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"The Changing Page"
Stories, Trip Updates, and Newsflashes!
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We will be adding to this page every other month - theoretically.
A message from Tundra Tom: February 2010:
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Greetings from the Far North! Winter has set in deeply in the Far North, and has stretched its icy fingers into the southern Canadian provinces.
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About the February 'Story of the Month' Dr. Ron Burmeister Ron Burmeister worked for thirty-five years as a medical doctor in the USA. During that time he came North with us five times starting in 1988; and most recently in 2009 on our 'Dance with Caribou' trip to the Thelon River & Chesterfield Inlet area in Nunavut. Click photo to visit Ron's recent write-up he submitted to our site. Ron''s deep Christian values has also enticed him to write some inspirational articles about the spiritual element of his northern Arctic adventures: see links from his photo essay page.
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About the February 'Photo of the Month'... It has been a decade since the late, great photographer Galen Rowell and his wife Barbara last attended our 'Dance with Caribou' trips to the barrenlands of Northern Canada - and eight years since their unfortnate deaths in a tragic aircraft crash near their Calfornia home. However, Galen's immortal photography continues to appear in publications & calendars, and this is what has inspired us to present a 'flash from the past' for our Feburary 2010 'Photo of the Month'. Galen once wrote this in his journal: "Tundra Tom doesn't promise more than he can deliver, but he does deliver more than he promises. He never said I'd see a wolverine, or step outside my tent beside a lake reflecting the northern lights and a crescent moon as wolf howls pierced the night.. "
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Great Canadian donates another wildilfe trip Gift Certificate to the NANPA Silent Auction in 2010 For the fifth season in a row, Great Canadian is again donating another $2,000.00 Arctic wildlife trip gift certiicate to be applied to any of our wildlife trips - to the North American Nature Photographers Association Silent Auction. Last year we donated two similar gift certificates. Founded in 1996 as a charitable organization, the Foundation supports worthy projects involving education and nature photography, including funding NANPA’s educational programs, particularly the two scholarship programs at the Summit. Funding is also provided for the building and preservation of photo blinds in national wildlife refuges, an outgrowth of the Memorandum of Understanding between NANPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, several grants are awarded each year to promote education, complete environmental projects and share photographic expertise with others. |
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About the January Story & Photo of the Month: In August 2009, professional nature photographer David C. Olson attended our 'Dance with Caribou' expeditions. David got some wonderful photos - including the northern lights & caribou shot that was used for our season's greeting e-card. Click on photo to check out David's awesome photo essay about his trip to Nunavut! |
December 'Photo of the Month' This photo of tundra wolf pups at the densite was taken by client George Nagel during a 'Dance with Wolves' trip to the central eastern barrenlands in northern Canada. A third pup was in the den while this photo was taken, and emerged shortly after. Tundra wolves and fox favor digging dens under the tree-root systems in the scattered clumps of white spruce trees that grow in sand esker systems found on mainland Nunavut & NWT. Den activity links directly to the northbound seasonal caribou migratory routes. |
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The December 'Story of the Month' Great Canadian was proud to host Canadian pro photography team Horst & Shirley Baender, who traveled from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to Baker Lake to join two weeks of our 2009 'Dance with Caribou' trips in late August and early September. Horst has been involved in photography since the start of high school, taking photos of birds & bees and things that please. They have photographed the grizzly bears of the Khutzeymateen, the Kermodi bear of the west coast as well as polar bears in the Chuchill & Wapusk National Park areas. Horst & Shirley's complete photo essay is slated to be our December's 'upcoming 'Story of the Month' - click on photo to get an advance look at their Nunavut trip with us - or to see a enlargment of the Baender's special 'Photo of the Month' of red-tinged aurora borealis & caribou antlers. |
The November 'Story of the Month' More and more, people are traveling to Canada from all over the world to experience the incredible wildlife wonders of Nunavut. In 2009, Wendy Broekx came all the way over from Australia to see caribou, northern lights, autumn colours - and particularily musk-oxen. Well, she saw all those things and got her wish on the latter - perhaps even a bit more than she bargained for - when a bull musk-ox snuck up behind her on the last day! Click here or on photo to see what Wendy had to say about her 2009 trip to the tundra with Great Canadian Wilderness Adventures: |
 Photo courtesy Horst Baender |
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About the October 'Story of the Month'
In 1999, Barry Girard from Chicago, Illinois joined our two-week canoe expedition down the Clarke & Thelon Rivers when we were based out of Yellowknife. This past 2009 autumn, he returned back north again for two-weeks of our 'Dance with Caribou' trips on our first full season operating solely in Nunavut. Click photo to read what Barry had to say about his two Arctic adventures with us:
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Season's Greetings! From Nunavut & the Thelon .... Click on photo to see our on-line 2009 Christmas greeting, with a fantastic new photo donated by David C. Olson |
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Our AVIATION HISTORY Aviation has always been an integral part of the Great Canadian Wilderness Adventures field operations. The specific type of aircraft we put to service each year depended directly on the type of expeditions we were operating, and the number of clients booked from season to season. Following nearly four decades of remote operations in the central barrenlands we have worked with many aircraft, and have more than a few stories to tell! Click here or on photo to visit our updated photo gallery showing many of the aircraft we have operated in the Arctic over the years. |
