Above The Tree Line ...

Tundra And Mountain Views, Near Pangnertung

The day we flew out of Ottawa we left a rain soaked, green landscape ... lots of trees and farmland. We headed almost due north to Kuujjuaq (sounds like koojoowac), a settlement of about 2,000 people, off Ungava Bay, where we boarded the ship. It once was an American military base (where haven't we been?), located in Nunavik, the province of Quebec's northermost region of about 500,000 square kilometers.

When we landed, it was to a completely different landscape of rock and trees only several feet high. It was a misty, gray day and clearly we had already passed above the tree line where trees grow only in stunted forms.

The next morning when I woke I saw no trees in sight. It wasn't until several days later when we went ashore, that I discovered the trees ...

Willow tree with hand to show scale

These trees, only inches tall and laying almost flat on the ground, can be very, very old. This is big sky country for sure ... if you were landing with a parachute it could be painful if you landed in a rocky area.

The tundra on the other hand is soft and spongy where I sat down and took the next photo of some Arctic grasses ... a lovely spot for a nap.