Every night, the team christens their campsite, immortalizing the essence of the day’s escapades. Over the past few days, their campsites have been a canvas for stories that range from the wet and wild to the heartfelt and poignant.
29.0 miles paddled: Wet Longjohn Camp—pretty self-explanatory. It seems West and other team members ended up with wet underclothes after paddling today. We have to remember the temperatures are still cold so having wet underclothes is a little concerning. The first thing the team does once landed is change clothes. Today, this was even more important. We certainly do not want anyone getting sick.
While at Wet Longjohn Camp, the team had a visitor. They had a Musk Ox walk right into their camp. West said they are very prehistoric looking with a face only a mother could love.
38.0 miles paddled: Sam James Memory Camp—Sam James was a friend of West and his wife, Lizet. He was an avid outdoorsman. He showed an interest in paddling and he and West became friends because of this. Sam’s dad, Russell, sent an email a few days ago informing West that Sam had passed away about 4 weeks ago. He was only 29 years old. Russell went on to say how much Sam thought of West and the friendship they shared. It was very heartwarming. West was stunned when he received the news and thought it fitting that they should name a camp spot in Sam’s honor.
8.2 miles paddled: Firewood Camp—there was lots of firewood available at this camp. The team paddled 8.2 miles due to a late start and less-than-ideal conditions.
31.4 miles paddled: Goose Poo Camp—because it’s full of…you guessed it, goose poo! All. Over. The. Place. When asked why they didn’t search for another spot, he explained that the waves were crashing all day. Winds were high. It was raining cats and dogs and that was the first spot they saw where they could land. So, they landed. They saw 3-4 Polar Bears on the shore and one swam out to greet them as they paddled by. The team has renamed them “Polar Corgis” because of their cute, corgi-like tale when they run off. In addition, they “ran into” some friends of Titus Allooloo. His friends were whale hunting and chatted with the team for a few minutes, snapped pictures, and got the website so they could follow the expedition.
The Arctic Cowboys will be sitting still for a few days due to high winds. They are hunkered down in their tent because it is still raining and is expected to continue for another 15 hours or so. The winds will be running around 22 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
We hope they can start their push toward Cambridge Bay by Thursday.
Total: 661.11 miles Today: 31.4 miles Expedition: 583.11