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Upcoming article in the Winnipeg Free Press! In 2006, Canadian freelance writer Martin Zeilig joined our Clarke-Thelon River Expedition. Even though the canoe trip was delayed due to forest fire smoke & maintenance, Martin still had a life-changing experience - and wrote a feature article in the Edmonton Journal about it in October 2006. He returned again to the barrens in 2009 and joined our 'Dance with Caribou' trip, and has written a new article for the Winnipeg Free Press to be published in the spring of 2010. Martin writes this: "I was out for dinner this evening with some friends, and I was describing, in part, my trip to Baker Lake at the end of August. In fact, I've told quite a few people about it. It was the totality of the 'Dance with Caribou' trip that was wonderful: encountering caribou and muskox and some other wildlife as well as the arctic flora during our exhilerating hikes across the seemingly endless tundra, our good group dynamics, the awesome Aurora Borealis at night, exploring the Hamlet of Baker Lake, the plentiful and wholesome food prepared by the two Steves, your camp library, conversations, and more. This was my third trip North of 60, and I hope to do more. In fact, I'd like to make a documentary film about the North. My article on our trip will be published in the Travel section of the Winnipeg Free Press sometime this coming spring. I don't know the exact date yet. But, if I'll make sure you receive a copy of the article after it comes out. Photos taken by fellow participant/professional photographer and naturalist David Olson, will accompany my story." |
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Book Release: "Caribou and the North, a Shared Future" This past fall, a wonderful new book about caribou was released. Co-written by Monty Hummel - President of the World Wildlife Fund Canada & Dr. Justina Ray, this high-profile book includes a forward by Robert Redford and sketches by renowned artist Robert Bateman. Well, imagine our surprise to discover that 26 of the quality photos (including the cover photo) in this new book were taken by our Great Canadian Wilderness clients during various wildlife trips that we "facilitated" to remote regions of the Northwest Territories & Nunavut over the past two decades! Click on photo to see our review about this book - and where to purchase it! |
Our Mini-Movies On-Line! Check out our new on-line film clip shorts of tundra wolves & pups at the den, the great summer caribou migration, and scenes along the Thelon River. |
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There are still rare places in the natural world that are safe & free from the meddling of mankind... It is good to know that in this crazy world of financial failures, hot & cold wars, terrorism and corruption, that there are still special places out there in the wilderness that are truly innocent & pure... We offer to bring you to such a place... Click on photo to visit our new special 'introduction' page ranslated into six languages including English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish & Italian!
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Maybe there is hope for us after all - the Environmental Review Board recommends protective status for the Upper Thelon Basin! As the on-going development of diamonds & uranium spread across the Canadian Northern mainland, so does encroachment upon some of our very last critical North American wilderness areas. The Thelon basin is indeed such a critical place. Acknowledged in importance by some of the world's leading nature photographers and travelers, the upper Thelon is a magic land of aboriginal history & power, wildlife and raw nature. Following a lifetime of guiding & flying photographers to this remote region, in January 2007,'Tundra Tom' was one of many who gave presentations about the critical biological importance of this unique wilderness region at a special meeting held in Lutsel K'e, NWT by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB) to discuss an application about diamond drilling for uranium on the upper Thelon basin... and we WON (for the time being)!! Click here or on photo to read the CBC News article about the MVEIRB conclusions and results of that meeting. |
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Jake has left us for a better & higher piece of tundra On October 13, 2008, at age 14, our camp mascot Jake wandered away down a wet bush road in NW Ontario in the middle of the night, and left this corrupt world for a better & higher piece of tundra. Jake led quite the life indeed- having flown, hiked & paddled across much of the mainland Arctic - to running free wherever we went. As a half-wolf himself, he often lured other lone tundra wolves and occassionally wolf pups right down into the wildlife camp yard, at the delight of our photographer guests! He once ran like the wind..... |
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Moon & Lights - This awesome and rare photo of moonlight and northern lights together reflecting off the waters of a lake along the Thelon River in northern Canada was taken by client Ella Trussell from the camp beach during a 2007 Great Canadian 'Dance with Caribou' wildlife trip. Click on photo to see an enlarged version of this remarkable new photo addition to our website! |
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Martin Haefele In the autumn of 2007, we were proud to accommodate northerners Martin Haefele & Lynn Cheverie on our 'Dance with Caribou' trip to the upper Thelon in the Northwest Territories. Martin & Lynn live in Yellowknife - Martin worked as a manager for the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, and Lynn as a emergency room nurse at the Yellowknife Stanton hospital. It is good to get the perspective of fellow northerners on our expeditions, and Martin was kind enough to send us a photo essay about their trip with us: Click on photo to read more. |
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Photo Gallery! During our 2007 season, we were pleased to accommodate Canadian clients Rita Marett & Sandra Hannah during two weeks of our special 'Dance with Caribou' trips.The two have been on group canoeing and camping trips together before, and decided to travel together to the Far North. Click on the photos for a summary of what their recent experiences on the barrenlands were like with Great Canadian Wilderness: |
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Another Photo Gallery... Dr. Ella Trussell is a retired professor of kinesiology from Sonona State University, California, where she worked for 27 years. She came to the tundra with us while on a Sierra Club Outing in 1990, and returned again to visit during the autumn of 2007 - and definately had something to say about her two trips with us... Click on photo to visit Ellie's new photo essay of her northern experiences in Canada. |
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| Just what the heck is an esker, anyway? Winding across the Canadian northern boreal forests and tundra, eskers are excellent landmarks - are lofty highways for migrating caribou, and offer perfect den conditions for wild wolves & fox as well as roost for birds-of-prey.
