The Big Freeze 2022
Same, but different. This pretty much summarizes all of our trips to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge so far. Despite this being our fifth trip to Nanuk, every experience has been unique every time. The weather conditions can easily vary by 30°C (54°F), even on the exact same date. These changes also affect wildlife a lot. Usually, having an early freeze-up of Hudson Bay means less polar bears on shore, while a late freeze will basically ground the polar bears for additional days or weeks.
Preparations
We usually start checking our gear well in advance of our trips to the North. November can still be pretty mild at home in Switzerland. Therefore, it will be hard to get decent winter gear that early. So, if anything needs to be replaced, this usually means ordering it online, often from Scandinavia or from Canada. The same is true for our cameras and lenses. If anything needs to be repaired, this takes time. Time that you won’t have, when you start packing the evening before your trip.
Being in Canada for more than three weeks makes it hard to pack according to the weather forecast. Therefore, we always try to err on the side of caution and pack an additional layer or two, if possible baggage wise.
At the beginning of November 2022, we started our journey from Switzerland to Winnipeg, then on to Churchill and finally to Nanuk. We usually pack one or two suitcases with stuff for Winnipeg, that we don’t need at the lodge (or that we will be wearing on the flight north already). We then store these additional bags at the hotel in Winnipeg before leaving for Churchill.
Kaska Coast
York Factory and Cape Tatnam mark a 100 kilometer stretch of coastline of Hudson Bay often called Kaskattama Coast or Kaska Coast. Pretty much halfway between these landmarks is Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. There are no trails or ports nearby. The only way of getting there are small propeller planes, that are landing on the slightly curved gravel runway occupying a former beach ridge of Hudson Bay. That was also our approach to Nanuk: we flew from Churchill south over Wapusk National Park, crossed the Nelson and Hayes rivers near York Factory and finally followed the coastline of the Kaska Coast to the lodge.
In addition to these big rivers, the entire area is basically wetlands with many creeks, lakes and swamps. Therefore, in summer, the entire backcountry is completely inaccessible for people. Things change quickly, though, when the ground freezes. Only then rivers are turned into trails and swamps into easily navigable flats. While we could see from above that the sea ice was still pretty thin, even close to the shore, we also noticed that there was a lot more snow on the ground than the previous year.
Orientation is easy and difficult at the same time in this area. It’s easy because all the former beach ridges, that are now tree lines, run east to west. Most of the rivers run south to north. And the bay is always to the north. But: the entire stretch of coastline looks pretty much the same everywhere. Therefore, it’s easy to tell which direction you are heading (unless you are in the middle of a blizzard). But it’s quite challenging to know, where you are.
In this area, there are three different biomes close together: there is the boreal forest, closer to the coast there is the coastal tundra, and in winter on the sea ice of Hudson Bay, there is the high Arctic. It is pretty unique, to have these three biomes all within walking distance. This also brings a wide variety of animals to this area. It is the only area, where (in summer) you can see all three North American bears in one location: brown bears, black bears and polar bears.
Being somewhat south of the Arctic circle, this area is located directly on the “aurora oval”. Contrary to popular belief, northern lights are not brighter, the further north you go. The best northern lights can be seen close to the Arctic circle. Therefore, the Kaska Coast is an ideal spot for aurora borealis viewing. And we really had some wonderful displays during our stay.
Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge
Our home away from home, Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, truly felt like coming home to us. The team running this outpost of civilization in the middle of nowhere is just awesome. We have never been to any other place that could match the dedication, friendliness and professionalism of the Churchill Wild staff. No matter if you are a first time guest or a repeater, everyone is becoming part of the Nanuk family quickly.
The lodge is extremely cozy and offers an impressive infrastructure. Heated rooms, hot showers, flush toilets, 24/7 electricity, and even a pretty decent internet connection are not what you would expect more than 200 kilometers off grid.
Nanuk was a former goose hunting lodge, consisting of a few green cabins. These have since been repurposed as staff quarters and storage and the entire lodge has been completely rebuilt. It now consists of two guest wings with four rooms each. They are on either side of a cozy lounge/dining room building with a beautiful fireplace and large picture windows. To get from the guest wings to the main building, you have to cross a few meters of open deck space. That’s always a nice indicator of how cold and windy it really is.
