Fall is Here!

Friday, 03 September 2010 09:37 Written by Dave Freeman

Fall has come to the North. Most likely, wherever you are, you have just begun to think about fall as August has ended and September arrived. Labor Day is near, the days are getting shorter, and a new school year is upon us. To all you teachers and students-- welcome back!

Dave and I are now North of the Arctic Circle on the Mackenzie River. You can see exactly where we are on the Triptracker map.  This is the land of the midnight sun in the summer time. Now the daylight is decreasing quickly. While we were on the Blackstone River we experienced our first frost. When we woke up the next morning, water had frozen in our cook pot and there was a thin layer of white frost coating the canoe. We were actually glad to have the frost, because it meant that mosquitoes would no longer be a problem.

As we paddled down the Peel River to Fort McPherson, we noticed more and more aspen trees turning yellow. I enjoy looking up at the hills and being able to identify the trees based on color. Most of the trees that we can see are actually black spruces, which stay green all year. Every once in a while we turn a corner and see a patch of bright golden yellow near shore. That is where the aspen and birch trees are.

Birds have begun to migrate. The Mackenzie River delta is the perfect place to find some of these birds. Two nights ago we were camped in a spot where several lakes were near by. Loon calls echoed throughout the evening. They are gathering together, getting ready to fly south. Flocks of Canada Geese flying in V-formation are common sights. Yesterday, I saw a Snowshoe Hare with white feet too!

One of our most exciting animal sightings happened recently. We were paddling through a long, straight stretch of the Peel River. The current had slowed, so we had a long time to look at the distant shoreline. I spotted what I thought was a boat. At least, I thought I could make out the two curved ends of a canoe. Dave agreed that it probably was a boat. We were getting close to Fort McPherson, so it would make sense that someone might be out checking fishing nets or paddling to a nearby camp. As we paddled closer, the canoe shape morphed into two huge white birds with long necks. They were a pair of Tundra Swans, probably getting ready to fly south to their wintering grounds in California!

The weather has been mostly rainy. Even if we have a bit of sun during the day, it seems like every evening clouds blanket the sky and by the time we are setting up the tent, drops of rain are falling from the sky. These evening rain showers have made perfect conditions for seeing rainbows. As the sun gets low in the sky, the rays of light are refracted (or bent) by the raindrops. Basically the white light from the sun, gets broken down into all of the visible colors. We have seen perfect, bright arcs of red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet. Some of these rainbows have appeared right over our tent.

Dave and I are prepared for the cold weather. We stopped in Fort McPherson to get more food along with some packages that were mailed to us. Now we have extra warm sleeping bags and plenty of warm clothes. We have wool pants and sweaters, plus extra warm hats and even mittens specially designed for paddling. The most important pieces of equipment that we added were a canvas tent and wood stove. Now, every evening we collect a small amount of firewood from the beach. Then we build a fire in the stove to heat the tent. As temperatures drop below freezing at night, we are glad to have this heated space. Plus, we are able to dry out any clothing that gets wet during the day.

Since fall has arrived, we are glad that our route is taking us south instead of north. After paddling down the Peel River to the Mackenzie River, we turned to paddle up the Mackenzie River. Paddling against the current can be challenging, but we are still happy to be heading south!

Download this weeks student response worksheet.

More information about rainbows: http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/farid/sciencekids/rainbow.html

More information about Tundra Swans: http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=78&cid=7

More information about Snowshoe Hares: http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?cid=8&id=103

Paddling Up the Mackenzie River

Thursday, 02 September 2010 19:00 Written by Dave Freeman

Paddling up the Mackenzie River from David Freeman on Vimeo.

Wild Beauty of the Peel Watershed

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 19:59 Written by Dave Freeman

We have just spent the past six days paddling through a very special landscape. I call it special for two reasons: 1.) it contains vast tracts of intact wild lands and 2.) it possess a stark beauty unlike any other place that Dave and I have traveled in. This area is the Peel Watershed.

To give you a better idea of the area I am talking about, here is a brief description. The Peel Watershed is about 14% of the Yukon Territory. It is the apex of Canada's boreal forest, the northern end of the Rocky Mountain chain, and an unglaciated area known as Beringia. Animals that call the area home include woodland and barren ground caribou, wolverine, grizzly bear, the threatened Anatum Peregrine Falcon, unspoiled aquatic habitat, and many different kinds of boreal song birds. It is the traditional territory of the Nacho Nyak Dun and Tetl'it Gwich'in First Nations. The threats to the area include the extraction of oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore, copper , and other metals. The core wilderness area that CPAWS and many other Canadians are working to protect this 30,000 square km.

Our time in the Peel Watershed actually began while we were hiking through the Tombstone Territorial Park, as we meandered along the headwaters of the West Blackstone River. What started out as a trickle from a high mountain pass has slowly turned into large and often powerful river. Last Thursday we launched our canoe on the Blackstone River (shortly after the West and East Blackstone Rivers came together). The current was fast and the water level was high thanks to a recent 48 hour soaking rain. This fast current meant that our five-day planned paddle on the Blackstone turned into two days. Although it went by quickly, our time on the Blackstone was memorable. Dave and I were awestruck as we paddled through the light gray limestone and dolostone mountains of the North Ogilvie Mountains Ecoregion. This is part of Beringia, that area that was left ice-free during the most recent glacial period. The mountains have been shaped by long periods of weathering instead of glaciers.

