An author has left for the Canadian Arctic to trace the route taken by Sir John Franklin, who disappeared in 1845 with 128 explorers, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on 24 February. At the time, Franklin was attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage.
“I plan to search for the remains of members of the expedition, which disappeared under such mysterious circumstances”, Yusuke Kakuhata said of the competition to find the Northwest Passage, the shortest maritime route between Europe and Asia, that had ended in the worst tragedy of Arctic exploration.
Former journalist Kakuhata, 35, and a friend plan to walk and ski 1,600km for three months, without means of communicating with the outside world. They will traverse an area where Franklin’s ships were trapped in ice and team members tried to reach safety on foot.
