The most remarkable polar journey in my life - 1985 Arctic Canada and Alaska

In a few days time I am leaving for St. Paul, USA for a reunion of our 1986 North Pole expedition. Here is a bit of a journey down memory lane.

After 13 months in Antarctica in 1970, I was on two expeditions to the Arctic in 1985 and 86 as a member of the Steger International Polar Expedition. What an amazing chapter in my life. Face to face with polar bears, attacked by musk oxen and gliding over the Arctic Ocean with dogs and sledges. Nights in igloos and in the homes of Innuit (Eskimo) and north \American Indian trappers and surviving at minus 70 o F. What memories !  The journey that I recall most fondly, is the first expedition with Will Steger in 1985. We were young and idealistic, hoping to prove that by completing this arduous 1500 mile trip, we would be strong and fit enough to reach the North Pole, the following year. Here is our group below modelling sun glasses.

L to R:  Bob McKerrow, Will Steger, Paul Schurke, Bob(Ironman)Mantell and Richard Weber.

This image was taken in May of 1985 on the first Steger International Polar expedition . The dog with the sunglasses is Slidre, he went to the North Pole and Greeenland. Slidre was born at the Eureka weather station on Ellesmere Island.

With Will Steger and team, I did some remarkable journeys such as down the Mackenzie River Delta and across the Arctic Ocean to Point Barrow Alaska in 1985 and the following year as a warm up to our unsupported trip to the North Pole, spent 3 months on Baffin Island training in the middle of an Arctic winter, and the late winter on Ward Hunt Island.

The map on the left shows the ARCTIC and our trip is marked in black. The red dot on the left is our starting point at Innuvik and finish point at Point Barrow Alaska.


 The 1985 expedition started in Ely Minnesota with Will Steger setting out by dog team in January that year trying to travel 5000 mile . We were to meet him at Arctic Red River, 3500 miles into the jourmey. Bob (Ironman) Mantell, came 1400 miles by dog sled from the Yukon  and also met us at Arctic Red River. Paul Schurke, John from Buyck, and I drove with a truckload of 15 huskies for about seven days, and  after crossing the US-Canadian border at International Falls, into Ontario, then across the wheat-belt through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the north-eastern  sector British Colombia, a corner of the Yukon, up the  Alaska Highway, then onto the snow clad Klondike Highway for 489 km. The next part of our road journey with dogs in the truck was up the at times impassable Dempster Highway for 603 km. When the road blocked our way, we continued northwards by driving up frozen rivers. This was a journy with a challenge round every corner and it was John's amazing music of the north that kept us awake as we drove 24/7

We stopped at Fort McPherson and heard first hand of Albert Johnson, known as the Mad Trapper of Rat River, a fugitive whose actions eventually sparked off a huge manhunt  in the Northwest Territories and Yukon in Northern Canada. The event became a minor media circus as Johnson eluded the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) team sent to take him into custody, which ended after a 150 mi (240 km) foot chase and a shootout in which Johnson was fatally wounded on the Eagle River, Yukon.

Travelling for seven days or more with Paul Schurke and John of Buyck with a truck load of howling, hungry huskies were a conversation piece wherever we stopped. We would take them out of their mobile kennels every day for a walk and a feed, and huge crowds would gather round bursting with curiousity.

After five days we crossed the Arctic circle and two days later reached the Innuit settlement of Arctic Red River where Bob Mantell had just arrived with his team of dogs, led by the unmistakable 'Critter' who went on the following year to make Arctic cannine history.

But where was Will Steger?  He should have been here to meet us. The next day we got word that Will had just arrived at Innuvik, the next Innuit village down the trail. Here was Will, who I had met for the first time the previous year in England at Ullswater in the Lakes district where we spent 3 days together discussing this journey and the eventual dream of making the North Pole.

Will was in good shape and his team of dogs fit and well. Over a few beers that night, Will told his a harrowing story of how in a blizzard on a large lake, his dogs were startled, and bolted with the sledge, leaving his seperated from his dogs and all his survival equipment. Through sheer survival and navigational skills, Will tracked his team down. Arctic Red River and Innuvik have a special place in my heart as it was where I met Will Steger, Bob Mantell, and Richard Weber for the first time. Richard Weber was a Canadian Olympic skiier and went on to do some of the longest and quickest ever polar journies on ski, a modern-day John Rae.

The 1985 polar team: Bob Mantell, Paul Schurke, Bob McKerrow, Richard Weber and Will Steger leader.


We set off in mid April with three teams of dogs, from Innuvik, on a 1500 miles trip down the Mackenzie River, onto the Arctic Ocean. Here are some excerpts from my diary on the middle part of the journey, crossing from Canada to the USA.

