As we canoed toward an esker on the east end of Jolly Lake, we noticed a Twin Otter fly over and land near our desination. Strange… And then there was another. As we got closer to shore we could see people moving around and a large tent set up. After no sign of civilization for a week, and hundreds of kilometers from the closest people, roads, and communities we knew about, it was a surprise. They turned out to be a friendly group of geologists doing fieldwork as well. We ended up camping nearby and they gave us some fresh fruit and salt – valuable commodities on extended camping trips!

The camping spot we found was ideal – a large flat area covered with lichen, crowberries, bearberries, and cranberries. There was an esker nearby and some small trees sheltering us. Unfortunately there were no research sites nearby, so the next morning we continued on.