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Erik Boomer: One of the most difficult things was keeping the dogs interested and motivated, because they've got pretty much unlimited energy, but sometimes when they get bored and they start to slow down, they'll act like they don't have energy. And you start to wonder, man, is this really going to be possible? And then it takes just one thing to catch their interest. Whether it's garbage or—
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Boomer: We got a message from Willie, the other organizer of Yurt Fest. He said, "Big storm coming your way. Build snow walls. 90 km/h storm." We were about four days into the trip and we'd just made it up to this really high plateau on our way to Pangnirtung. This plateau is really notorious because it's so much higher than Iqaluit, so it's always about ten to 15 degrees colder and winder. Iqaluit was experiencing solid -40 with 70-90 km winds, so we had at least -40 to 70-90 k winds, probably more. The dogs started to not want to run into these huge winds, so I went up to motivate them and point them in the right direction. The dogs decided they wanted to turn around and go back down the hill, but as they did that, the lines looped around Sarah's foot, and then they bolted down the hill. They had a ton of energy and so much power and the sled was really heavy and downhill was really fast. Sarah was dragging and getting sucked underneath the sled until the sled was literally on top of her leg going down the hill.
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They're all extreme in their ways, you know? They're all different, what you're dealing with. And the dangers are different. This one definitely had a lot of them combined. Like, Antarctica has crevasses, but you have no open water, you have no rocks, you have no hills. This one, you definitely have exposure and cold, just as cold as a lot of other winter trips. Nobody travels in February and there's a good reason for it.Boomer: As far as difficulty, too, it seemed to me that what made this trip difficult on top of all those other challenges was just the sheer mileage. This one was 4,000 kilometers [2,500 miles]. The Northwest Passage is only 3,500 kilometers [2,200 miles], so this was longer than crossing the top of the continent. It was really long.After visiting all the hamlets on Baffin Island, which community would you say made the strongest impression on you?
McNair-Landry: They all have their little highlights. Pond Inlet was definitely one that stands out. It was just so beautiful with Bylot Island and the mountains, and it was sunny and a beautiful day. We travelled up the coast with a friend from Clyde River. He had to get his dogs up there anyway to run the Nunavut Quest, and he dogsledded up with us. It was super welcoming and warm. People were really into the dogs. You know how it is in the north—a lot of people are scared of the dogs, but there I felt like there was a big dogsledding culture. There were a lot of other dog teams around.
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We met in Oregon. I was going down to kitesurf. I would spend my summers down there. I met Boomer on a kite beach.Boomer: Sarah decided that it was a good day to get a bottle of tequila, so really we probably owe that bottle of tequila to us meeting. And she didn't know my first name was Erik for at least a month. And Sarah's mom is right over there eavesdropping on this conversation.McNair-Landry: Maybe I'll tell you the real story when my mom leaves.Matty McNair: I know it, because I was supposed to meet you at a restaurant and you friggin' never turned up! Where was she? She was romancing in Hawaii.McNair-Landry: $300 round trip! How could you not go to Hawaii? My friend found tickets for like $250 return to Hawaii leaving the next morning at 6 AM, so we're like, sweet, who should we invite? So we just invited a bunch of people and we invited Boomer.
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I could and I have, but it didn't make me very happy. This relationship is a lot easier for me, because Sarah understands how I feel about these adventures and putting it on the line and really just making adventure a priority. Looking at it like it's as important as a job or school or anything else. She totally supports me to go do all those things. and because of that, I also realize how important it is to her and I totally support her in that. And it's really double awesome when we get to go do the same thing. In other relationships I've felt like I've had something pulling me back. There was this struggle between life out there and life back home, and with this [relationship] I just feel untethered to do whatever I really, really want to do.
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Boomer: Sarah doesn't think that deeply.Most couples have trouble getting along on a one-week holiday to Europe. How did you manage to get through four months of being together 24 hours a day, on the land, in such challenging circumstances?
I kind of prefer it. I enjoy the time out there with Sarah more than right now [laughs].McNair-Landry: I think a lot of people are in a relationship and they work and then they see each other at night. From the beginning, because Boomer lives on the West Coast and I'm up in Baffin in the middle of nowhere, it's always been that when we see each other, we do something together.Boomer: We'd go from not seeing each for a month or two to, Let's do two weeks on this river trip.McNair-Landry: We're either together, and when we're together, we're together all the time, or we're apart. When I did my Northwest Passage trip and he was in Ellesmere, we went six months without seeing each other because the expeditions overlapped. It's always been all or nothing.Alright, you're home now with coffee and waffles and time. What about the dogs? What are they doing now?
They're on holidays. They're eating. Lots of fat and meat. They know they're home. As we got closer and closer, they started just running faster and faster and faster.Boomer: I bet they miss the running right now, though.McNair-Landry: And us.Boomer: These dogs are people dogs. One of the main times that there's a little tension or maybe a dog fight is when they would catch up to the skier and all the dogs just surround you and they all want pets. The one in the back that's not getting it will start to get jealous. They all want to get petted and you can only pet one at a time. Pretty much all they wanted the whole four months was just some puppy love.McNair-Landry: And to pee on stuff.You can learn more about Sarah and Boomer's trip at wayofthenorth.com or on Facebook at Pittarak Expeditions. And be sure to follow Boomer on Instagram for more of his epic and inspiring photography.