Page 72 - 2022-2023 Travel Guide to Canada

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TURSUJUQ CUESTAS • STEVE DESCHÊNES NORTHERN LIGHTS OVER THE TUPIK • STEVE DESCHÊNES
Nunavik: “The Great
Land” Delivers
Great Adventure
BY JOSEPHINE MATYAS
The Nunavik region of Québec’s Far
North is a nature lover’s dream come
true. This Arctic landscape sits above
the 55th parallel: a backcountry wilder-
ness of alpine tundra, gravity-defying
mountains, remote coastlines, friendly
Inuit communities and four Québec
national parks.
To polar bears, muskox and caribou, the
tundra, tumbling waterways and craggy
shores are their home. The Inuit people
have journeyed and settled on this land for
more than four millennia. Today, they
guide excursions into the inviolable
grandeur of the Nunavik Parks, marrying
unspoiled adventure with rich cultural
experiences.
KUURURJUAQ NATIONAL PARK
Climb Québec’s highest summit, Mont
D’Iberville (1646 m), and hike the foothills of
the Torngat Mountains, Canada’s tallest
peaks east of the Rockies. Its superlatives
include: spellbinding vistas of rolling
tundra, spiritual summertime treks or
winter snowshoe adventures through
ancient boreal spruce forests and camping in
traditional Inuit tents while the northern
lights play overhead. The headwaters of
the Koroc River flow from the Torngats,
a place the Inuit call “The Land of Spirits,”
a navigable waterway in summer for
whitewater paddling and a frozen pathway
in winter for exploring by Nordic skis. The
welcoming community of Kangiqsualujjuaq
is home base for expeditions where experi-
enced Inuit guides share the love of their
Arctic homeland and the richness of their
culture and history.
PINGUALUIT NATIONAL PARK
A backcountry trip to Pingualuit goes to the
park’s signature feature—the almost perfectly
round crater filled with clear blue rainwater,
formed when a meteorite slammed into the
tundra 1.4 million years ago. The nearby base
camp at Lake Manarsulik is the jumping-off
point for explorations into the surreal beauty
of the parklands. Winter and summer, visitors
arrive at the Inuit community of Kangiqsu-
juaq, nearby the Hudson Strait, to meet their
Inuit guides before travelling 120 km (75 mi.)
to the crater site, either by panoramic flight or
on snowmobile. In summer, adventurers
paddle Lake Manarsulik and hike the crater
rim with vistas over the treeless Arctic tundra.
In winter, there is backcountry skiing, ice
fishing, kiteskiing, fat biking, alpine snow-
shoeing and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to
embrace the snow-covered tundra by
returning to Kangiqsujuaq on a multi-day,
hut-to-hut ski trek.
TURSUJUQ NATIONAL PARK
Wilderness adventures into Tursujuq—
Québec’s most massive park (26,107 sq. km)
and an ancient crossroads where Inuit and
Cree have coexisted for more than 3,000
years—begin in Umiujaq, a tight-knit Inuit
community on the shore of Hudson Bay.
Year-round, guided excursions start at the
thundering waters of majestic Nastapoka
Falls, a spot renowned for its plentiful
wildlife. In summer, hike the Hudson coast's
signature cuestas, paddle campsite-to-
campsite while sea kayaking on the inland
sea that is the vast Tasiujaq Lake. The white
blanket of winter transforms the region into
an outdoor playground for backcountry
skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. At
night, nature may pull out all the stops with
a showy display of northern lights while
visitors gather in the tupik (the traditional
Inuit tent) to listen to guides tell of how the
land and culture are intertwined in rich
Inuit traditions.
Nunavik Parks offers all-inclusive packages
of outdoor adventures, cultural discovery
and shared experiences with the Inuit
people. Packages include transportation
from Montréal, meals and accommodations.
www.nunavikparks.ca or 1-844-NUNAVIK
(686-2845). For more experiences offered by
Nunavik Parks, please refer to the Québec
chapter, the Great Outdoors section.
A visit to Nunavik is also the opportunity to
live an authentic Inuit adventure (see
Indigenous chapter for more details) and
observe the fantastic arctic wildlife (see
Wildlife chapter).