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Article: Can You Really Handle Getting Away From It All?; Eight men, in four leaky canoes, 65 miles north of the Arctic Circle, bravely go where few men have gone before-up the world, and down the river
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 15, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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IT WASN'T UNTIL WE WERE in Yellowknife, waiting for all the
members of our expedition to gather, that I realized how eerie three
weeks in the wilderness might be. Here, near the Arctic Circle, the
sun is up 23 out of every 24 hours in summer. It is disconcerting,
disorienting, strange.
Yellowknife, a miniature city of 10,000 where the mosquito is
proudly featured on souvenirs, is the capital of Canada's Northwest
Territories. It sits on the northern side of Great Slave Lake, a
gorgeous body of water 300 miles across distinguished by a complete
absence of boats in mid-July. The 55-degree water tends to
discourage recreation.
Although the city is about as far north as cities are built, it ...