For some reason, I have got it in my craw to canoe to the Arctic Ocean,
perhaps on the McKenzie or the Horton, the Yellowknife looks too
technical for my taste/experience. I have done a lot of research, I
have the McCreadie book, I even made up web pages for a half dozen
rivers with a summary of my research, including links to good trip
journals, etc.

What I am short is a willing partner for a month long trip. I used the
web pages as a sales tool for some of my friends who I thought might be
game. However, it is hard to find someone who can take off that much
time.

I should say that I have some canoeing experience in Utah, etc., but
none in Canada or anywhere else north. However, I have considerable
experience with planning successful international mountaineering
expeditions, so I know how to do my research, develop a good plan, and
succeed far from home.

But anyway, my question is how I could find a suitable partner for such
a crazy trip? Do I need to join a local (Colorado) canoeing club?
Should I put up a notice at local river shops? The one thing I would
never do is sign up for a month trip with someone I had not done shorter
trips with, so finding a partner on the Internet doesn't seem like an
attractive plan, unless he lives in or near Colorado. (Also, the
partner would have to be a he, or I would be in deep trouble with my
wife). One suggestion has been to join a guided group trip, but I am
accustomed to small groups with cooperative joint leadership, also the
cost of a guided trip seems steep. (Floatplane costs are, however,
potentially a big issue on an independent trip). I have more time than
money. I would consider doing the McKenzie solo, but can't say that a
solo trip seems particularly smart or attractive.

Any suggestions on how to find a partner would be appreciated.

Richard

On 17-Dec-2003, Richard Ferguson wrote:

One suggestion has been to join a guided group trip, but I am
accustomed to small groups with cooperative joint leadership, also the
cost of a guided trip seems steep. (Floatplane costs are, however,
potentially a big issue on an independent trip). I have more time than
money. I would consider doing the McKenzie solo, but can't say that a
solo trip seems particularly smart or attractive.

I can't imagine that there'd be too many commercial offerings for such
a trip. Most concentrate on something more exotic than the Mackenzie.
If you launch from somewhere like Wrigley, you could drive all the way
in and skip the flight costs. Return to your vehicle would require
a flight, though. Even if you don't drive, finding a commercial flight
into, say, Norman Wells or Fort Good Hope, and leaving from Tuk would
avoid chartering a float plane. I don't know what kind of service is
available to those towns, though, so it might end up the same $ as a
drop in the middle of nowhere. Also, the tail end, getting to Tuk,
would be a hairy paddle in the Arctic Ocean. I'd do it in a sea kayak,
but not a canoe.

The Mackenzie is a big river and it flows fast all the time. You would
be able to cover a lot of distance without paddling. The north end is
interesting as I understand it - lots of shallows and stuff.

The Horton, OTOH, is in the middle of nowhere.

Victoria Jason paddled the Mackenzie and wrote of it in Kabloona In A
Yellow Kayak. She met a couple of guys in a canoe and described
the trip. One of those guys now works for Mountain Equipment Coop
and lurks occasionally on paddling lists.

If you find someone to go with, be forwarned - they'll be as crazy as
you :-) Good luck - it's a trip I've thought of ever since seeing the
Mackenzie at Fort Simpson (stopover on the way to Nahanni).

Mike

"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
For some reason, I have got it in my craw to canoe to the Arctic Ocean,
perhaps on the McKenzie or the Horton, the Yellowknife looks too
technical for my taste/experience. I have done a lot of research, I
have the McCreadie book, I even made up web pages for a half dozen
rivers with a summary of my research, including links to good trip
journals, etc.

What I am short is a willing partner for a month long trip. I used the
web pages as a sales tool for some of my friends who I thought might be
game. However, it is hard to find someone who can take off that much
time.


Hmm. Lets talk. I'm a teacher, so I have summers off. I've done from the
headwaters of the Snake to the Peel to the McKenzie...it was 2 weeks.
Logistics are managable, but its a pricey trip. You'd want to have two solo
canoes, I think, to carry gear and to enable you to get out in case of
catastrophe.

What rivers are you thinking of?

--riverman

Riverman:

I guess I need your email and your real name. ;-) I am using mine.

I am retired (early), so I have time. Where do you live?

So far I have researched the MacKenzie, the Horton, the Coppermine, the
Yellowknife, the Thelon, the Nahanni, the Porcupine (Alaska), the Slave,
and the Yukon. I am not saying that I am enthused about all of them,
each has it's merits and demerits. The Thelon could be the most
expensive, high floatplane costs. The Yukon is probably 80 days from
headwaters to the sea, I could not be gone that long. Some, such as the
Coppermine, are more technical than I would be comfortable with,
especially with a small group in a very remote area. The MacKenzie has
a lot of appeal, due to the history, and all the logistics could be done
with public transportation, especially with a folding canoe, so probably
the cheapest. Some of the rivers, such as the Nahanni and the
Yellowknife, are fly in, but you can drive to the takeout, so cheaper in
that sense.

