Horton River 2016
SHORT SUMMARY
In August of 2016, I joined five friends to travel above the Arctic Circle in the Northwest Territories of Canada. We spent 23 days paddling 390 miles along the Horton River in three inflatable SOAR canoes. Participants were Pete Ackerman, Louisa Bonnie, Steve Cochran, Brian Elliott, Greg Scarich, and me. We flew to Edmonton, Yellowknife, Norman Wells, and finally to Horton Lake where we started the float. Our first camp was on July 28. We finished at the Arctic Ocean where a floatplane picked us up on Aug 20. Below is a summary of our trip. More detail can be found in the annotations below each of the 128 photos which follow.
BY THE NUMBERS
0 - Number of people seen in 23 days.
0 - Number of wolf sightings - we did hear them howl.
0 - Number of bugs on 15 of the 23 nights we spent camping.
0 - Number of rest days. We planned on some but the current was slower than expected and we had to work hard to make our miles each day.
3 - Number of equipment failures. (1 lost boot, 1 leaky boot, and a solar panel malfunction)
3 - Number of days when we had rapids. We lined the biggest one.
4 - Signs of humans before takeout (2 footprints, 1 post along bank, and 1 beer can)
5 - Number of days when we were cold.
7 - Number of rapids in 1st and 2nd canyon. We had two capsizes
8 - Number of days when we had some rain.
12 - Number of grizzlies seen.
27 - Number of liters of box wine consumed. (6.6 oz per person per day
37 - Number of bird species seen.
84 - Number of caribou seen.
1050 - Pounds of gear taken by the 6 of us on commercial flights from home. (3 inflatable canoes, camping gear, food, etc)
BEST TIME - Observing a pod of belugas in the Arctic ocean.
WORST TIME - Capsizing while running rapids on Day 15.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
(1) Another beautiful day in the Arctic.
(2) Oh no, it is too hot to paddle today.
(3) Our speed is proportional to the number of birds Brian sees.
(4) Without Brian, we would have seen only the 3 basic bird groups, ducks, hawks, and little brown birds.
(5) I bet this is the only eggplant being served for dinner above the Arctic Circle today.
(6) We need to wash more mud off our boots or we will be overweight on the Alaska Airlines flight.
ITINERARY
Day 1 - Fly to Edmonton and stay at Ramada Inn
Day 2 - Fly to Yellowknife and stay at Explorer Hotel
Day 3 - Camp 1 - Horton Lake C - Fly to Norman Wells and then on to Horton Lake for our first camp
Day 4 - Camp 2 - First Bath C- 13 miles paddled
Day 5 - Camp 3 - Tundra C - 17.3 miles
Day 6 - Camp 4 - Rain C - 19.8 miles
Day 7 - Camp 5 - Beaver Dam C - 19.5 miles
Day 8 - Camp 6 - Caribou C - 20.3 miles - First caribou sighting
Day 9 - Camp 7 - Wind C - 11.3 miles - Wind too strong to make progress
Day 10 - Camp 8 - Caribou Crossing C - 21.3 miles
Day 11 - Camp 9 - Wolf Call C - 20.1 miles
Day 12 - Camp 10 - Small Pebble C - 21.7 miles - Arctic Char for dinner
Day 13 - Camp 11 - Slab C - 20.5 miles - Start of rapids
Day 14 - Camp 12 - After Big Drop C - 17.9 miles - First big rapid
Day 15 -Camp 13 - Dry out C - 11.1 miles - Remaining big rapids, 2 capsizes
Day 16 - Camp 14 - Bear Dig C - 18.6 miles
Day 17 - Camp 15 - Goose Island C - 20 miles
Day 18 - Camp 16 - Peninsula C - 20 miles - First grizzly sighting
Day 19 - Camp 17 - Esker C - 17.3 miles
Day 20 - Camp 18 - Red Stone Beach C - 16.7 miles
Day 21 - Camp 19 - Red Peak C- 13.3 miles - 2 great hikes to Burning Hills and to top of Red Peak
Day 22 - Camp 20 - Muddy Beach C - 22.4 miles - Worst camp of trip
Day 23 - Camp 21 - Sandy Beach C - 21.2 miles
Day 24 - Camp 22- Beach with Friendly Caribou C - 15.5 miles - Saw 8 beluga whales in Arctic Ocean and had our best grizzly sighting. The friendly caribou was lost and looking for a herd.
