      |
 |
By Max Finkelstein
The Soper River winds through the heart of the Meta Incognita Peninsula on southern Baffin Island. Meta Incognita – The Unknown Place – was the forbidding name given to this land by Queen Elizabeth 1st in 1576, after explorer Martin Frobisher described it to her. By 1931, when Canadian biologist and Arctic explorer, J. Dewey Soper, travelled up the river, it was still largely unknown to the outside world. The Inuit who live here call it Kuujuaq, the Big River. Although it is navigable for only 50 km (by canoe), the Soper is a major river by Baffin Island standards. It is a Canadian Heritage River, one of a select group of Canada’s most outstanding rivers. The land it flows through is protected as Katannilik Territorial Park meaning “Place of Waterfalls”, and everywhere, water tumbles down the steep valley walls. Not long ago, travelling to the Soper River was a long, arduous expedition. Today, you can fly to Iqaluit in four hours from Toronto or Montreal. From there, it is a short hop by Twin Otter to the headwaters of the Soper. Bounce down on fat tundra tires. A welcoming committee of caribou may greet you as you unload. Canoeing the Soper is the best way to see this country in summer. Use an ABS canoe (rentals in Iqaluit), as the upper reaches are shallow and boulder strewn. Soon the river picks up speed, alternating between smoothwater swifits and bouncing roller-coaster rapids (class II). For most of its course, the river is confined in a steep, narrow valley, with towering cliffs rising more than 300 metres on each side. The only major portage is around Soper Falls, where the river squeezes through a marble canyon into Soper Lake. In a hard, harsh land, the sheltered Soper Valley is a lush, green softness. It is an oasis, where the most luxuriant vegetation on Baffin Island is found. There are old-growth forests of willow and dwarf birch crawling and twisting along the ground, between the permafrost below and the killing winter winds above. In a few sheltered spots, willows soar up to three metres (10 FEET) the tallest trees on Baffin Island. Bright wildflowers, dwarf shrubs, soft green and russet pillows of moss, orange, brown and yellow LICHENS – all weave together into a colourful carpet against the tundra’s basic shades of desert and prairie. This luxuriant vegetation (by Arctic standards) creates a rich grazing ground for wildlife. Arctic hare lope along like arctic kangaroos on the high, barren ridgetops But it is the caribou that will haunt your memory of the Soper. Barrenground caribou, or Tuktu in Unuktitut, float across the tundra like soft grey ghosts. Caribou are curious, and young ones sometimes trot right up to you, especially if you hold your arms up over your head like antlers. Then, realizing that you are not their mother, they suddenly turn and bolt. The best way to experience the Soper is to walk the land like the Tuktu. Feel the lichens – the main food of caribou – crunch underfoot. Lie down and rest. Sit and listen. There is no sound except for the wind. In a few hours, you can hike to the summit of Mt. Joy, to watch peregrine falcons swoop and soar. Climb the crystalline hills, where you can find one of the world’s only deposits of lapis lazuli. Inuit have been hiking here for centuries. They didn’t leave much behind, only stones placed in a circle to hold down skin tents. Once on Soper Lake, the lush valley seems far away. Chilled by the ocean, the lake is usually shrouded in mist and the hills around it are barren and rocky. It is connected to the sea by a reversing falls. From Soper Lake, a rough gravel road leads to the community of Kimmirut (POP.300) Kimmirut, means “the heel”, referring to the large limestone formation across the harbour which looks like a human heel. The community is famous for its green soapstone, and for the carvings created by local artists from soapstone and serpentine. This picturesque community is a fine place to end your trip. You can stay in a modern hotel, or with an Inuit family. Old ways blend with new, and southern ways blend with northern traditions. Denim and duffel, rubber boots and sealskin kamiks (moccasins), huskies and snowmobiles, sealskins stretched in the sun to dry, while ATVs roar along the dusty streets. Everywhere, there are children laughing and playing, even at three AM in the endless daylight of summer. Communities like Kimmirut are an artifact of the south. Inuit are traditionally a nomadic people and did not live in permanent communities. Whalers, missionaries and Hudson’s Bay Company employees were the first residents. In 1930, when biologist Dewey Soper came here, there were only 12 people in town. It is only since the 1960s, that most Inuit in this area left their outpost camps and moved into permanent homes. A trip on the ocean will complete your visit. Boats and guides can be hired in the community. On nearby islands are the remains of recent outpost camps. Wwe land on an island where our guide, Eshuahtoo Akavak, , showed us the remains of the outpost camp where he was born. Weathered plywood and 2 X 4s, lay scattered on the ground. Back out on the sea, harp seals break the smooth surface. Icebergs, like floating diamonds, reflect the setting sun. On other islands, the ribs of bowhead whales and rock-lined depressions are evidence of the Thule people who lived here over 1000 years ago. But the earliest sites of human habitation are 4000 years old, a reminder of the people who knew this place long before it was named Meta Incognita, The Soper River is ideal for your first Arctic experience. Here is a gentle arctic, if the arctic can ever be gentle. It is wild and remote, yet easily accessible. And it is a place that will stay with you a lifetime. |