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Canadian Station named "Alert",
in the Northwest
Territory
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Alert was
the most northern land site continually inhabited in the world and was situated on the northern tip of Canada's Ellesmere Island right on the Arctic Ocean at Lat. N 82 30 Long. W 62 20. Alert lies just 817 km (508 mi) from the North Pole; the nearest Canadian city is Iqaluit, 2,092 km (1,300 mi) away.
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Alert is an important departure point for North Pole expeditions.
The Canadians at the site told us about one "explorer" that had more time and money than courage. He brought his supplies, ski mobile and trailers, and practiced his departure for days. They were wondering if he was ever going to depart for the pole. Finally, when it was too late in the season for travel on the ice, he left and went home.
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There were
not many luxuries at Alert - like a smooth runway to land on. When the "runway"
was fouled with winter snow drifts, the planes landed on the Arctic
Ocean.
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This place
made Thule look like "a big city in the banana belt". The Canadians were
friendly and they told us that there were lots of crystals on the "mountain"
in the background. They took us out a few miles in a jeep and dropped us
off to find our crystals. We hiked and looked for about 5 hours but found
little except bare rocks. By the time we walked back to the Alert base we
were plenty tired and hungry, so we jumped on the next supply plane back
to Thule. I bet those guys are still laughing about "putting one over" on
those crazy Americans!
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© 2007 Larry Rodrigues. All rights reserved.
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