The compound of the lodge is enclosed by a tall fence. As one guide put it: The fence is not bear proof, it’s only bear resistant. What makes it bear proof are the guides. Therefore, even with the fence, caution is advised when leaving the lodge buildings. After all, Nanuk is in the middle of polar bear country and there is a pack of wolves roaming the area. This is no place for city people to venture out on their own.
Getting Around
In summer and fall, ATVs (six wheelers with trailers or the custom built “rhinos”) are used to travel along the coast on muddy trails. As the temperatures drop in November, ice starts to form on the rivers, swamps, mud flats and on Hudson Bay. It is at this time, when the most efficient way of getting around here can be deployed: snowmobiles and traditional Inuit sleds, the komatiks. These are a lot faster than ATVs and are not confined to the trails. Therefore, getting to places is quicker and easier than on ATVs. Last year, we couldn't use the snowmobiles until late November. But this year, already on November 9, the guides decided to switch from ATVs to snowmobiles.
Just before we arrived at Nanuk, a blizzard dumped quite a lot of snow in the area. Temperatures were around -15°C (5°F) and the rivers were already frozen solid. Or at least as solid as they will ever freeze. Surprisingly, even in the middle of winter, there are often overflow areas on the rivers. The tides are pushing water up the rivers. The ice then bulges and eventually cracks at high tide. These overflows are to be avoided since it is easy to get stuck in them with the snowmobiles.
The swamps are usually freezing from the inside out. The softest spots are the edges of the swampy areas since the water is moving most there, which translates into freezing later. Therefore, in November, the swamps are usually difficult to access, even if they look frozen.
In November, the safest and easiest way is usually to drive on the frozen mud flats or on the snow covered beach ridges. This year, the conditions were just perfect. While we had some big snowdrifts to cross, traveling along the coast was smooth and easy. Especially the first few days were cold, windy and we had a few blizzards accumulating more snow quickly. However, in the second half of November, an unusual warm spell drove temperatures up to 0°C (32°F). Formerly solid frozen areas became slushy again and the guides had to always check the tides, to avoid crossing rivers at high tide and potentially getting stuck in some overflows. Despite these challenges, we covered more ground than on previous trips. One day, we could even join one of the guides on a special expedition to Cape Tatnam, approximately 50 kilometers to the east. Cape Tatnam marks the northernmost point of the Kaska Coast. It is a beautiful open area with big sand ridges overlooking Hudson Bay. We were beyond happy to have been able to get there, since this cape has always had a special fascination to us.
While a lot of traveling is done in the komatiks being pulled by snowmobiles, almost all animal approaches are on foot. We basically drove to an area where our guides spotted an animal with their binoculars, and continued on foot from there.
Polar Bears
Animals are smart. During a storm, they usually hunker down. Therefore, having had a few blizzards back to back, there were not too many polar bears roaming the area. But as soon as we had a few days of calmer weather, we had incredible bear encounters. Most bears were already eagerly waiting for the sea ice of Hudson Bay to become strong enough to support their weight. Therefore, they still spent the night on shore but wandered to the edge of the frozen mud flats quickly every morning. It was interesting to retrace their tracks, to find where they slept the night before and eventually also locate them close to the water edge.
One particularly bold bear approached the fence of the lodge and tried to climb it. The guides were quick to discourage the bear from entering the compound. This was for the bears own safety. It looked like a young and therefore inexperienced bear. It had probably never seen any humans or buildings before. In an area, where people and bears coexist, maintaining a respectful distance is key for the safety of both. Young bears have to learn that humans are neither food nor do they want to play with them.
While these encounters were awesome, we will probably never be able to top last year’s polar bear encounters. But this was mainly due to last year’s late freeze-up of the bay, which is not good for the bears. Therefore, we were more than happy to see fewer bears, knowing that they were already on the move to their hunting grounds.
