Somewhere off the west coast of Baffin Island right now, two young Americans are paddling packrafts through Arctic waters with no village ahead of them for hundreds of kilometres. Caleb McDaniels, 25, and Henry Penfold, 22, are more than halfway through a five-month, human-powered loop of the world's fifth-largest island — a 2,300km route mixing skiing, hiking and paddling, all self-propelled.
Their latest push was a village-hopping stretch from Pond Inlet to Arctic Bay to Igloolik: 480km in 16 days, mostly on foot across firm tundra under near-constant sunshine, bookended by paddling. In the Canadian Arctic in summer, that counts as a lucky forecast.
Things got interesting earlier, on the 550km section from Clyde River to Pond Inlet. Penfold lost a paddle mid-trip. With no shops for hundreds of kilometres, they did what the Inuit have done for centuries — gathered driftwood and built a replacement. The wood worked in their favour: despite being far above the treeline, the Arctic coast collects timber that drifts across the ocean from Siberia, and it's buoyant enough for a serviceable paddle.
The Clyde River area also delivered the trip's standout wildlife moment. The fiords there are lined with glaciers and some of the tallest cliffs on the planet, and while paddling one of them, the pair passed dozens of narwhals. Sitting still in their packrafts, they found the animals largely indifferent — several swam within a few feet before diving.
The trip started in Iqaluit, Nunavut's capital, and will finish there too — technically not a full circumnavigation, but close enough to hurt. The final leg is the monster: roughly 1,130km along the west coast with zero resupply points after Igloolik. The plan is to paddle south for several weeks, then switch to hiking and skiing as autumn closes in and the sea ice starts to reform.
Why should a regular traveller care? Because Baffin Island is one of the last places on Earth where travel still works the way it did a thousand years ago — by muscle, tide and weather. Even if you're not about to packraft 2,300km, the communities on this route are reachable. Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay and Clyde River welcome visitors, offer Inuit cultural experiences, and sit amid the same glaciers, cliffs and narwhal-filled waters the two Americans are moving through. Iqaluit is a real flight connection from Ottawa and Montreal, and Nunavut's outfitters can arrange guided trips at every level of ambition.
For now, follow the expedition's progress from your sofa — and let the two of them handle the driftwood paddles.