Wed 24 April. Left at 10 am. Made a navigational error. (Close to Herschel Island) Went right at the oil rig ship, frozen in the sea. instead of left. Corrected course after an hour of sledging. We really pushed hard today. Reached the DEW line station at 9.45 pm. 11 and 3/4 hours of travel. Passed a high nunatak, point 33’ on map.There was a log cabin close to the nunatak.

Camped half a mile from DEW line station.

Today was one of those days when it is essential to put your mind in neutral.

(On this page I have a map of Herschel island showing where we found the large ship, Gulf Beaufort, frozen into the ice, and our route.

In 1985 as we moved close to Herschel Island, the sun rolled along the horizon, but never set as Will Steger and his dog team plugged on to point Barrow, Alaska.

Thurs 25 April ANZAC day in New Zealand, the day we commemorate all those in fought in World War I and II.

Packed up and left about 10 am. Today has been designated ice-training and filming day. Dropped into the DEW line station for about an hour or two. Had freshly baked bread and an apple. What a treat ! Jim, an Englishman, who had been in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1952, ran the station. He told us that when this station was built they were not sure whether it was in the US of A or Canada.

Travelled about five miles onto the sea ice and spent about five hours cutting, hacking,, route finding, pushing twisting sledges. We hacked our way through about 50 feet of ice, averaging a height of 10 feet. It was difficult road building, a taste of next year and what we are likely to experience on the way to the North Pole. We need heavier ice axes and a heavy crow bar. A polar bear track wove in and out of the frozen ice-pack. Sam, the DEW line dog, followed us. Sleeping with rifle inside the tent tonight.

Friday 26 April  So far the hardest day for me as we step up our pace. 10 am to 10 pm. A long day with poor visibilty, biting wind and quite poor conditions all round. About 8.pm we struck a frozen delta with fresh water covering the ice, and started shattering, creaking and groaning.

Sam followed us today, sometimes getting closer for a better look at us all. Sam was a fine husky that was at the DEW line station and decided to follow us.

A year later Sam was on his way to the North Pole with the team and, in 1989, he was part of Will's South Pole expedition as well, thus making canine history as the one and only dog on expeditions to both ends of the earth. See link to The Most Amazing Sled Dog in Polar History Sam the husky story

Left, Paul feeding Sam.

At 2pm crossed the Canadian/ US border. Rough, soft conditions. At 6pm, on the other side of Demarcation Bay, discovered an abandoned Innuit settlement. The eiry place exuded remoteness, hardship, sadness and a strong sense of ‘the past.’ Bleached wind and snow blasted crosses, stuck out of a graveyard. Two were easily recognisable:

Annie Died 1913 – 22 years



Alovik Died 1922

Who were these people?  What were they like? What did they die of. So many thoughts rushed through my head. Passed Gordon, an abandoned DEW line station and a ship wreck in Demaraction Bay.

Camped for the night on the other side of the large river delta.

Paul Schurke (l) taking a noon sunshot to asxcertain latitude, while I am recording the readings the dogs take a nap.. Arctic Ocean April 1985. Photo: Steger International Polar Expedition

Saturday 27 April.  Daylight for 24 hours now. Left about 10.40 am. Takes us about 40 minutes ro hitch up the dogs and break camp. It was smooth going for the first hour, and then crossed some very brittle overflow ice. Will was very concerned about the condition of the ice. Afterwards two hours of slow progress and for the rest of the day we were inside a spit/peninsula, that rounded a point where we pitched camp. The Brooks range was a stunning backdrop all day. The highlight of the day was when Richard caught Sam. He’s going to be a fine husky. The dogs pulled very well today. Passed a few more abandoned Innuit settlements. The sun set about 11pm, but it never got dark.



Ann Bancroft and the runaway sled dog Sam in 1986

Also from my 1985 journal.are the names and order of Will's dog team.

CHESTER

BLACKIE  JUNIOR

SLYDER   ZAP

GOLIATH  CHUCHI  JAGER  LIEF

SAM  HANK

Why was this the most remarkable polar journey in my life? Starting in Minnesota USA, drving a week through Canada to the Arctic gave me a look at a swathe of  scenicly beautiful parts of the US, Canada and Arctic Canada by road, and then a 1500 mile trip with dogs and sledges where we met indigenous Indian families and later trappers, the Innuit in remote villages. Sharing a team of dogs and a tent at night with legendary Bob Mantell was a remarkable experience, and learning dog drving in the north, which is very different to what I had learned in Antarctica. As we cooked an unhurried breakfast or evening meal, I would listen to a very modest man tell me of his many winter journeys by dog team in the Arctic. Paul Schurke, Richard Weber and Will Steger were all remarkable travelling companions with insatiable appetites for exploring, and each taught me some of the finer points of arctic travel. I will always be indebted to these caring and tough individuals.