Not sure what the best catastrophe plan is. The MacKenzie has enough
traffic you should be able to flag down a passing boat of some kind,
especially if you had some signaling device. The Horton is the other
way around, you might have to wait weeks for a search party. Thinking
about one's survival skills is probably critical.

Richard



riverman wrote:

"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
For some reason, I have got it in my craw to canoe to the Arctic Ocean,
perhaps on the McKenzie or the Horton, the Yellowknife looks too
technical for my taste/experience. I have done a lot of research, I
have the McCreadie book, I even made up web pages for a half dozen
rivers with a summary of my research, including links to good trip
journals, etc.

What I am short is a willing partner for a month long trip. I used the
web pages as a sales tool for some of my friends who I thought might be
game. However, it is hard to find someone who can take off that much
time.


Hmm. Lets talk. I'm a teacher, so I have summers off. I've done from the
headwaters of the Snake to the Peel to the McKenzie...it was 2 weeks.
Logistics are managable, but its a pricey trip. You'd want to have two solo
canoes, I think, to carry gear and to enable you to get out in case of
catastrophe.

What rivers are you thinking of?

--riverman

As far as the MacKenzie, I am skeptical about going to Tuk in an open
canoe also. One alternative would be to canoe out to some arbitrary
point where it looks like the ocean starts, and then paddle back to
Inuvik, or arrange a pickup in a boat or even a floatplane. A few hours
in Inuvik talking to people would probably answer the question about
what was practical.

One unusual solution to the shuttle problem involves using Yellowknife
as a hub, taking a bus from Yellowknife to Providence or Hay River, and
then flying back from Inuvik to Yellowknife. Easy if your canoe fits in
a duffel bag. (I have an Old Town 16 footer myself).

Putting a standard canoe on the airplane from Inuvik to Yellowknife is
apt to cost $500 US or so, based on a phone conversation with the
airline, but it can be done. Another option would be to abandon the
canoe in Inuvik. (I think I paid about that much for my canoe, used).

I agree that no one is probably guiding the MacKenzie, too long a trip,
not exotic.

One reason that the MacKenzie river sounds good is that I heard a
lecture and bought a book on Sir MacKenzie, quite a story that even most
Canadians don't know. But there are many other great rivers in the north.

Richard

--------------------------------------------------------

I can't imagine that there'd be too many commercial offerings for such
a trip. Most concentrate on something more exotic than the Mackenzie.
If you launch from somewhere like Wrigley, you could drive all the way
in and skip the flight costs. Return to your vehicle would require
a flight, though. Even if you don't drive, finding a commercial flight
into, say, Norman Wells or Fort Good Hope, and leaving from Tuk would
avoid chartering a float plane. I don't know what kind of service is
available to those towns, though, so it might end up the same $ as a
drop in the middle of nowhere. Also, the tail end, getting to Tuk,
would be a hairy paddle in the Arctic Ocean. I'd do it in a sea kayak,
but not a canoe.

The Mackenzie is a big river and it flows fast all the time. You would
be able to cover a lot of distance without paddling. The north end is
interesting as I understand it - lots of shallows and stuff.

The Horton, OTOH, is in the middle of nowhere.

Victoria Jason paddled the Mackenzie and wrote of it in Kabloona In A
Yellow Kayak. She met a couple of guys in a canoe and described
the trip. One of those guys now works for Mountain Equipment Coop
and lurks occasionally on paddling lists.

If you find someone to go with, be forwarned - they'll be as crazy as
you :-) Good luck - it's a trip I've thought of ever since seeing the
Mackenzie at Fort Simpson (stopover on the way to Nahanni).

Mike

"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
. . .
So far I have researched the MacKenzie, the Horton, the Coppermine, the
Yellowknife, the Thelon, the Nahanni, the Porcupine (Alaska), the Slave,
and the Yukon. I am not saying that I am enthused about all of them,
each has it's merits and demerits.

Hmmm. Anyone up for a MacKenzie/Peel/Rat/Bell/Porcupine trip?

Just wondering,
Fred Klingener

Richard Ferguson wrote in :

As far as the MacKenzie, I am skeptical about going to Tuk in an
open canoe also. One alternative would be to canoe out to some
arbitrary point where it looks like the ocean starts, and then
paddle back to Inuvik, or arrange a pickup in a boat or even a
floatplane. A few hours in Inuvik talking to people would
probably answer the question about what was practical.


snip

You might try the website for Inuvik -- www.inuvikinfo.com -- to see
of they have any info that you could use. Also www.town.inuvik.nt.ca
might have some info.

