Traveling up the Porcupine
On its eighth trail day, SnowSTAR 2007: Barrenlands Traverse has reached the Alaska-Canada border and studied the eerie cut through the forest that traces the political line across the landscape.
The latest dispatch:
The SnowSTAR Expedition had another good run today up the frozen Porcupine River, making about 90 miles and arriving at the U.S./Canada Border at about 7:30 PM. Tonight they will spend their last night on U.S. soil (or ice!). Matthew said they were pitching their tents about 16 feet West of the dividing line between the two countries and from their camp they can see the one-hundred year old cut-line in the trees marking the border.
The latest dispatch also contains information about the sleds that carry the expedition’s gear and tents. The day before, the expedition traveled 100 miles up the Porcupine River, reporting many animals tracks and no people.
Fox on the Porcupine
The Porcupine River is broad and beautiful, with many channels in the lower reaches, willows on the banks, and hills and big bluffs back from the river. We also saw our first animals other than ravens today. We saw a ptarmigan, two wolves, and a fox that had just caught a hare. The fox was jealously guarding his catch, sitting still by the trailside until Matthew drove within a few yards before bolting into the willows.
The expedition will spend 45 days on a 3,000-kilometer (1,864-mile) snowmachine journey across the tundra of Alaska and Canada, from Fairbanks to Baker Lake in the far reaches of Nunavut.
Along the way, the five Americans and three Canadians will visit dozens of historic Arctic sites, 11 villages and two diamond mines. They will stop to take detailed measurements of snow and climate, visit schools, gather traditional knowledge — and then share their insights with students and teachers across the world through daily on-line dispatches. Children from around the world have been sending in comments and questions.