KEELE RIVER 2007 TRIP REPORT
SUMMARY OF UTM CAMPSITE POINTS
| DAY | CAMPSITE | UTM | DISTANCE | ELEVATION | WEATHER |
| July 3 | Start Point
Plane landing |
0546167 7051521 | 0 | 2807′ | |
| July 3 | 1
Delthorpe Cr. |
0546638
7055126 |
4.4 Km | 2790′ | Mixed drizzle, rain, lots of rain, overnight some clouds & no rain |
| July 4 | “ | “ | 0 | “ | Cleared, variable clouds, sunny periods, some wind |
| July 5 | “ | “ | 0 | “ | Cloudy in the a.m., variable-> sunny in the p.m., short shower then heavier shower, then clear again |
| July 6 | 2 | 0555275
7073780 |
26.2 km. | 2569′ | Cleared in the a.m. & was good. |
| July 7 | 3
Nidhe Brook |
0548995
7098677 |
30.57 km. | 2284′ | Great weather – no rain so far! |
| July 8 | “ | “ | 0 | “ | Clear beautiful a.m., turned variable later & rainy in the early evening. |
| July 9 | 4
Ekwi R. |
0542013
7106991 |
~12 km?
check |
~2178′ | Beautiful day all day long! |
| July 10 | “ | “ | 0 | Quite cold & cloudy this a.m., clear to variable & fresh temps., 15-20 min shower mid p.m., cool & quite breezy at night. Typical mtn. weather! | |
| July 11 | 5 | 0571789
7121802 |
50.29 km. | 1769′ | Mixed again, sunny evening. |
| July 12 | 6 | 0589767
7121187 |
22.69 km. | 1582′ | Beautiful hot sunny day (so far) |
| July 13 | “ | “ | 0 | “ | Absolutely beautiful, sunny, hot day. In the evening a small sprinkle & haze – possibly from some forest fire. |
| July 14 | 7
Big gravel outwash |
0623337
7124679 |
42.64 km. | 1169′ | Not so great – cloudy, humid, heavy rain around 5:30-8:00 p.m. |
| July 15 | 8 | 0361465
7124282 |
39.85 | 444′ | Beautiful – hot sunny. Then thundershowers in early evening. |
| July 16 | 9 | 0400342
7125841 |
52.74 km. | 402′ | Hot, sunny, humid |
| July 17 | 10 | 0414685
7145909 |
42 km. | ~250′ | Poured rain all day. Cleared around 6 p.m. |
| July 18 | 11
Island in the Mackenzie |
0404049
7175962 |
40.78 | 225′ | Hot, sunny, muggy all day |
| Tsunami UTM | 0409917
7173786 |
(where we were hit) | 200′ | ||
| July 19 | 12
Police Island |
0398829
7193573 |
20.49 km. | 208′ | Sunny, hazy. Some showers in the evening. |
| July 20 | 13
Tulita |
782
995 |
22.70 km. | 197′ | Very windy, cloudy, rain (lots) from about 6 p.m. onwards. |
Trip Participants
| Bob Bignell | Allan Jacobs |
| Linda Gordon | Jean Claude Lessnick |
| Hendrik Herfst | Marilyn Sprissler |
Canoes
Bob & Jean-Claude rented a 17′ canoe & sprayskirt from Rick Myers in Norman Wells – a ? and the other canoes were both 17′ Pakboats.
GENERAL LOGISTICS
This trip can comfortably be done in 2 weeks but since our plan was to allow lots of time for hiking, fishing, exploring & relaxing, we planned on 19 days, including our fly-in. Our original plan was to fly in from Norman Wells, paddle the Keele to the Mackenzie & then paddle downriver on the Mackenzie to Norman Wells, thus giving us a chance to see what it is like on the Mackenzie & also saving us money. However, on learning that on one or two days out of every week, it is almost impossible to paddle downriver because of high winds out of the north, we decided to paddle on the Mackenzie only as far as Tulita (previously named Fort Norman). Since we all had tickets to fly out of Norman Wells, it was essential to be there for our flights! There is no summer road access to Norman Wells, so driving to Norman Wells was not an option.
