The Expedition
Route Overview
Slave River - Great Slave Lake
180 miles, 9 Days
The River: “The Slave River and the rapids around Fort Smith are some of the best whitewater kayaking in the world. There are four sets of rapids: Pelican, Rapids of the Drowned, Mountain Portage, and Cassette. The rapids range from easy class I on the International Scale of River Difficulty to unrunnable class VI holes. Huge volume, massive waves, and the home of the northernmost river pelican colony in North America characterize this river. The pelicans nest on many of the islands at the aptly named Mountain Portage Rapids. These islands serve as a sanctuary to the birds and are closed to human traffic from April 15 to September 15. It is very important to respect these regulations as human intrusions into the pelican nesting area cause widespread nest abandonment.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Great Slave Lake - Pikes Portages
220 miles, 13 Days
“Great Slave Lake (French: Grand lac des Esclaves) is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada (after Great Bear Lake), the deepest lake in North America at 614 meters (336 fathoms; 2,014 ft), and the tenth-largest lake in the world. It is 469 km (291 mi) long and 20 to 203 km (12 to 126 mi) wide. It covers an area of 27,200 km2 (10,502 sq mi) in the southern part of the territory. Its given volume ranges from 1,070 km3 (260 cu mi to 1,580 km3 (380 cu mi and up to 2,088 km3 (501 cu mi) making it between the 10th or 12th largest by volume.” Source: Wikipedia.
Details:
We choose this route for Great Slave Lake to minimize time spent in very open parts of the lake. We will hug the south shore until we can cut up using the Simpson Islands for island hopping till we reach the north shore, around the long west-pointing peninsula where we will hug the south shore to Pikes Portages.
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Pikes Portages - Artillery Lake
23 miles, 2 Days
“Pike’s Portages, at the East end of Great Slave Lake, is an exceptionally beautiful and easy hike. The total distance is roughly 28 miles, and the trail is gently graded and in most places very well defined. The boreal forest is comparatively lush, and comprises black spruce, birch, and some larch. Despite the trail’s many virtues, it is traveled by only one or two parties a year, if that. Historically, it was immensely important as it was the easiest way to reach the interior Barrens; and so was the primary trade, hunting and fishing route for the indigenous peoples, and later the main gateway for explorers, trappers and Voyageurs.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Artillery Lake - Lockhart River & Ptarmigan Lake
52 miles, 3 Days
“There are very few trees on Artillery Lake, making it easy to see any wildlife that might be around the shore (caribou, wolverines). Ice and snow banks can be found alongside the shore as well. The water clarity is outstanding, often being able to see all the way down 30-40 ft deep. The fishing here is also very good, the sandy bottom reduces the risks of snags and the lake trout are numerous. The winds can be unforgiving at times, possibly calling for night paddling when the waves are low. The campsites are numerous with flat shores all around. Storms and winds might cause a delay.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Lockhart River & Ptarmigan Lake - Clinton Colden Lake
30 miles, 2 Days
“Lockhart River is short but upstream, stretching about a mile and hugging the right bank when possible and lining until reaching a wide basin. Once reached, hugging the left bank seems to be the best option, then hugging the inside bend up the river. The river goes from being shallow rock beds to very wide, almost like a lake. From there, some portaging and more lining will be required to reach Ptarmigan Lake.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Clinton-Colden Lake - Alymer Lake & Thonokied River
40 miles, 3 Days
“Clinton-Colden Lake is the ninth largest lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is about 90 miles north of the eastern tip of the Great Slave Lake. Clinton-Colden Lake has lots of deep bays with most stretches consisting of paddling from one bay to the next. The average point-to-point stretch is about 1.5 miles. Once again the wind will make or break day paddling, possibly requiring us to switch up our sleep schedules. Cloud Cover could lead to darkness and while navigating this lake we will factor this in and not get too far apart from each other if we choose to paddle during night hours.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Aylmer Lake & Thonokied River - Lac de Gras
74 miles, 4 Days
The many islands spread throughout Aylmer Lake make island hopping easy, we can also use these islands as a vantage point to see where we want to proceed. The Thonokie River is wide and extremely shallow, so shallow that wading and even portaging certain parts might be the best option. One must be careful of the slippery rocks and deep holes between them. The mosquitos are ferocious near the shore as well. After this shallow part the river almost turns into a lake. More portages, wading, and paddling lead into Afridi lake. At the end of Thonokie River the last set of rapids provide a great fishing hole. After Afridi Lake some portages take you into the Coppermine River Drainage.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Lac de Gras - Coppermine River
