'Auyuittuq' - The Land that Never Melts
Homeward bound

July 5th, I said my good-byes, lifted off at 09:40, turning southwest to climb above the broken layers of clouds and on up to 10,500 ft. I could see the south shore of Hudson Strait as I went over Big Island south of Kimmirut. With a ground speed of 120knots, I was soon passing Wakem Bay and then took up a heading southeast, direct to Kujjuaq. Slowly descending to 1,500 ft, there was occasional wildlife to watch, and then I noticed the strong currents below. Ungava Bay has the second highest tides in the world and the tide was pushing water upstream from the sea. A couple of communities passed below, their garbage dumps standing out on the barren rock. After negotiating some stiff cross winds to land at Kujjuaq, I poured my jerry cans into the tanks then topped off with fuel, which costs 100% more than at Iqaluit. I met three adventurers doing a photo assignment for National Geographic from a helicopter, and showed them some video of the Pangnirtung fiord, just to get them thinking. I waited for a 737 to take off, throwing up huge clouds of dust, then I departed for Wabush three hours to the south. It is too windy to be flying through fiords. I will have to come back on another adventure to explore the Torngat Mountains. Nearing Wabush I see a line of reddish dust blowing to the south of the runway, a SeaBee Amphib is forced to divert to a lake and land because of the 20-30 knot cross winds. I should have landed on alpha taxiway but instead crab into runway 01, touching the right main wheel first and slowly taxi to the ramp. The Husky is rocking in the wind while I sit on the horizontal stabilizer and the tanks are topped off. After tying down, I would spend the next day and a half here waiting for the ceilings to lift and the winds to calm down. It is clear and calm on July 7th as I retrace my track from the previous week to the Manacouagan crater then south to Baie-Comeau and follow the St. Lawrence River southwest. Down at 800ft it is raining hard as I pass the Plains of Abraham and Quebec City. A fuel and lunch stop at Trois Rivières, then one last leg to Brantford. I was away for 9 days, 45.3 hours in the air, approximately 335 US gallons of fuel and I added one liter (US quart) of oil in Iqaluit. I wonder if, or should I say when would I go back. "Dream about living forever, live like there is no tomorrow." "Value time over money, only time cannot be replenished." So much to experience, but so little time. Paul lives in Ancaster, Ontario Canada about 40 miles from Toronto and is married to an understanding wife who has him on a very long leash (stated at her request). They have a grown daughter and son and a German Shepherd, named Kayla, who will probably never grow up. Paul enjoys photography, golf, swimming, squash, and visiting with fellow pilot adventurers. Email Paul Nopper

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