I will post a few more excerpts on this trip later.

POLAR EXPLORERS TO TREK 500 MILES BY DOG SLED

A few people have asked me about our 1986 North pole expedition. Here is an article from the New York Times.

POLAR EXPLORERS TO TREK 500 MILES BY DOG SLED
By CHRISTOPHER WREN, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: February 25, 1986

One of five teams of dogs that started out for the North Pole. Photo: Bob McKerrow

In early March 1986 when the dormant winter sun first glimmers on the horizon, 58 hardy travelers will set out from the northernmost point in North America for the North Pole.

The grueling 500-mile trek from Ward Hunt Island in subzero cold will take seven men, one woman and 50 sled dogs through a maze of ice ridges and across channels of open water that appear and vanish as the ocean currents shift the polar ice.

In a throwback to the early years of Arctic exploration, the expedition is making the trip without outside support along the way, except for emergency two-way radio contact.

The American explorer Adm. Robert E. Peary reported that he discovered the North Pole on April 6, 1909. His claim was challenged by a rival, Frederick A. Cook, who said he reached the North Pole nearly a year earlier on April 21, 1908. Inconsistencies cloud both accounts, though Admiral Peary's is more generally accepted.

The North Pole has now been visited by airplane, snowmobile and even submarine. While the newest explorers would be the first confirmed travelers to arrive at the Pole on their own without mechanical means, the trek is as much a test of science as it is a test of their courage.

Each of the explorers will live for two months on a daily diet of 7,000 calories, three times the intake of a regular adult. The diet is deliberately high in fat as part of an experiment on the health effects of cholesterol.

''This pole trip is probably the ultimate in self-reliance,'' said Will Steger, the leader of the Steger International North Pole Expedition. Mr. Steger, a 41-year-old former science teacher who lives in a log cabin near Ely, Minn., has logged 12,000 miles of Arctic travel. He said the trip to the North Pole left little margin for error.

''The average person who'd go up there probably wouldn't last a day,'' Mr. Steger said at his base camp on Baffin Island in Canada's Eastern Arctic. ''The eight of us doing it are specialists. We've looked at the obstacles and we've developed systems to overcome those obstacles safely.''

The five Americans, two Canadians and one New Zealander have a 60-day ''window'' to reach the North Pole before the ice starts breaking up, meaning that they have to average about 15 miles a day. While the distance is 500 miles on the map, detours could double it. For that reason, Mr. Steger said, ''I wouldn't want it any warmer than 40 below.''

The expedition spent two months training on Baffin Island before setting off to the North Pole. Photo: Bob McKerrow


Three Major Obstacles

Mr. Steger foresees three obstacles. The first are the ''pressure ridges'' formed of ice thrust upward as plates of pack ice collide and buckle. He expects to confront ridges as high as 30 to 40 feet. His team must hack trails over them that five dog teams hauling two tons of supplies can follow. ''We look at this in a way as a road construction project,'' Mr. Steger said.

Another obstacle will be ''leads,'' or patches, of open water formed in ''shear zones'' where ocean currents crack and separate the ice. The leads can range from a few feet to several miles wide. The expedition is carrying a small boat to scout a way around the water, but may have to wait overnight for it to freeze. There is another risk that unstable ice could break up under the travelers, even while they sleep.

The last difficulty is finding the northernmost point on earth, which lies beneath a layer of moving ice. A point marked as the North Pole one day could be 10 miles away the next, putting an exhausted team in danger of missing its objective. The magnetic North Pole on which compasses rely lies south, and limited visibility or a storm would obscure a sextant reading from the sun.

Paul Schurke (l) and Bob McKerrow (r) taking a noon sunshot with a sextant on the training trip. Photo: Bob McKerrow


A reporter who traveled with the team for two days on a rehearsal run across the ice of Baffin Island's Frobisher Bay confronted more basic problems. In extreme cold the simplest tasks, from boiling water to erecting a tent, become clumsy, even painful. The enemy is not so much the cold as the bitter wind, which deadens exposed flesh like an overdose of Novocain.

The previous year, five of the expedition did a 1500 km training trip from the MacKenzie River delta in Canada to Point Barrow Alaska. Taken on that trip. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Carelessness Can Be Disastrous
Carelessness can prove disastrous. On one training trip, matches used to light the stoves that cook food and melt ice for drinking water were mislaid briefly.

''Moving along on a day when it's 40 or 50 below, your attention funnels down to a fingertip or an earlobe that's been bitten by the wind,'' said Paul Schurke, another Minnesotan who is a coleader of the expedition with Mr. Steger. ''We're working on taking an inventory of each other throughout the day, tuning in to each other's level of alertness.''

