I started my morning thumbing my way through chapters 📖 of the current Fargo expedition - it promises to be exciting 👏: I like adventuring 👣 (literal, as well as novel reading), I like Viking History 💪🌍, & I like the Toltec History of South America 😊🌎
This morning, while savoring my flavored coffee, I ignored the laptop at my fingertips & decided to indulge my mental novel travel as I followed closely on the Fargos' coattails: between sips, they left Spain, touched down overnight at home … & flew via private jet, to iceberg country. And I did it too, via Clive's story line 👀 & internet 💻 location maps 🌐🗺️😉
A Cussler~Fargo adventure with a Viking backstory.
Learning about the backdrop: Baffin Island
Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada
{{Clyde River, located on the northeast coast of Baffin Island, is sometimes called the "Gateway to the Great Fiords." It was given its English name by the Arctic explorer John Ross in 1818. It also has the Inuktitut name, Kangiqtugaapik, which means "Nice Little Inlet". The community is situated on a flood plain on the shores of Patricia Bay at the entrance to Clyde Inlet, a fiord which extends over 62.14 miles inland, almost to the tip of the Barnes ice cap.
Clyde River; northeast coast of Baffin Island.
For generations, Inuit families have migrated through this area, traveling from as far away as Repulse Bay and the Iqaluit region to seek partners and visit relatives. Groups of Inuit scoured the fiords in winter and spring in search of marine animals. In the summer, they would travel inland to hunt caribou. It is believed that the Vikings were the first Europeans to visit the Clyde River area over 1000 years ago. Six hundred years later, British explorers Robert Bylot and William Baffin mapped the area. In the 1820, whalers crossed Greenland to Baffin Island in search of bowhead whales. As whaling declined early in the 20th century, trading increased. In 1924, the Hudson's Bay Company opened a trading post was established at Clyde River. During World War II, a US Coast Guard weather station was built at Cape Christian near Clyde River. A federal school was built in 1960, and the community moved to a new site across Patricia Bay to take advantage of a better water supply and good airstrip location.
Baffin Island, known in Inuktitut as Qikiqtaaluk, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest in the world, covering an area of 195,928 sq miles, with a sparse population of around 13,000 people as of 2021.
It lies between Greenland to the east across Baffin Bay and Davis Strait and the Canadian mainland to the south across Hudson Strait. The island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, with Iqaluit, the territorial capital, located on its southeastern coast along Frobisher Bay. Lancaster Sound separates Baffin Island from Devon Island and the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Baffin Bay and Davis Strait separate it from Greenland. Hudson Strait separates it from mainland Quebec. Fury and Hecla Strait separates it from the Melville Peninsula, and Prince Regent Inlet and the Gulf of Boothia separate it from Somerset Island and Boothia Peninsula. Foxe Basin lies in this region, including Prince Charles Island. Its northernmost and easternmost points extend further into the Arctic Archipelago, forming part of Canada’s Arctic region.
Baffin Island is mountainous along its northeastern coast, forming part of the Arctic Cordillera, with peaks such as Mount Odin (2,147 mi) and Mount Thor (1,675 mi). The island also contains large lakes like Nettilling Lake and Amadjuak Lake in the south-central region. Its remote location and Arctic climate make it a key part of Canada’s northern wilderness and Inuit heritage.
Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada
Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada; Mt. Odin
Mt. Odin - A Journey through Nature's Masterpiece: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnpcKa83vi0&t=219s)
The Arctic Cordillera is a vast, glaciated mountain system in northeastern Canada, stretching from Ellesmere Island to northern Labrador and Quebec, featuring some of the highest peaks in eastern North America.
The Baffin Mountains of the Arctic Cordillera
The Arctic Cordillera is a series of deeply dissected mountain ranges along the northeastern flank of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, extending over 1,000 km from Ellesmere Island to the northeastern tip of Labrador and Quebec (Canada). It includes major islands such as Baffin, Devon, Axel Heiberg, and Bylot, as well as the Torngat Mountains on the Labrador Peninsula. The region is bounded by the Arctic Ocean to the north and Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, and the Labrador Sea to the east.
The landscape is dominated by high glaciated peaks, icefields, and large ice caps, including the Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island. Mountains reach heights over 2,000 meters, with Barbeau Peak on Ellesmere Island being the tallest at 2,616 meters, the highest point in eastern North America. The terrain features U-shaped valleys, fjords, and exposed bedrock, with about 75% of the area covered by ice or bare rock. Continuous permafrost and extreme cold make the region largely inhospitable.
The Arctic Cordillera experiences extremely cold temperatures, ranging from around 6°C in summer to −16°C in winter in some areas, with northern sections reaching as low as −35°C. Precipitation is mostly snow, averaging 200 mm annually in the north and up to 600 mm in Labrador. The short summer provides long daylight hours, allowing limited plant growth in ice-free areas.
