Three days in the desert were awesome: Malliki
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Repulse Bay (Mar 28/01) - It's a long way from the frozen arctic to the Grand Canyon. But for two Repulse Bay cadets the journey was a trip of a lifetime.
They returned to their hamlet this past week after taking part in the Grand Canyon expedition.
Cadets Bernice Ivalutanar and Solomon Malliki left Repulse for Yellowknife by charter aircraft on March 2. Two days later they were on their way to Edmonton, Toronto and Las Vegas.
The cades were among 15 cadets and three cadet officers (escorts) who took part in the expedition to the United States.
In addition to Repulse, cadets from Holman, Whitehorse, Pond Inlet, Hay River, Fort Smith, Cambridge Bay, Iglulik, Arctic Bay and Pond Inlet took part in the journey.
Both Ivalutanar and Malliki said that hiking down the Grand Canyon was the highlight of the experience.
"We spent three days hiking and the whole experience was just great," said Ivalutanar. "We hiked down the canyon the first day and spent the second day exploring the caves at Snowshoe Creek before going back up on the third day."
Malliki said the most memorable sight for him was the Colorado River, which he found even more beautiful than he imagined.
He said he could describe the desert in one word -- hot!
"I drank lots of water," said Malliki with a laugh. "The three days in the desert were awesome.
"I also enjoyed an Imax movie we watched about three guys going up the Colorado River by boat. The Imax screens are really big."
Malliki said she'll never forget her three-day hike in the Canyon, adding the trip was just one of many great things about being in cadets.
"It would be nice to see more young people in Repulse join cadets.
"It's a lot of fun and you get to see and do a lot of interesting things."
