Scratching the Surface

 

Torngat Mountains

kANGIDLUASUk  (St. John’s Bay), Saglek Fjord

Basecamp

August 2, 2013

“Some people put sugar on them but I like ‘em plain,”  Maria explained as she handed me leaves from a roseroot plant.  The tangy taste sat on my tongue as we hiked above Nachvak Brook’s spreading fan of water emptying into Saglek Fjord.  Maria was one of 3 bear monitors provided by Torngat Mountains National Park for our zodiac ride and hike. 

 

 

Motoring to the head of St. John’s Bay in Saglek Fjord last night, the one permanent building housing dining hall, offices, and scientific labs surrounded by heated yurts and tents came into view.  It’s a startling sight to see such a large human footprint after travelling through wilderness for weeks.  This is kANGIDLUASUk, the Inututik name for the head of St. John’s Bay and Torngat Mountains National Park’s (TMNP) Base Camp on Saglek Fjord.  TMNP was the first Canadian National park created with input and co-management of local First Nation’s People.  It seems to be going well. 

Saglek Fjord was our last chance to really hike in the Torngats versus power walking up and down the beach in sight of dinghy and Andante.  It was also our last chance to venture far into the fjords, something we hadn’t done because of fuel concerns.  “Saglek” means shortcut and the saddle between Cape Uivuk and the 3000ft high mountains inland of the Cape was used by people and bears moving up the coast for millennia.  Today, that saddle is occupied by an airstrip where visitors to Torngat Mountains National Park arrive by chartered plane from Nain or Goose Bay and are ferried by boat from the landing strip to Base Camp. 

This isn’t a national park as we think of it. It’s only “open” 6 weeks of the year and is as much a scientific base as a place for tourists to explore wilderness, history and wildlife.  All visitors are requested to check in here and get bear information and find out about the resources available. 

Anchored off the beach was Tarok, a Swiss boat that’s been in Lewisporte, Newfoundland for several years as they spend summers exploring Newfoundland and Labrador.  We’ve been trading e-mails since before our trips started but this will be the first anchorage we share.  The crew of both boats met at the dining hall for seeing the faces behind the e-mails and radio conversations we’ve been sharing. 

Every evening activities for the next day are posted in the dining hall.  On tap for the next day - Zodiac ride & hike up Nachvak Brook - finally a chance to hike and explore deeper into the fjords.

We met Lorenzo from Tarok and our bear monitors, Henry, Maria and Jobe at the dock.  Loaded into the large zodiac, we blitzed up the Fjord each of us pointing in different directions at something to see; an unusual geologic feature, a waterall plummeting to rocks below, a polar bear romping up a steep incline.  

Maria, Alison, Russ & Jobe
 

Nosing close to some rocks we scrambled out of the inflatable and began walking.   Nachvak Brook is the eastern terminus of another Inuit/Polar Bear highway.  It connects with River Koroc which connects with George River and Ungava Bay transversing the long triangle that is the tip of Labrador & Quebec.  Maria told us her mother had been born here, a traditional camping spot and she grew up traveling northern Labrador with her family.  A few years ago Inuit from the Labrador side and the Ungava Bay side placed a commemorative inuksuqs here.    Jobe, the other bear monitor, grew up in George River on the Ungava Bay side so it seemed fitting to have both sides represented on our hike. 

Their official title is “Bear Monitor” but they’re so much more.  We learned what plants to eat and tasted them, about what it was like to grow up here and how much it meant to them to be able to come back and live a more traditional lifestyle than those living in town year-round.  Seeing a robin hopping amongst the heather, Jobe & Maria commented it was the first robin they’ve seen this far north.  That coupled with comments of how the green growth is reaching higher up the mountainsides provided anecdotal evidence of climate change.

I love Maria's hot pink gun strap.

Sometimes we second-guessed ourselves on our bear caution. Were we being too cautious?  Could we have gone off hiking when it was just the two of us?  Hearing the respect and caution that our bear monitors have for polar bears confirmed our decision.  We’d been right to be cautious. 

Gliding along this coast in Andante sometimes feels like car touring.  You’re in the place but not touching or tasting it.  We got the chance to go deeper, to do more than scratch the surface of the coast by moving inland and by learning about life here - a magical end to our time in the Torngats.