The overall plan was for two of us to drive to Yellowknife, taking with us quite a lot of gear – many of the airlines have now reduced the allowable weight of checked luggage to a mere 50 lbs. so it is very difficult to carry all your gear with you without incurring very high extra costs. So, Hendrik (from Winnipeg) & I (from Eastern Ontario) drove a truck to Yellowknife with 7 extra bags of gear & food and everybody’s paddles. The other four paddlers flew from Toronto to Yellowknife & on to Norman Wells, where we met them. We were able to leave the truck parked at the Yellowknife airport free of charge for the entire 3 weeks because their ticket meters broke down a couple of years ago & nobody has ever repaired them.
All of the extra gear we ended up shipping Air Cargo with Canadian North from Yellowknife to Norman Wells. And the two of us also flew with Canadian North. Canadian North still allows 2 – 70 lb pieces of luggage.
Trip Report
Pre trip – July 2 – North Wright’s Cabin
Some fellow from North Wright who was waiting for someone else at the airport picked us up…since his people were a no-show. He took us & our luggage out to the North Wright cabin & said the cargo (with our 7 other bags) would be available later for pick-up & someone would help us get it.
At the cabin were 2 young fellows – maybe 18-19 years old….Taylor & Rob. Taylor’s dad runs canoe trips & was out on the Keele at this time – with Prince Andrew apparently & a bunch of others from the Lakefield school in Ontario. Apparently Taylor’s dad (Big Al) went to school with Prince Andrew & this was a 30th anniversary/reunion canoe trip. Supposedly it was all “hush-hush”.
Rob & Taylor turned out to be really nice & really helpful. They spent several hours giving us advice & hints about the river – campsites, things on the river to be careful of, hot springs & route to get there (very complicated), hikes, fishing spots etc.
Day 1 – July 3: Campsite 1
After a lot of running around & delays for the rest of the group at North Wright, we finally all got loaded into the Twin Otter with pilot Andrew & some other pilot whose name I don’t know.
The flight in was beautiful – we passed over the Mackenzie River first, then some low flattish areas & then reached the Mackenzie Mountains. They are really dry with not much vegetation on them – a lot of sand & gravel. On the flight we spotted quite a few Dall sheep – I only saw one large herd but apparently there were two herds.
Any rivers we could see were extremely braided – as I expect the Keele to become.
The plane landing was WILD!! We swooped down, bounced enormously several times, water flew in all directions & finally we slowed down.
Our starting elevation was 2807′ & our coordinates were 0546167 & 7051521.
It took us a LONG time to get the boats together, outfitted & loaded & finally on the river.
The river is pretty fast – at least 8 kph, so we were down to our campsite in no time flat….which was great since we were so late getting going.
Day 2 – July 4/07 :still Campsite 1
We did a little hike today – our total ascent was about 606′ . We basically followed Delthorpe Creek back a little way along some bluffs (which JC climbed straight up), had beautiful views all along the way, had lunch & then returned. There were zillions of varieties of wild flowers. Distance was minimal – about 3.48 km., marked on Map 2 as ‘Hike 1’.
Day 3 – July 5/07: still Campsite 1
Today everyone did various things. JC & Bob fished & caught lots of fish – which we all ate for hors d’oevres later.
Allan read & slept & walked a bit & Linda & Bob followed the shoreline downriver a couple of km.
Hendrik & I had a great day – went for a longer hike, crossed the creek & aimed to get partway up Delthorpe Mountain – which we did. I got mid-way up the first section of scree & Hendrik went somewhat higher to a rock that looked like a peak, but wasn’t …we realized later when we looked at the topo carefully that we were nowhere near the actual summit. Our total ascent was 1995′, total distance was 8.67 km & total time was 6.5 hrs, 4 hrs. moving time.
. On our return we saw a magnificent mountain caribou with a very impressive rack – we were very close to him at first & then he dashed across the creek (Delthorpe).
