Herschel Island Expedition Successful!
On April 11th, 2001 members of the Uncommon Journeys team arrived at Herschel Island Territorial Park after mushing for several days on the Mackenzie River delta and over the Beaufort Sea. This was the first commercial dogsledding trip ever to the Park and one of only a handful of trips to make it by dogsled in the past three decades. The weather conditions and sea ice conditions were the best in several years. The temperature only went to -28 C on a couple of mornings and the average temperatures were closer to -15 C. In fact one day in the Delta temperatures reached -4 C! The winds were very gentle and rarely exceeded 30 mph. We traveled in full whiteout conditions only once and were forced to travel by GPS coordinates only twice on the entire trip.
On April 11th 2001 members of the Uncommon Journeys team arrived at Herschel Island Territorial Park after mushing for several days on the Mackenzie River delta and over the Beaufort Sea. This was the first commercial dogsledding trip ever to the Park and one of only a handful of trips to make it by dogsled in the past three decades. The weather conditions and sea ice conditions were the best in several years. The temperature only went to -28 C on a couple of mornings and the average temperatures were closer to –15 C. In fact one day in the Delta temperatures reached -4 C! The winds were very gentle and rarely exceeded 30 mph. We traveled in full whiteout conditions only once and were forced to travel by GPS coordinates only twice on the entire trip.
We traveled with Larry Semmler, an Inuvialuit guide from Aklavik, who graciously allowed us to stay for a layover day at his cabin on the Beaufort at Shingle Point. We will never forget those great caribou steaks Larry! Once we were comfortably settled on the Island we were shocked to see a Cessna 206 land on skis on a pan of smooth ice a couple miles off shore. Out jumped Elane Zelcer and Bob Boswell, two of our guests who were scheduled to arrive by twin otter with all of our re-supply…..Unfortunately the skis for the Otter were on there way to Antarctica strapped to the Canadian Ken Borek Twin Otter which was making a daring rescue on the continent – the latest winter season rescue ever attempted. That meant three round trips for us as our gear, extra sled and food were shuttled to us from the airstrip in Inuvik. During our waiting David St. Charles and Steve Reynolds, an Uncommon guide, traveled to the north side of the Island where they encountered caribou, and ice pressure ridges two stories high! The pilot saw polar bear tracks and a sow and a cub flying in, however we did not see any bears close up.
The Uncommon dogs were flying all trip long. With teams of ten dogs we made fast progress…one day travelling 60 miles! It was incredible mushing, both on the Delta and on the sea ice with many of us exclaiming that it was the finest dogsledding we had ever enjoyed. The same was true for the incredible meals. Martha spent two weeks preparing our meals before we left and the beef stroganoff, pineapple chicken, and prawn and scallop linguine were just some of the delicacies she created for us. All in all it was an incredible adventure spent with guests who had become good friends (all were Uncommon alumni from previous trips). David St. Charles mushed both legs and was so taken with Herschel that he wants to go to the North Pole next year with us and would like to spend a month on Herschel alone sometime! Now that’s enthusiasm! Next year’s trip will travel the same route. (Look for next year’s trip details in the Dogsledding section of the Trip Description section.) If you want to be part of an incredible dogsledding adventure….. Join us in 2002!
Uncommon Journeys chosen for Television series!
The Canadian Tourism Commission has chosen 30 of the top wilderness outfitters coast to coast to star in a television series entitled "Rails of Adventure". Uncommon Journeys was honored to be chosen for its high-quality dogsledding adventures! Sponsored in part by Canada’s passenger railway, Via Rail, the production crew from Greenspace Productions inc. traveled all the way to Whitehorse from Montreal to film the Uncommon gang at work. Employing state-of-the art filming equipment, they rigged Martha’s sled up with remote video cams so it looked like a Formula One racing car! Film personality Catherine Bureau rode her own sled guided by Martha and they had the time of their lives. The entire group eventually made it to the yurts where they joined our guests for a fantastic fondue dinner…all captured on film. On the return mush at night, the crew rigged Rod’s sled with lights and microphones and interviewed him on the run! Percy and Jackson running at the lead dog positions performed like seasoned actors and did not let the cameras, lights, or sound equipment affect them at all. In fact, the sound technician was convinced that Percy actually LIKED being on camera! Yannick Rose, the production manager, was very impressed with the unedited footage saying that it was some of the best they had taken since the series began filming in the fall. The series will be sold to networks such as the CBC, Discovery Channel etc. Look for it on your television screen in early September!
Uncommon dogs chosen for Yukon wide advertising campaign!
Early this winter a photography crew came to the Uncommon Homestead to take a number of shots of our adult s and puppies for a Yukon –wide advertising campaign for Northwestel, the Yukon’s telephone monopoly. Entitled "Freedom", various pictures of our dogs were used in direct mail pieces, which went to every household in the Yukon, as well as on posters and several newspaper ads. The photographers were particularly impressed with Sprocket, who leaps two to three feet in the air when first clipped into the gangline. Now that image looks like someone enjoying his freedom to run! Sprocket was also chosen along with Woody to be photographed with the new mayor of Whitehorse, his worship Ernie Bourassa. Both Sprocket and Woody loved the attention (and all the treats!) and are hoping that the Yukon’s new Premier will want to have her picture taken with the "Friendliest dogs in the North" as well!
