Canoe trip to the Arctic Ocean
I did post this about 5 years ago on another forum but thought some here would enjoy it as well.
Back in 1998 I had an opportunity to go on a 6 week canoe trip down the Horton River in the NWT. The trip would take the 6 of us, 2 kids’ ages 8 and 10, their parents, me and another adult downstream 650 kms in 3 canoes to the Arctic Ocean. The husband and wife are both teachers and often spend their summers on long canoe trips that they meticulously plan and research. The intent is to film the trip and sell the footage either as a feature nature show or at the least sell shorter clips to the various nature shows. They offered me a spot. It was a once in a lifetime chance that I could not pass up.
The Horton River starts north of Great Bear Lake and empties into the Beaufort Sea at Franklin Bay (No Franklin expedition like stories here). We left Toronto at the end of June and returned in the middle of August. 24 hours of sunlight every day of the trip.
We landed in Edmonton in the middle of the night and tried to sleep for a few hours before our flight in the morning. The flight the next day took us from Edmonton to Inuvik with stops in Yellowknife, Norman Wells and one other place that 17 years on I can’t remember. From Inuvik we would take a 500km flight on a float plane to the River.
We had built in a few buffer days on either side of our trip in case of weather or whatever else that can happen on a trip of this nature. As it turned out we would need those days at the start of our trip. In 1998 there were a number of fires burning in the north. None near us, but the float planes were being used to fly in fuel and other supplies to the crews working the fires. We spent a few nights sleeping in the camp grounds on the outskirts on Inuvik and then after having to unload the plane because of an emergency call we spent a night in the small parking lot of the float plane base.
Campground in Inuvik, Mackenzie River delta in background
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0001.jpg
Float plane base
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0002.jpg
We brought with us all the gear and food we would need for the entire trip with us. Most meals were homemade dehydrated, vacuum sealed food, which we supplemented with fresh fish. The canoes we had were pakboats (brand name) basically these canoes have a frame that is bungee corded aluminum poles with a heavy vinyl covering. The advantage is that these canoes, when broken down, fit in a large duffel bag and meant that all six of us, our gear, food, camera equipment canoes and pilot would only have to make one trip in and one trip out, saving a lot of money. The down side was that the canoes paddled like a... well... like a folding canoe.
In '98 I had my father’s 25 year old manual camera. What a tank, it is now over 40 years old and still works flawlessly. I brought about 20 rolls of 36 exposure film, and used most of them. These scans of the prints are not the best.
We unloaded our gear and prepared for our journey. We had a satellite phone with us for emergencies, but other than that we would not have any contact until the pilot came back to get us in 5 weeks at the mouth of the river.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0004.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0005.jpg
It rained after we had set up camp on the first day. After the rain the sun came out and we were treated to this...
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0006.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0007.jpg
...And the trip of a lifetime had truly begun.
The upper river held lots of grayling, basically you made a cast and if you caught a grayling you would be able to catch a fish on every cast. If you didn’t catch a fish you moved to the next spot. I don’t remember having to move to the second spot ever on the upper river. So for the first 3-4 weeks we had fish whenever we wanted. We also caught the odd pike, lake trout and Arctic char, but grayling were the staple.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/grayling.jpg
As you’ll see in the photos the river changes quite a bit as you near the Ocean.
The expectation was we would come across one of the large caribou herds as they moved from their summer grounds to their wintering areas. This would also mean wolves, a classic predator prey relationship and one of the main targets of the filming.
We did not have a set schedule. The intention was to meet the pilot at the ocean in 5 weeks, although the satellite phone would allow us to change plans if necessary. We paddled most days and took lots of hiking trips away from the river to explore and find signs of wildlife. There were a few places where there was a great spot for the tents and places to shoot.
One of our early camp sites up a ways from the river. This stretch was very much canyon like with few good/ safe landing areas and less camp spots.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0008.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0009.jpg
Running small rapids
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0010.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...psh8zqzkhn.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0013.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0018.jpg
The other 5 people had traveled the Thelon River before (yes, the 8 year old had more experience than I did, I could still carry more then he could though). I discovered something that the others had already experienced.
They called it Ridge-i-tious. With the rolling nature of the plateaus above the river basin you would walk up a small rise thinking that you would have a great vista once you got there, only to find another small rise obscuring your imagined view. Walk up the next rise and experience it all over again. No one rise was high enough to allow you to see as far as you would think, but the terrain was not “flat” enough to see either. Very frustrating.
Caribou antlers
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0012.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0011.jpg
More rapids
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0014.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0015.jpg
Lots of snow/ice in the more protected valleys and this was a hot, dry summer.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0016.jpg
This was a warmer than normal summer for the north (remember the fires) Most “days” it was high 20’s and the water was wonderful to cool off in.
A midnight dip to cool off after a day of paddling.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0033.jpg
Some of the wildlife:
Wolf prints
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0021.jpg
Grizzly Bear print
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0022.jpg
Golden Eagle chicks
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0017.jpg
Caribou. We never did find the big herds and never saw or heard wolves.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0024.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0019.jpg
Muskoxen. This was one of our most dangerous encounters. A lone male, he bluff charged us a few times but we backed away and he went on his way.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0025.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0026.jpg
Many days after the lone male we came across this heard of Muskoxen I think there were about 21 of them in total.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0027.jpg
We did see a few Grizzly bears. This was the only photo I got though, the other times they were either too far away for a good shot or they were too close and we were too busy trying to figure out who would get eaten first... I was sure I could out run the 8 year old.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0020.jpg
The river changed quite a bit as we went downstream much wider and slower with larger and larger meanders. There was less vegetation as well so the rain we got in the 3rd-4th week really muddied the water. You’ll see at the Ocean there is quite the delta from all of the silt.
Chocolate milk
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0028.jpg
About 40 kms from the river mouth we were at a meander that took us less than a kilometre from the Ocean. We spent 2 days there and hiked up and over twice to see the ocean and the shore.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0034.jpg
Might be hard to see but the river is only a few hundred metres from itself (near the horizon, left of centre) but it took us several hours of downstream paddling to get there.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0029.jpg
River on the left, Arctic Ocean on the right.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0035.jpg
River meanders from the plane on the way out. Lots of oxbows as well.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0030.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0031.jpg
This was my first live view of any saltwater in my life. Franklin Bay on the Beaufort Sea.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0036.jpg
One of the other highlights of the trip was the Smoking Hills. As I remember it this is an area of high sulfur and as it oxidizes it “smokes”. I will leave the science up to the experts or just look it up yourself.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0037.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0038.jpg
There was no beach but the shore was covered in these pumis like stones.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0040.jpg
Smartie beach
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0041.jpg
On both of these trips to the sea we saw wildlife only once we were walking back up the hill.
A seal
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0039.jpg
The other time it was a group of beluga whales. I cannot find the photo though.
Group shot near the ocean. I was very fit before the trip and never felt like I was starving, but I still lost 23 pounds, 13 pounds of which was muscle.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0045.jpg
Can you see them?
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0042.jpg
You think northern grouse are tame/stupid?
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0043.jpg
Ptarmigan
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0044.jpg
River delta in the background. Still have that cheap cotton hat.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0047.jpg
And from the plane
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/scan0046.jpg
Seventeen years on and it is still very vivid in my memory.