We also saw a kazillion beautiful flowers – I took photos of many in hopes of learning them some day.
We took Bob’s VHS radio & called in a couple of times – it worked very well over quite a long distance, but there were no intervening mountains.
Day 4 – July 6/07: Campsite 2
This was another really good day. The weather cleared so after an hour (approx.) we stopped at a creek flowing out of Shezal Canyon on river right & hiked up, hoping to get to the canyon. It was a lovely hike, lots of flowers, especially dryas, which covered the gravelly meadows. We hiked about 3.4 km. round trip & then had lunch back at the shore.
After lunch we flew down the river going between 14 & 17 kph – the shore zoomed past. We stopped at a site suggested by Taylor. The “big waves” he mentioned didn’t materialize – biggest we saw was before the lunch break at about 2.5 – 3′ max in height.
The views where we are stopped are stupendous – Fortress Mountain on our side & Mountains Plateau just across the river. Mountain Plateau has talus slopes sweeping from mid mountain right down to the base & the slopes had many beautiful colours – gorgeous!
Hendrik scanned the mountain for quite a while with the binoculars & found some Dall sheep high, high up.
Our campsite is not perfect – it’s an island (gravel), with no bushes whatsoever so you have to cross the water to get to bushes. This is especially inconvenient for Linda & me! We are finding that the river is in flood everywhere so many of Taylor’s descriptions don’t quite fit. I am sure this campsite is usually attached to the shore, not an island!
Day 5 – July 7/07 – Campsite 3
This was another late & lazy start today – I don’t think I’ve ever been on such a relaxed trip…combination of having lots of time & having daylight till 1 or 2 a.m. We paddled maybe an hour, spotted a camp & pulled in.
We had seen a helicopter going back & forth so figured it must be a mining camp of some sort – sure enough, it was some geologists, drillers, pilot, cook etc. – total of 15 at the camp. They were looking for copper for a company named Kaska – wholly owned & operated by First Nations.
There is also an airstrip here at the camp & they have quite a comfy camp here, including all the amenities – long distance phone free to anywhere in North America, wireless internet by satellite (apparently it only costs $75 per month for both!), satellite TV, etc. etc. etc. They were all very friendly & invited us to their kitchen & offered us fruit, drinks, cookies etc.
The “large waves” that Taylor had mentioned, we did not see. The mountain scenery continues to be fantastic, dry & rugged. One of the areas looked a lot like hoodoos!
The river is really flooding! And unfortunately, instead of being quite clear as we had heard, was quite muddy. Where we are camped tonight there is a creek coming in (Nidhe Brook) which is a beautiful turqouise – green hue. There is a distinct line between the brown & the green.
Today we spotted grizzly tracks in the sand.
Day 6 – July 8/07 – Campsite 3
We went for a hike today – not very far – we were going to follow the brook up but didn’t exactly – we tromped up alongside one of the feeder streams for a couple of km., had lunch & then turned back. We did see a lot of orchids.
The rest of our time was consumed by washing, eating & talking.
Day 7 – July 9/07 – Campsite 4
This morning we had a gorgeous leisurely paddle, but we were on the lookout a couple of km. above the Ekwi R. confluence for waves, boils etc. Bob had picked a spot on the map where he thought it could likely be & he turned out to be right. Location was 0543000, 7105884. There were 3 possible routes to get through it.
You can take any of the 3 routes – Hendrik & JC took R1, almost didn’t make it; the rest of us took R2 – we did some rock dodging & simply lined around the bottom where the big whirlpool was. You can also take the stringer which only has a bit of gravel at the end & avoids the whirlpool altogether. It finishes just beyond the boil.
We stopped at the Ekwi R. which is also in full flood & had a heck of a time getting in, mainly because of the strength of the Ekwi & because of gravel bars blocking easy access to the eddy. What you really need to do is go down the middle of the river & just below the campsite cut over & eddy in on river left.
Then Bob, Hendrik, JC & I went on a reconnoitering trip to see what might be possible – we want to try to find the hot springs & tufa mounds that Taylor described to us.
