Blackstone Territorial Park

Fortunately it stopped raining about midnight.  We were up at 7 in the morning, packed up the tent which was ringing wet after the rain, piled into the van and headed back to Sue Lindbergh’s for breakfast, hard boiled eggs, scones with jam and coffee, delicious!  Both she and John were at the table, she as bright and sparky as ever!  Once again the neighbour’s dog had fun barking at the heels of a bison which was in the garden munching at the grass. John’s job for the day was to cut firewood, he reckoned that Sue would need 20 cord for the winter. Quite a job for an old guy.

We had a group photo and then said a very fond farewell to Luke and Jason, they were exceptional guides, we were lucky to have them, and then set forth with Dave Hibbard in the van for Fort Simpson. A long straight dull road through the jack pine and black spruce.

We arrived at the Liard River to find the ferry on our side so it didn’t take too long to get over, and soon after were at the Fort Simpson airport. A total trip of about 2 ½ hours.

Our flight to Yellowknife left at 12:30 and we arrived within about an hour. Judy, Sam and I were staying the night, the rest were flying in the evening.  So we all headed downtown, dropped our gear off at the Explorer hotel, and had lunch at the Woodhouse Brewery and Eatery, sitting in the sun, enjoying as much beer as we wanted…

Then it was time to go our separate ways.  What a great trip and what a fun bunch to do it with!  And best of all Sam and I got on like a house on fire (despite sharing a tent for ten nights…) and remain on speaking terms to this day!

The Splits

The bugs were still biting in the morning!  And it was still dusty when the wind blew. Sam had to use the toilet and was attacked viciously by mossies…!

We had Burchell’s muesli and coffee for breakfast, packed up, and headed on soon after nine.

We paddled slowly enjoying the big skies and the opportunity to chat.

We came up to one bison and this time we were ready to take photos

A bit further on we came across two more bison. What massive beasts they are!

The river meandered down the big wide valley while Nahanni Butte, which towered ahead of us, never seemed to get any closer. It was lovely paddling along however, we were in no hurry and the reflection of the sky in the river was very attractive. Then the river turned south and we hit a head wind which blew more and more strongly until we were paddling through a foot high chop. It was hard work!  Fortunately Luke’s short cut took us out of the wind after about twenty minutes of hard paddling and our progress became easier.

Gradually Nahanni Butte grew closer. We passed two more massive bison on the edge of the river, one browsing the bushes, the other lying on its belly calmly chewing the cud, both totally unfazed by our passing. Now with Nahanni Butte towering above us on our left, we turned the last corner to the rights, and there we were at the village of Nahanni Butte. There were several bison on the beach, they seemed to be pretty tame. It was bittersweet as we pulled up our canoes for the last time, we were now off the river and back to relative civilization.

Jean-Paul the boatman arrived very promptly and we loaded Craig, Peter, Judy, Sam and I with Luke and our stuff on to his Lund outboard (50 hp Honda) and headed down what remained of the Nahanni and then up the Liard to the winter road crossing. Dave Hibbard was waiting for us with the van so we unloaded our stuff, had a lunch of cheese, salami, bread and pickle, very tasty and welcome and waited for the next boatload. An hour or so later Jean-Paul returned with the second load of two canoes strapped across the boat, Edyta, Pierre, Mike and Luke. They were covered in dust and quite a sight, apparently the wind had blown very strongly after we left, picking up and swirling the dust from the beaches. Luke drove us all to the Blackstone Territorial Park which is on the banks of the Liard River.

We put up our tents, picked up our travel bags that we had left behind and repacked from the wet bags we had been using on the trip. Unfortunately the promised hot showers in the magnificent new wash facility were not working so we all piled into the van with Luke and went over to Sue Lindberg’s. She came from Ontario I think in the seventies as a nurse at Fort Simpson and nursed Eric Lindberg when he fell ill and then married him. They homesteaded on their property on the banks of the Liard River and gradually added cabins and finally a fine house. He died in 2014 but she stayed on to run the camp and cabin ground and provide meals and apparently is very popular with the locals who will come over and help for chores etc. She has a magnificent potato field and vegetable garden (surrounded by an electric fence to keep out the bison which she considers to be a pest).

