Page 117 - 2022-08-01 Paddling Magazine

WHITEWATER

SLIDE
Meta Incognita

Arctic first descents on epic backyard exploration
by erik boomer

NO HIKE IS TOO FAR to paddle some sweet whitewater. During
summer 2020, Sarah McNair-Landry and I set out to cross the Meta
Incognita Peninsula on southern Baffin Island. Our 40-kilometer
hiking route connected four unrun rivers in the Canadian Arctic.
When traveling in the Arctic, it’s important to be completely self-
sufficient, prepared for bad weather and expect delays. We started the
trip with 20 days of food and fuel, which meant our kayaks were loaded
with 110 pounds of meals and gear—more than I had ever taken on a
kayak-hike trip before. We also carried a 12-gauge shotgun, bear alarm
fence and a solar panel, which accounted for some of the brutal weight.
Baffin Island is home to polar bears, and we needed to be prepared.
The Meta Incognita Peninsula separates Sarah’s hometown of
Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, and the small community of Kim-
mirut. The peninsula’s plateau rises about 2,000 feet high and
features hundreds of freshwater lakes feeding the many rivers
descending through the south coast. On flights into Iqaluit, I would
occasionally get a glimpse of waterfalls on the peninsula and always
wondered what those rivers would be like to paddle. Since travel
was erratic in 2020 with pandemic restrictions, we decided it was
time to find out what was in our backyard.
From the ocean, we spent two days hiking uphill. At first, our
loads were too heavy to carry all at once, so we broke them into
two. The only downside to dividing the gear in half is we had to
walk three times the distance to cover the same route.
After a lot of hard work and sweat, we reached a series of lakes
leading us to the first river. It felt good to be paddling downstream
even though we didn’t expect many rapids at first, based on our
scouting via satellite images. This low-volume river was our high-
way to access three more rivers that showed even more whitewater
potential, based on what we could see on satellite images.
To our surprise, this first river picked up speed and pinched
through a small gorge with class V drops. The first two falls led
into a large turbulent pool and another waterfall just downstream
with a nasty undercut and no way to set safety properly.
Fortunately, a microeddy on the right gave me the option to
run the upper section. I managed to get out, portage around the
dangerous rapid, and seal launch back in. Sarah set safety. With her
throw line bag in one hand, she snapped this photograph before
portaging around the canyon.
Not long after this surprise canyon, we hauled our kayaks onto
our shoulders and hiked seven kilometers up and over into the
next river drainage.
Before departing on this trip, the only information we could get on
these remote arctic rivers was from low-resolution satellite images and
rudimentary topographical maps. We were rolling into the unknown,
which is what I love the most about these exploratory expeditions.

In June 2022, Erik Boomer and Sarah McNair-Landry set out on
another 70-day multisport adventure, their third Baffin Island
summer vacation.

117
P A D D L IN G M A G A Z IN E