One man's quest to journey from Pacific to Arctic Ocean continues on Great Slave Lake

A Calgary man is getting close to his goal of crossing from Tofino, B.C. to the northern tip of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut by foot, ski, and boat.

Last weekend, John Dunn set off from Hay River to Lutselk'e, crossing Great Slave Lake on skis to connect two legs of his journey that he has already completed.

"This is one leg of a much larger trip that started many years ago," says Dunn. 

Dunn has been pursuing his goal since the early 1990s, when he traveled the length of Ellesmere Island by ski. All that remains is to connect Ellesmere to the Boothia Peninsula — a point of land that includes the northernmost part of continental North America — and to complete a small section along the Mackenzie River. 

Each leg has required different gear and transportation. Crossing the mountains from the Pacific Ocean to Fort Nelson, Dunn used an inflatable raft that could be disassembled for portages. North of Lutselk'e, he hiked to the Back River, which he then paddled down to the foot of the Boothia Peninsula at Back Bay. 

Standing at the edge of Great Slave Lake on a frigid Saturday morning, Dunn is strapping on his skis, bundled up for the start of his long trip across the lake.

"Pretty soon you get warmed up and start peeling things off again," he says. 

Dunn says the decades-long expedition is really just about his love for traveling in the wilderness. A photographer and public speaker, he has his trips sponsored by the likes of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

He expects the trip to Lutselk'e to take 15 to 20 days, with a late April arrival. He tows a heavy sled with all the essentials, including about 90,000 calories' worth of food (4,500 per day) plus a few comforts, like an e-reader, stuffed with books. 

"I don't have a chair yet," he admits. "I'm going to get one of those for the next part of the journey."