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I have been planning our next trip ever since Kathleen and I returned from the Yukon River last summer. I thought I would share with you, as no one around Preeceville, Saskatchewan trips. Heck. They hardly even canoe, other than an hour or two, perhaps once a year. So here goes. Any feedback or comments would be much appreciated.
When we reflect on our wilderness canoe trips, our favourite was the Thelon River, in 1993, when we paddled east for 37 days and 950 km (590 miles) from the outlet of Lynx Lake down to Baker Lake at the head of Chesterfield Inlet on Hudson Bay.
Several rivers are tied for our second favourite trip. But we very much enjoyed our adventure in 2001, when we flew back to Lynx Lake, and then paddled west to Whitefish Lake, and then portaged over the height of land to the Snowdrift River, which carried us back toward Great Slave Lake.
These two northern trips both featured nearly constant daylight and the spectacular scenery and isolation of the Barren Grounds. This is what we seek. So our plan now is to fly to the western edge of Whitefish Lake on July 4, our 39th wedding anniversary. We then have allocated two weeks to paddle approximately 135km (85 miles) back to the eastern edge of Lynx Lake. We are planning a leisurely trip. No intimidating rapids. No portaging. We are getting older, and no longer feel the need break camp every day just to cover more distance. We look forward to short paddling days, and just enjoying the landscape.
In 2001, we travelled these two, somewhat large lakes, with a 1:250,000 topographic map. I have only recently started to investigate Google Earth, and it does provide an interesting perspective.
We will fly to the old camp of Tundra Tom Faess, who passed away in 2018. "Tundra" was a fairly famous outfitter and guide in Northern Canada.
Tom was kind enough to let Kathleen and me shower at his place. Very welcome after about 10 paddling days.
Here we are camped across the strait from Gordon's Esker. We didn't know it at the time, but approximately 10,000 dene artifacts have been found here, at a yearly camp to hunt caribou who crossed here in water usually not more than a metre (4 feet) deep. We plan to camp on Gordon's Esker this time.
Typical landscape around Whitefish Lake. We loved this camp.
We plan to camp again, like in 2001, at the Lynx Creek Esker, one of our favourite campsites.
We hope to swing by the Lynx Tundra Lodge, and rent a cabin for one night. A bit of a break from camping. Should be interesting.
And then we plan to be picked up at the same spot at the outlet of Lynx Lake, where we landed in 1993. Starting to get excited! This time, though, we plan to travel with 1:50,000 topographic maps that I have downloaded for free, and will laminate them. The extra detail, compared to a 1:250,000 map, will be more interesting.
When we reflect on our wilderness canoe trips, our favourite was the Thelon River, in 1993, when we paddled east for 37 days and 950 km (590 miles) from the outlet of Lynx Lake down to Baker Lake at the head of Chesterfield Inlet on Hudson Bay.
Several rivers are tied for our second favourite trip. But we very much enjoyed our adventure in 2001, when we flew back to Lynx Lake, and then paddled west to Whitefish Lake, and then portaged over the height of land to the Snowdrift River, which carried us back toward Great Slave Lake.
These two northern trips both featured nearly constant daylight and the spectacular scenery and isolation of the Barren Grounds. This is what we seek. So our plan now is to fly to the western edge of Whitefish Lake on July 4, our 39th wedding anniversary. We then have allocated two weeks to paddle approximately 135km (85 miles) back to the eastern edge of Lynx Lake. We are planning a leisurely trip. No intimidating rapids. No portaging. We are getting older, and no longer feel the need break camp every day just to cover more distance. We look forward to short paddling days, and just enjoying the landscape.
In 2001, we travelled these two, somewhat large lakes, with a 1:250,000 topographic map. I have only recently started to investigate Google Earth, and it does provide an interesting perspective.
We will fly to the old camp of Tundra Tom Faess, who passed away in 2018. "Tundra" was a fairly famous outfitter and guide in Northern Canada.
Tom was kind enough to let Kathleen and me shower at his place. Very welcome after about 10 paddling days.
Here we are camped across the strait from Gordon's Esker. We didn't know it at the time, but approximately 10,000 dene artifacts have been found here, at a yearly camp to hunt caribou who crossed here in water usually not more than a metre (4 feet) deep. We plan to camp on Gordon's Esker this time.
Typical landscape around Whitefish Lake. We loved this camp.
We plan to camp again, like in 2001, at the Lynx Creek Esker, one of our favourite campsites.
We hope to swing by the Lynx Tundra Lodge, and rent a cabin for one night. A bit of a break from camping. Should be interesting.
And then we plan to be picked up at the same spot at the outlet of Lynx Lake, where we landed in 1993. Starting to get excited! This time, though, we plan to travel with 1:50,000 topographic maps that I have downloaded for free, and will laminate them. The extra detail, compared to a 1:250,000 map, will be more interesting.
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