Jon Turk and Erik Boomer recently became the first people to complete a circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island. Ellesmere Island in north of Greenland, way the heck above the Arctic Circle and this trip was beyond hardcore. Despite just dealing with the conditions, the two had some wildlife encounters, including a scary episode with a walrus:
Walruses are also really big and aggressive, and they know how to use their tusks. Another day, in the early morning, we were paddling through a really beautiful iceberg area, it was so serene and monotonous. Literally in the snap of a finger, this walrus exploded out of the water and I found myself bracing. It charged me multiple times and I couldn’t get away—it was incredibly scary, and I felt really vulnerable. I had about a 15- to 20-second struggle, and then, just as quick as it came, it was gone. It was almost like a dream.
I like sea kayaking, and I like walruses, but the combination of the two in the manner described above would probably scare me back to land for quite some time! This must have been an amazing, challenging and yet again amazing trip. I’ll search around for more information about this expedition, and see if I can find and link to some photos.
The full article is here:Â http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/01/31/adventure-on-dodging-polar-bears-eluding-death-and-discovering-an-overwhelming-sense-of-freedom/
UPDATE: Here’s the link to Jon Turk’s blog about the expedition. Great photos! http://jonturk.net/content/blog