric peoples. Strewn along this coast are myriad ruins of the Thule culture, people who lived along these shores a thousand years ago. Only wildlife lives on this land now, and we may see musk oxen and Arctic fox.


The region is a polar desert, with dry, mild summers despite the extreme latitude. Twenty-four-hour sunlight enhances the photographic potential of the landscape, with magical backlighting of delicate woolly flowers or the glistening spray plumes of walrus and narwhal blowing in the fjords during the wee hours of dawn. Glacial valleys are a colorful counterpoint to the rock and ice, a summer carpet of green tundra, sedges, willows and bright Arctic poppies.

Despite the remoteness of Ellesmere, it abounds with captivating human history. In 1991 we were the first modern-day adventurers to visit Cape Sabine, the profoundly stirring site where polar explorer Adolphus Greely overwintered with his 25 starving U.S. soldiers in 1883-84 (the National Geographic Society commemorated this site with a bronze plaque in 1923). 

A few of our trips have visited the memorial cairn of the sole expedition member lost during Otto Sverdrup’s four years of High Arctic exploration. 

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also have a colorful history in this part of Ellesmere, beginning in the 1920s with the Polar Inuit. These Greenland Inuit, descendants of the prehistoric Thule culture, were assigned as special constables in the police force, patrolling across Ellesmere and foraying south to Grise Fiord by dogsled to get mail and supplies. Today the RCMP installations are abandoned, but the buildings and campsites remain as a testament to the fortitude of the Mounties.

Nothing is more striking than the raw landscape of the Ellesmere fjordlands. No place surpasses its sheer, wild beauty and profound stillness. The two weeks we spend among these spectacular ice-choked waters, hanging glaciers, crystalline air and Arctic wildlife are often life-changing.

Includes:

  • Expert leadership and support personnel
  • Meals as noted (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner) 
  • Group airport transfers and Twin Otter charter as noted
  • All group equipment including sea kayaks, paddles, survival suits, tents, cooking gear and safety equipment

 

Excludes:

  • International airfare (R/T to Resolute Bay, Nunavut)
  • Any extra expenses incurred due to delayed departures of chartered or scheduled flights 
  • Insurance of any kind including mandatory evacuation insurance or suggested cancellation insurance
  • Any costs associated with an emergency evacuation from the trip
  • Excess baggage charges
  • Airport taxes
  • Personal belongings and gear per ‘Clothing and Equipment List’

 

Day by Day Itinerary

Day 1

We fly north together as a group from Ottawa to Resolute Bay (cost of flight not included). Upon arrival we transfer to our lodging. Resolute Bay was established in 1947 as a weather station and military airfield and today is a small Inuit hamlet of about 200 people. The second most northerly community in the world (only Grise Fjord on Ellesmere Island lies farther north), Resolute Bay sits at 75 degrees North on Cornwallis Island along the Northwest Passage.

Day 2

Weather, pilot hours and aircraft permitting, we will board a chartered Twin Otter plane for a 3-hour flight to our drop-off site near Buchanan Bay on Ellesmere Island. On arrival we’ll have an orientation and set up camp.

Day 3-13

Ice conditions permitting, we will kayak along the coastline from our drop-off site to another site approximately 80 miles away. Our direction of travel each day will be governed by such factors as wind, ice, and tides, but some of the things we hope to see include the fantastic Thule winter village sites on Skraeling Island, as well as walrus hauled out on ice pans. We’ll paddle among a myriad of picturesque icebergs, then pull ashore to explore inland, looking for muskoxen and Arctic hare. Throughout the course of the trip our expert guides will provide informal commentary on the flora, geology, birdlife, and geographical features of the High Arctic.

Day 14

Weather permitting, the group will be picked up by Twin Otter plane and flown back to Resolute Bay. Overnight Resolute Bay.

Day 15

As a group we are transferred to the airport for the flight south to Ottawa, where you will likely overnight before catching your flight home.

About The Operator:

Explorer's Corner LLC

Headquarters:

Berkeley, CA

Established:

November 2000

About Explorers’ Corner

Explorers’ Corner is a high-end, specialty adventure company offering unique destinations and experiences, custom adventures and “old-world” one-to-one customer service. We stand firmly behind our slogan: Real Explorers Wanted - True Adventures Guaranteed!

