Mountain-River
22.Feb 99Some data on the River
- Rapids: Class 3
- Duration:10-14 days, we took our time and spent 17 days on the river.
- Distance: 300km
- Speed:fairly fast.
- Maps:1:1.000.000 ONC D-12 and 1:500.000 TPC D-12A for overview
- 106B - Bonnet Plume, #1
- 106A - Mt.Eduni, #2
- 106H - Sans Sault Rapids, #3
- 1:250.000 (# sequence of use)
Here is a short report about our trip in August '95:
We, Bert, Irma, Ingrid and me, paddled the Mountain-River summer '95.
We had two inflatable boats with us: A Grabner Outside and the Spreu Otter. They are excellent for heavy whitewater, and not that good for paddling a lake or slow river. Both are made of heavy-duty material, however, the weight is only around 20kg. Very good for our purpose.
Our plan was to paddle the Mountain River from Norseman Lake (near Dusty Lake) to the Mackenzie, and then up the Mackenzie to Norman Wells. For this last trip we planned to use a sail.
Getting there
On 27.July we started from Norman Wells to Norseman Lake. Our plane was a Pilatus Porter, and there was plenty room in it for us 4 and the equipment.
Norseman Lake (approx 130°27'W 64°16'N) is near the mountains in the south, and gives better opportunity for a first hike than Dusty Lake, which is in the middle of a flat a few miles westward. Between the lake and the Mountain-River is a small hill which gives a beautiful sight.
It is worthwhile to hike from there southwards. The mountains are easy to reach. Take plenty of water with you, as the water you will find uphill tastes HORRIBLE and is not usable.
We had mushrooms (Red capped Scaber Stalk, Common Scaber Stalk, Bay-Bolete) for dinner. They were delicious, and to top it, Bert and I had a glass of whisky. My stomach didn't like this, and I had to pay the consequences a few hours later. The rest of the crew didn't have any problems. While I have always some "The Audubon Society Field Guiedes" with me, the mushroom Guide did not warn against alkohol with the mushroom we had eaten. However, next day I was fine again.
31.July: We have the boats inflated, and then we crossed the lake westward to get to the
river. At the westpoint of the lake the portage to the river begins. No trails - a good
sign! It took each of us 3 short hikes, and in the evening everything had been transferred
to the
river. We prepared the boats for the long trip. And - we found a coco-nut
(empty) which showed us, that our remote position has been visited
before. The color of the river is - dirty yellow. The water can be drunk - after boiling the yellow substance settles down and the water becomes quite
clear. We had never trouble using this water without filtration.
1.Aug: We have made about 9km. On the way we have seen a grizzly
which disappeared real fast into the thick
willow-bushes. The river flows fast, and the water is easy.
2.Aug: on the left side we find a really red creek into the
Mountain-River. Very colorful!
3.Aug: First Canyon. Short, and a nice entrance. Some distance after this, a 2. Canyon opens. No problems on the inner side. And great views. The scenery is quite colorful.
4.Aug: We made a nice hike up a mountain. In the morning it was
rainy, but then it became a nice day. Great view from above. The mountain has been
the bottom of the sea - some time ago.
We have not been the first humans to climb our mountain. The area only looks deserted. Of course, on our way down we had lots of blueberries to eat.
5.Aug: Our camp was situated at a creek that flows from Shale Lake some distance
away. Strolling upstream we discovered this porcupine. It is not
shy, and one person does not intimidate it.
6.Aug: Next day we hiked to the lake and had a good time. At the lake is an outfitter who had 12 horses with him. Of course the lake is an airfield too.
We have always enough food with us to not depend on
fish. But it tastes excellent and fishing is a pleasure more to
enjoy.
7.Aug: The river flows thru spectacular
landscape.
The colors are very intense.
This day we paddled to a spot, where hot sulphur springs provide a beautiful setting. They are easy to recognize. This photo was taken at 11pm . Long shadows. A beautiful sight indeed. This is an easy hike in the evening!
8.Aug: In the night we had temperatures below 0 Celsius. We reach the 3rd canyon, and find no difficulties
there. Right of the entrance flows the Cache Creek into the Mountain River. It was a small creek at this time of
year. The walls are high and it takes some 200m until we see more
sky. Beautiful. We stop and have a snack. (There should be a sulphur spring
approx. 15km upriver and one befor this confluence. We didn't check - just forgot
about them.)
After a break we continue our trip and set camp at Etagochile Creek. A spectacular point. Not only we had this opinion. Other groups had made camp here too.
This is a not only a spectacular spot, there is also a nice small challenge for the canoeist! No photo, just look for yourself!
9.Aug: During the night we did see a beautiful
borealis. Crystal clear sky. Today we pass the 4th canyon. First there is a wall blocking the river with accompanying
waves, then a second wall. This is a beautiful place to make another
rest.
