Day 1 [29km] - Mercy Bay
My charter plane had trouble finding a suitable place to land. The area I planned to land, west of Mercy Bay along Castel Bay, was too wet.
Eventually the excellent pilots (from Aklak Air) found a dry, rock and dirt field roughly 10km south of Mercy Bay. I hiked to Mercy Bay, reaching the water around midnight, and then returned that evening. I avoided camping near shores due to the Polar Bears.
As I descended to Mercy Bay the ground became greener and wetter. The river entering Mercy Bay was surrounded by deep mud flats, making it impossible to cross. I stayed on the east side and hiked on an isthmus that protruded into the bay. Two Muskox were grazing on a hill overlooking the bay, while hundreds of seagulls created a cacophony on cliffs to the west.
Mercy Bay was mostly covered in ice although near the short there was open water. Streams of water meandered across the surface of the ice. The ice cracked and sizzled. It was hard to imagine how the crew of the Investigator managed to spend two winters on this bay – the relics of the boat were only a few hundred metres away under the ice.
On my return I saw a caribou running along a river, and a curious arctic fox came close to examine me.
