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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When Jaret Moshenko's propane tank burst into flames, he knew he was in trouble.

Jaret Moshenko only completed about 14 km of what was supposed to be a 400-km trek beginning on Dec. 21. A series of mishaps prompted him to turn back after his first night on the ice. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo Trouble on the land Treks in the subarctic and Arctic have gone awry time and time again. Here are a few examples of travellers throughout history who have passed through or near Yellowknife before running into trouble. Franklin expedition 1819-1822 Sir John Franklin embarked on the first of three expeditions aimed at mapping Canada's North and uncovering the Northwest Passage, starting in 1819. His British navy crew and Metis companions on the trek suffered from poor planning and harsh weather, among other downfalls, often eating only lichen and, according to an account from his medical officer, Sir John Richardson, the flesh of fallen crew members. Franklin famously ate his own leather boots when food became desperately scarce. They did reach the Arctic coast and explored roughly 800 km of coastline before being driven back by the onset of winter. Eleven of the 20 trekkers died before the survivors were rescued by a team of Yellowknives Dene lead by Akaitcho in 1822. John Hornby 1926 John Hornby, a renowned outdoorsman who became known as "the hermit of the North," died along with his 18-year-old cousin Edgar Christian and another young man, Harold Adlard, after attempting to spend a year with only bare-bone supplies in a cabin on the Thelon River in 1926. After missing the fall caribou migration, the three were left with very little to eat and all three died of starvation in the spring of 1927. Christian's diary documenting their demise was discovered in a cast-iron stove within the cabin. This stove is currently on display at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Seton Island, Great Slave Lake 2005 Two lost men were found alive on Seton Island, Great Slave Lake halfway between Yellowknife and Lutsel K'e on Jan. 2, 2005. Paul Abel and Dennis Drygeese were reported missing after failing to arrive in Lutsel K'e on Christmas Day. The pair left Yellowknife Dec. 23 by snowmobile to visit relatives for the holidays when bad weather caused them to lose their way. As the pair were hauling a toboggan laden with caribou, blankets, food and clothing, they decided to make camp and wait for help to arrive. They were spotted by a 440 Squadron Twin Otter, part of a search and rescue patrol that had been searching for them since Boxing Day, at about 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 2. Volunteers arrived at the site by snowmobile later that day and transported the pair to Lutsel K'e

Moshenko, 38, was approximately 14 km from Yellowknife, having just begun a 400-km trek from Yellowknife to the Taltheilei Narrows on the Hearne Channel on Great Slave Lake and back that morning. He expected his solo snowshoe trek -- aimed to raise money and awareness for the Canadian Cancer Society ­ to take 11 days and he did not want to turn back on the first night.

Among the gear that Moshenko pulled behind him in a sled was a single-burner propane stove with a ceramic radiant heater attachment. This was his only means to thaw out clothes as he made his way across snow-covered Great Slave Lake, and his clothes had already frozen solid in the four-and-a half hours since he had turned off from the Dettah Ice Road.

After making camp, Moshenko attached the radiant heater to his propane stove. But because a rubber ring had contracted due to the cold, gas leaked and pooled around his feet. When he tried to spark the pilot light, the stove, the propane bottle and Moshenko's boots instantly caught fire.

"As soon as I clicked it on it just went 'whoosh' and it caught fire, the propane bottle attached to it and my feet caught fire," said Moshenko. "It's a good thing I was outside my tent because if I had done that inside my tent ­ well, you're not supposed to ­ but I would have gone up in flames instantly. It was crazy.

"As soon as it happened, I just reacted and punted it right away from my tent and everything. As soon as I kicked it, I had to douse my feet out and then I'm like, 'Great, what now?'"

Moshenko said he still wasn't ready to turn back. This trek was about raising awareness for the struggle cancer patients go through. This struggle is hard under the best of circumstances and this trek was aimed to show solidarity with those suffering from the chronic disease.

Once Moshenko had warmed his GPS and satellite phone enough to call friends back in Yellowknife who were keeping tabs on him, he was informed that the GPS spot tracker he had thought was transmitting his location wasn't working. Alhough he was within view of the Robertson headframe, no one knew where he was. Also, RCMP had been phoning Moshenko's contacts, alerting them that the weather was expected to take a turn for the worst and if they succeeded in locating Moshenko, they should do everything they could to convince him to turn back. That was the point that Moshenko knew he was done.

"When I was out there, I was like, 'God dammit, this is embarrassing.' I felt horrible, like I let myself down and the feelings start going through your head, that you're letting other people down," Moshenko told Yellowknifer.

"So, I got back and a lot of people started giving me good support and that made me feel better but, oh man, I feel like I have to apologize because it all went so wrong so quickly."

One of his well-wishers drew a parallel between Moshenko's experience and that of cancer patients once he was safely back in the city.

"Sometimes, you go through everything you can and it's just going to defeat you anyways," he said. "And that's exactly what happened."

Moshenko said he still feels like he owes himself a 400 km journey, though the prospect of finishing this milestone on a bicycle during the summer seems more appealing now than attempting the snowshoe trek again.

If he had it to do over again, Moshenko said he would respect what others told him before this venture and bring a team along with him to help set up camp and keep him safe.

"If one thing goes wrong when you're doing it solo, you're done," he said.

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