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 An esker on the tundra |
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'Caribou & Wolves - 'The Endless Dance' Great Canadian Wilderness was proud to facilitate cinematographer Jeff Turner and crew of River Road Films to several wild wolf den sites, and to the Great Summer Caribou migration. Jeff got some awesome footage - with several grizzlies coming in to a remote water crossing to feed in several caribou that were stuck in the boulders of a creek crossing. During the spring of 2004, Jeff also got some quality wolf pup footage on the upper Thelon. This has resulted in an excellent wildlife documentary that was aired in the UK on BBC2 "The Natural World", and on Discovery Channels' Animal Planet in 2006. Jeff had this to say about his trips with us: "I have filmed wolves, caribou and grizzly bears in many areas of the Canadian Arctic over the past 15 years and I have to say that the Thelon area is without a doubt the most beautiful piece of Arctic tundra I have ever experienced. It is a world class wilderness with some of the planets most spectacular scenery and wildlife that is hard if not impossible to see anywhere else. I know of no other place where you can go and watch wild wolves around their den. Wolves are one of the most difficult animals to get close to in the wild and Tom and his crew have been doing it here for years. That says a lot about their sensitivity and success as wildlife guides. Tom and his crew at Great Canadian Wilderness are ideally placed to give access to this wonderful landscape. There is no-one with more experience and knowledge of the area and they have setup a comfortable, warm and homey camp with good food and facilities in the middle of this wilderness. They live lightly on the land here trying always to keep the imprint of man to a minimum in this pristine place. I admire and appreciate the work they do and wish them much success in the future." Jeff
Turner |
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We are proud to announce that in 2002, 'Tundra Tom' and Great Canadian Wilderness were nominated by past client & fellow Yukon Northerner Dr. Dave Simonson for the World Wildlife Fund International Arctic Programme Arctic Award for Linking Tourism and Conservation. Dave's initial nomination was then backed up by other client nomination letters from author Alan Weisman and photographer Lonnie Brock. Click logo at left to read these special nomination letters: |
Canadian Northern Lights Award for Excellence in Travel Journalism: Client & Canadian author Catherine Senecal won the prestigious ' Canadian Travel Commission's Northern Lights Award for Excellence in Travel Journalism' for best Internet Reporting. Well, Cathy's winning story was written about her trip with Great Canadian Wilderness on the 'Great Summer Caribou Migration'! Click on photo to read Catherine's on-line article, or click here to learn more about the Great Summer Caribou Migration Expedition slated for 2009. Cathy had this to say about her trip: "I loved the camp and being out on the barrens-I even love saying, "when I was out on the barren lands" to people. It makes me sound so adventurous! The truth is your trip, camp and tour make this stunning land and its animals accessible to people willing to let their minds and spirits compel them to a place perhaps more wild and epiphanic than they could have predicted." Click photo to read Catherine's award-winning article! |
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Buried on the barrens of the upper Thelon River.... The Faess family - beginning with Grandfather Carl, Father Henry & Mother Marcella, and followed to this day by Tundra Tom - have together cumulatively spent the past 67 years guiding, exploring & flying the Canadian Far North... To learn more of the Faess Family history, click here or on photo! |
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Conde Nast Traveler's 'Diamonds in the Wild' article still online! The controversial article titled 'Diamonds in the Wild', excerpted from the December 2001 issue of Conde Nast Traveler magazine in on-line in our website. This feature article was result from Ecoventures hosting author / journalist Alan Weisman, accompanied by Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Jay Dickman for a 'Dance with Caribou' trip to the Thelon region on the NWT & Nunavut, on contract with Conde Naste Traveler magazine in year 2000. 'Must reading' for those thinking of coming to the Thelon - check out! - click here, or on photo at left to read the article! |
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| Great Canadian Wilderness Adventures | ||
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Click here to download our current trip calendar in PDF
| Still undecided? Click on any of the faces below, and let our past clients & trips leaders tell you about their trips with us to the Canadian Far North! |
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Come warm yourself by our fire. |
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Great Canadian Wilderness Adventures |
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Phone: 1-800-667-9453 (Canada & USA) Overseas Phone: +807-662-4512 North American toll-free Fax: 866-416-5548 Email: tundra@thelon.com Request More Information |
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