Iqaluit (Aug 04/03) - A hike in Nunavut is a different experience than a hike in the South. For one thing, there are no forests to get lost in.

Stan Hutchinson (front) and Julien Paradis cross a small stream on their way to Burton River, about three hours walk off the Road to Nowhere in Iqaluit. - Yose Cormier/NNSL photo

It seems easier to keep your bearings as you trek over one hill to the next, going into valleys with lakes or rivers.

It's also much quieter, and more easily accessible.

You can start hiking from only a couple of kilometres outside of town, and you could swear you are in the middle of nowhere. Well you are.

"You just feel very insignificant. It makes you realize how small you are compared to the world," said Julien Paradis during a recent hike from the Road to Nowhere to Burton River.

The seven-hour return hike seems like a gruelling experience, but it's actually not.

"I thought this would be harder. I'm feeling pretty good," he said after the hike.

Veteran hiker Stan Hutchinson was along for the fun, his third time that way.

"It's a beautiful hike," he said.

It's quiet, it's peaceful, it's the North at its best.

Walking on rocks deposited there from ancient glaciers. Treading on tundra that may never have been stepped on before.

The desolate expanse of nothingness -- just rocks, water and lichens as far as the eye can see -- is enough to remind you of what a small speck you are on this large world.