WHERE TO GO
LOOKING FOR TRIP IDEAS? SEASONED NORTHERN PADDLERS SHARE THEIR FAVORITE ROUTES AND DREAM DESTINATIONS
Hood, Mountain and Moisie rivers. Dream trip: entire Back River. —Gail Shields
Finlay, Churchill, Turnagain/Kechika, Gataga/Kechika, Porcupine/Fond du Lac, Seal and Tatshenshini/Alsek rivers. Wish list: Grand Canyon of the Liard, Coppermine, Horton, Bonnett Plume and Kazan rivers. —Laurel Archer
Mountain, Nahanni, Hood, Firth, Tatshenshini and Natla-Keele rivers. Wish list: Bonnet Plume, Back and Thomsen rivers. —Mark Scriver
Thelon, Coppermine, Wolverine River and Nejanilini Lake, Bloodvein, Seal, Hayes, Lady Evelyn and Dumoine rivers. Pigeon, Sasasiginnigak and Leyond rivers (all Manitoba). Wish list: Kazan River and Hanbury River from Great Slave Lake. —Hap Wilson
Yukon and Wind rivers. Wish list: Moun- tain, Nahanni, Thelon and Back rivers. —Charlotte Jacklein
Hood River—if you can afford to do just one Arctic river, this is it. Thlewiaza/Thanne, North Knife, Snake, Peel, MacFarland, Kopka, Burnside and South Seal rivers. Caribou River—worst bugs on the planet! Latiseino and Kautikeino rivers, Norway and Finland. Next trip: Berens River. —Cliff Jacobson
Puvirnituq River, Nunavik—five stars. Wish list: Koroc, Eau Claire, Nastapoca, Bonnet Plume and Tatshenshini rivers. —Eric Leclair
There’s something special about going from headwaters to ocean, like the Hood and Coppermine rivers. Dream trip: a Barren Land trip with no blackflies, a flatwater trip with only tailwinds and any trip with the fish biting and blueberries and strawberries ripe at the same time. —Wally Schaber
40 EARLY SUMMER 2012 W
hen running a long, powerful rapid is too risky and portaging would be strenuous and time consuming, lining is often the best option.
The cardinal rule of lining is to keep the upstream end of the canoe closer to
shore than the downstream end. Otherwise, the current will catch the upstream end and swing the canoe broadside out into the main channel. The trickiest part comes when you have to cross reactionaries, or diagonal breaking waves. For a few sec- onds, the upstream end needs to be further from shore in order to swing the canoe perpendicularly through the wave. If it isn’t perpendicular, the canoe will flip and get sucked into the main current. Lining requires skill, agility and coordination. Good communication is impera-
tive if you’re lining with two people. If the shore allows you to walk down with the canoe, you may prefer to handle both ropes alone. The length of your ropes is very important. Twenty feet of rope on the downstream end and 30 feet upstream works well for most terrain. Make loops alternately on each side of your hand with the ex- tra rope, so you can let go just what you need and still keep a good hold on the rest. Longer ropes, like your throwbag, are difficult to handle and, if you drop them, can more easily become entangled. After you’re done, be sure to take 30 seconds to safely stow the lining ropes so you won’t get caught up in them if you dump. —EL
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? A
NORTHERN WISDOM
bout 80 percent of your cost is transportation. For this reason, a longer trip may actually be less expensive than a shorter one.
For example, say you plan to canoe the Hood River in Nunavut. You’ll drive to
Yellowknife where you’ll charter a Twin Otter. You can begin at the headwaters of the Hood near Takijuk Lake, or at Point Lake about 200 miles to the south. If you begin at Point Lake, you’ll eliminate about 400 miles of flying—at roughly $12 per mile, that’s a savings of $4,800! But you will need more time to canoe the river. You can also save big by using folding canoes (like the Pakboat PakCanoe 170)
that fit inside your chartered airplane. On an Alaskan trip, our crew of six elimi- nated one flight and saved $2,100 this way. Other costs include auto fuel, food and maps. For a 400-mile trip, you may need
a dozen 1:50,000 scale maps at $12 apiece. Bush roads are tough on cars; plan to replace a tire or windshield. Equipment also takes a beating. Is it worth the high price to canoe a remote Arctic river? The first time you see
a herd of muskoxen or mingle among a thousand caribou, you’ll know you’ve spent your money well. —CJ
SKILL ESSENTIAL
LINING A RAPID
PHOTO: ERIC LECLAIR
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