Explorers’ Corner was founded in November of 2000 by Olaf Malver. After working in the travel industry for over 15 years, Olaf felt strongly that there was a market of travelers whose “true adventure and exploration” needs were not being met. At a time when the meaning of adventure is being watered down in travel, Explorers’ Corner is dedicated to fostering a community of curious and driven travelers that dare to make their travel dreams come true - only limited by their imaginations. We will provide the leaders and the safety and your participation will enhance the experience.

Explorers' Corner's passion has been to pioneer real adventures that provide an authentic experience rather than buffer you from what these places are all about. If, for example, you join us in an expedition to the Antarctic or to Greenland you’ll be expected to pitch in and do your part to make for a safe and successful journey for all. The reward is that you will have a true and direct experience, which you play an integral role in creating.

Real explorers are flexible and team players: for instance, if the weather changes to the worse then you might have to pitch your own tent, help the team haul your kayak out of the water, and lend a hand with the other camp chores. In a place like the Douro River of Portugal you might have to jump in and get your feet wet, not in the river, but stomping grapes to help the locals with the crush! An authentic experience means making the efforts to get up before the crack of dawn to be the only ones at a Galapagos landing site to watch a Pacific Green Sea Turtle returning to the ocean after a night of laying eggs.

True adventure is seeking out and safely experiencing the fullness of what the world has to offer on its own terms, not terms dictated to it. We say “real explorers wanted, true adventure guaranteed” because we mean it.

Custom Adventures

Making travel dreams a reality is a closely held philosophy at Explorers’ Corner. Therefore, creating and making custom adventures come true for our clients is a large part of Explorers’ Corner’s business. Explorers’ Corner will customize any one of our listed adventures to create a special event for families, groups of friends, or business associates. Guests can request special departure dates, custom activities, or extra accommodations as part of their group adventure. We will work with you to make your ideas come to fruition -- as long as they are seasonally appropriate and your group meets the minimum person requirement.

Explorers’ Corner can also custom design an adventure for our clients to any new place (on Earth, at least!) that only they have imagined exploring — again, providing the trip is seasonable and the minimum persons requirement is met. Bring us your dreams and our travel specialists will work to make your trip a reality. We love to travel, and we love to send travelers to any of the world’s most wonderful destinations.

Explorers’ Corner Founder

Dr. Olaf Malver—CEO, Chief Exploratory Officer. Olaf founded Explorers’ Corner, a boutique adventure travel company, 7 years ago. He, his guides, and his staff have since taken like-minded adventurous folks to far-flung corners of the world. In addition to running Explorers’ Corner, Olaf is a passionate eco-tourist activist working for the United Nations to help promote sustainable tourism in developing countries in the quest to save the world’s natural habitats.

Olaf is a true explorer who has sea kayaked, climbed mountains, dog sledded, and hiked in more than 100 countries spanning 35 years. He's led trailblazing expeditions to diverse locations such as South Georgia, Kamchatka, Antarctica, Pakistan, Nepal, Greenland, Indonesia, Vietnam, Panama, the Nicobar Islands, Zanzibar - and many other "frontier destinations”. Olaf claims many "firsts" in the world of high adventure, such as sea kayaking in Irian Jaya, Burma, North Vietnam, Panama, French Polynesia and British Guyana. He also led the first dog sled crossing across the Northern Brooks Range in Alaska and soloed around Zanzibar in a Hobie Cat. He is a lifetime fellow of the world famous Explorer’s Club, in recognition of his “true” explorations. Olaf is a living proof that the world of modern day exploration is still infinite and only limited by our lack of imagination and dreams! And Olaf is not alone. We have attracted some of the best adventure guides in the world.

Explorers’ Corner Guides

Our guides have more than 80 years of collective guiding experience and have been to over 150 countries, safely leading hundreds of travelers to unique destinations via kayaking, hiking, boating, and biking. They naturally carry with them the mission of Explorers’ Corner—to experience unique destinations and make travel dreams come true. Explorers’ Corner’s seasoned guides include Olaf Malver, Dave Mention, Mick O’Shea, Nancy Moore, Baldvin Kristjansson and many more.