Stepping Stones: Baffin Island, Labrador and Ungava

The area from George River to the west, Iqaluit on Baffin Island to the North, and Nain Labrador in the south, is an uninhabited area of mountains, tundra and cold water. In 1981 Nigel Foster left Iqaluit on Baffin Island on a solo journey south that would eventually cross the 40-mile wide Hudson Strait to Northern Labrador: a journey he barely survived. With frostbitten fingers he still had more than 350 miles of uninhabited coast to cover before reaching the nearest village. 8 days later when he was lucky to hitch a ride on a passing oil tanker bound for Nova Scotia.

In 2004 with Kristin Nelson he returned to the remote northern tip of Labrador planning to continue the 1981 journey from where he left off. This time they reached northernmost Labrador by paddling north and east from Kuujjuaq in Ungava Bay. From there they turned south toward Nain, the northernmost village in Labrador.
This slide presentation recounts both journeys; completed during a period when the whole of the area was uninhabited, save by polar bears. Since then there have been changes, including the creation of a National Park in Northern Labrador.