|
The Liard River flows into Mackenzie River from
the west. It is quite muddy and the Mackenzie is still clear from
Great Slave Lake. After a few miles they are both muddy. The Peace
was a good sized river when we started but with the addition of the,
Smoky, Athabasca, Liard and the watersheds of the 2 big lakes, plus
numerous smaller rivers and creeks, we now have a very big flow of
water. We have had a primarily rock and gravel bottom from Great
Slave Lake to Norman Wells. This will apparently change soon to
mostly sand. The Nahanni Range was the first mountain range with
several more along the way. A large portion of the area has been
burned over in the last 10 years. Little of this area is usable
timber and the burn provides more good than harm in most cases.
On Thursday Alice Gray, Chip & Jodie & Ryan &
Scott Ingraham, and Kim & Mikayla & Trenton Lofstrom arrived after
flying around the Nahanni River area for some sightseeing. After a
nice reunion most went fishing in the evening, where all were happy
and all caught a fish in the clear, shallow, red water of the Harris
River.
July 1 we left Fort Simpson with most of the
new crew sleeping. We met the Norweta as they were returning from
Inuvik with passengers. They provide river cruises with a
relatively small ship. Right after that we were contacted by a man
who is mapping the river for other disabled people using the river
for recreation. We also met some friends from Hines Creek making
their way to Tuktoyaktuk from Fort Providence on a round trip.
Mierzewski’s are traveling faster so we expect to see them as they
return.
We met another tug boat crew on the Shiela J.
as it arrived into Fort Simpson and we later crossed paths down the
river. Mike Cooper, the skipper is third generation tugboat captain
since his grandfather built their first tug in Fort Nelson and
hauled equipment for the US army and the Canol project in 1942 from
Ft. Nelson to Norman Wells. Along the way we also met up with the
Canadian Coast Guard Ship – Dumit, with a crew of 10. We gave them
a tour of our boat and then we got a great tour all over their
ship. The kids got picture pamphlets, water bottles, and cookies in
their kitchen. The Dumit was designed with a shallow draft for
working on the river with a name that means “Pathfinder” in Inuit.
It is 160 feet long with 2250 hp. Most of the time it maintains the
navigational aids along the river like the buoys.
We stopped and explored the sleepy town of
Tulida (Ft Norman) and did some fishing in the crystal clear, cold,
Bear River.
At 20:30 July 3rd we were slowed by high wind
rocking Vidar so anchored at mile 543. The radio calling for a
small craft warning until afternoon July 4. We arrived in Norman
Wells on July 4 and tied to a tug (NTCL Jock McNiven) at the public
wharf.
Still me voyage
Norweta cruise ship
Cooper Barging
Jodie’s July 4
Flying – chartering a plane is fun! Fringe
benefits include you can pack lots of stuff and have a personal tour
over Nahanni Range. Kim flew the plane and Trenton learned how to
pee in a bottle. Kim nearly died of embarrassment but was laughing
too hard. Fishing – more fun! All the kids caught fish but
disappeared quickly at cleaning time.
On Friday Kim and Jodie along with Trenton and
Mikayla swam in the North Nahanni River. Warm water was a great
treat. Children learn what dish duty is as Grandma Gray reorganizes
her berth (bedroom). We also found out that the Idlewild has plenty
of room for 11 people.
We found another warm water creek on Saturday.
Ryan and Trenton explored it and of course were soaked quickly.
Napping and relaxing are the order of the day for the adults. For
children it is always play hard and laugh lots. The sling shots
were tried.
July 1 we left Fort Simpson with most of the new crew
sleeping. We met the
Norweta as they were returning from Inuvik with passengers. They
provide
river cruises with a relatively small ship. Right after that we
were
contacted by a man who is mapping the river for other disabled
people using
the river for recreation. We also met some friends from Hines
Creek making
their way to Tuktoyaktuk from Fort Providence on a round trip.
Mierzewski's
are traveling faster so we expect to see them as they return.
We met another tug boat crew on the Shiela J. as it arrived into
Fort
Simpson and we later crossed paths down the river. Mike Cooper,
the skipper
is third generation tugboat captain since his grandfather built
their first
tug in Fort Nelson and hauled equipment for the US army and the
Canol
project in 1942 from Ft. Nelson to Norman Wells. Along the way we
also met
up with the Canadian Coast Guard Ship - Dumit, with a crew of 10.
We gave
them a tour of our boat and then we got a great tour all over
their ship.
The kids got picture pamphlets, water bottles, and cookies in
their kitchen.
The Dumit was designed with a shallow draft for working on the
river with a
name that means "Pathfinder" in Inuit. It is 160 feet long with
2250 hp.
Most of the time it maintains the navigational aids along the
river like the
buoys.
We stopped and explored the sleepy town of Tulida (Ft Norman) and
did some
fishing in the crystal clear, cold, Bear River.
At 20:30 July 3rd we were slowed by high wind rocking Vidar so
anchored at
mile 543. The radio calling for a small craft warning until
afternoon July
4. We arrived in Norman Wells on July 4 and tied to a tug (NTCL
Jock
McNiven) at the public wharf.
Still me voyage
Norweta cruise ship
Cooper Barging
|
