Digges Island

During last year’s expedition, there was a low point. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every minute of it, as I am with this one. But along the way, one’s energy reserves drop down, the brain turns off and you just want to crawl into your bunk and shut out the world.

In 2009, that point was about 10 or 11 days into the expedition. This year, it was today.

Again, let me assure you, today was overall another good SOI day. We landed on Digges Island, an island that very few people, let alone an SOI expedition, had ever set foot on before. We saw almost a quarter of a million thick-billed murres nesting along majestic cliffs that towered above the Hudson Strait.

Back on the ship, we had an educational and fun series of presentations and workshops ranging from Birds of the Arctic to Working with GPS. The night rounded off in musical fashion with our resident Inuit elder, David Serkoak, leading everyone in traditional drum dancing and our musical “experts” James Raffan and Remy Rodden playing guitar on the bow of our ship with about 50 students swaying back and forth in tune to the music.

So why would today be a low point on the expedition so far?

While on Digges Island, we participated in a hike. This is not unusual at the Geoff Green Center for Weight Loss. I’d participated in many an SOI hike last year, some I couldn’t complete, and most of them ended up so out of breath and weak in the knees that I could barely make it to my bunk. After the expedition was over, I swore I would start living life a bit healthier – more exercise, better eating, etc. with the intention of coming back and conquering the hikes with ease.

Well, the past year hasn’t been as healthy as I would like. Many times I relapsed into an unhealthy meal, or a lazy night in front of the TV. But I’d like to think that I’ve cut back on the unhealthy food, taken a few more walks than before and was, in general, in better shape than before.

So when heading out on today’s hike, I thought for sure it would be no problem. Admittedly, it WAS up a very steep hillside over rocky terrain, trickling streams and spongy tundra to a point overlooking the cliffs of thick-billed murres. But within minutes I realized this wouldn’t be easy. In fact, I knew it would be darn right difficult.

Within half an hour, I came to the conclusion that any gains I had made in the last year were far from enough. My breath was ragged, my muscles aching; sweat pouring out of every inch of my body, mosquitoes by the dozens were swarming around me like vultures circling a soon-to-be corpse.

As I was passed by more and more people coming BACK from the destination point, my stamina (and my spirits) reached a low point. I was far from in shape to conquer the hikes with ease. The Arctic, with its stark beauty and harsh climate, had still conquered me.

By the time I had made it to the zodiacs for the trip back to the ship, I was one of the last few people. And those that were with me were there because they didn’t want to leave me behind. It was not a good feeling, being the reason why everyone was waiting. It’s called Students On Ice, not Mike On Ice.

It was embarrassing, it was exhausting, and it was depressing. As the zodiacs sped back towards the ship, it took everything I could not to break down in tears. I was tapped out, not only physically, but emotionally.

So how do I recover from this low point? In the end, it was the realization that despite the aching muscles, being the last person to make it back, the pure exhaustion I felt… I had made it. There were plenty of opportunities for me to turn back. But I didn’t. I kept pressing on, with each step, until I finally stood on the edge of an 800-metre cliff looking out at the pure elegance of the Arctic at its best.

I may still have a long way to go in my personal journey to live better. But today was a pretty good first step.