BARREN LANDS CANOE TRIP
THAIDENE NENE NATIONAL PARK, NWT
2013
After canoeing the Churchill/Sturgeon Weir river with friends, we continued north for a canoe trip with Alex Hall/Canoe Arctic. The following is our journal of that trip.
| We drove to Ft. Smith, NWT to join seven others on a canoe trip at the edge of the barren lands. The trip was through Canoe Arctic lead by Alex Hall. This was Sharon's second trip with Alex and Bill's fifth...the Barren Lands do grab hold of you and won't let go. We arrived in Ft. Smith on Aug. 24th and camped at a local campground. After picking up our packs from Alex on the 25th, we checked into the Pelican Rapids Motel, packed gear, did some sight-seeing and geocaching and then met with Alex and the rest of the crew for dinner. It was then up early the next day for our flight to the put-in. The map below shows our trip. (The red is canoeing, green is day hikes, green circles are campsites.) We started at the lower right corner and paddled to the upper right corner where the planes picked us up on Sept. 5th. |
| Aug. 26 | Up early, travel gear stored, the planes loaded and a couple hour flight to our first camp. We set up camp and learned the routine and expectations for the trip. |
| Aug. 27 | Misty day...one rapid...remains of an old trapper's cabin...sheltered campsite...11 miles canoed |
| Aug. 28 | "Memorable" day...14.5 miles...misty/rainy...wind/waves...cold night |
| Aug. 29 | The weather turned bright and sunny...did our only portage of the trip (0.5 miles)...great campsite...9.5 miles today |
| Aug. 30 | Layover day...hiked in the morning...in the afternoon we paddled around bay, some fished and all relaxed. |
| Aug. 31 | A beautiful day...canoed 14.7 miles in just over 7 hours including a three hour lunch/hike break |
| Sept. 1 | Sunny...rainstorm...hikes...traveled 12.0 miles |
| Sept. 2 | Misty...gloomy...no paddling...some hiking |
| Sept. 3 | Canoed to final campsite with a hike along the way...it was 14.6 miles today |
| Sept. 4 | A muskox hunting day...8.3 miles...lunch on the trail...then Sharon did 3.4 additional miles |
| Sept. 5 | An impromptu hike to check on some muskox signs...packed up camp...flew back to Fort Smith |
| THE CREW | ||
|---|---|---|
 Alex (Northwest Territories) |
 Maida (Ontario) |
 Peder (Ontario) |
 Barb (Illinois) |
 Victor (Illinois) |
 Vickie (Colorado) |
 Bill (Wisconsin) |
 Sharon (Wisconsin) |
 Scott (Virginia) |
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