Last week I posted an update on Jon Turk and Erik Boomer's attempt to circumnavigate Ellesmere Island and at the time, they were nearing the end of their journey. In fact, when I wrote that story, the feeling was that they would finish that day, but strong winds and navigating through ice, slowed their progress and the boys didn't reach their end point, located in Grise Fiord until the following day.
When they did finally finish, they showed the toll that the expedition took on their bodies. According to Jon's blog, he could hardly walk by the time they had reached their final destination on Friday, and Erik's feet had swollen to the point that they were two shoe sizes larger than normal. Despite all of that, they were reportedly in good spirits, but ready to come home.
In the end, their expedition really was quite an adventure. The two men spent 104 days skiing and kayaking around Ellesmere, a remote island that falls in the Arctic Ocean to the north of Canada. In all, they covered 1485 very challenging miles to become the first men to circumnavigate the island.
There hasn't been much in the way of updates since last week, and I can only assume that Erik and Jon are now on their way home and looking forward to a much deserved rest. I'm sure we'll get more information about their journey once they've had time to decompress and recover some. Until then, we'll just have to send them a hearty congratulations, and hope that all is well.