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canoebase.com:
Wilderness Canoe Tripping
Yukon Territory - North/Black/Liard River Canoe Trip, Getting Help in Case of EmergencyWho in the area can help you if you get into trouble during the run, and how do you get ahold of them?
Some preliminary phone numbers: Some pre-trip preparationLeave word at home or with friends where you are going, approximately when you'll be where (at some various points along the way), when you'll be back home, and who to contact if you aren't back or heard from in time. If there are changes in plans (you switch to a different river, for instance), let them know if at all possible. Be sure to let someone know, in any case. Probably the best single thing you can do is file a trip plan with the local RCMP office. Do it by mail before the trip if you have to. Forms are available from: (?url?). Make sure your air or car shuttle people -- Northern Lights Air, Inconnu, etc. -- know when you are to be out. (Use a copy of the above form?). Some places you might be able to get help while on the run.Columbia Gold Mining bush camp on Fire Lake (UTM = 171864 on map 105G/2 Fire Lake). During our trip there was also a manned outpost visible north and west of North Lake (see map at [url]). I don't know if people were at it 24 hours a day. They could have been flown in in the morning and back out when their shift ended. The facility we saw would be a minimum of a 3 km hike (2 miles), across creeks, from the north end of lower North Lake. (UTM was about 157114 on map 105 G/7 - Grass Lakes). It is certainly more accessible from the North Lakes area than the whitewater paddle to Fire Lake if problems occur while up there. That outpost facility might move around a bit depending on where the company is drilling at the time. It might also be gone entirely by the time you get your trip together.
Help might be available at any lodges or cabins on the route, though I doubt
that many will have anyone in them when the river is runnable.
Possibilities:
There is a helicopter service (or two?) based in Watson Lake if you should happen to need one. Frontier Helicopters -- 536-7766. Also try Trans North Helicopters -- 536-2100. It all boils down to who is the closest, and/or easiest to get to. Carry some of the basic emergency signaling gear: Mirror, fire starters for lighting three fires, three orange tarps to display, etc.. A VHF radio with aircraft frequency crystals, EPIRB, or locator beacon might be nice, but we have yet to use such. A GPS with extra batteries and (always!) a map and compass in case someone has to walk out would be nice. Back to previous page or North/Black Contents List
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