6/13 Left Fort Smith and retraced our steps to Hay River. We saw ravens ingeniously nesting in well protected transmission towers and finally some wood buffalo but no whooping cranes. Headed NW from Hay River, along Rt.1. Stopped at McNallie Falls, a pretty falls named after A. McNallie who was a foreman for Western Construction and Lumber Co who in 1957, attempted to cross a rather placid appearing creek in a canoe. Once launched he realized that the current was much stronger and was rushing him toward a treacherous falls. After furious effort he managed to reach the opposite shore and fling himself onshore but the canoe was lost over the falls. Camped at Lady Evelyn Falls Territorial Park, about 1 hr NW of Hay River on Rt 1. The park is very nice but loop A campsites are much, much nicer and less buggy than those in loop B where we were. From the park website diagrams loop B looked better – oh well. A comment on the NWT black flies: they seem to come in two sizes, midgets and giants one or two giants could probably carry away a small child. The only saving grace is that it takes them forever to decide to land and take a bite, which if they do will leave behind a major crater otherwise they just mill around and try to invade every orifice.
