Bad weather, but no polar bears for trekkers Nochasak, Kobalenko

Noah Nochasak (left) and Jerry Kobalenko (right) get a warm welcome from Kangiqsualujjuaq mayor Kitty Annanack (centre) when the pair skied
into town April 4, after a 550-kilometre, 44-day trek that began in Nain, Labrador. (PHOTO BY PASCAL POULIN)

Noah Nochasak expected to find trees as he skied into the Nunavik community of Kangiqsualujjuaq on April 4.

But the 24-year-old couldn’t see anything beyond the throng of people waiting for him along the George River beach, about 300 of them, including the community’s mayor, elders and Canadian Rangers, who fired welcome shots into the air as the crowd applauded.

It was an appropriate greeting for the Inuk from Nain, Labrador, who along with travel partner Jerry Kobalenko, trekked 550 kilometres from Labrador to Nunavik is some of the worst weather the Arctic can offer.

“I’ve been wanting to do this trip for years,” said Nochasak in a telephone interview the day after his arrival in Kangiqsualujjuaq. “It is really good to be here.”

Nochasak set off from Nain with Kobalenko Feb. 21, each toting 225 pounds of gear behind them.

Nochasak had planned the trip for some time, as a way to connect with Inuit traditions and to the land his ancestors grew up on.

“I’m blown away by the reception, but they [Kangiqsualujjuammiut] understood the need for this,” Nochasak said. “There are too many things going on the North and people saying the younger generations can’t do this, can’t do that.”

“I didn’t do much, we just walked across the land,” he said. “But it proved something.”

Nochasak said he knows of one story, dating back to the 1940s, of a young Kangiqsualujjuaq woman who fled the village on foot to escape her violent father and then walked all the way to Nain.

But not many have done the kind of gruelling trek Nochasak and Kobalenko accomplished over 44 days.

In the winter of 2011, Nochasak attempted the trek to Kangiqsualujjuaq alone with a qamutik loaded with supplies over mountainous terrain. But he realized two weeks into the trip that the expedition was too difficult for him to continue on solo.

Nochasak met Kobalenko later that year, when the writer and photographer and his wife came to kayak Labrador’s coast. Nochasak asked him to team up for the Nain-Kangisualujjuaq trip.

But Kobalenko, 55, who has completed more than 30 Arctic expeditions, said this trip served up some of the worst weather he’s ever experienced.

“We got the whole works,” Kobalenko said, laughing. “Strong head winds, soft snow, coupled with a knee injury and a flu bug. I’ve never had so much down time on a trip.”

Kobalenko said the duo had about four good days of weather out of the 44 — “the sort of weather you live for when you’re out there.”

“And not a single polar bear,” he added.

But on April 5, both men were savouring their achievement over a box of cookies and soft drinks at their host’s home in Kangiqsualujjuaq, a place Nochasak had yet to visit.

Nochasak, who has a handful of cousins in the community, plans to stay in town until next week to learn some Inuttitut, tour the community and score some fresh caribou.

His father, Levi Nochasak, is scheduled to fly into town April 5 to celebrate his son’s journey.

And Nochasak is already planning a trek to Killiniq Island sometime later this year, a place his grandfather used to visit by dogsled.

Air Labrador and the Canadian Rangers both assisted Nochasak and Kobalenko with their travel.