| Those who drove to Fort Nelson can leave their vehicles at the airport for the duration of the trip. Following introductions we will load the van and canoe trailer. Our route to the Alaska Hwy will take us through town where we will shop for additional food and items. Our route to the headwaters of the Nahanni River takes us west through the NE corner of the Rocky Mountains. The landscape has a rugged beauty of all its own. We will make sightseeing stops at Stone Mountain Provincial Park and stop at Muncho Lake Provincial Park for the night. From the van we are sure to see stone sheep and mountain caribou along the way.
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| Day 2: Following breakfast your guides will organize a half day whitewater skills session starting on the lake and then proceed down the exciting class 2/3 Trout River. A short drive from the takeout is the Liard Hot Springs where we will enjoy a meals and a relaxing soak. Back on the road again weÕll drive to Watson Lake and walk through the historic Sign Post Forest. At Watson Lake, Yukon we drive north on the Robert Campbell Highway and then onto the Nahanni Range Road for our detour back into the Norhwest Territories and our campsite on Divide Lake at the headwaters of the Flat River. |
| Day 3: After breakfast we will load of boats and wave goodbye to our shuttle driver. On the water we will get a feel for the river's fast meandering flow. The mining ghost town of Tungsten with a one time population of 700 will shortly come into view, with permission from the mine manager we will take a short walk through the vacant streets and enjoy soak a river side natural hot springs. Back on the water we paddle through a valley of lush spruce and willow that skirts the soaring peaks of the Ragged Range. |
| Day 4-6: This marks the start of the whitewater adventure we have been looking forward to. The river gradient increases with numerous mid stream boulders and waves to work around. In a few places we will play safe by portaging around some class 3 plus rapids. The country looks wilder with every kilometer as we penetrate into the Selwyn Mountains. We'll keep watching for moose, wolves and caribou in the calmer sections.
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| Day 7: Further on the country opens up as we approach the Liard Plateau. A riverside trail offers an optional hike taking us to the serene waters of Seaplane Lake.
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| Day 8: The flow remains fast with some fun R2's The side streams of this reach were once prospected by optimistic gold seekers. The Nahanni history reminds one as the site of the McLeod's lost gold mine. Borden Creek was also known as Gold Creek. Nahanni legends, Gus Kraus, Albert Faille and Bill Clark, became convinced that Bennett Creek was the site of the McLeod's lost mine after the finding of the remains of old sluice boxes with picks and shovels. They spent the summer of 1936 working Bennett Creek to no avail.
We cross the boundary into Nahanni National Park-Reserve as we pick up the distant view of Two Cone Mountain and Wildmint Hot Spring on river right. We'll make camp at the Flat River Canyon with its notorious "Cascade of Thirteen Steps".
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| Day 9: Today's activities will combine moving our outfit over the 850m portage trail and exploring the scenic canyon. It was here that the McLeod brothers lost their boat while attempting to line through the gorge. There is an old subterranean cabin in the area with a sod roof. This is the type that the Klondiker's built in various places as they made their way to the Yukon.
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| Day 10: Today we'll head to a campsite on Irvine Creek and enjoy paddling through numerous R2's. Irvine Creek was the ill-fated site of Phil Powers trapping cabin. His bones were found within its burnt out shell. Albert Faille, the best known Nahanni personality spent many years trapping and prospecting along the Flat River. We'll search for the cabin he built across from Irvine Creek. Old Pot Hot Springs can also be found on the south side of the river.
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| Day 11: Our next campsite, Jorgenson Creek was named for Poole Field's partner in Yukon trading post. The legend has it that Marten Jorgenson had taken leave to explore the Nahanni country to the east. After some time he sent Field a letter instructing him to his cabin at the mouth of the Flat River. Jorgenson claimed to have struck it rich and wanted Field to join him. When Field arrived in 1915 he mysteriously found the cabin burned to the ground and Jorgenson's axe, rifle and headless skeleton lying near by. Field was convinced that Jorgenson had found the McLeod's lost mine and was murdered for the secret.
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| Day 12: Our next tributary is the braided Caribou Creek with interesting hoodoos on the opposite shore. We'll camp this night on the flat next to the point and prepare for our 20k hike to Virginia Falls.
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| Day 13: Leaving our boats and group gear behind we'll take only the essentials for the overland route to Virginia Falls. The route takes us through sparsely wooded country and down into a cobble stone valley and south branch of Marengo Creek. We'll camp across from 30m high Marengo Falls.
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Day 14: After breakfast we will make the last few kilometers to Virginia Falls and spend the day exploring this 316 foot high spectacle, close to twice the height of Niagara Falls.
Later in the afternoon we will return to our camp at Marengo Falls.
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| Day 15: After breakfast we'll load our gear into the Nahanni shuttle for the drive to Fort Nelson and flights home.
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| Day 14: Participants booked into the 3 week trip will return to our camp at Marengo Falls.
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| Day 15: We will follow our steps and return to our boats at the Flat River and paddle to a camp at the junction between the Flat and the South Nahanni River.
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| Three Week Itinerary
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Day 16: Downstream we enter Third Canyon with its imposing 1200 m walls formed as the Nahanni has carved its way through the Funeral Range. We will camp in the shadow of the Gate; where the river has sliced a narrow chasm on the apex of a hairpin meander. An optional hike to the top of the Gate presents magnificent views of the river valley with imposing Pulpit Rock 460 m below.
 Day 17 - Day 22 |
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Trip Itinerary 