47 miles, 3 Days
“Lac de Gras is a lake approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) northeast of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Lac de Gras was the center of the diamond rush of the 1990s. There are three working diamond mines in the area, Diavik Diamond Mine, Ekati Diamond Mine, and Snap Lake Diamond Mine. It was called Ekati by aboriginal peoples. The lake is ultraoligotrophic but supports a slow-growing but stable population of some eight species of cold-water fishes, including round whitefish, cisco, and lake trout. Lake trout dominate the lake, both numerically and in terms of biomass. Other native fish species include common whitefish, Arctic grayling, burbot, longnose sucker, and slimy sculpin. Diavik Diamond Mines is conducting open-pit mining of kimberlite pipes using explosives near the lake. Lac de Gras' surface area is 56,910.8 ha (140,630 acres); the historical surface area was 57,107.2 ha (141,115 acres), about 196.4 ha larger than today. The sub basin area is 413,570 ha (1,022,000 acres) with the number of lakes smaller than 1 ha 3,487; 1-10 ha 2,080; 10-100 ha 663; and larger 100 ha 106, together with a total surface area of 135,035 ha (333,680 acres). Lac du Sauvage is a small lake that drains into Lac de Gras through a 45 m (148 ft) wide and 210 m (690 ft) long stream called the Narrows. The median flood peak discharge in the Narrows is 17.5 m3/s (620 cu ft/s) making it an important corridor for fish movements.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Coppermine River - Point Lake
60 miles, 3 Days
“The Coppermine River is a huge river so the swift water is much more powerful than on most rivers. The historic Coppermine River flows from the barrenlands of the central Canadian Arctic, 845 km north to the Arctic coast at Kugluktuk on Coronation Gulf, Nunavut. Named for the native copper deposits traditionally used by the Copper Inuit, the river's original local name was "Kogloktok." Rising in the center of the barrens, the Coppermine flows north to the coast, first through forested areas, then impressive rock outcroppings and clay banks. In late glacial time much of the Coppermine River valley was occupied by a major lake, known as Glacial Lake Coppermine, formed when a lobe of glacial ice prevented the northward flow of meltwaters.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Point Lake - Coppermine
93 miles, 5 Days
“The Coppermine River is a huge river so the swift water is much more powerful than on most rivers. The historic Coppermine River flows from the barrenlands of the central Canadian Arctic, 845 km north to the Arctic coast at Kugluktuk on Coronation Gulf, Nunavut. Named for the native copper deposits traditionally used by the Copper Inuit, the river's original local name was "Kogloktok." Rising in the center of the barrens, the Coppermine flows north to the coast, first through forested areas, then impressive rock outcroppings and clay banks. In late glacial time much of the Coppermine River valley was occupied by a major lake, known as Glacial Lake Coppermine, formed when a lobe of glacial ice prevented the northward flow of meltwaters.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Coppermine River - Fairy Lake
62 miles, 4 Days
This is where we will be leaving the Northwest Territories and entering Nunavut Province. Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory in Canada as it comprises a major portion of Northern Canada and most of the Arctic Archipelago and makes it the fifth largest country subdivision in the world.
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Fairy Lake River - Napatulik (Takijuq) River
31 miles, 3 Days
“Fairy Lake is located in Nunavut and flows into the coppermine, this will mean that we will have to paddle, drag, line, or portage upstream.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Napatulik (Takijuq) Lake - Hood River
61 miles, 4 Days
“Napaktulik Lake, formerly known as Takiyuak Lake or Takijuq Lake is the eighth largest lake in Nunavut and is the source of the Hood River.” Source: Wikipedia.
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Hood River - Arctic Ocean
191 miles, 11 Days
“For the first 100 kilometers, the Hood River runs through a series of small lakes in a Canadian-Shield-like topography. There are a few minor waterfalls and unrunnable sections to portage, but most rapids are Class III or less and fairly easily navigated. Slowly the river digs into the Barren Lands and drops into a valley between eskers. Keep an eye out for the abundant wildlife—muskoxen, grizzly bears, wolves, arctic foxes, golden eagles and the huge Bathurst caribou herd, which migrates along the river in early summer and is easily spotted in the treeless expanse. About two days before you reach the Arctic Ocean, the Hood tumbles 160 feet over Wilberforce Falls, into a 250-foot deep canyon of sheer reddish walls that stretches for three kilometers. The drop—about the height of Niagara—is the highest waterfall north of the Arctic Circle. Some canoeists choose to end their trip at the falls, but most continue by portaging five kilometers around the canyon or running the rapids below the falls. Afterwards, the hills drop away into a flat plain giving the river a prairie feel before it joins the ocean at Arctic Sound near Bathurst Inlet.” Source: Wikipedia.