· Looking W from Nanjatsiait · Camping at Imilik · 5 days ·
25" x 40" / 4" x 20"   Copyright © 2002 Tony Foster

August 22 – 27 2001 · with MB·PM · my daily commute: 36ºF · a fierce cold wind from the N · hike E 150' down from camp · cross the stream bed like a nicely laid granite pavement · fill water bottles · walk on spongy moss up a slot canyon lined with fallen boulders lichen covered · no trail · few feet have come this way except mine four times a day · climb steeply up · blueberry bushes turning vermillion · lichen a dazzling light vomit green · smoky grey and ochre green mosses · the granite spattered with Paynes grey and lamp black lichen · through a narrow slot and across a wide rock strewn valley · a view of icebergs lined up like monstrous warships at a fleet review · squeeze through a narrow cleft · scramble over a sharply faceted boulder scrabbling for hand and footholds · drop to a carpet of moss · an Arctic sparrow takes off · a flash of black and white · stands twittering warnings on a nearby outcrop · out of the canyon and walk along a rocky bench · a view of clear green water in the bay · icebergs boom and growl and mutter rearranging themselves ·gulls call · mosquitoes whine and ping ·cottongrass blows in the wind · jump across to a high rock to avoid a bog · past a small clear pond – the wind ruffles the surface but no sign of life · steeply up to a high boulder · a flock of Glaucous gulls take off shouting in alarm · wheeling round the headland to subside on a small berg · switchback onto sharp frost shattered rock that crunches and clatters across the foreshore · two stranded bergs melted into surreal shapes · collect a berg shard in a bottle · up the E side and along a red cliff and climb crimson and viridian striped rocks · copper? a .22 cartridge · through a wide high valley · a narrow slot turns S past a row of granite domes · wind flattens the grass stalks · a solitary mauve flower struggles in a crevice · up and over two final domes · this must be right – here’s my footprint from yesterday · the valley widens · here’s my cairn · the second bay · bones and white feathers evidence of a deadly struggle · steeply up the cliffside carefully along a narrow ledge · Inuit fishermen’s radios bounce messages across the Kangia · at my site in the lee of a rock the wind dies and the blackflies assemble to feed as I prepare for my days work ·