Vegetation is sparse due to ice cover and harsh conditions, but tundra plants such as arctic willow, cottongrass, mosses, and purple saxifrage survive in sheltered areas. Large herbivores include muskoxen and barren-ground caribou, while predators include polar bears and arctic wolves. Smaller animals like arctic hares, collared lemmings, and arctic foxes are present, and marine mammals such as narwhals, belugas, walruses, and seals inhabit adjacent waters. Bird species include snowy owls, gyrfalcons, and various seabirds.
The Arctic Cordillera is sparsely populated, with roughly 1,000 permanent residents, mostly Inuit, who rely on subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping. The region remains largely untouched by industrial development, preserving its pristine natural environment.
The region contains Precambrian bedrock, volcanic formations, and sedimentary layers, with lava flows and marine strata evident on islands like Axel Heiberg. Its rugged terrain and glacial features make it a unique example of Arctic mountain ecosystems
The Arctic Cordillera is one of Canada’s two major mountain systems, alongside the Western Cordillera, and represents the only major mountain chain in Eastern Canada, offering some of the most spectacular and least disturbed Arctic landscapes in the world.}}
Then, as I was finishing my morning coffee ☕️, Holland pulled me mentally & physically, back to Castle Rock: he wanted to do a normal [in the present] activity - drive into Castle Rock 🚘 to grab some groceries 📝🛒💰
With a smiling sigh aimed in his direction, I rinsed my coffee mug out, and set my adventure aside. The Fargo's would have to wait.
Pulling out of our parking space, Holland upped the volume on Betsy's stereo 📲🔊 - and I was surprised at what I heard coming from her speakers … a recognized sisters & brother Christian band 🎶☝️👩❤️💋👨 from the 1970's! I said, "I didn't know that you knew this group." He said, "Yeah - I know who they are; from the 1970's - and I know you like the old-school stuff." He is constantly surprising me 😉
At the grocery store, we wandered the store aisles looking like lost souls. Other shoppers were also wandering around like zombies - the store manager had decided that today … every aisle would be rearranged. Nothing was where it was supposed to be 🤷♀️ How rude! And, all the cashiers were on the floor, working busily like proverbial ants; hauling, unpacking, stacking, rearranging. Rounding the corner of one aisle, I saw something new on the shelf - we didn't buy it, but I thought it was interesting.
A full 45 minutes later 🤦🏻♀️ & $150.00 poorer 💸 we headed back home:
Cascade Select Market, Castle Rock-WA from Toutle River RV Resort, Castle Rock-WA~via I-5 S; 7 min (3.8 miles)
I was surprised he knew who this Group was … this is the 1st time I've heard this particular song:
2nd Chapter Of Acts- The Best/Favorite Songs:
(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN4iKuxWow6_UlAM4iGo6Wo9BHDYDHmeU)
Pickled Eggs in flavored brine: something new on the shelf. Bodyweight Glute Step-up~In & out of Betsy x4
The Darebee Steady State Cardio Workout is a low-impact ❤️ circuit that holds one even line of effort ⏱️ from the first rep to the last: 20 step jacks, 20 punches, 20 more step jacks, 20 march steps, 20 punches and 20 final march steps, with 2 minutes of rest between sets. One foot on the ground throughout, one heart rate held steady throughout - that is the whole contract.
The circuit alternates between two lower body rhythms and one upper body one, and the alternation is what maintains the steady state. Step jacks and march steps trade the legwork back and forth - lateral stepping with overhead arms, then vertical knee lifts - so no single pattern accumulates enough fatigue to force a slowdown, while the two punch stations shift the work upstairs entirely, letting the legs recover in motion while the shoulders and heart keep the meter running. Nothing in the sequence spikes and nothing stalls; the effort just transfers from station to station like a current. This continuous moderate work is where the aerobic system does its patient building - stroke volume, capillary density, the unglamorous plumbing that every harder workout later draws on. The 2 minutes between sets is a genuine reset so each set holds the same clean, even line.
Make it Easier: Halve every station reps to 10 and keep the full 2 minutes between sets. If you can do the full 3 sets, that's wonderful; if not, 2 sets @ 10 reps is okay, too; the point is to keep your body moving & your heart muscle exercised, so you have a reasonable quality of life while you still have life in your body.
I did the 20 reps for 2 full sets - breathing got a bit strained towards the end, but I managed without my lungs seizing up, or having heart issues. I know my limitations & never push past them: my limitations may not echo what my tracking watch thinks it should be … but my watch does have my sketchy lungs or my faulty heart. All things considered, I think I'm doing pretty darned good, cardio wise. If you can do the full 3 sets - wonderful; if your lungs & heart feel too strained, 1 set @ 20 reps, is fine: KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS. The point is to keep your body moving & your heart muscle exercised, so you have a good quality of life while you still have life in your body.
Make it Harder: Extend every station reps to 30 and keep the full 2 minutes between sets. Save this level for the younger folks.
#Refer to the cautions above.
Muscles Worked
Side Jacks~Aim for 20 x2
Side Punches~Aim for a count of 20 x2
March Steps~Aim for a ct of 20 = 1-2-3, ect. x2
Supper was quick.
The dishes are done.
The sun is setting 🥱 …
And I'm going to go upstairs, get comfy 🛌, & get back to my Fargo adventure 📖👍