Day 8 – July 10/07 – Campsite 4
Today 4 of us got up at 6 a.m. & headed out on a major hike to try to find the Godlin R. Hotsprings & tufa mounds. By shortly after 8 (8:20) a.m. we were on our way. It turned out to be an extremely difficult & long hike – we didn’t get back till 8 p.m. We covered about 13.32 km. – 8.25 on the way there & the remainder to return – we somewhat knew where we were headed on the return trip!) & the vertical that we climbed was about 2661′ !! And I was exhausted!
Taylor had given us detailed instructions on how to find the hotsprings – What he suggested was to take a canoe & work our way up the Ekwi until we reached cliffs that came to the water, then ferry across with the canoe & continue on that shore until we came to another cliff, then ferry back. Then climb up a small embankment using a rope etc. This entire part of his instructions was impossible to do because the Ekwi was also in flood & it would have been completely impossible to ferry anywhere at the speed it was going. Our short foray last night was to see if crossing the cliffs was feasible so that it what we did.
So – we did a combination of wading in the water & bushwhacking until we reached the cliffs. We then ascended the cliffs to a point where we felt we could cross – there were actually 5 or 6 cliffs altogether which swept down & straight into the ice-cold & extremely fast-flowing Ekwi River. It was extremely difficult going & very treacherous climbing. It took us a couple of hours to cross this section. We then came down for a stretch & then we climbed again & stopped finally for a well-deserved lunch. As we were eating our lunch SIX Dall sheep came down & out into the meadows just across from us. They were really close!! What a thrill…we later saw them again when we were down & they were high, looking down on us. The second time they were farther away.
We struggled with yet more cliffs & ended up using the rope to get myself & Bob up (on the way back we used the rope to descend one very steep cliff).
Anyways, FINALLY we reached the Godlin R. area, which was our first goal but we needed to cross it also to reach the hotsprings, according to Taylor’s instructions. But it too was in flood & was impossible to cross…so unfortunately, we were out of luck. Later, we found out from Fred Clement in Tulita that it is often not possible to reach the hotsprings.
We also took along Bob’s VHF radio in order to call in about our progress, but apparently it does not work going through mountains!
As in all of our hikes we saw many many flowers – some that we saw today are grass of Parnassus, one-sided wintergreen, one-flowered wintergreen, hawkweed, harebell, green kidney lichen, mistletoe.
Day 9 – July 11/07 – Campsite 05
Today we had another very late start – no reason to rush – so we headed down the river at our leisure. After about 10-12 km. we came to a hunt camp so we disembarked & went in to visit. Yesterday Linda & Allan had seen a boat heading up river & then back down & we noticed the same boat. They pulled over & told us to come in for coffee. So we did. We met “Susan’ (Taylor told us to say hello to Susan for him) & she invited us for lunch. There were 4 or 5 guys who were hunting guides plus Susan & all were very friendly. They were at the camp ahead of time, preparing for guest hunters. They have a total of 6 guides, a 1:1 ration of hunter:guides. The fellow that owns this camp ( called…? ) also owns several others – one is up by the Godlin R. where we hiked. It was quite interesting talking to them & lunch was a real treat – especially the goodies.
We never did find Taylor’s “boat-sucking boil” but Hendrik & I did get turned around in some bad boils, currents, eddies & waves a few km. before the hunt camp, so we thought perhaps that was the spot that Taylor meant….(we found out later it was an entirely different spot!).
We then hunted for the campsite that both Gene & Taylor had marked, but there was no river (just a trickle coming out) & just boulders, nowhere that we could see to pitch a tent. Perhaps there was a campsite up above, but we sure couldn’t’ see it. S0 – we didn’t stop in the suggested layover spot.
Instead we pressed on & finally found quite a nice spot on a gravel bar – beautiful views, relatively flat – no hiking or fishing though!
Day 10 – July 12/07 – Campsite 6
Since we couldn’t find the spot we had planned to stop at yesterday (& use for a layover site), we decided to stop as soon as we could find a spot with “hiking, fishing, etc. ” So we picked one where we could see (on the topo map) a valley with a creek coming out – the one we picked turned out to be really nice.
