Members of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group have arrived to their final destination after a 52-day exercise that took them all across the country’s North.

The epic journey, which began near the Yukon-Alaska border in February, ended in Churchill, Man., Friday after weeks of the rangers navigating heavy snow, mountains and sea ice on snowmobiles.

“It was like an amazing sight, seeing them come across the river,” said Patricia Kandiurin, one of several Churchill residents who gathered to watch the rangers arrive in their town Friday afternoon.

“Having them drive up from the river and everybody waving, all the rangers waving at people that were there to greet them — it was amazing.”

The long-range patrol followed the southern shore of the Northwest Passage and the western shore of Hudson Bay, passing through the country’s three territories before ending in Churchill.

“The whole town came out to support us,” Lt.-Col. Travis Hanes with the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group said.

“After being gone for so long, it’s such a joy to see people who really kind of got interested in what we were doing. It was fun.”

The journey was the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group’s contribution to this year’s Operation Nanook-Nunalivut, which involved several exercises that brought 1,300 Armed Forces members as well as some military personnel from the U.S., Belgium, France and Denmark to Canada’s Arctic.

“This year was the largest they’ve ever done,” Hanes said, adding that the long-range patrol had multiple components to it, including collaboration with RCMP, Parks Canada’s conservation officers and local industry.

The trek, “was majestic. It was sublime,” he said.

“There was pieces where we were just completely isolated and then all you see on the horizon is a few lights and it’s a northern community.… They would send out rangers to meet us, and then just the joy of seeing human beings.”

Churchill’s strategic value ‘can’t be overlooked’

The annual military exercises took place as Canada boosted defence and infrastructure spending in the North amid a strained relationship with the U.S., whom the country has traditionally relied on for Arctic security.

Churchill Mayor Mike Spence said the town is uniquely positioned to support the country’s efforts to protect its Arctic sovereignty.

Manitoba and the federal government have earmarked about $263 million for improvements to the port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway that connects the community to the rest of Canada.

Premier Wab Kinew has touted the port’s strategic value as part of the province’s push to secure investments to expand it, saying it will help reduce the country’s reliance on the U.S.

“Churchill can’t be overlooked in terms of what it has,” said Spence, who’s also co-chairman of the Arctic Gateway Group, which owns the port and the railway.

“There’s an opportunity here to, you know, to support the military presence … as it supports Canada’s North.”