Day 25 - Camp 23 - Horton R Bluff C - 12 miles - Great camp with views of Arctic Ocean
Day 26 - Fly back to Norman Wells and stay at a the North-Wright lodge
Day 27 - Fly to Edmonton and stay at Ramada Inn
Day 28 - Tour Ukrainian Village in Edmonton and fly home
Read MoreIn August of 2016, I joined five friends to travel above the Arctic Circle in the Northwest Territories of Canada. We spent 23 days paddling 390 miles along the Horton River in three inflatable SOAR canoes. Participants were Pete Ackerman, Louisa Bonnie, Steve Cochran, Brian Elliott, Greg Scarich, and me. We flew to Edmonton, Yellowknife, Norman Wells, and finally to Horton Lake where we started the float. Our first camp was on July 28. We finished at the Arctic Ocean where a floatplane picked us up on Aug 20. Below is a summary of our trip. More detail can be found in the annotations below each of the 128 photos which follow.
BY THE NUMBERS
0 - Number of people seen in 23 days.
0 - Number of wolf sightings - we did hear them howl.
0 - Number of bugs on 15 of the 23 nights we spent camping.
0 - Number of rest days. We planned on some but the current was slower than expected and we had to work hard to make our miles each day.
3 - Number of equipment failures. (1 lost boot, 1 leaky boot, and a solar panel malfunction)
3 - Number of days when we had rapids. We lined the biggest one.
4 - Signs of humans before takeout (2 footprints, 1 post along bank, and 1 beer can)
5 - Number of days when we were cold.
7 - Number of rapids in 1st and 2nd canyon. We had two capsizes
8 - Number of days when we had some rain.
12 - Number of grizzlies seen.
27 - Number of liters of box wine consumed. (6.6 oz per person per day
37 - Number of bird species seen.
84 - Number of caribou seen.
1050 - Pounds of gear taken by the 6 of us on commercial flights from home. (3 inflatable canoes, camping gear, food, etc)
BEST TIME - Observing a pod of belugas in the Arctic ocean.
WORST TIME - Capsizing while running rapids on Day 15.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
(1) Another beautiful day in the Arctic.
(2) Oh no, it is too hot to paddle today.
(3) Our speed is proportional to the number of birds Brian sees.
(4) Without Brian, we would have seen only the 3 basic bird groups, ducks, hawks, and little brown birds.
(5) I bet this is the only eggplant being served for dinner above the Arctic Circle today.
(6) We need to wash more mud off our boots or we will be overweight on the Alaska Airlines flight.
ITINERARY
Day 1 - Fly to Edmonton and stay at Ramada Inn
Day 2 - Fly to Yellowknife and stay at Explorer Hotel
Day 3 - Camp 1 - Horton Lake C - Fly to Norman Wells and then on to Horton Lake for our first camp
Day 4 - Camp 2 - First Bath C- 13 miles paddled
Day 5 - Camp 3 - Tundra C - 17.3 miles
Day 6 - Camp 4 - Rain C - 19.8 miles
Day 7 - Camp 5 - Beaver Dam C - 19.5 miles
Day 8 - Camp 6 - Caribou C - 20.3 miles - First caribou sighting
Day 9 - Camp 7 - Wind C - 11.3 miles - Wind too strong to make progress
Day 10 - Camp 8 - Caribou Crossing C - 21.3 miles
Day 11 - Camp 9 - Wolf Call C - 20.1 miles
Day 12 - Camp 10 - Small Pebble C - 21.7 miles - Arctic Char for dinner
Day 13 - Camp 11 - Slab C - 20.5 miles - Start of rapids
Day 14 - Camp 12 - After Big Drop C - 17.9 miles - First big rapid
Day 15 -Camp 13 - Dry out C - 11.1 miles - Remaining big rapids, 2 capsizes
Day 16 - Camp 14 - Bear Dig C - 18.6 miles
Day 17 - Camp 15 - Goose Island C - 20 miles
Day 18 - Camp 16 - Peninsula C - 20 miles - First grizzly sighting
Day 19 - Camp 17 - Esker C - 17.3 miles
Day 20 - Camp 18 - Red Stone Beach C - 16.7 miles
Day 21 - Camp 19 - Red Peak C- 13.3 miles - 2 great hikes to Burning Hills and to top of Red Peak
Day 22 - Camp 20 - Muddy Beach C - 22.4 miles - Worst camp of trip
Day 23 - Camp 21 - Sandy Beach C - 21.2 miles
Day 24 - Camp 22- Beach with Friendly Caribou C - 15.5 miles - Saw 8 beluga whales in Arctic Ocean and had our best grizzly sighting. The friendly caribou was lost and looking for a herd.
Day 25 - Camp 23 - Horton R Bluff C - 12 miles - Great camp with views of Arctic Ocean
Day 26 - Fly back to Norman Wells and stay at a the North-Wright lodge
Day 27 - Fly to Edmonton and stay at Ramada Inn
Day 28 - Tour Ukrainian Village in Edmonton and fly home
