Return to the Peel Journal - Day 12

Return to the Peel Team reaches the Arctic Circle.

Day 12. Friday, July 28.

The weather report is grim. Head-on north winds blowing in from the Beaufort Sea and rain. Ugh.

The morning starts out with good weather, mostly sunny. Our campsite is on a muddy, buggy shoreline across from the Caribou River. We're happy to keep moving north.

Our plan is to paddle as hard as we can today and push up our arrival in Fort McPherson to Saturday night instead of Sunday.

A few kilometers north of our campsite, we take few moments to stop for photos as we cross the Arctic Circle. After a quick snack and some water, we head off again.

Lunch break on the Peel River.

Then the Arctic welcomed us with an Arctic blast that was followed, as promised, by rain. After the rollercoaster ride of the Wind River, this is a full on slog. The shore seems to be barely moving beside us as we lean into the wind and pull forward, stroke by stroke.

The weather begins to turn as we cross the Arctic Circle.

Here is a thought I had over and over as we slogged north into that weather. When you paddle into a strong headwind, you become hyper aware of where the main river current is. Even if it’s only a few km/h, being in it means your paddle hits the water a little softer, the canoe feels a little lighter and your spirit lifts.