Posted for "echauvin" <echauvin5@cogeco.ca>:

Hi Bill..Alert is a military base on the northern tip of Elesmere Island,
about 400 miles from the north pole. There is a landing strip there, but I
don't believe it's for non-military use.  I was stationed there in 1968-69
for a six-month stint, came out for 45 days then went back for 4 months.
Barren and isolated in the extreme. Can't tell you why I went back for the
additional 4 months..dementia must have set in! Iqualuit would be a looong
race. There are other more hospitable places that would provide a long
hop...the Bahamas for example. And yet, I did get stationed in Bermuda just
after Alert and Inuvik,NWT. and I can probably remember more from those
places than Bermuda..The Arctic has its own attraction. "Shadow"