A simple row of spruce trees marked the finish line for Canadian army reservists and combat members after a marathon two months pushing through one of the harshest environments on Earth: Canada’s vast Arctic.
The patrol, which ended on Friday in Churchill, Manitoba, was the largest northern mission in the history of the Canadian Rangers – a branch of the Canadian Armed Forces responsible for monitoring the country’s remote regions. For 5,200km (3,200 miles), they moved across the Arctic, following a route that had not been attempted in 80 years.
They drove snowmobiles across ice-covered terrain, navigating blizzards and high winds as they travelled for hours between remote northern communities. Some nights, they camped on the ice in tents as temperatures plunged to -60C (-76F).
