Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

NUNAVUT
Walter Lanz got more of an adventure than he bargained as he was one of several hikers that had to be airlifted from Auyuittuq National Park on the Aug. 1 long weekend.

Parts of Auyuittuq National Park had to be closed on Aug. 1 after three days of rain and high river and creek waters forced hikers to be evacuated. - photo courtesy of Parks Canada

And all it cost him was a couple of bumps and bruises.

"We got a nice helicopter ride out of the deal," said Lanz, a 52-year-old technical writer from Vancouver who came to Nunavut on to hike in the park with his wife Liz McKinlay.

"What can I say? It was an adventure. That's the number one word for it."

On Aug. 1, Parks Canada closed parts of the park, including the west side of Weasel River from Crater Lake creek to Glacier Lake shelter, and along the east side of Weasel River from Overlord to Glacier Lake shelter. The reason for the closure was that "unusually high temperatures and heavy rainfall have made key river crossings impassable and extremely treacherous," according to a press release.

Garry Enns, external relations manager for Parks Canada in Nunavut, said water levels are being monitored with the possibility of reopening the areas on Aug. 5. Water levels normally rise because of glacial melting, and that only parts of the park were closed, he said.

Lanz said when he and his wife, both experienced hikers, hiked to Summit Lake from Pangnirtung, they crossed a creek that had knee-high water levels. But when they came back down, days of torrential downpours had caused the water levels in the creek to rise to the point where it was impassable. They had to wait 36 hours for the water levels to drop enough so they could cross the creek. Before continuing, they decided to contact park officials using a radio in one of the shelters, and that's when they found out hikers were being evacuated.

Lanz's bumps and bruises sustained while crossing the creek were minor in comparison to injuries incurred by two other hikers.

Enns said one hiker suffered a broken foot while another suffered a bruised back and hypothermia after falling into one of the creeks and being swept several metres. Both are now doing fine, he said.

Only those with injuries were flown into Pangnirtung. Other hikers, including Lanz and his wife, were flown to safer locations within the park from which to continue their hike.

As Lanz was speaking with Nunavut News North on the telephone from Pangnirtung's visitors' centre on Aug. 3, he had to pause because laughter erupted as a group of hikers arrived from the park. "They're all pretty sodden," he said with a laugh.

Lanz and his wife left Pangnirtung for Iqaluit on Aug. 4 before heading back to Vancouver.

Despite the adventure, Lanz said the only reason he wouldn't return to the park is because he rarely hikes the same trail twice.

He said he was impressed with the park's orientation session that prepared him and his wife but also the park's response to the situation. Moreover, he was impressed with the park's "extreme scenery."

"I've never been to a place with so many cliffs and mountains and beautiful peaks with glaciers hanging down between every two peaks. There's really no place like it. It's really something special."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.