This morning we found ourselves deep in the inner reaches of Makinson Inlet in order to avoid – in our Expedition Leader Bud’s poetic words – a hoolie blowing outside in northern Baffin Bay. Here in Piliravijuk Bay, conditions were calm and perfect for a landing and a hike on the tundra.
Not long into our hike - excitement! Two white dots on the hillside we were walking towards resolved into Arctic hares calmly munching on the last of the summer vegetation as the leaves begin to turn an autumnal red. The hares were unconcerned with our slow, circumspect approach and allowed us to photograph them until a radio call brought us back to reality: a polar bear had been spotted a couple of miles up the beach. Of course, this is a very real possibility in the Arctic and all hiking groups responded well, making their way back to the landing site. In the meantime, the bear decided not to continue on its path towards us, which gave us time to wrap up our hikes and return to the ship.
Over the course of the afternoon, we departed Makinson Inlet to make our way further north, aiming for 80°N (and beyond). Along the way, the ever-shifting light revealed the orange mountainsides of these northern exposures of the Canadian Shield, clothing them in blazing sunshine striated with wisps of cloud.
These gorgeous views were eventually obscured by fog as we headed back out into ice-riddled open waters to continue our journey through the evening – northwards!
