| Any worthwhile expedition can be planned on the back of an envelope. - H.W. Tilman Project name: Northern Ungava Canoe Expedition - NUCE What is your objective? Our two man team’s objective is to explore the Ungava Peninsula of northern Quebec by canoe. Our route will start and end on Hudson Bay and involve traveling up and down several watersheds. This route has never been attempted in its entirety, since the terrain and distance pushes the limits of regular canoe trips. The expedition will cover over 800 miles and take between 60 and 70 days of traveling. This means that our team will be using all of arctic Quebec’s two month summer. This crossing of Ungava is ambitious in the distance it will cover in the limited time available. Significant upstream travel will be required for an extended period of time. Upstream work consists of lining canoes along shore, dragging the boats in places, and portaging gear for significant distances. The work is wet, cold, and physically taxing. Switching drainages requires working in small headwater streams that may or may not have water levels that facilitate canoe travel. Moving between watersheds requires portaging for significant distances over jumbled terrain with loads of up to 100 pounds. Long stretches of flatwater paddling on big lakes will be necessary. This can be enjoyable or impossible depending on wind conditions. Downstream travel on the Povungnitunk River will navigate rapids and falls. Some will be runnable, while others will force canoes to be lined down the edges of the river or portaged. Although difficult, there is logic to the expedition we have designed. Our team will be able to move unencumbered by massive amounts of gear and large group dynamics. The route we have chosen to cover will allow our small team to see more of northern Ungava in one summer than anyone has ever been able to do in the past. From past experience and research, we know that this expedition will be both challenging and immensely rewarding. When will you attempt this? June 20 – August 30, 2006 Have you obtained the necessary permits, visas, etc.? No permits are required. Both team members have passports that allow travel from the United States into Canada. We will purchase season long fishing licenses from the local government. What is your budget? Please provide details. How much are you expecting the Grant to provide? Part of the beauty of this expedition is that it can be completed at very low costs. Although costs are low, this team consists of two high school teachers working with minimal resources. My partner and myself have invested a great deal of time and energy gathering information, maps, and gear. We have taken every precaution while planning to keep travel costs down, but the reality of the north is that flying is expensive. To make this expedition possible and fulfill our dreams, we are seeking help in covering the costs of transportation, food, and maps. Costs we are seeking compensation for - Fuel for drive from New Hampshire to La Grande, Quebec - $500 Flight from La Grande to Ummiaq, Quebec - $500 ($250 per person) Gear from La Grande to Ummiaq, Quebec - $200 Canoe from La Grande to Ummiaq, Quebec - $100 Canoe from Povurnituq* to La Grande, Quebec - $150 Gear from Povurnituq to La Grande, Quebec - $200 Flight from Povirnituq to La Grande, Quebec - $1000 ($500 per person) (flight costs based on Air Inuit website – Jan 2006) TRAVEL Total = $2,650 Food Total = $1000 Maps Total = $350 TOTAL COMPENSATION WE DESIRE - $4,000 What additional Grants have you received or applied for to be utilized for this expedition? We have been graciously given paddles by Mitchell Paddles of Enfield, NH. Our team is being loaned an Emergency Locator Beacon by Emergency Beacon Corp. Owner of Beefjerky.com (Gregory Nemitz) has donated 5 pounds of jerky. Why are you doing this? Elaborate on the style in which you will attempt your endeavor. Our self supported team of two will move light and fast through the harsh terrain of northern Quebec. In order to make time we will reduce weight by carrying a minimum of food while relying on fishing to supplement our meals. To reduce costs we have eliminated as much outside support as possible, leaving it up to us to paddle a longer distance that involves upstream work. Traditionally, travel in Ungava was by canoe, and involved crossing watersheds and portaging. We will mimic this style by carrying our own gear and food and working our way up and down several different river systems. By not confining ourselves to a single watershed we will be able to explore much more terrain than most expeditions. Ambition, patience, and hard work will be key ingredients to successfully completing this route. Arctic Quebec, although only a thousand miles north of Montreal, remains a relatively unexplored wilderness. Northern Quebec, traditionally known as Ungava, has recently been renamed Nunavik. This landmass is inhabited by less than 30,000 Inuit living in small coastal villages. The barren and rugged interior is completely uninhabited and remote by any standards. This is truly one of the world’s last frontiers. In many ways it is more wild and secluded than well known wilderness areas in western Canada and