Outside Adventure Grant journal entries

After that first day, we have really started working on our route and gear list. John warned us that it would be a lot of work; we are the leaders of the expedition.

On April 14, we met Del Smith by phone. Des is to be one of the two expedition guides, as well as councilor and instructor. She is a teacher at NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), an arctic expedition leader, and LNT (Leave No Trace, i.e. low impact on nature camping) specialist. She had been sent our grant proposal by John Alderman and responded with a faxed list of questions, which we received on the 13th. Due to the fact that Del lives in Utah, John in New York, and us in Maine, John called us and Del and connected us all through his phone. During the discussion we got to know Del somewhat and talked over the various difficulties facing the expedition. The main problem is how much weight we can carry; the hike is expected to last 15 days, and just food for that time will be substantial. We decided to drop our idea of technical climbing, due to the added weight of equipment. Del gave us the phone numbers and names of connections in the park, and in the states for our training before we leave. Since then, we have received more faxes and talked again with Del. We hope to train with her in a park here, perhaps on Mount Washington. We may also receive training in LNT and EMP. Del has been positive and helpful, and we’re glad to have her on the expedition.

While the responsibility of the trip is on us, John has things to see to as well. He is in charge of getting our equipment to us, also maps and clothing. As soon as we get the maps, which John has ordered from the park, we will begin the detailed planning of the route we are to take. Likewise, when we get our packs and shoes, we will begin hiking around the island with bags of sand to get in shape for the hike. Right now we are still sort of pulling things together, and it’s all a little hectic, but starting to settle down.

While on a trip to the mainland our parents visited the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College. Keisha Payson, curator of the museum has been a great help to us by putting us in contact with the museum director, Susan Coplan, and Ann Henshaw, a Professor of Anthropology at Bowdoin College who has done a lot of research on Baffin Island. We have arranged to meet with them on April 22. She has also given us the number of Greg Shute, a man with previous arctic experience, who works at the Chewonki Foundation, We have not yet contacted him. Barney Hallowel, principal of North Haven Community School, provided us with phone numbers to the Canadian Board of Education, from which we hope to obtain addresses to schools on Baffin Island. He has also allowed us to use the internet at the school. With the help of these and other people, we have been gathering information for the last two weeks. The process up to this point has been very educational, we’ve had to do a lot of writing, making telephone calls and researching. We have been enjoying this part of the adventure, but we are definitely looking forward to the actual hike. It’s going to be amazing!!

Wednesday, April 22, 1998
Today we (Oakley, Hope, Tristan, Dylan and Karen (mom)) drove to Brunswick, Maine, to visit the Peary-MacMillan Arctic museum on the Bowdoin campus. Keisha Payson of the museum staff spoke with us about our trip and gave us some book titles that we plan to find. In the afternoon, we met with Dr. Susan Caplan, the head of Arctic studies at the college, who also leads educational expeditions to Labrador every year. We spent an hour discussing the ups and downs of the arctic, and what we should be prepared for, from rabies--last year she encountered a rabid box in her camp--to fuel for our stove (there’s almost no propane available, so make sure we can use white gas). Susan also gave us more arctic book titles for our list.

Next we spoke with Anne Henshaw, an anthropologist who specializes in the Inuit culture. She has spent time on Baffin and is familiar with the types of experiences that we will be encountering. Anne gave us the name of a friend of hers in Iqaluit (and taught us how to pronounce Iqaluit-Ech-how-a-lect) and told us about the island and the people there. She too gave us a book list.

Thursday, April 23, 1998
All three were enthusiastic and helpful and our meeting with them left us quite happy to know we are supported by these people. Others seem to support us as well. On our return to Vinalhaven, we found that we had received a package from Arctic Perspective. Arctic Perspective is a Minnesota-based organization dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with informative resources on important issues of the arctic. They gave us a wall map of the area above the arctic circle, a book on the Inui, and other information. We contacted the superintendent of schools on Baffin Island and got the phone numbers to the Attagoyuk school in Pangnirtung and the Inuksuit school on Broughton Island.

Friday, April 24, 1998
Dylan called both schools, but was only able to reach the one on Broughton Island. The teacher was unable to come to the phone at the time, but the secretary took our number so that the school could call back later. Thanks to everyone who has supported us and given us information!