Yukon Territory - North/Black/Liard River Canoe Trip, Hazards List

Back to List of Lists

Hazards we identified on this run, and maybe some other potential ones

Remember, we cannot list everything bad that could possibly happen here, and cannot take responsibility for not warning you of something we couldn't foresee happening to you.

Most accidents happen on land. A trip participant can slip and fall anywhere, and break a leg a hundred km paddle or hike from any possible help. Weather and river conditions can change rapidly, and river topography can change from year to year. A rapids that wasn't there last year can be a nasty one this year, or a sweeper or log jam can form overnight. Thinking about what might go wrong before it happens is the best way to be prepared. Learn good judgement. Preparedness allows you to enjoy the trip more while you are on it. I agree with the person who said something about "only the unprepared have adventures" (what curmudgeon said it originally?).

• The main hazard on this run is gradient and whitewater, lots of it. Steep, continuous stuff, difficult in spots. I've got enough other dire warnings in this North/Black/Liard section of the Web site.
• Are the participants going to get along for the duration of the trip?
• Are there any medical problems everyone should know about for an individual participant? Allergies, including to foods?
• Bad weather or changes from good to bad. You can get freezing weather any time. Snow, wind, rainstorms, etc., are possible.
• Too much water in the river or not enough water can both cause problems by slowing the trip.
• You have to fly into this put in in a small plane. Pilots think they're omipotent -- well, maybe invincible -- or at least immortal. The pilot we used for a flight into a river for our 1992 trip was killed when his plane crashed in 1994. (You'll notice we flew in again, and will continue to do so...) All of life is a gamble, not just the canoeing part. People die canoeing every year, but I consider the chances of getting killed in the car ride there or back as much greater than on the river.
• There are log jams on this run, luckily the only ones we saw were in a fairly flat stretch of river (all below the waterfall we portaged and above Black Lake). Log jam placement has probably changed by now, though. The topo maps show woods all along the rivers and lakes, but there were no actual trees close to the river until somewhere in that long flatter stretch of the North River about mid way between North and Fire Lakes. I would not expect any log problems above that point.
• There is a set of much bigger than normal rapids just below Fire Lake. The topo maps show them, but not how bad they are.
• There is a 20 foot waterfall (6 meters) just below Waters Creek, not marked on the topo map. Many other rapids not marked on the topo map.
• There were lots of mosquitoes when we were there and you are not likely to be able to run the river after the mosquitoes die down. Bring bug dope and/or headnets and thick clothing.
• Believe it or not, sunburn can be a problem.
• We saw a couple of bears on the run, one that was probably a grizzly, and another that was almost certainly a black bear. There is no salmon run on the Liard system, so don't sweat that part, but there are bears around (and moose, which can also get belligerant). Be careful of when cleaning fish (and with your food, in general).
• There could be logistics problems that you don't discover until after you are committed.
• There are some canyons on this run. They are not long, and do not have continuous straight up and down rock walls that don't let you out of the boat for miles, but it can still be an intimidating experience when in them, not knowing how far they go, or what's around the bend. In the latter case get out of your boat, hike down, and take a look.
• Inadequate equipment can be a real problem.
• Getting all your equipment to the float plane base and to the selected put-in lake isn't easy (or cheap).
• It's a minimum of a two or three day drive up and the same back home for anyone living in the lower 48 states.

We were lucky in some respects. The gradient is so even that we didn't have any single big drops before Fire Lake (there could be some now). The water level was probably just about optimal for our run (a little low above Fire Lake?), but it may not be for you. We had great weather, never cold, very little wind, but that doesn't mean you won't get colder, windier weather.

Back to previous page or North/Black Contents List

Copyright © 1996 - 2002, and legal fine print
Revised: 15 November, 2002
http://www.canoebase.com/nbl/hazlist.htm