Kangiqsualujjuaq

August 3, 2018

Kids partying all night outside of our hotel window made for a very fitful sleep. The hotel septic tank also filled up, so when I got up for a drink of water, the taps were dry. We got up at 06:00 and wandered down to the bar where a few items were set out for breakfast, most importantly there being a pot of coffee. Deb had brought some eggs, scones, and fresh fruit for all of us, which made for a complete meal. We chatted with a couple visiting from Barrie's Bay who were on a wildlife viewing trip. Among other things, they had stories of travelling to the four most cardinal points of Canada and were currently working on trying to redline all the roads in Renfrew County via motor vehicle. The hotel staff gave us a lift to the airport for 07:30, but we found the door locked so we spent then next half an hour waiting outside and swatting flies until the staff arrived. We checked into our flight along with three other people, and then loaded onto a Twin Otter for the thirty minute flight to Kangiqsualujjuaq. On arrival, the wind was a fairly brisk cross breeze so coming down was a little scary as the plane angled into the wind. As we bounced on downwards with the nose facing to the side, the mind plays weird tricks, but on final touchdown the pilot brought us smoothly to a halt on this gravel airstrip. The park staff met us at the airplane and after introductions, gave us a quick tour of the town in their truck. We drove up to the park office and acquired bear spray, bangers, and fuel for the stove. We had a couple of hours to kill so we walked into town and bought a little food at the one and only store in town, after which we plunked down for a picnic lunch at the playground. We walked back up to the office building and were informed that our flight today into the park was cancelled due to high winds, though we could stay in the yellow house in town for the night. Not knowing exactly where the "yellow house" was, we piled back into the truck and were driven out the driveway and directly into the driveway of the house across the street. We all groaned as it probably would have been faster to walk! After settling into our accomodations, we decided to go for a hike and traverse a hill on the west side of town. This provided for two and a half yours of entertainment and a good amount of blood was lost to the black fly and mosquito populations. As we walked out of town, we were joined by three large dogs, who were somewhat agressive at first, but then became friendly to the point of hiking along with us, despite our best efforts to shoo them away. As we climbed up a moderate slope to the ridgeline, the bugs were horrendous and we all were forced to don rain jackets despite the warm temperature. We hit the summit and fortunately the breeze helped a bit, bus as we traversed further they got worse again. The dogs also were getting annoyed at the bugs, spending some time rolling around on the ground trying to escape this torment. At the far end of the ridge, the dogs spied the town below and took off finally for home, leaving us in peace, or at least as much peace as we could get in the swarms of flies. We hiked down too, hitting the road near the port where we then finished the hike by walking through the town. We met some children playing in the street along the way who asked us a bunch of questions and then we finally we reached our little yellow house and mercifully escaped the biters.

Ready for departure with my Whipsnake 2000 pack.

Our ride.

Cozy interior.

Our objective for today... cross town and traverse that lump in the background.

Starting our hike along with the local wildlife.

Climbing up out of town.

Summit of can-you-swallow-a-truck mountain.

Hiking along the ridge overlooking town.

Our companions departing for home.

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