Anian - Routes

Routes

The Northwest passage has three parts:

• East
  • East of Baffin Island: Baffin Bay between Greenland and Baffin Island to Lancaster Sound at the north end of Baffin Island.
  • West of Baffin Island (impractical): Through Hudson Strait south of Baffin Island, north through the Foxe Basin, west through the Fury and Hecla Strait, north to Lancaster Sound through the Gulf of Boothia and Prince Regent Inlet. The Fury and Hecla Strait is usually closed by ice.
• Centre: Canadian Arctic Archipelago
  • North: From Lancaster Sound straight west through the Parry Channel to the Prince of Wales Strait on the northwest side of Victoria Island (Canada). Since M'Clure Strait to the northwest is ice-filled southwest through the Prince of Wales Strait between Victoria Island and Banks Island which might be passable.
  • South: From Lancaster Sound west past Prince Regent Inlet (basiclly a cul-de-sac but it may be possible to exit west through the Bellot Strait), past Somerset Island (Nunavut), south through Peel Sound between Somerset Island and Prince of Wales Island (Nunavut), either southwest through Victoria Strait (ice-choked), or directly south along the coast through Rae Strait and James Ross Strait and west through Simpson Strait south of King William Island (shallow) into Queen Maud Gulf, then west along the mainland coast south of Victoria Island.
• West: There being no major islands, follow the coast to the Bering Strait.

Many attempts were made to find a salt water exit west from Hudson Bay, but the Fury and Hecla Strait in the far north is blocked by ice. The eastern entrance and main axis of the northwest passage, the Parry Channel, was found in 1819. The approach from the west through Bering Strait is impractical because of the need to sail around Cape Horn and ice near Point Barrow. East of Point Barrow the coast if fairly clear in summer. This area was mapped in pieces from overland in 1821-1839. This leaves the large rectangle north of the coast, south of Parry Channel and east of Baffin Island. This area was mostly mapped in 1848-1854 by ships looking for Franklin's lost expedition. The first crossing was made by Amundson in 1903-1905. He used a small ship and hugged the coast.