Canada Guide
The North
Auyuittuq National Park Reserve
Straddling the Arctic Circle in the northeast of Baffin Island, Auyuittuq National Park Reserve is one of the most spectacular destinations in the Canadian north. The heart of the park is the massive Penney Ice Cap, a remnant of the ice sheet that extended over most of Canada east of the Rockies about 18,000 years ago, and the major hiking route is the 110-km Pangnirtung/Aksayuk Pass, which cuts through the mountains between Cumberland Sound and the Davis Strait. Auyuittuq is Inuit for "the land that never melts", but despite the unrelenting cold there is abundant life here: in summer the sparse tundra plants burst into green, the wild flowers are blooming and the amazing array of wildlife includes lemmings, polar bears, caribou, arctic hares and foxes, snow geese, peregrines, narwhals, walruses, bowhead and beluga whales, as well as harp, ringed and bearded seals.
There is a daily one-hour First Air flight during the summer from Iqaluit to Pangnirtung, the gateway to Auyuittuq National Park. In Pangnirtung there is an established free campsite, Pisuktinee Tungavik, and a church that occasionally lets you sleep on the floor for a donation if you are desperate. The only commercial places to stay are the 25-room Auyuittuq Lodge ( 
867/473-8955, 
panglodge@qiniq.ca; Price: $126-175) and newer two-room Kilabuk Lodge ( 867/473-8229; Price: $126-175), where you can take meals or cook your own. The former has good but expensive meals and they usually allow exhausted hikers to use their showers for a few dollars.
The only transport for the 25km from Pangnirtung to the south entrance of the park is by freighter canoe, which the Inuit also charter for fishing, whale-watching and sightseeing trips. Services within the park are extremely limited and the weather is highly unpredictable. All-weather gear is essential as is a walking stick and a camping stove. You can get information from Auyuittuq National Park Reserve, Pangnirtung, NT, X0A 0R0 ( 867/473-2500, 
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nu/auyuittuq/index_e.asp