She is a character,  bright and sparky with a lovely girlish giggle, and yet is very direct.  Her friend John was staying for about 6 weeks to help with the chores, apparently he used to trap in the area, but now lives in Kamloops, and drives up every year in his little Honda Civic.

We took turns to have a shower. Though not actually hot, it was  much warmer than the river we had been washing in, so was very welcome and refreshing and we felt really clean for the first time in 10 days.

We stayed for dinner, meatloaf with delicious fresh salad from the garden and potatoes with a Kokanee beer and some wine, as good a meal as Luke’s! 

It started to pour with rain while we were having supper so we were rather wet going to bed for the last time in our tent.  We agreed we would not miss sleeping in the tent, it is such an effort crawling in and out, compounded by trying to keep the very plentiful mosquitoes out as we were going in.

Lafferty Creek

Overcast morning but gradually the cloud disappeared. Very windy and Luke’s tent blew away into a bush.

We had a quick breakfast of porridge and scones made from scratch the night before and were off soon after 10.

We hit Lafferty’s Riffle soon after and went through four standing waves in a row that thoroughly soaked us, the waves seemed to be about 6’ high. Very exhilarating! Sam finally got me back for the soakings of previous days as I was in the bow and took all the splashing this time.

We stopped about a half hour later at Kraus’s hot springs for a very welcome soak in the warm sulphurous water. It is right on the edge of the river and apparently gets destroyed every year by the spring runoff and then rebuilt for the summer. The only downside was we had to wash ourselves in the cold river to remove the smell of sulphur.

Apparently before August this area can be used as a camp ground, but as it has a good berry patch, it is then closed to allow the bears to go about their business. Kraus’s cabin has disappeared but the old tool shed was still there, just behind the pool, and people who had not put their paddles in the Paddle Shed put them in this.

We paddled for another 2 hours, the river slowing and widening as we left First Canyon and entered the Splits.  The river spread out between various channels and Luke gave us strict instructions to follow him as he knew the main channel.  The country became flatter and marshier, however the skies grew bigger and we were treated to wonderful flying saucer clouds and patches of blue sky.  We stopped for a quick potato salad and salami lunch on a sand bar - as usual delicious!

Then we paddled on, covering over 50 km in all, our longest and most tiring day yet, ending up at about 6 pm on a big terrace on river left. We were lucky that the wind mostly chased us down the river. It was interesting how every now and then the wind blew remarkably warm - a classic chinook.

There have been surprisingly few birds on this trip, likely due to the cold silty waters incapable of supporting many fish. Today we saw several ravens and a couple of kingfishers.

At one point we saw 5 bison on the right bank, sitting very calmly right by the river. They were very impressive!

We stopped on a wide stony beach on river left. As soon as we landed the mosquitoes attacked us, they were vicious!  In no time Judy had her bug jacket on and I wasn’t far behind.  It was very gusty and rather dusty from the dried silt on the terrace but that did not stop the bugs.

Dinner was chilli and very tasty. Luke produced some Glenn Fiddich as a cocktail and then we had a beer - a treat!

After dinner Jason lit an impressive bonfire on the beach - a first as we had not been allowed bonfires in the park. Meanwhile the bugs kept attacking us, especially once the wind died down. The fire and sunset were spectacular and it was after midnight before we went to bed.

First Canyon.

Sunday August 12

First Canyon.

Got up at 1:30 am to go to the bathroom. There was a bit of light over the cliff edge but definitely not the Northern Lights. Disappointed!

It was very chilly when we got up at dawn. We could see the sunlight edging its way down the cliffs but it was painfully slow and never arrived before we left at 11:30.

Judy, who had been planning on getting up to see the Northern Lights, claimed that she slept through her alarm. We assured her that she had missed nothing.

A bear was seen on the other side of the river, going into the water and then out again in the same side, obviously wanting to stay away from the people.

Breakfast was eggs Benedict and bacon. Everyone had at least two each. Once again delicious... Then packed up.

