This area has been an important fishing and hunting place for millenia, and archaeological sites abound. It also offers an opportunity for our guests to try their hand at fishing for arctic char and lake trout. We dock at a sandy beach covered with multicoloured beach peas, and hike up along a rushing creek while the guides take the small boat through the rapids to a wide lake. Once above the gorge, some try fishing, while others hike along the slopes above Fishing Creek Lake.
Ancient tent rings, stone drying racks, and small hearths are everywhere. As we hike the upper slopes, we find the grave of Sam and Allen’s great grandfather, still bearing grave gifts undisturbed for 60 years, and then come upon stone storage caches, fox traps, and a large game drive system of small inuksuit and hunting hides. Caribou trails meander down the slopes – this is a major crossing spot, where people have hunted for millennia. Caribou are often seen here, and muskox are occasionally seen. Sometimes they are close enough that we can stalk them.
On our return trip, we may stop at a small island covered in poppies, with nesting common eiders and gulls, or at another small island and adjacent point with dozens of stone storage caches made of large blocks of limestone and quartzite. Drying racks on the beaches below attest to the success of the hunters in capturing caribou – they then dried and stored the meat against the lean times of autumn.