The Peel River begins where the Blackstone and Ogilvie Rivers meet. We camped on an island right at the confluence. Here the river more than doubled in size. We suspect that the Ogilvie saw even more rain than the Blackstone, because we witnessed several large trees drift past our camp.

Downstream, near where the Hart River enters the Peel River, we had our first taste of class II rapids. As we worked our way toward Aberdeen Canyon, we paddled class II rapids and lined through or portaged around class III rapids. Ordinarily we would be up for running a few class III rapids, but the high water made the waves in these sections bigger than we cared to paddle through. This section of rapids exists because the landscape changed to sandstone and shale, characteristic of the Eagle Plains Ecoregion.

The approach to Aberdeen Canyon was hard work. We ran what we felt comfortable with, but mostly we lined the canoe along the river's edge. The lining was interrupted by the periodic need to push the canoe over shale ledges. At a lunch/scouting break, I spotted fresh grizzly bear tracks in the mud.

We knew we were near the canyon when the river narrowed down and large rock walls lined its edges. Eventually we reached an spot where it was impossible to line anymore. We needed to portage around the next two miles of river because we wanted nothing to do with the class IV-VI whitewater in the canyon.

Tuesday was entirely devoted to portaging. We packed all of our gear into our Granite Gear Immersion Packs and backpacks-- including strapping our helmets and PFDs to the outside. We shuttled our gear down the rough trail in two separate loads. Dave nobly took on the task of carrying the canoe. This was no easy task. It was a never-ending battle, pushing through the alder and birch branches overhead, while pulling feet around muskeg and out of mud puddles. It wasn't uncommon for Dave or myself to get mired in knee-deep mud. We usually traveled a quarter of a mile at a time. We would drop the first load on somewhat dry ground and head back to get the second.

All of this toil to move our canoe and gear was well worth it. Every once in a while we would catch a glimpse of the churning, roaring river below. The portage trail descended at a break in the canyon walls. Lucky for us, we didn't have to bypass the canyon entirely. We camped high up above the canyon, overlooking a calmer stretch of river. Today, we had the opportunity to paddle below the towering stratified walls of the Aberdeen Canyon. We spotted and heard several peregrine falcons. We enjoyed paddling in the swift current for several miles, admiring rock formations and waterfalls dropping over 100 ft into the river.

The landscape changed yet again as we left the canyon and passed the confluence of the Wind River. Now, we are in the Peel Plateau Ecoregion, witnessing the land that was shaped by the Laurentide Glaciers. Our camp is on an island in a spot where the river widens, broken up by countless islands and gravel bars. As we work our way toward Fort McPherson, we will keep you updated on our observations of this very special and wild place.

The world has very few vast expanses of intact wilderness, where rivers flow undisturbed and large mammals roam at will. This is one of those places, a place I want to return to, a place that should be protected. Right now, prospective mining is a threat to this expanse of intact wilderness. After seeing the area for ourselves, Dave and I agree that this area is worth saving. We strongly urge that it be protected.

Out to the Dempster Highway

Friday, 20 August 2010 14:56 Written by Dave Freeman

8-18-10

Hiked 5.5 miles

The rain continued steadily through the night. We slept in, hoping the rain would let up. It didn't. We put on our wet clothes-- except for dry Northland Woolens socks inside vapor barriers. We tied wet boots and packed a wet tent. Both of us moved quickly, eager to get moving and warm on the trail to warm up. No breakfast. I threw some LARABARS and Landjaegers in my pocket.

Off we went, following the horse trail “highway”. The rain made the horse trail much muddier than the day before. No, that was an understatement. We trudged through mud, puddles, and sometimes a mini river flowing through the trench that had been carved by horse hooves.

We were dressed right for our activity level. Not too hot when on the move, but a chill would st in if we took too long of a break. Our ExOfficio Rain Logic jackets kept us dry. They are breathable enough that we didn't sweat in them.

The sky was overcast and the mountain peaks were hidden from view by fog. As we descended, following Foxy Creek, we continued shouting to the invisible bears. Eventually we got to the Dempster Highway. Of course, this meant fording one last knee-deep, icy creek.

The headquarters for this horse packing, hunting outfitter was across the street. We hemmed and hawed about knocking on the door. Finally, the logic of “what's the worst that could happen?” gave us the courage to walk up to the door, past the four horses that were staring at us.

We didn't even have to knock. One of the guides was outside. He gave us a warm welcome and invited us in for coffee and a chance to get out of the rain. He and his client had come off the trail early. So we sat around for an hour or so, drinking some potent coffee, talking about hunting, trapping, land management, and wildlife of the Yukon. It was a friendly, warm end to our hike.

Now we are ready to start paddling again, first on the Blackstone, then the Peel, and finally upstream on the Mackenzie.