By Paul Bryers, Sept 4, 2025

• Smoking Hills, Northern Territories, Canada, Cruising Towards Nome.

Well, I’m severely underwhelmed by Smoking Hills but then who wouldn’t be after ploughing through frozen seas and viewing a polar bear tear apart a seal.

We viewed Smoking Hills from the ship.

The fires result from autoignition of sulfur-rich lignite deposits. Weathering of the coastline of the area leads to the continuous exposure of new mineral deposits from the muds that make up the underlying geology. These are typically colored red when iron-rich.