top of page
Dog vs GPS
In April 2023 I was going on the adventure of my lifetime (so far, hopefully), namely a ski trip in the Northwest Passage. I had signed up for a trip with Ousland explorers and was really looking forward to it. As part of the preparations, I had acquired a Garmin inReach mini, which I had tested on a number of trips in advance and was very happy with. With it, I could both keep track of our position, and at the same time communicate with those at home. I have two children and it was therefore important to be able to send a few small messages in between, especially when the youngest celebrated his birthday while I was on the trip.
There are polar bears in the Northwest Passage, and to give early warning if one were to come trotting by, we were loaned a dog. This was a good "polar street mix", a charming mischief-maker of a dog with no significant upbringing and who had probably never seen the inside of a house, and I was given special responsibility for following up on Sacha (as the dog was called).
When we were going to have lunch on the first day (of a 20-day trip), I attached Sacha's chain to the ice with an ice screw. She was so wild that someone had to distract her while I got the screw down. When she was finally attached, she jumped on me to cuddle and wreak havoc (as she had done many times earlier that day).After getting into the tent with the others to eat, I thought it might be interesting to check how far we had moved. I looked down at the shoulder strap on the harness where the inReach was attached, but now there was only a strap and hose hanging there. Some serious words came out - how on earth could this happen on the first day of the trip?!
It was out of the question to go back along the trail to look, but I could at least check around the tent and hope that it had fallen off while we were setting it up. Sacha is remarkably calm and busy with something, and I immediately suspected owls in the moss. And rightly so; she is enjoying the most expensive chew toy she has ever had; my inReach. It must have fallen off when she jumped on me. I manage to wrest it out of her mouth, while pieces of plastic, snow and drool spurt out.
The sight is pitiful. What was supposed to be my link home for the next 20 days looks like a child's toy that has been run over by a lawnmower. Great start. I walk into the tent and dump it on my spot while I look closely at the damage. All the rubber flaps are gone, there are teeth marks everywhere and the antenna...yes, it's decimated. I'm about to accept that the inReach is lost, but for fun I try to turn it on.....and it works! From defeat to triumph! For the next 24 hours I dry the inreach on my body and for the rest of the trip I store it in a plastic bag to protect it from moisture. It works all the way from Cambridge Bay to Gjoa Haven, a trip of 400 km, and I got to send my son a birthday greeting home from the sea ice.
bottom of page