N O R T HWE S T T E R R I T O R I E S A N D N U N AV U T
Thelon River
THE THELON RIVER sweeps out of spruce-lined valleys into vast treeless barrens. You can paddle for an entire summer under the watchful eyes of lumbering muskox, rocketing gyrfalcons, patrol- ling grizzlies and vast herds of caribou. This is as close as you can get to primeval Pleistocene wil- derness on the planet. The Thelon’s steady current counters the bar-
renlands’ relentless east winds. In places the wind and current can pile up big standing waves, but usually the paddling is easy, and the kilometres go by faster than you’d like. Though the area is now empty of people,
signs of ancient human life are everywhere. Dene campsites, inukshuks, burial sites, food caches, tent rings, arrowheads, chipping stations and rock blinds litter the valley’s barren ridges—as if the people who lived on this land just left.
Keep your eyes open The ruins of the tiny log cabin where John Horn-
by and his party starved to death in 1927 can be seen on the north side of the Thelon below the junction of the Hanbury River.
Don’t forget Pack a spotting scope. You can set it up on a tri-
pod and feel like you are on a prehistoric safari at every campsite.
Routes The stretch from the junction of the Hanbury
PHOTOS: CANADIAN HERITAGE RIVERS SYSTEM/ HEADSHOT: MAX FINKLESTEIN
and Thelon rivers to Beverley Lake should take two weeks and is not challenging. For a trip of three weeks intermediate paddlers can start via the Hanbury, Upper Thelon, Clarke or Elk rivers. All involve some portaging, rapids and canyons. To extend either route allow 10 to 14 days to get from Beverley Lake down to Baker Lake. Between Beverley Lake and Baker Lake there are three very big lakes and some rapids. You should count on becoming wind-bound for a few days here and should be a seasoned Arctic traveller. There are commercial flights out of Baker Lake.
MAX FINKLESTEIN is the co-author of Paddling the Boreal Forest and author of Paddling a Continent. He is an officer at the Canadian Heritage Rivers System and has paddled the Thelon six times.
C ANOE ROOT S n 23
ILLUSTRATION: LORENZO DEL BIANCO
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