6/22  

Muskeg

Drove back down Rt 1 and then onto Rt 7; landscape along the way is mostly muskeg, basically bog. Rt 7 is mostly gravel, which means everything gets covered with a fine layer of rock dust, we’ll be cleaning it out of the camper for the next year. Stopped at Blackstone Territorial Park which has a spectacularly beautiful setting on the Laird River, another campground it would be wonderful to spend time exploring. Stopped at Fort Liard to gas up; a nice little town (population 500). Camped at Triple G campground, Fort Nelson, BC. – felt like a sardine but it was late and the only place to camp

View from Blackstone Territorial Park

6/21    We flew to Nahanni National Park on a Simpson Air Cessna 185 floatplane. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising more than 7 million acres and is a pristine example of Canadian wilderness. It is representative of the Mackenzie mountain range region as it was when it was the exclusive domain of the Dene, before the Europeans arrived. The South Nahanni river, which cuts through the length of the park, has created spectacular canyons, some of which are 3000 – 4000 ft deep, and awe-inspiring rapids and waterfalls. We landed on the river just above Virginia Falls which is twice the height of Niagra and hiked to the top of the falls.

Imagine Waking Up to This – View of Little Doctor’s Lake from Nahanni Mountain Lodge

Virginia Falls

The violence of the rapids leading to the falls was amazing; unfortunately time did allow us to take the 2 hour hike to the bottom, so we didn’t get a view of it’s true magnificence. On the way back to Fort Simpson we landed on Little Doctor’s Lake to see the Nahanni Mountain Lodge, owned and run by Ted Grant the owner of Simpson Air and had an enjoyable time talking with a group of men who had rented the Lodge for the week. What a gorgeous place to get away from it all and just relax and fish. The trip was well worth it both for the scenery and the enjoyment of meeting new people. However, Arlyne did find the flight to be extremely bumpy and nauseating, and vowed never to fly in a small plane again. I, however, totally enjoyed the trip, perhaps because I love sailing, with it’s constant interaction with the wind, and found the flight quite delightful.

More Nahanni National Park Photos

6/19     Left Ft Providence early since we didn’t know what conditions on the 70 mi gravel part of Rt 1 would be; as it turned out, very good but dusty and dirty. Stopped at Sambaa Deh Falls Territorial Park to view the falls. Had a delightful conversation with Ranger Ray who filled us in on the trails, fossils and morel hunting in and around the park. He also clued us in to the goings on in Ft Simpson – this weekend is the 3rd Annual Łĺĺdļļ Kųę First Nation Traditional Spring Gathering which has many games, dances and free BBQs. Walked, with the dogs down to the falls; Tat sprained his paw so I had to carry him back, so we never made it to the falls. Samba Deh is a beautiful park and would be a delightful place to camp and spend several days hiking and enjoying, unfortunately, we can’t dally, Alaska beckons. Left the park and continued; about 5mi further on we encountered a black bear strolling down the road towards us. About 50 mi down the road we had a free ferry ride across the Liard River and several miles after we reached Fort Simpson where we camped at the Fort Simpson Territorial Park.

Liard River Ferry

Black Bear

← older posts newer posts →

6/18    Started towards Fort Simpson, retracing Rt 3 – no buffalo this time. Drove through the town of Fort Providence, a simple one general store town on the banks of the Mackenzie River. Surprisingly, the town also had a fairly large medical clinic; how a town of 450 people, in the middle of nowhere, can support the clinic is a mystery. Camped at Fort Providence Territorial Park and caught a nice sized northern pike for dinner. Saw several bald eagles soaring over the river.

Log Cabins for Rent

Yellowknife Houseboat

6/15 – 6/17 Yellowknife is a relaxed city of about 24,000, which is almost half of the population of the entire NWT. The uptown section contains the usual architecture of any modern city, including skyscrapers, while Old Town consists of original one room log “shacks” sitting side by side with modern houses on irregular lots which gives the area a picturesque character. Out in the bay are houseboats which decidedly live up to their name. First stop was the Yellowknife Visitor Center where James gave us the lowdown on things to do and places to see; he also gave us a parking sticker so we wouldn’t have to feed the meters. Lunch at the Wildcat Café, in Old Town. The Café is one of the oldest buildings in Yellowknife and exudes the history of the area. The food was delectably delicious and up to the standards of any 4 star restaurant.

Wild Cat Cafe

Delegate’s Meeting Room

Next stop was the NWT Legislative Assembly Building. The building is unique, among legislatures we have seen in that it is flooded by natural light giving the rooms a warm, congenial feeling. The government is also unique in that there are no political parties and the 13 representatives govern by consensus which assures that the concerns of each member is given full consideration.

The following day we went to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Museum which was incredibly well done. It contained a profusion of information about the NWT, its people, culture and industry. It also housed an exquisite collection of sculptures by Abraham Anghik Ruben a Inuvialuit artist. These works are the finest examples of Inuit sculpture we have seen.

Appeasing Sedna

Had dinner at Bullocks Bistro with a very nice couple from Calgary. Bullocks serves fish caught in Great Slave Lake; it’s unfortunate that transportation to and from Yellowknife is so arduous, otherwise the lake could support a reasonable sized fishing industry. As it is, the only market is local so there is no real commercial fishery.

More Yellowknife Photos

← older posts newer posts →

6/14  

Deh Cho Bridge

Continued on Rt 1 and then branched off on Rt 3 to Yellowknife. Crossed over the Mackenzie River; the Deh Cho Bridge (deh cho is Dene and means “big river”) is a marvel.  It was built in 4 years – the crews continued to work through extreme weather conditions.  The state-of-the-art deck system is one continuous structure running the entire length of the superstructure, the longest such bridge in North America, and cut the mass of concrete required by 30%. The further north we went the more scraggly the spruce trees appeared, probably due to the extreme winter conditions and poor soil. There was more and more exposed bedrock as we proceeded towards Yellowknife; the land reminded us of Newfoundland which is basically a big rock covered by a dusting of soil ( the Yellowknife Golf Club issues players a square of astro turf to place the ball on when taking shots since the fairways are mostly sand and rock, and the greens are pure astro turf; also, if your ball gets stolen by a raven there is no penalty to replace it). Wood buffalo all over the place, the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary, which Rt 3 cuts through, hosts a herd of about the same size as that in Wood Buffalo National Park.

Lots of Buffalo

Buffalo and Calves

Walking Is Such Hard Work

And Thirsty Work

Slow Down Ma

We passed numerous camps of morel mushroom hunters. Extensive forest fires last year have given rise to an abundant crop of the mushrooms which bring $10 – $20 per pound. Tempted to stop and try our luck but the hunters would probably not look kindly on it since it is their livelihood and not ours.  Camped at Fred Henne Territorial Park in Yellowknife. Good strong cell signal so the Rogers hotspot works fine.

6/12   Caught a 25″ northern pike which made a fine dinner, very mild and rather bony but quite nice. Hiked down to the Rapids of the Drowned, named for five employees of the Northwest Company who drowned in the rapids in 1786.

Who would believe pelicans! Yes pelicans frolicking in the rapids. Apparently, White Pelicans migrate to this area, the northern most nesting site known, and roost on the islands amid a cornucopia of fish to raise their young.

Happy Are The Rapids

Here Fishy, Fishy

What a Great Place to Nest