Minus 40 is an agreeable temperature. Not for the human body of course, but rather for the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales to share a common meeting point. Sled dogs don’t seem to mind the chill too much, nor did my photographer Bart Deferme, who subjected his poor fingers to hours of shutter work in the biting cold. Consider this Mountainous Words essay an homage to his hard work and numb toes.

I’m a strange devotee to frozen places as well. In the past few years I’ve traveled to the high Arctic, Greenland, Antarctica as well as partaking in many winter adventures in my home state of Colorado. It’s a strange spell but once under its influence the need to journey to these outposts is chronic. When the chance came to explore the southern boreal forest of Saskatchewan, I was eager to gear up and get out.

I’ll be writing accounts of the adventure for a few different publications, such as my piece on Tracking Wolves by Dog Sled at Elevation Outdoors, so I decided to make this essay more of a photojournal to highlight Bart’s excellent photography and to tell the story in pictures. Before we get rolling, note that you can visit Bart’s website at Deferme Photography where you can enjoy his stunning work in more detail.