Iqaluit dog sledge tour and excursion by ATV

Iqaluit offers the possibility to have different tours & activities in the surrounding, depending on own interests and time of the year. During my free time in Iqaluit, after a guided city tour, I go for an ATV excursion in Sylvia Grinnell national park, driving off road over the tundra.The tours presented in this report, including the ATV excursion and the dog sledge trip, can be booked through Tour Iqaluit / Arctic Kingdom which offers also various additional options.

The ATV is a powerful and reliable vehicle, perfect for exploring the rugged soil typical of the tundra. Driving the ATV doesn't require special skills and a short introductory drive is given before leaving from the base. In the picture to the right, an image of a license plate of Nunavut.

Pictures of Sylvia Grinnell river that runs through the national park. At the beginning of June, the river shows an unusual greenish color due to ice still present at depth.

Another exciting excursion in Iqaluit available almost year-round is the classic dog sledge trip across Frobisher Bay, over the sea ice. The sledge is carefully prepared and each dog is tied depending on its exact role in the team.

Before we leave, we check what is going on with this mother, since the night before she gave birth to new puppies.

At the beginning of the summer, the Arctic offers incredibly bizarre landscapes, which can change dramatically in a matter of hours. In fact, an heavy rain that lasted a few hours during the night, has melted almost all the snow, exposing the blue underlying sea ice.

The melting snow has created some puddle, but this is absolutely no problem for dogs and wooden sleds (actually, in such condition, dogs can be much more reliable than snowmobiles or ATVs).

Some rest off Frobisher bay, enjoying the odd landscape made of pack ice.

The dog sledge tour continues among the odd landscape created by sea ice without snow on top.

Left picture: standing still on the sled at these temperatures (certainly not extreme at the beginning of summer, but still chilly) may require from time to time to warm up by moving a little bit, and this can be done by just running together with the dogs. In the right picture, a puddle in the pack, negotiated by the dogs without having to give them exact orders.

After returning to base, the dogs certainly deserve a good meal.