I expect this part of the trip to take 2-3 winter seasons, assuming that I cannot get started from Wales until sometime in October or early November. I'm still debating a route to follow. Wales to Shishmaref to Kotzebue is clear; from there do I follow the coast or head straight east?

Going straight east has the advantage of more communities and people but the big disadvantage of more difficult terrain to cross, especially in Alaska and the Yukon. Once in the Territories and Nunavut the terrain is flatter, if emptier, and I will have to swing south in any event to go around Hudson's Bay, where the ice is too often not safe.