Day 11 – July 13/07 – Campsite 6
Today 3 of us (Hendrik, Bob & I) hiked up the creek – on the map it looked like a canyon further up. JC remained at the camp to go fishing, got a few nibbles, caught nothing & had a ‘heavenly’ (his words) day. Allan spent the day doing Sudoku & Linda mostly read.
We hiked up about 3 km. & when the creek split into 2, we followed the right branch. Both led into canyon areas & were beautiful. We ate lunch right by the creek between 2 smallish canyon walls & after lunch Hendrik wanted to climb a big hill….which he did…he said that the views in all directions were spectacular, but especially down the Keele valley.
We saw grizzly tracks, caribou, maybe wolf & a dipper (my favourite little bird.)
It seems good hiking can be had by following almost any of the creeks coming down from the mountains – just like on the Nahanni. Our hike was 6.4 km. round trip, 425′ vertical.
Day 12 – July 14/07 – Campsite 7
Today we again moved on – & pre-picked a possible point to camp – it turned out to be OK so we are camping there.
The river valley is broadening & the mountains are slightly lower now. We passed a lot of canyon-like areas & went through (accidentally) some very bouncy waves. We took on a lot of water because the bow was too low – Hendrik moved our yellow bag back. That made a lot of difference.
This morning there was a lone caribou on a gravel bar island out front of our camp. I think he was afraid to move into the current – I don’t know how he got there & I don’t know if he left later. We also saw a couple of ospreys there & another one further down. What a beautiful bird ospreys are!! We also saw 3 mergansers & a scaup.
Gradually the river is becoming more braided.
We had a very heavy rain tonight & after the rains cleared there were spectacular mists & clouds wafting about.
I forgot to mention…there was a lot of haze in the sky last night & this morning. Bob & Hendrik thought it was from forest fires.
Bob & JC almost lost their canoe during the heavy rains – they had pulled up their canoe but with the run-off came a new creek. They had set their canoe on the dry bed & it was almost afloat by the time they noticed it & quickly pulled it to safety. The new name for their canoe is “A River Runs Through It”!!
Day 13 – July 15/07 – Campsite 8
Today we had an extremely late start – even by our relaxed standards! – it was around 1:30 p.m. Hendrik had made Dutch pancakes & the fruit sauce took quite long. However, they were super-delicious!
We sailed along today not expecting any scary moments but there were 2 spots that were very bad – we almost dumped on the 2nd one & had a narrow escape on the 1st. Both were giant boils. The first one occurs at approx. UTM 548, 281 where the river makes a sharp turn to the right. There is a cliff on river left & shallow gravel on river right. Our mistake was to try to avoid the shallow gravel & we thus headed right towards where the boils were. We thought it was just waves & so headed to mid-channel. All 3 canoes paddled extremely frantically in order to get away from the seemingly ever-expanding & very scary-looking boils.
The 2nd set of boils was again totally unexpected (location approximately 597, 247). You would think we had learned our lesson, but no…exactly the same scenario happened, just in the other direction – river made a sharp left, cliffs were on river right & gravel on river left. This time Hendrik & I got caught in them, were turned a couple of times & sat completely on our side at one point showing off the bottom of our boat. Hendrik did a massive brace on the right (stern) & I did in massive brace on the left (bow) & magically the boat did not flip but returned to its normal upright position. Bob, who had an excellent view of the bottom of our boat was sure that we’d had it. Such confidence!
I don’t think I’ve mentioned the extreme speed of this river. A dump would be very bad mainly because of the river speed. There are almost no technical rapids in this river, but because it was in flood, there were a lot of fairly large waves (2-3′ in height perhaps) & boils in many places. Most of the boils were quite manageable though. Apparently the normal speed of the river averages about 8 kph (according to Taylor), but our experience in the flooded river was that it was flowing at anywhere from 12 to 18 kph. With paddling our speed was quite often showing over 20 kph!!