As well, High Arctic Adventures, based in Inuvik might be able to
give you come information: or
www.arcticnaturetours.com or 1-866-TOUR.TUK (tollfree).

One mo Western Arctic Adventures & Equipment --
, www.inuvik.net/canoenwt, (867) 777-2594

For info on Tuktoyaktuk, their email is
, (867)977-2286

I have emails and/or phone numbers for a number of the towns/villages
in that area if you want to try them as well. Let me know.

HTH,
--
Darryl

Hi Richard,

If you are in Colorado, I would suggest joining the Rocky Mountain
Canoe Club www.rockymountaincanoeclub.org . They have several paddlers
who are prone to long trips in northern Canada. Dues are $20 per year,
and well worth it for what you are looking to do.

You might also post on the Rocky Mountain Sea Kayak Club's forum
www.rmskc.org The RMSKC is a group primarily out of Denver, and they
also have members prone to leaving on long trips.

Mountainbuzz, the Colorado Paddlers Resource, and other sites should
still be on the Canoe Club's website. Those would be good additional
places to find local paddlers.

The local Colorado whitewater shops might allow you to post on their
boards. REI would be another place to post. Screen those people! There
are a lot of wannabe paddlers who will talk impressivly but are unsafe
to paddle with. REI is really bad for that.

I would also suggest you consider a shakedown trip beforehand. Find a
northern river where you can do a week or two week trip, and make
everyone who is interested in your long trip participate. Since you
stated your only real paddling experience has been in Utah, the
Northwest Territories is a whole different world. The shakedown trip
will help you understand the climate, but also allow you to see the
different personalities inolved in the trip. You'll learn the benefits
of a shakedown trip when someone shows up with a lantern, and another
doesn't have a full bug suit with a mouth zipper. Even doing a short
section of the McKenzie would work.

I met a couple of guys from Boulder when I was refuelling in Fort
Providence a few years back (I was leading a Nahanni trip from Moose
Ponds to Ft. Simpson at the time). They said the trip was not what
they thought it would be, and they were planning on pulling out at
Fort Providence.

The upper McKenzie is a large fast flowing river. It has dug itself
into a channel that offers few good campsites. The banks are steep.
The Boulder guys said they were spending all their time fighting the
wind, and looking for places to camp. They almost swamped in large
waves, and they were making half the progress they planned due to
strong wind. I assume the wind problem will be worse in the lower
sections.

The logistics of the trip aren't really that hard. You will probably
be able to drive to the put-in (wherever you decide to launch. The
road went to Wrigley when I was up there). For the take-out you might
just hire a water taxi to meet you, instead of a float plane. They're
about half the price as long as you are somewhat close to
civilization. Up there, just about anyone with a large boat will
become a water taxi for the right amount of cash.

Sell the canoe wherever you take out. The locals might be willing to
pay a few hundred $$ if the boat is in good shape, even if you donate
it to a school it is usually better than paying to have it hauled out.

If you have any questions about finding people in Colorado, feel free
to e-mail me and I'll help as best I can.

Eric Nyre

How does that trip work? How many months? I am not familiar with the
Rat or the Bell, where are they?

Richard



Hmmm. Anyone up for a MacKenzie/Peel/Rat/Bell/Porcupine trip?

Just wondering,
Fred Klingener

"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
How does that trip work? How many months? I am not familiar with the
Rat or the Bell, where are they?

That goes through the country traced by the original Hudson Bay Company
route into Alaska to Fort Yukon in the 1840s and was one of the very
low-success-rate routes to the Klondike 50 years later. Sooner or later,
most of it will be traced with a gas pipeline.

The Rat runs maybe 60 miles from the Peel (between Fort MacPherson and
Aklavik) up to the summit of the pass through the Richardson mountains -
only about 1000' feet above sea level, most of the gain in the 35 or so
miles between Destruction City and the summit. The books I have (more about
that later) say the trip up the Rat takes a minimum of ten days.

If I came down the MacKenzie, I'd certainly want to get a local guide to get
me around the delta.

The summit portages don't seem to be too excruciating - fractions of miles
between ponds and lakes over open country.

The trip on the Bell/Porcupine from Summit Lake on the Bell is 300 mile to
Old Crow, another 300 to Fort Yukon. There's no road to Fort Yukon, so
you'd probably continue on the Yukon to take-out at the pipeline crossing.
The

The route has a fair literature to it, some occasionally in print, some
other stuff readily available in the out-of-print or used sections of
powells, bn, or amazon. The most amazing book (still in print, I think)
tells of the most amazing traverse of the route by a pair of Victorian
ladies from England in 1926 - "The Ladies, the Gwich'in, and the Rat" by
Clara Vyvyan. Some of Eric Morse's books are available too, though I
haven't gotten around to tracking them down. Maybe a late Christmas present
for myself?

Cabin fever dreaming in Connecticut,
Fred Klingener