The Mountain-river displays then some high waves and a rapid flow. The narrow canyon widens finally, and the Stoneknife-River joins the Mountain-River. First, the Stone-Knife nearly doubles the water, and second, while the confluence looks harmless with it's tiny waves, the eddy is not. Expect to brace. It takes some time for the different colors of the rivers to mingle. A beautiful sight. We did sit back in our boats and just did nothing.
Later we met 4 Americans with 2 canoes and had a short talk with them.
There was also a small canyon on this part of river.
Our camp is about 5 km upstream from Sheep creek.
10.Aug:The river keeps it's fast flow. Eventually there appears a small entrance to the right into the
mountain. It is impossible to see the next part of the river, and we crossed to the right
shore.
The river flows fast, big waves, wonderful! At Sheep Creek we did catch some fish. The water kept it's fast flow for the next kilometers.
11.Aug:Today again a mountain seemed to block the
river. Canyon 6. It is hard to see the entrance from far
away, because gravel blocks the view. Some strong eddies, and funny
water, but nothing that could make difficulties. Finally, we reach a small hut from a
hydrogeological survey or so. Position
is: N065°13'50", W128°33'50". Thereabout the mountains become
flat, and a short time later the Mountain-River flows into the
Mackenzie-Valley. We set up our camp in the first flat, and go for a
hike. Perfect weather, and great views from the hills.
12.Aug:Sandstorm. The fine sand creeps into
everything. The sand provides a good means to watch the airflow in the
tent, between the inner tent and the outer, and generally a means to reconsider
campsites. At about noon the wind got weaker, and we did cook some
pancakes. The day was a lazy one, reading and letting the sun tan our
bodies.
Since we planned to to upstream back to Norman Wells, I started thinking about setting sails to our 2 inflatables. We had taken all the stuff necessary to build a sailing-rig with us.
13.Aug:A group of 5 canoes paddels past our camp. They
will be expected on the 17. at the confluence into the
Mackenzie. They started their trip at Willow Creek. We met them again at
noon, had another talk, and shortly thereafter made camp again. There the first
thing to do was getting the sand out of the zipper of the
tent, and the toothbrush proved invaluable for that purpose.
Thereafter I started to sew the sail, which was made from a heavy plastic plane, and got a line sewed around, to provide strength for the expected high winds.
14.Aug:Again we meet the Americans. They have found a
hot spring. It is shortly after entering the 7th Canyon
on the left
side. Of course we took the time to heat us up in that spring. The Americans did
not, and hurried away. On our way to the camp we have collected thin twigs of willows
to build rings which would keep the sail to the mast of our
sailing-rig. Ingrid did show me how to proper sew the sail. It took me about 7 hours
to sew 7 m of
sail.
15.Aug:Our camp is at a spot, where the Mountain-River turns south to the Mackenzie. There I construct the mast, and the general rig. We will stay here and set up the rig. The shore is high, pure gravel, and provides a good view.
16.Aug:The basic rig has been completed. It is the rig for a slup, which I know how to sail.
17.Aug:The sailing boat is ready. Ingrid has baked 50 pancakes and tomorrow we will depart.
18.Aug:After a short trip we reached the confluence. No wind. Too strong a current of the mighty Mackenzie. We decided to go downstream to Fort Good Hope. The Sans Sault Rapids are completely without any problem for our inflatables.
The wind is completely missing, and so we paddle. We make good progress with the fast Mackenzie. Staying longer on the river is more important than paddling stronger.19.Aug:We misjudge the noises of the rapid above the Canyon as the sound of some big ship. We find out shortly thereafter, that there is no way to escape the rapid, since the Mackenzie is too fast, and we are too far in the middle of the river. As it turns out, the waves, which were quite high, about 3m, did not harm our construction. However, it was quite impressive to ride them. In the canyon we had the wind against us, so we decided to just do nothing and flow with the water. We made camp 10km upstream from Fort Good Hope.
20.Aug:Arrival at Fort Good Hope, making friends with the natives, and preparing for the flight back to Norman Wells.
21.Aug:Flight back to Norman Wells. We had caffee with Gordon Kelly at his house, and did learn the ways of the indians (a little only!).
Some further data regarding costs:
Flight from Norman Wells:
North Wright Air LTD, Fax:403 587 2962, Warren Wright with a Pilatus Porter (Warren was Pilot) to Norseman Lake, 4 Persons with gear: lost the data :-(
Warren kindly permitted us to sleep in his house at the lake where we took off. Thanx again!
Flight back to Norman Wells: 590$
Room Mackenzie Hotel in Norman Wells: 128$ Again we were permitted to use the house. Thanx.