Day 14 – July 16/07 – Campsite 09
We decided to do a few extra miles today so that we wouldn’t feel pressured tomorrow….especially if the river slows down.
First we passed Red Dog Mountain & that was probably the last of the mountains. Later in the day the land became quite broad & flat with huge wide gravel areas. There was nothing very dangerous (thank goodness)….just some bumping on gravel. There were a lot of beautiful cliffs/bluffs with huge slump areas.
We saw more birds than we have seen in the mountains – a very large gull (glaucous?), lots of ravens, some swallows with homes in the bluffs & a couple of ospreys flying very high. Also glimpsed was a large black bear (seen only by Allan & Linda).
We travelled through a fair amount of forest fire smoke & then gradually we came out of it – although we can still see it.
And tonight a boat travelling upstream passed our camp…don’t know where it was headed to.
Day 15 – July 17/07 – Campsite 10
Today was our last day on the Keele R. The weather was atrocious – it started to rain just as we were taking our tent down & it continued all day, except for a brief respite at lunch. We followed high bluffs on river right (still the Keele) & then moved to river left for most of the rest of the way along the Keele. By doing this & keeping out of the middle, we managed to avoid most of the braiding.
At one point just as we approached very high cliffs on river left, a pile of dirt & gravel crashed into the river. It lasted at least about 30 secs. & was quite amazing.
Oh – in the middle of last night I woke up to go to the washroom & noticed a beautiful dark brown caribou on the gravel island just off shore. At about the same time I also noticed wolves howling. It was beautiful. Apparently JC also heard the wolves.
When we finally arrived at the end of the Keele & came out of it, the Mackenzie was quite a sight. It was glassy smooth, very fast current & it extended as far as we could see in both directions & almost a km. in width. You could easily imagine the early explorers making their way down the river!
We crossed the river & then stopped at a native hunt camp. There were 5 or 6 buildings & nobody was there. We had a look around but didn’t stay too long since it was very buggy. I think I haven’t yet mentioned the almost total lack of bugs on our trip. It’s been wonderful!!
We then paddled downriver about ½ km. to a creek & gravelly shore & set up camp there. Most of the Mackenzie that we can see is high bluffs so we were not willing to move on any further & risk not having somewhere to camp. Our advice had been that there were very, very few spots that one could find to camp on between the Keele & Norman Wells.
Tonight we saw a beaver at our campsite & we also saw lots of gulls today & several ducks.
Day 16 – July 18/07 – Campsite 11: Tsunami!!
The day started out normally…we got up late, gradually got going & eventually started down the river. After a couple of hours of passing beautiful high bluffs & admiring them we decided to stop for lunch. After lunch we continued on down the river & started to look for a place to stop. Police Island was too far. We had stopped to check out one place & waited while Hendrik went to the washroom (this turned out to be significant) & then headed out again.
We were on river left, maybe 50′ – 100′ offshore, when all of a sudden we saw a wondrous sight. Way across the river on river right one of the high large bluffs collapsed!!!!! The whole thing slumped downwards & pushed into the water!!! After the initial giant chunk, there were many smaller chunks that continuously released. We were all sitting watching – in awe of spectacle, when suddenly (after about 3-5 mins), Allan yelled “WAVE”!!!! “GET TO SHORE”!!! In horror we all saw this racing, frothing foaming wave just in front of Allan.
We all paddled as if our lives depended on it. Allan & Linda just made shore when the wave struck them. Linda had hopped out & was on the water side of the boat & Allan was on the land side. All we saw was them & their canoe go flying (out of the corner of our eyes….as we frantically paddled). Last thing we saw were Linda’s feet up in the air.
We (Hendrik & I) reached shore, threw ourselves out & tried to haul up the canoe out of the way, but it was extremely sucky muck & willowy (low shrubs). We didn’t get far before we were stuck in the muck since our canoe was fully loaded. I yelled “RUN!”, grabbed my camcorder which was sitting loose in the boat & we both ran as fast as we could. I made it about 20′ & Hendrik about 10′ on to land when the wave hit us. Fortunately we were high enough that the wave only travelled another 20′ or so, so it just washed around our knees.