Alaska, where tourism and adventure travel are well established. The level of commitment that the expedition will face is high. During the nearly 800 mile route we will encounter no permanent settlements and be hundreds of miles from the nearest remote outposts. For the last 6,000 years the wind scoured, treeless tundra of arctic Quebec has been inhabited by the Inuit people. Through carefully studying this harsh land, these people were able to adapt to the environment and survive. The Inuit language, Inuktitut, represents their connection to the land. The Inuit have no less than ten different words for snow and their religion is based on characters resembling animals that were relied on for food. It is our intention to immerse ourselves in this land in order to better understand its intricacies. Covering great distances in this environment will require that we study daily and hourly conditions. Fast and lightweight travel will be necessary to complete the route during northern Quebec’s two month summer. To facilitate this speed the expedition’s outfit will be trimmed to include a minimum of gear. Since traveling with one canoe and seventy days worth of food is next to impossible, team members will occasionally be forced to fish in order to sustain themselves. By the end of the expedition everyone involved will have a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the world they live in. It is our hope to raise public awareness of the vast wilderness that is northern Quebec. This land is threatened by hydroelectric development and mining interests and it would be a shame to lose such a beautiful place. The public will be made aware of our expedition through a series of slideshows presented at local schools, libraries, museums, and universities. Past expedition I have participated in have appeared in Paddler Magazine (Hubbard Memorial Expedition Nov/Dec 2005) and a host of other smaller publications. We have been in contact with Paddler, Canoe and Kayak, and several other journals and are planning on publishing articles on our return. The expedition will also be documented on a website that will grow throughout the spring and after the expedition. Our site will be based on (www.wildernesscanoe.org), which also covered several expeditions that I have been fortunate enough to be a part of. What is the history behind your endeavor? Who has gone before you? When? What did they do? There has been very little canoe travel in Ungava. Since many canoe expeditions are limited by time and a lack of willingness to endure hardship, many trips have involved chartering expensive float planes to the interior and involve canoeing a single river to the sea. Relatively few of these trips have been undertaken. Even less common are trips that involve crossing Ungava. The early 1900’s were the golden age of exploration in northern Quebec, and a few crossing were made. In 1911 and 1912 acclaimed filmmaker Robert J Flaherty made several dogsled and canoe crossing of northern Quebec in an attempt to map the land while surveying for mineral deposits. Since then only a handful of other explorers have traversed this piece of land by canoe. No single expedition has ever traveled the route that we are proposing. To cross from one watershed to another on a canoe trip is a major accomplishment. Our trip will do this three separate times. Instead of making a direct crossing, our route will cover as much of this territory as possible while allowing us to start and end the expedition on Hudson Bay, something that significantly reduces flight costs. Please elaborate on the team’s qualifications for succeeding on this proposed endeavor. Brad Bassi Past Expeditions – 1. Hubbard Memorial Expedition 50 days crossing of Labrador and Quebec 2003 2. Moise River Trip 15 days on the Pekans and Moise Rivers of Labrador and Quebec 3. 2001 Little Whale River 10 days in Quebec 2005 4. Magpie River Expedition self supported kayak expedition Quebec 2000 In addition to many other canoe expeditions in sub arctic Canada I have worked as an ACA certified kayak instructor for 5 years and as a raft guide for 9 years at Zoar Outdoor in Charlemont, MA. I am also American Red Cross CPR and First Aid certified. Eric Nemitz In addition to participating in many hiking and ski expeditions, Eric has a solid understanding of canoe travel. Eric’s greatest expedition involved sailing for 3 months through the ice berg infested waters of the Labrador Coast during the summer of 2004. He is a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) and also American Red Cross CRP certified. His course work in Geology at Carleton College has made Eric extremely qualified with a map, compass, and GPS systems. - Through working, living, and training together we have developed an understanding of how we will function under the conditions presented by the expedition. Our understanding of each other and our drive to explore and safely complete the expedition will be extremely valuable. |
| GORE TEX SHIPMAN TILMAN GRANT |
| Below is a copy of the proposal that we submitted to Gore Tex to obtain the Shipman Tilman Grant that helped to fund our expedition. Click the link below to see the announcement of the 2006 Shipman Tilman recipients. |