My last post took me half way up the Mackenzie river. I covered the water and risks. There are 11 settlements on the whole length of the river. I visited all of them. I started at Tuktoyaktuk then Reindeer station, Inuvik, Arctic Red River, Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells, Fort Norman , Fort Wrigley, Fort Simpson, Fort Providence, Liard and Hay River. All of them were established a long time ago as trading posts except Inuvik and Norman Wells.
After going through the San Sault rapids we arrived at Norman Wells. As we slept on the boat that night a huge storm hit us. The canvas top on the boat gave way and we were flooded. Were were able to stay in a Govt. house. We dried out but the major storm lasted three days. The river had risen and the current was strong. After sitting for three days were were ready to go. As we were loading the boat one of the locals said , "Are you leaving in this?" We said "Sure." Were we wrong. The river was high and dangerous. We quickly decided to quit and found a safe inlet and stayed there for the day. The next day we travelled and went through Fort Norman. We had a long quiet stretch and reached Fort Wrigley. Then it was on to Fort Simpson. No problems through this stretch.
Before we reached Fort Providence we noticed and airplane circling. When we went to check in with the RCMP, we found out that a boat had capsized and two people were missing.
Crossing the end of Great Slave lake was going to be a challenge as you had to cross at the end of the lake and if there was wind, and there usually was, it could be risky. We got up very early just before sun up. There were waves but not bad. We moved slowly for many hours until we got to the mouth of the Hay River and then we were almost at the end of our journey.
We had to pack up the motors and boat and put them on a barge back to Inuvik where my friend had bought the equipment.
One thing the Micro Manager wouldn't go for is doing your business in the woods. So she bought a pot and had me make a seat. So what to do with the seat when the journey was over. She decided to just pitch it in the river and let it go. The crew on a nearby tugboat had a good laugh when they saw the toilet seat go sailing by.
I had told my mother that I would phone her when the trip ended so that was done.
Most of your comments had summarized the venture accurately. It was risky but a great adventure. One challenge was that we were going up the river so against the current. It would have been much easier to go down river with the current.
An interesting comment was that this would be very scenic. It's not. Most of what you see is river bank. In the odd place you had a view like the Camsel Range.
Crossing the end of Great Slave Lake
