A View of Sylvia Grinnell Park, with an Inukshuk, in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.
I stood looking out across the Sylvia Grinnell River in the park of the same name. I was about one kilometre from Iqaluit, Nunavut on my last night in the arctic. The tide was high at 7:30 pm, the sun shining just as brightly as it did at noon, and the mountain ranges still painted with snow at the end of June.
Sylvia Grinnell Park
As I mentioned, it is my last night in Iqaluit and the family I’m staying with decides that I can’t leave without going fishing. I wholeheartedly agree. So we get in the car after the couple gets home from work and their eight-year-old son comes home from day camp.
The Golf Course in the midst of transmission towers in Sylvia Grinnell Park, Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.
From Iqaluit, we drive through the city’s dump yard, with piles of garbage and a funky smell; layer upon layer of crushed vehicles, victims of crashing steel prices a couple of years ago and the realization that no one could make money by exporting it with steel prices so low; home of sled dogs who get a much-needed rest in the summer; and finally, an unexpected nine-hole golf course with tundra instead of greens!
River Fishing
The riverbank was quite crowded, in northern terms, but we found a nice spot where the rocks jutted out into the river a bit. Here, we set up shop and got to work trying to round up a fish for dinner. I have to admit that I was more caught up in the surreal setting of Sylvia Grinnell Park and the beauty of the evening than catching fish. I did try, don’t get me wrong, but I was too content to really care.
Lori Henry River Fishing in the Sylvia Grinnell Park in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.
Our reward for all that “hard” work wasn’t a fish, however, but a perfect evening to hang out on the river. That’s good enough for me.
Smoked Arctic Char
We were extra spoiled that night, though: on the way home we stopped by a friend’s place who smokes arctic char as a side gig. We picked up freshly caught char from earlier in the day, already smoked and ready to eat. It was definitely the best meal of the trip 
Copyright 2010 Lori Henry
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