Climbing trip...hah!

Welcome to Baffin, Dan. Hope you like the two weeks that we have mosquitos in this area!



Dan was absolutely punched at this point of day one. He had a crying baby on his front, a monster 90 lb pack on his back, and a new appreciation for hiking before having kids. The kinks got worked out after this day and things were much smoother the rest of the trip.



A lemming near our 2nd camp.



Hard to imagine that everyone's hands were as small as this.



Cold, glacial-fed water for washing...nothing more needs to be said.



Breadablik emerging from the clouds.



We were up at 3am to climb the Swiss Route on Asgard, starting from Summit Lake. We never fully saw the route that morning, as rain showers accompanied a low cloud ceiling. This was the best weather we saw for the 3 days we waited at Summit Lake. Needless to say, with time running short, we had to bail on the hopes of climbing Asgard. Definitely a bummer!



This was the most we saw of Asgard for the 3 days we were up near it, waiting to climb.



Heading down the Caibou Glacier after bailing on Asgard.



Cinquefoil.



Dan, Alice, and Koby (in Alice's jacket) crossing Half-Hour Creek.



Jen and Joy coming across Half-Hour Creek. You know Jenisn't too concerned with the current when she's screaming from the temperature of the water. The glacier feeding the creek is a kilometre up the slope.



A happy mother and daughter after the crossing.



Mushrooms and moss on Baffin.



After scrapping the Asgard plans, we headed south and climbed Thor Peak. We had hoped to climb the super-exposed south ridge (5.9), but changed our plans as the rains just wouldn't go away. We ended up nearly circumnavigating the peak until finding a line up the NE face, which went at 4th class for several pitches. The rain eased up just when we needed it to, and the clouds lifted enough for route-finding. A bit of tricky navigation saw us get up the thing.



On top of Thor Peak.



The vertical drop off the west side of Thor is 1100m from the summit to the base of the cliff face, 1400m from the summit to the river. To peer over the edge was like walking out on an airplane's wing. Frightening how big the exposure was!



Looking over at Asgard while descending from Thor. I'll have to come back for that one!



There are a few hardy bees in the Arctic. They are often found huddled in flowers, trying to use what little warmth is captured by the plant to warm themselves up, then scurrying to the next flower and repeating the process. Not an easy life.



Arctic Circle. Everyone needs to have this shot when hiking this trail.



Going for a polar bear dip. Nice nose plug, Dan...



We came across a local Inuk who was successful in his last hunt. This is a walrus skull with most of the flesh off of it. The hunter was boiling the remaining flesh off, then hoping to sell the skull to someone. He was talking about $1000. We turned and walked away.



Boiling the big guy.