13-Apr-2008 -- This confluence can be found at an elevation of 440m out in the middle of a massive sprawling plateau rising from the west side of the Jordan River valley. The closest launch point to this confluence is from Iqaluit Nunavut approximately 80km away.

This confluence can only be reached in winter therefore, getting stranded in a blizzard is a possibility. Failure to approach this confluence with respect for the weather and terrain can result in damage to you and your equipment. Taking along a satellite phone and an emergency shelter is a bare minimum but towing a komatik with full overnight camping gear is recommended. In my case I took a satellite phone and an emergency shelter. Furthermore, an experienced colleague of mine George King had full knowledge of my planed route and destination in case things went wrong.

On the day of my attempt the skies where mainly clear with intermittent clouds. The temperature with wind chill was in the mid teens. It was not an ideal day for an attempt on this confluence however, I have been waiting to try this confluence for a while so I decided to give it a try. Once I got up onto the plateau on the west side of the Jordan River valley conditions changed. The wind picked up a little bringing the temperature into the twenties. As I continued my journey it became increasingly overcast along with a light snow which made for slow going due to contrast robbing whiteout. Once I reached the confluence I had a chance to take a picture of a phenomenon where the horizon blends into the clouds and actually disappears. More information about this form of whiteout can be found by reading up on Air New Zealand Flight 901. Even though weather conditions worsened on my way to the confluence they held with fairly mild temperatures, heavy overcast, light wind and light snow.

I started my approach from Iqaluit by making my way across Frobisher Bay around to Foul Inlet. Getting up onto the land at Foul Inlet can be very tricky due to pack ice. A common entry point can be found at WGS 84 N63° 43' 37.2" W68° 49' 18.5". After getting back up on land I followed the East side of Foul Inlet to the Jordan River valley. Getting up onto the plateau from the Jordan River valley can also be very tricky due to the steep vertical climbs. A common entry point can be found at WGS 84 N63° 45' 21.0" W68° 59' 39.2". Once up on the plateau, it was pretty much smooth sailing. An experienced tracker should be able to simply punch a "Go To" for the confluence into their GPS and keep an eye out for the easy terrain. I exited the confluence in exactly the same manner as I entered it.

My trip started at around 12:30pm and ended at around 7:30pm over a distance of around 200km.

The most remarkable thing to report about this confluence is that it was the most barren and desolate place I have ever been in my life. It was extremely flat and snow covered and void of any interesting terrain. In the 50km leading up to the confluence there was no sign of man nor beast and on the way back, I was beginning to think that my trip would yield nothing of interest and then I saw the arctic fox. After stopping my sled the little guy just sat there no more than 10 feet away for at least 15 minutes while I snapped a number of pictures.