The wave picked up our loaded canoe & hurled it up & way over – a total of maybe 50′ from where we deserted it. Bob & JC had a bit more time & were at a slightly different angle when the wave hit, so although the wave threw their boat up on shore also, it just washed around their knees.
Once the wave had passed, we collected ourselves, found that Linda & Allan were OK even though both they & their canoe had been tossed over. Allan’s canoe did get punctured by a branch when it was thrown, but it was not a serious hole & he fixed it later.
Everyone was pretty shaken up by the experience & as we talked about it, by the thoughts of what would have happened had we still been in the middle of the river or, much worse, on river right admiring the cliffs. Had we been anywhere out from shore the wave would have dumped all 3 canoes 7 with the current & debris in the water it would have taken us the rest of the day to rescue ourselves. Had we been under the cliff or within a couple hundred feet of it, it would have been game over.
As we stood on the shore discussing the wave, we saw 2 other waves racing upriver at a different angle. They were a bit smaller, but just as fast. A third wave went in a slightly different direction – up & to our right.
S0 – we pumped the water out of our canoes & hauled them back to the river, one at a time. It took all of us for each boat, since they were completely loaded.
….just talked to Bob & JC – they didn’t hear Allan’s warning call since they were a bit too far away – JC saw our canoe veering sharply to the left & paddling like mad, so they did the same thing & then noticed the wave bearing down on us. The wave wasn’t all that large – we figure about 3 ½ ‘ – 4’ – but the frightening thing was to see it moving like a freight train across the water – our guess is at least 25 kph & it had a curling top that didn’t break.
Where we finally camped there was no water, so Hendrik & I took an evening hike to look for some. Hendrik was sure he could find some & he was right. It took us about 2-2 ½ hours walking around part of the island we were on. We had brought along a ‘small’ blue barrel so Hendrik filled it & carried it back, waddling like a duck under its weight. But he was definitely the “hero of the night”! I didn’t actually think we’d find any water – the river is so very silty that it’s unusable – except when boiled.
Hendrik also found large wolf prints – quite fresh & smallish bear prints & a beautiful flower, which I actually think is a berry. It’s red & squishy like a raspberry. …I found out later it’s called strawberry blite/blight – I’ve seen both spellings.
Day 17 – July 19/07 – Campsite 12: Police Island
Today was (happily) quite uneventful. We dawdled our way through breakfast & packing & finally set out on our way. We stopped for lunch just a few km. before Police Island – & hoped that Taylor’s advice was accurate. It turned out to be dead on. It rained quite heavily last night & there was a huge amount of debris in the river today. We kept a VERY close eye on all bluffs, especially those that looked steep & went straight into the water…..but we were forced to paddle past some in spite of our concern about them. However, the ones we passed today were made of different material – most rock & gravel, not mud & dirt like the one that collapsed.
After we stopped to camp, I “swam” briefly in the Mackenzie both today & yesterday (in about 1′ of water, since there was still quite a strong current). I was extremely hot & it helped to cool.
Today the most exciting event was finding water from a creek & filling JC’s barrel again.
Some new flowers that we saw today were fringed gentian & hedge nettle (pretty pink flower). We also saw a raft of mallards, bald-pate ducks & a Northern harrier (marsh hawk).Of interest is the almost complete lack of boat traffic that we have seen on the Mackenzie. We all expected it to be a boat highway & have been pleasantly surprised at the solitude. To this point all we have seen are a couple of barges, only 2 small boats & the Coast Guard. Perhaps we will see more near Tulita & Norman Wells.
Day 18 – July 20/07 – Campsite 13: Tulita
We didn’t have too far to go on our last paddling day so we dawdled (yet again) with pancakes etc. Eventually, we got going & hit the river. There was a wind out of the north & we were on river left so we decided to start crossing the river early.
From the start we could see the mountain back of Tulita & for a long time it didn’t seem to get any closer – also I was glad to have the GPS telling us that we were actually moving about 8 kph since with the wind growing stronger & stronger, we felt as if we were scarcely moving. You certainly couldn’t see much progress by watching the shore.
