An old "home movie" of a canoe trip on the Coppermine River, from Obstruction Rapids to Coppermine (now Kugluktuk) in 1970.
This was one of 2 trips in that year organized by Eric Morse (a dean of Canadian canoeing and a pioneer in Barrenlands recreational canoeing) to commemorate the Centennial (1870 - 1970) of the Northwest Territories. The aim was to recreate Franklin's first expedition from Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. Two canoe parties started out by flying to Obstruction Rapids on the Coppermine: from there, one went south and followed the Yellowknife River back to Great Slave, while the other (the one in this film) headed north to Coppermine.
While the equipment, or lack of same, and procedures may seem amusing or frightening to modern paddlers, the trip was successful and everyone appears to be enjoying themselves. And Grummans do better in big water than you might think.
Enjoy.
wjmc
This was one of 2 trips in that year organized by Eric Morse (a dean of Canadian canoeing and a pioneer in Barrenlands recreational canoeing) to commemorate the Centennial (1870 - 1970) of the Northwest Territories. The aim was to recreate Franklin's first expedition from Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. Two canoe parties started out by flying to Obstruction Rapids on the Coppermine: from there, one went south and followed the Yellowknife River back to Great Slave, while the other (the one in this film) headed north to Coppermine.
While the equipment, or lack of same, and procedures may seem amusing or frightening to modern paddlers, the trip was successful and everyone appears to be enjoying themselves. And Grummans do better in big water than you might think.
Enjoy.
wjmc
