paw prints and homeward bound

If all goes well, today is the day Colleen and I get to head homeward bound for our midway break to see our families! I can hardly contain myself. This is just a quick post to say "keep your fingers crossed the plane comes in" and to say happy weekend - I know this will be the happiest I will be in a long time! Above are the size differences in paw prints from the wolf to the bear... pretty scary!

Anyway, final packing and trying to stay calm awaits me! Happy weekend! :)

a frozen city

Ten tiny footprints exploring in between the statues of ice and snow. It was my second and last time going down to the Arctic Ocean and exploring the frozen city beyond the airfield. There was an adolescent Polar Bear spotted on the ice today, only 24hrs after in the location we were exploring. Its back was approximately 5ft tall and it roamed the ice along the inlet. Normally, they are not in the area until June and this is the first polar bear they have spotted since 2010. They are one of the few species that hunt humans and that is more than enough to keep me away from this beautiful and mysterious landscape.

With that said, yesterday we enjoyed exploring the caves of ice, the towers of seemingly blue glass that rose up from the frozen sea and admiring the prints of a small lemming on the snow. It was a beautiful day and even though it was -30, it felt like a crisp spring morning. It's amazing how your body acclimatizes to this environment. I fear next week, when I'm back in real civilization, I'll be walking around like a sweaty mess. Lets hope that doesn't happen.

I'm already almost packed with the exception of my laundry that is tumbling in the dryer as I type. I had a very relaxing weekend with an attempt at sledding (got cut short due to it not working and the bear) and just catching up on some movie and sleep time. Over all, I'd call it a success. Four more sleeps and that plane will be here and I will be sent on my way to enjoy my well deserved break... I can promise you it is well deserved!

Enjoy what remains of your weekend and I'll see you this week for some final Alert pictures for a mere 17 days. Happy Sunday x