5 weeks north of the Arctic Circle

[kickingfrog]

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 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 had stops in Yellowknife, Norman Wells and one other place that 12 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 what ever 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

 

Float plane base

 

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 is the canoes paddle like a... well... like a folding canoe.

 

Now the photos: in 98 I had my father’s 25 year old manual camera. What a tank, it is now over 35 years old and still works flawlessly. I brought about 20 rolls of 36 exposure film, and used most of them. The scans are not the best.

 

We unload our gear and prepare 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.

It rained the first day after we had set up camp. After the rain the sun came back out and we were treated to this... 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 was the staple.

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.

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.

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

We called it Ridgeitious. 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

Lots of snow/ice in the more protected valleys.

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.

Some of the wildlife:

 

 

Wolf prints

 

Grizzly Bear print

Golden Eagle chicks

Caribou We never did find the big herds and never saw or heard wolves.

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.

Many days after the lone male we came across this heard of Muskoxen I think there were about 21 of them in total.

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.

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 week really muddied the water. You’ll see at the Ocean there is quite the delta from all of the runoff.

 

Never did find out what the blue stuff was.

 

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.

River on the left, Arctic Ocean on the right.

River meanders from the plane on the way out.

This was my first live view of any salt water in my life. Franklin Bay on the Beaufort Sea.

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.

There was no beach but the shore was covered in these pumis like stones.

Smartie beach

On both of these trips to the sea we saw wildlife only once we were walking back up the hill.

A seal

The other time it was a group of beluga whales. I cannot find the photo though.

 

Group shot. 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.

Can you see them?

Ptarmigan

River delta in the background

And from the plane

 

That's all, there are some more photos somewhare, if I ever find them I'll post them too.

[Terry]

wow what a trip

[Musky or Specks]

Thanks for the report. My dream canoe trip would be the Horton or the Thelon.

[johnnyb]

Wow...I've been sitting here at my desk, absolutely slack-jawed for the last 10 minutes. Trip of a lifetime...thanks for sharing

[Billy Bob]

I can only say one word.....FANTASTIC ! ! !

[Dano]

What can I say. Thats fantatic, thanks for sharing it with us. A trip like this has always been one of my dreams, what it must be like to follow in the footsteps of John Rae and the other great explorers of our vast northern wilderness. I am going to bookmark this post, awesome stuff.

[solopaddler]

A trip that few people are privelaged to experience, outstanding!

[dannyboy]

That is just wonderful, thanks for sharing.

 

Dan

[JohnF]

Yup, that's a ***** post fer sure. Move over, Solo and Moose.

 

JF

[irishfield]

COOL !!! North- Wright Aviation has the only two Pilatus PC-6's operating in Canada! You got a rare ride their Rob!

 

Oh.. the trip... thanks for sharing that as well. Bet it still feels like it was just yesterday...

[raptorfan]

those were phenomenal to look at, definately a dream trip. Thanks for taking us down memory lane, hopefully you find the picture of the belugas, would love to see that.

[Paully]

For once the word "epic" would be fitting !!

 

Looks like an amazing time

[glen]

Every pic is a postcard. Let me know if you want to do it again.

[Skud]

Awesome. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing them. Those are many sights I am sure I will never see in person.

[Ron]

speechless!

[Gerritt]

EPIC!

[Rich Clemens]

That is a trip most only dream about. Thanks for taking the time to put this together. Really great to see.

[AzuluSpookd]

That was an amazing report! Thanks for sharing.

 

My mom just moved out to Inuvik in May of 2009 on a year contract and she is hoping that it will get extended another year. If that is the case, I will be going to visit her this summer!!

[bigugli]

Wonderful report.

 

We are blessed with living in the most beautiful country on this planet. Bet there was a certain quiet pride in being able to say "I did it".

 

Take the time and explore a piece of Canada folks. you will never regret it.

[troutologist]

Amazing trip and write up there. An awesome part of the world, no better way to take it in than at the pace of the river.

 

Thanks for putting that together

[Dozer]

WOW WOW WOW WOW!

[danbouck]

AMAZING!

[DRIFTER_016]

COOL !!! North- Wright Aviation has the only two Pilatus PC-6's operating in Canada! You got a rare ride their Rob!

 

Oh.. the trip... thanks for sharing that as well. Bet it still feels like it was just yesterday...

 

And I've been on the other one.

Not sure, but I may even have pictures of it somewhere.

[Fishing 24/7]

breathtaking views.

 

after reading/seeing this report.

 

i am openning a bank account savings account.

 

titled..... Letg go north!!!!

[lookinforwalleye]

Wow great trip, is that all I have to do to lose 20 pounds??

 

I think I was in a canoe once!