Wolves
The first week of our three week stay was mainly focused on watching polar bears. The remaining two weeks were more focused on the wolves. But neither the bears nor the wolves seemed to be aware of this… We have had great wolf encounters also during the first week and we have seen polar bears later on.
The wolves in this area are grey wolves. The are believed to be a separate subspecies, the cloud wolves. But that’s just an assumption because they tend to be bigger than regular grey wolves. To further study and understand these elusive animals, Churchill Wild is offering four trips a year (two in November, two in March) that mainly focus on wolves. National Geographic photographer and naturalist Jad Davenport ist hosting these trips. And we are kind of proud that the idea for these trips was at least influenced by our fascination for wolves during our Den Emergence Quest back in 2019. We have been participating in all of the wolf trips so far, which also have a scientific aspect. Since these wolves have never been studied, a part of the wolf trips is a citizen science program, where all guest can participate in collecting information. Photos are shared and used for identification of individual animals, and videos can provide insights into the behavior of the pack. And there are also some fun gadgets like IR scopes, audio recorders and microscopes available for those that want to dive even deeper into wolf science.
We had our first encounter with the wolf pack already on our first day of this trip. The entire pack came up to the runway just in front of the lodge. What a great way to start a trip! Later, the wolves eventually made their way east towards Cape Tatnam. Finding them in an area that covers thousands of square kilometers would have been like finding a needle in a haystack. Even with the snowmobiles, that didn’t make sense.
But even while the wolf pack was off limits for us, we were not without any wolves. Which is at least partially a sad story. One morning, we discovered wolf prints close to the lodge. There was blood next to these prints. Soon after we discovered these prints, we spotted a lone wolf far in the distance. Upon closer inspection through our binoculars and telephoto lenses, we discovered that the wolf had a badly injured leg. She had a big cut on her left front paw. But surprisingly, she wasn’t limping. While she clearly wasn’t afraid when she spotted us, she was cautious and kept her distance.
We left our observation point on the same way we approached it, to make sure, the injured wolf saw us leaving. We didn’t want to put any pressure on her. The next day, we saw here again, a few kilometers west of the lodge. She wasn’t bleeding anymore, but was still licking her front paw a lot. And we could see a piece of fur and flesh protruding from her leg. It didn’t look nice. Again, we watched her for some time and made it obvious that we were leaving again, showing her we were not a threat to her. We did this for a few days, spotting her in different locations within a few kilometers of the lodge. Her leg still didn’t look well, but our guides pointed out to us, that she would likely be able to recover. First, she was obviously part of the local Opoyastin wolf pack. Her current position was in the middle of their territory. This made it a relatively safe place for her to wait for her buddies to return and to let her wound heal. Second, we found some scat. If she was digesting, that meant she had been eating. And that was proof, that her injury didn’t keep her from finding food. And third, this was the beginning of winter. Infections are less likely to occur in the cold season, than in summer with all the mud and bugs and bacteria around.
It was on our last day, that we saw her again. We were just staying put. Eventually she approached us and came within 100 meters of us. We had tears in our eyes. All our efforts from the past week had paid of. We succeeded in building some kind of trust and she felt confident enough to check us out before slowly walking past us. This is what we love about the Churchill Wild lodges. It’s not about pushing animals, but rather letting them decide whether they want to approach us. Sometimes, this means not getting the perfect photo. But if the magic happens and a wild animal decides to approach us, the reward is much more than just a photograph.
We will be back next March and are hoping to see her well and healthy, then!
Time to Say Goodbye
Three weeks sound like a long time. And in a way, they are. But then, time flies, when every day is a new adventure. It is a privilege to be able to encounter wildlife in such a remote location. And doing so with a group of likeminded people, is even more unique. During our trips to Nanuk, we have found many new friends. Some of them, we have seen again at Nanuk. Others have even visited us in Switzerland.
The end of our stay at Nanuk also marked the end of the season. The lodge will be completely shut down until February, when preparations for the most rugged adventure, the Nanuk Emergence Quest, start.
We would like to thank the entire team of Churchill Wild for working tirelessly every day (and night - northern lights watch!) to make this trip again a unique experience. We are already looking forward to returning for another “same, but different” trip.
