Freshwater from the river source at the base of Nachvak Fjord, floats above the colder dense sea water and freezes in a thin layer of “grease” ice that sounds like thin broken glass being swept up into a dustpan, as the hull of Ocean Endeavour carves its path.
Glaciers sculpted these fjords, composed of Precambrian Gneisses that are among the oldest rocks on earth (3.9 billion years old), into eastern Canada’s highest elevations of 1,652 metres ( 5,420 ft). There are currently over 100 small mountain glaciers still carving out new terrain in this mountain park.
Torngat Mountain National Park separates Ungava Bay from the Atlantic Ocean and was created in 2005. “Torngat” is derived from the Inuktitut word for “place of spirits”. The entire region is considered part of the Canadian Shield, and exists above the tree line in Arctic Tundra climate.
I can feel the spirit of the place at eye level in the water where the waves act like a paintbrush bringing turquoise swashes to the ochre and orange landscape.
