In a couple days I’ll be on a small plane heading towards Wapusk National Park on Hudson Bay, Cape Churchill to be exact, to live on the tundra buggies for 8 nights and spend my days with Polar Bears and Arctic Fox. I’m thrilled. It’s the first of several bear trips I’m doing over the coming year. I’ve also chartered the Ocean Light II again later in 2015, and will be in the Khutzeymateen with the grizzlies and the Great Bear Rainforest looking for the kermode, or Spirit Bear. My time among the grizzlies in the Khutz last year was some of the most intimate experiences I’ve had with the wild, and I’ve fallen in love with the bears, especially.
For the curious, here’s my rough packing list:
Canada Goose Parka
Canada Goose Bibs
Light down jacket
Long merino top (2)
Long merino bottoms (2)
Socks (5)
Underwear (5)
Merino T (2)
Gloves (thick)
Gloves (thin)
Icebreaker toques (2)
Keen boots
Pants (2)
Shirts (3)Gitzo Tripod
GuraGear Beanbags (2)
Nikon D800 and D7100
6 Batteries / Chargers
SD cards
300/2.8
200-400/4.0
16-35/4.0
70-200/2.8
2x convertor
filters / shutter release
Laptop / charger / sd reader
iphone / charger
ipod / headphones
Headlamp, Oh Shit Kit (repairs, etc)All packed into a large North Face Base Camp Duffle, GuraGear Bataflae, and GuraGear Chobe.
I will be back around the 28th. During that time I’ll be completely off the grid and my team is taking that chance to do a bunch of maintenance and under-the-hood upgrades to this site, so don’t be surprised if you don’t see me, and if strange things happen here for about 12 days.
As promised, I’ve done the draw for the Artifact Uprising gift certificate and the [Signature] Prints. The winner of the $100 gift card is long-time reader Tom Kostes, and the winner of my prints is Brooke Reynolds. Thanks to everyone for being part of such a great community.
See you in two weeks!
Comments
Thanks for sharing the post
I can’t help but notice the absence of Fuji cameras in your packing list…have you switched over to all Nikon or is this just your bear gear?
Thanks for asking Dave. I’ve been a Nikon user on and off for years. I still use them for wildlife and likely for scuba this coming year. But the Fujis and my Leica still are my first choice now for much of my work. If it doesn’t need a long lens or fast tracking, I much prefer the simpler, lighter approach the smaller cameras give me.
Sounds like a great trip! Can’t wait to see the pictures…
Good luck and a good living in the buggies. One day I will experience this too. By the way, the packing list looks like mine for Aurora hunting in Finland this winter.
Have a safe and enjoyable trip.
Have a wonderful trip, be safe, and capture some wonderful images.
I know you will.
Safe travels!
All the Best, David. Looking forward to seeing your images. Have a great time ahead. 🙂
Tus aventuras son inspiración para muchos de nosotros, por favor no dejes de compartir el entusiasmo que reflejas. Sólo te deseo buen viaje pues de las fotos ya sabemos que serán excelentes!!
With your passion for the Grizzlies and the chance to spend time with them, you, more than most, will identify with and appreciate Doug Peacock’s amazing book “The Grizzly Years.” I highly recommend it. His story of their life-saving impact on him and your exceptional photographs are a good pairing.
Enjoy it bro!
Good luck Tom and Brooke.
Sorry, I meant Congrats :-0
So looking forward to viewing your ‘sharings’ with those of us in civilized urban surrounds. Thank you David!