Yukon Territory - North/Black/Liard River Canoe Trip, Trip Report

Chapter Two -- On North Lake (To a 56kb Text-Only version, no pictures)

Day 2. Monday, 30 June, 1997

North Lake campsite view enlarge me (39kb)

Up at 6:00, still cold, threatening skies, but it warmed up later. Scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. John noticed a yearling moose bedded down 100 yards (100 m) behind camp.

North Lake cook shack enlarge me (31kb)

Our campsite is an old hunter's camp at the extreme south end of the lake, closer to the tiny creek coming in there than to the North River outlet. Some 'sportsman' type trash laying about. There were two small, roofless, cabin frameworks, one of which John's rain tarp happened to fit perfectly. Plywood sides and a closable door made a good place to get out of the wind and rain. The other we used as a place to hang our solar shower. This is the only easily usable campsite on the lake that we saw. Anywhere else would probably require chopping tent sites out of the brush.

Rock ptarmigan enlarge me (20kb)

We decided to explore the lake a bit and paddled into a light wind to the north end, then up the creek about a quarter mile (400 m) to where the rapids stopped us. Back to the lake and then hiked up a half mile (800 m) to the west to a distant view of two of the upstream lakes. We could also see a small mining operation on the ridge line to the west. We can see claim posts, survey stakes, and some cleared grid lines over the whole area. We scared up lots of willow and rock ptarmigan while walking.

Lunch and view enlarge me (27kb)

On the way back down the lake we stopped at the large alluvial fan on the east shore for lunch. A bent rowboat, not used in a long time, was on the beach. Took a leisurely two hour hike up the creek there, went maybe a mile or more (1½ km). Still some snow in shady spots of the stream bed. A yearling bull moose stood on the west shore as we slowly paddled back to camp. It was a relatively nice day despite the cloudy sky earlier this morning. Beans, rice, and ham for dinner.

Night view north from camp enlarge me (12kb)

Day 3. Tuesday, 1 July, 1997

Frost at night, but warmer after we got up, nice and clear, warmer later in the day. Eggs and toast for breakfast again. Few mosquitoes at our camp yet -- very surprising to us. We can wander around without headnets and usually without bug repellent. Sitting still would often generate a bite or two, but the mosquitoes were much worse on the drive up here.

View southwest, downstream enlarge me (32kb)

We prepped for a hike up to a glacial cirque on the mountain across the lake to the southeast. Started walking at about 9 am, and took our time, watching for birds and other wildlife. Climbed up about 750 feet (230 m) through brush and small trees to the lower cirque rim by 11 am. This mountain peaks out another 2,000 feet (610 m) over our heads. Lots of mosquitoes, flowers, and birds here. Dennis discovered that a weird sounding bird call was actually a ground squirrel whistling. Unfortunately, we

View northwest across lake enlarge me (32kb)

are facing the wrong direction to see much of our route downstream. What Hank could see of it was a large pond, then a wide, bouldery stretch without much water about 1½ miles from us (2.4 km). Pictures, then lunch up top, and back down by 1:30 pm. We all stayed in the boats on the lake to avoid mosquitoes as we figured the better weather must have finally brought them out. The sky clouded up lightly, but no danger of rain. Saw a willow ptarmigan family on the point north of camp. John kept for dinner one of the lake trout he caught.

Hikers and view north enlarge me (31kb)

Back at camp, we found that the mosquitoes still weren't there for some reason, conditions the same as yesterday. This campsite seemed to have way less mosquitoes than other places around the lake that we visited. We don't know why. Plenty of vegetation around, but not swampy here that I see. Some of the other places we visited were swampy, and everywhere else had lots more mosquitoes. Later, we watched a moose and calf swim across the lake a quarter mile (400 m) north of us. At 5:30 pm we saw seven caribou through binoculars on a snow field high across lake. Scalloped potatoes and lake trout for dinner. Chilly, later, with the sun behind clouds and not out to warm us.

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