The next leg was through more canyons which were spectacular. Some mild rapids which were fun. Sam was in the front and feeling rather lazy so I worked hard (insert eye roll here from Sam)!  The canoe seemed to be front heavy which didn’t help as it kept veering away from the side I was paddling on. There was one anxious moment when we pulled out into the current and nearly tipped as the current caught us.

We stopped for lunch before the end of First Canyon at Lafferty’s Creek. Pad Thai for lunch. Tasty!

After lunch we went for a walk up the Lafferty Creek, there were lots of boulders but it was fairly level. Gradually the valley narrowed until it became a narrow slit with puddles of water in the bottom.  Luke was guiding and had expected to find water flowing out of the canyon so we had wet suits and neoprene socks. However there were only a few pools of varying depth, the summer had been too dry and the stream was not flowing.  A solitary grayling was swimming in one of the pools, trapped. We waded as far as we could and for the last and deepest pool Sam had to strip down to his skivvies to get through. He said that it opened up beyond into a larger canyon again so was not worth continuing so we headed back.

We got back to the camp by about 6 pm so I had a wash, then broke out the Glen Morangie which disappeared fast. The sun went behind the canyon wall around 7:30 and it cooled off quite quickly thereafter.

Dinner started with smoked salmon on crackers followed by Jason’s lasagna which was very tasty and rounded off nicely with Irish coffee.

Head of Deadman’s Valley

Cool morning. We slept well and were grateful for the sleeping bags. It rained off and on during the night but there was a bit of blue sky by 7 am and we hoped for a warmer day. Everything in the tent was a bit damp, and we needed some sun to dry things off.

Breakfast was porridge with chopped almonds and brown sugar, delicious! (Are you seeing the trend here?!)  Helped by the sun coming out, what a relief. Then cinnamon buns baked in the Dutch oven with Baileys, absolutely the best cinnamon buns ever tasted! 

Gradually the clouds cleared and by the time we set off (at about 11:30) the sky was blue and the clouds were clearing fast. It was a beautiful for the rest of the day, a bit cooler than it has been but a wonderful clear blue sky. What a relief after yesterday!

We were told to wear wet suits by Luke in anticipation of George’s Riffle.

Sam was in the back, we were worried about being front heavy but it seemed to be reasonably balanced, and off we went. Down Deadman Valley, the views were spectacular in the sunshine. The river flattened out and more channels appeared. We saw what we thought were probably black duck.

We stopped beyond Sheaf Creek and walked up to the Forestry Cabin which was filled with old and hand-made paddles with names and dates on (none burnt on like ours…) hanging from the rafters and all over, quite a history, apparently Justin Trudeau left his there but we didn’t find it, and left our two paddles tied together and looking great! 

With strict instructions from Luke to stay in the middle of the river and avoid the rocks on the right, we set off for George’s Riffle which is class 2/3 rapids. The entrance to the canyon is spectacular!  The cliffs rise about 1200 ft either side and as we entered the canyon the water dropped away in front of us, and we knew we were in for a ride.  However these rapids were just a warmup - the main rapids themselves were just beyond and were spectacular and very exhilarating with choppy waves in all directions. We powered through, one anxious moment when we found ourselves heading straight for the rock on the right side but we managed to avoid it.

We stopped further downstream at a beach on the right side and agreed to spend the night there. A spectacular place, surrounded by 1200 ft cliffs with a good beach and a little creek running into the main river. The sun was shining, there was no wind or insect life and it was idyllic.  Lunch was a salad with bread, peanut butter and jam followed by the remains of the cinnamon buns.

After lunch we unpacked the boats, prepared the camp and tents, then Sam and I had a wash in the river (freezing) and washed our hair and some clothes, and laid everything out to dry.

We walked up the creek which in fact was a flood channel of the main river with some creeks running in from above. Saw some old bear prints which surprised me a little as the place was difficult to get to because of the surrounding cliffs. We heard a rock fall above us and on looking up saw three sheep scrambling up the mountain way above us. Fun! 

As the sun set it cooled right down. Dinner was a coleslaw (very good) followed by Luke’s version of cottage pie which was delicious, and ended with very tasty Nanaimo bars!