We needed to pass a fairly long section of bluffs & were slightly apprehensive. But as we studied them, we could see they were totally different – not loose concave dirt, but harder rock that mostly loosened in little rock chunks. Still, we paddled firmly through that section.
The last few km. were quite hard work as the wind had really picked up – there were no white caps but there were very large swells. So our final paddle was a battle to Tulita.
We passed a buoyed-off area just outside of Tulita where a group of kids were swimming & screeching & having a wonderful time. It was the essence of life NOT in a city!
We finally arrived at the town dock & came in fast on a crashing wave. Four of us walked up the hills to the town – to find a phone. We reserved at the Mackenzie Hotel in Norman Wells & left a message with Rick Myers that we had arrived, bought ice cream & drinks & returned to the boats.
We talked to a couple of fellows who came by in trucks – they said it was OK to camp anywhere on the beach. It was not a nice place to camp, however, so first we had dinner.
Then yet another fellow (Fred Clement) came down & told us that Rick had called him & he was going to take us to Norman Wells in his jetboat since Rick’s boat would have a very difficult time getting upriver to Tulita. He then offered his backyard (grassy & flat) for camping on so after some frenzied packing – we had to take the canoes apart & it was pouring rain – & several trips with his truck, we were up at his place. I also met his wife, Louise, who was busy playing (& not winning, apparently) bingo over the radio. They only occasionally have live Bingos & they are quite an event. She must have had about 30-40 cards going all at once.
Fred & Louise had an 8-week old chocolate lab puppy – Whisky – who stole everyone’s hearts & got under everyone’s feet – numerous times.
Fred had a large teepee which he uses for smoking & drying meat & fish & for BBQ’ing so he lit a fire in there & we had a warm cozy get-together. It was pouring rain outside.
BTW, there were a lot of very beautiful fringed gentians all over. Here they seem to be very common!
Tulita is a REALLY friendly nice little town of abut 450-500 people, most of whom are native. It is situated where the Great Bear River comes in to meet the Mackenzie & its water is a beautiful deep green (clear) colour. Apparently the Mackenzie is also clear above the Liard. There is a big mountain just across the river & in almost any photo you see of Tulita, it is shown with this mountain in the background. There are 3 large oval marks on the mountain & there is a legend about these….they are supposed to be giant beaver pelts laid out on the mountain.
Fred told us a legend about Yamouri – supposedly there were 3 giant beavers who were eating the people so Yamouri killed them & hung the beaver pelts on the mountain. And the ‘smoking hills’ area we passed yesterday is supposed to be the remnants of his bonfire.
Day 19 – July 21/07 – Mackenzie Hotel, Norman Wells
Today consisted mainly of packing Fred’s jet boat – a job that took a lot of time & careful placement of gear. Apparently in a jet boat, most of the weight should be forward – so first we packed every nook & cranny of the front of the boat with whatever would fit there, then barrels in the rear holds, packs in the middle, canoe along the middle & then finally we squeezed ourselves in.
We then drove the boat fully loaded down to the beach, all climbed into the boat & someone else (another son of Fred’s?) backed the boat quickly into the water, Fred gunned the engines into reverse, we swung around & then we were off. This took mere seconds. The wind & waves were high & there had been a lot of discussion earlier about when the wind might lessen.
This was the wildest, roughest motorboat ride (actually Jet boat ride) that I have ever been on – bar none!! And apparently a jet boat gives you the smoothest ride possible.. Fred is truly an expert boat driver! We rode along the shore, only about 20′ off the shore, crashed & drove into & around the waves. I’ve never seen anything like it. We were constantly thrown into the air & from side to side, but eventually we made it. It took almost exactly 2 hours.
We were met by Rick, who took us via several trips to the Mackenzie Hotel. We spent most of the rest of the day sorting & packing to organize for the flight from Norman Wells to Yellowknife.
After dinner, a few of us went for a walk up the one & only street in Norman Wells., well, the only street of note.