Inuvik (Mar 20/06) - A journey up the Mackenzie River wasn't something Sahtu hunter and trapper Wilfred Jackson was expecting when he ran into a group of Icelandic adventurers.

But when Jackson heard about the explorers travelling the river in modified Ford trucks, he thought they'd never make it without him.

What they're using The expedition team is using three modified Ford F-350 heavy duty pick-up trucks for the journey. They are using 46-inch tires that are 20 inches wide. The tires are normally levelled at 70psi, but in deep snow the tires are deflated for better traction and mobility. Each truck is equipped with two block heaters and two beds, ensuring team members are warm. The trucks have an extra gear box, so there is an ultra-low gear for hills and deep snow. Each truck has 400-litre gas tanks with an extra barrel of diesel fuel hitched to the back of the trucks. The adventurers have created specialized iron rods to attach and connect each of the trucks. This allows a truck behind the leader to push it up a hill or though deep snow, or it allows the lead truck to pull the other trucks through terrain. Each truck is equipped with GPS, laptop computers and mapping programs.

"I've never seen anything like it before," Jackson said from his hotel room in Inuvik, March 16.

"They would have had a lot of problems if I wasn't there. They'd probably still be out on the river somewhere still trying to make it to Inuvik," Jackson added.

It took about three years for team leader Omar Frithjotsson to organize the expedition, which he named Arctic Trails, across the North. They are mapping a route traversing the Arctic Circle.

"It's something that's never been done before," said Frithjotsson. "And it's been a boyhood dream of mine to travel in the footsteps of Icelandic explorer Vilhjalmur Steffansson."

But that dream almost came to an end after many in Fort Good Hope told the Icelanders there was no way they could make it to Inuvik.

"We were nervous about going up the river," said Karl Rutsson, a mechanic and driver for the expedition. "We didn't know what to expect."

But their Sahtu guide knew what to look out for and helped the expedition team navigate the Mackenzie River from Good Hope to Inuvik.

"He knew what our computers didn't. For example, he knew about an island in the river around one corner, but our computers didn't even show there was an island. But sure enough there was an island," Frithjotsson said.

Jackson says the biggest challenge facing the expedition was knowing where to drive on the river.

"At first they were driving on the sand bars, but the snow was too deep and they weren't going anywhere," Jackson said. "I told them to drive where there was less snow because that was the safest place to drive."

Jackson explains that in the fall when the river freezes, the water level drops and the ice drops with it.

Cracks form in places where the ice has dropped and there's overflow that comes up through the cracks to freeze again. It is in such places where the snow is not as deep, because the majority of the snow for the year is already on the ground by the time the overflow freezes, says Jackson.

Frithjotsson complimented the hunter, saying "he knew the river like the back of his hand."

Jackson says he won't go any further with the expedition, adding Inuvik is "as far (north) as I go."

The expedition will carry on toward Tuktoyaktuk. It began in Yellowknife.

Once they reach Tuk, the Icelanders will travel east along the coastline into Nunavut and then veer south to Rankin Inlet. The last leg of the journey will take the adventurers to Gimli, Man.

The six-man team hopes to make it to the end of their journey in six to eight weeks, landing in Manitoba sometime in this April.