Beechy Island, Franklin expedition site
Adventure Canada starts us out as usual:
Day 11 — Sunday August 30, 2015
Beechey Island
Today we will visit Beechey Island, one of the most important sites in the Arctic. Sir John Franklin set out from England in 1845 to try to find the Northwest Passage. His ships, the Terror and the Erebus, disappeared and all 129 men were lost somewhere in the Arctic. Sir John Franklin's disappearance became a celebrated mystery in the nineteenth century. One of the last known whereabouts of the Franklin Expedition was Beechey Island in 1845. The Erebus and Terror remained here over the winter. Left behind were the foundations of three storehouses, workshops and three graves of seamen who died over the winter.
Over forty expeditions were launched in search of his party, and Beechey later became the headquarters for the various ships that went in search of Franklin. With the recent discovery of the wreck of the Erebus, interest in Beechey Island and the surrounding region is at an all time high. This important discovery by the Canadian Government and Parks Canada underwater archaeologists represents an unprecedented look into the mysterious history of the Franklin Expedition.
Beechey Island
Today we will visit Beechey Island, one of the most important sites in the Arctic. Sir John Franklin set out from England in 1845 to try to find the Northwest Passage. His ships, the Terror and the Erebus, disappeared and all 129 men were lost somewhere in the Arctic. Sir John Franklin's disappearance became a celebrated mystery in the nineteenth century. One of the last known whereabouts of the Franklin Expedition was Beechey Island in 1845. The Erebus and Terror remained here over the winter. Left behind were the foundations of three storehouses, workshops and three graves of seamen who died over the winter.
Over forty expeditions were launched in search of his party, and Beechey later became the headquarters for the various ships that went in search of Franklin. With the recent discovery of the wreck of the Erebus, interest in Beechey Island and the surrounding region is at an all time high. This important discovery by the Canadian Government and Parks Canada underwater archaeologists represents an unprecedented look into the mysterious history of the Franklin Expedition.
Inuktitut word of the day:
Sunaunna tingmiaq? —What kind of bird is it?
Sunaunna tingmiaq? —What kind of bird is it?
"Remember what Bilbo used to
say: It's a dangerous business,
Frodo, going out your door. You
step onto the road, and if you
don't keep your feet, there's no
knowing where you might be
swept off to.”
—J.R.R. Tolkien
Another day, another zodiac landing in the high Arctic. I pass on the long hike today, because they tell us that if you do the long hike you won't be able to visit part of the historic Beechly Island site, and since this is so central to the Northwest Exploration story, I chose not to do the hike. Of course as it turned out the folks who did the long hike ending up seeing everything - such is the stuff of life - a very minor disappointment in the big scheme of life. Brad and I were in the second wave of zodiacs today (they often split all of us up since there are close to 200 of us), and we were only on shore about 5 minutes when they scooted us back into the zodiacs to buzz over from the grave site to the "storeroom" site since there was a polar bear that had swum over and was heading our way - the bear ended up eventually visiting the grave site area - so there caution was understandable (although I was a bit grumpy at the time, and the trip videographer caught a small grumble by me on video - my bad). Afterwards, we got back into the zodiacs and cruise around a bit to get some photos of the bear. There was a private boat at Beechy Island too (the only other people we saw on our entire trip (not counting the towns we visited). They had a drone, which they ended up flying right over the bear - I'm sure they got some great footage - but the Adventure Canada staff were very displeased as the bear was clearly distressed.
Another day, another zodiac landing in the high Arctic. I pass on the long hike today, because they tell us that if you do the long hike you won't be able to visit part of the historic Beechly Island site, and since this is so central to the Northwest Exploration story, I chose not to do the hike. Of course as it turned out the folks who did the long hike ending up seeing everything - such is the stuff of life - a very minor disappointment in the big scheme of life. Brad and I were in the second wave of zodiacs today (they often split all of us up since there are close to 200 of us), and we were only on shore about 5 minutes when they scooted us back into the zodiacs to buzz over from the grave site to the "storeroom" site since there was a polar bear that had swum over and was heading our way - the bear ended up eventually visiting the grave site area - so there caution was understandable (although I was a bit grumpy at the time, and the trip videographer caught a small grumble by me on video - my bad). Afterwards, we got back into the zodiacs and cruise around a bit to get some photos of the bear. There was a private boat at Beechy Island too (the only other people we saw on our entire trip (not counting the towns we visited). They had a drone, which they ended up flying right over the bear - I'm sure they got some great footage - but the Adventure Canada staff were very displeased as the bear was clearly distressed.
Private yacht
Setting of the moon in early morning along the cliffs of Beech Island
Setting of the moon in early morning along the cliffs of Beech Island
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