Even in rough pack ice only a few feet high, sleds career, snag and tip, making them hazardous to ride. The dog handlers run or ski alongside to keep the weight to a minimum. ''If you're not alert or agile, it's easy to get your leg pulverized under the sled,'' Mr. Steger warned.

But such travel can also be exhilarating because of the dogs, which, once harnessed to a sled, pull so relentlessly in the white Arctic silence that a metal anchor must be thrown overboard to bring them to a halt. Left to themselves the dogs will trot for hours without coaxing. At night they sleep contentedly in the snowdrifts.

''The worst punishment you could do to our dogs is to leave them behind,'' Mr. Steger said. ''They live to pull. They live to travel on expeditions.'' The howls emitted by several dogs who were left behind on the practice trip proved his point.

Mr. Steger bred some of the the expedition's dogs in Minnesota. ''I took the size of the Eskimo and the spirit of the Alaskan dogs and mixed in a little wolf for endurance, intelligence and spirit,'' he said.
Another 35 dogs have been leased from two Arctic communities. The Eskimo dogs, at about 80 pounds, are a little heavier, shaggier and wilder than the American dogs. All those making the long trip are male - to minimize distractions.

Mr. Schurke, who has worked with dogs for eight years, called the relationship between man and dog synergistic. ''You draw a lot of energy from your dogs beyond the pulling power on your sled,'' he said. Dogs to Be Airlifted Out

Each dog team will haul a 16-foot wooden sled with 800 pounds of provisions and gear, most of it food. Once a sled-load of food is consumed, the sled will be left behind. The Peary expedition killed and ate its spare dogs, but Mr. Steger said he would not consider doing that. So, in the only departure from the self-reliance of the expedition, a plane will fly in after three weeks to carry out half of the dogs.

Dogs in the Arctic are usually fed frozen seal and other game, but on this expedition they will eat a special diet of dry meat rations developed for military dogs performing under great stress.

The humans will also be on a special diet of 7,000 calories a day, prepared in two bland meals a day of butter and peanut butter, cheese, fatty meat pemmican, noodles and oatmeal.

''Seven thousand calories is marginal, just enough to get you through,'' said Mr. Steger, who consumed 10,000 calories a day on a solo trip through the Western Arctic last year. ''We have no outside source of heat, so we're depending on our body heat to keep us warm.''

Fat accounts for 70 percent of the diet, and Mr. Schurke said the serum cholesterol level of team members was being monitored as an experiment. He and Mr. Steger have been on high-fat diets before, and when they underwent medical tests at the University of Minnesota before leaving on this trip, Mr. Schurke said, their cholesterol levels were found below the minimum for their age groups, suggesting that they had burned the excess cholesterol.


World class skier Richard Weber cooking pemmican in the tent. Photo: Bob McKerrow


Bob McKerrow, the New Zealander, pointed out that other medical tests had focused on the negative aspects of fat and cholesterol. ''I believe that we'll be better off with a high-fat diet,'' he said. ''Sugar carbohydrates are very fast release, but we want the slow-release effect that can keep us going for 24 hours.''


Bob McKerrow checking emergency radio equipment on a training expedition. Note his seal skin boots ( Mukluks) made by Inuit women at Frobisher Bay. Photo: Bob McKerrow


The team is leaving salt and sugar behind. ''Extra salt means drinking extra water. Extra water means extra fuel, and we can't carry it,'' Mr. Schurke said. The disciplined Mr. Steger also ruled out candy bars, over the protests of some members, arguing that the prospect of such a treat ahead might distract team members and contribute to an accident.

The sleeping bags, parkas and long underwear of the dogsledders are insulated with synthetic fibers developed by Du Pont, which is an expedition sponsor. But team members are sticking with beaver-skin mittens and floppy sealskin or caribou-hide mukluks. ''My alertness resides in my fingers,'' said Mr. Schurke said. ''If my fingers are warm, my head is where it should be.'' First Woman to Pole

Ann Bancroft, a 30-year-old physical education teacher from Minnesota, could become the first woman to reach the North Pole unaided, but the prospect, she said, ''is not something I dwell on a lot.'' On the recent trip she kept up with the men in moving her dogs and sled through the rough ice. ''I think if I pace myself and go steady, I can chop all today,'' she said.

The team members play down the notion that they may become the first people to prove that they got to the North Pole. Some scholars question whether Admiral Peary could have covered more than 30 miles a day in his final dash as he claimed, or whether he found the North Pole using limited navigational readings. Others have wondered why Dr. Cook referred to islands and other landmarks that do not exist.

Mr. Steger, who has studied the journals of the early Arctic explorers, avoided speculation about who reached the North Pole first. ''The main thing is that we do the trip unsupported,'' he said. ''This controversy will never be solved.''

The expedition at the North Pole, 1 May 1986.