|
canoebase.com:
Wilderness Canoe Tripping
|
to: Home --> NBL Intro --> NBL Trip Report Chapter 6 <--this page
|
Yukon Territory - North/Black/Liard River Canoe Trip,
Trip Report
Chapter Six -- On Black Lake
(To a 56kb Text-Only version, no pictures)
Day 7 (continued). Saturday, 5 July,
1997
We reached Black Lake at 12:30, just after it started sprinkling
a little rain.
(Black Lake Area Map)
It's a small lake, only a little over a mile long (2 km). John and
Dennis fished at the mouth run-out while Hank and Laurie
paddled on to check a beach in the distance for any campsite
potential. We wanted a good one as we were going to lay over a
day here. The fishermen caught and released lake trout on their
way to the beach while Hank and Laurie waited, drifting the
middle of the lake to avoid bugs. Two loons called from not very
far away, and we watched them as we read our books between rain
showers.
We ate lunch (hot Ramen noodles) on that
beach during another
typically short thundershower, but it's not a spot suitable to
us for camping. Hank and Laurie paddled down to the outlet of
the lake. They noticed on the way that an island indicated on
the map is a shallow spot with one large rock sticking about 6
inches above the surface at this water level.
Hank and Laurie paddled back up to the north
end of the lake to check
what was seen through binoculars to be an aluminum canoe upside
down on the lake shore. It's at a trapper's cabin with a bronze
plaque on a tree nearby that said, "In loving memory of James
Botti, 1936-1989." Much trash all over the place. The cabin is
not locked. Traps hanging all over the outside, an old dog sled
on the roof, lots of paper back books on
shelves inside (a real Louis L'amour fan!), plus evidence of
squirrels and mice all over. Two bald eagles roosting nearby, but
no suitable tent sites here.
We found the fishermen, who pointed us to a
long, narrow beach just
east of the river mouth for camping. At the same time we pointed
out a moose browsing on shore at the mouth of the river. It heard
us and ran off upstream along the river bank. We set up camp on the
beach and put up a rain fly. More wolf tracks at the east end of
the beach. Later, Hank was sitting in his chair on the beach and
a mink ran up the shoreline to within four feet of him (1.2 m)
before it
noticed and turned into the brush. After that, we heard and saw
another moose running in the shallow water in front of the trapper's
cabin. It's 6:20 pm. Distance paddled today was only a little
over five miles (8 km) from our campsite last night to this one,
but we put in lots more time on the lake poking around.
Through binoculars John saw six caribou
on a snowfield, then a
bear (probably a grizzly) crossing a different snowfield, which
interrupted our fish supper a bit. This animal action was all
over two miles away (3.2 km) and 1400 feet (425 m) above us. Not
much danger from that grizzly, anyway. A total of 24 caribou seen
on the trip, so far, and our first bear on the river (we had seen
two blackies near the road while driving the Cassiar). A
day in paradise, despite the typically short midday rain showers.
Macaroni and cheese with lake trout for supper.
Day 8. Sunday, 6 July, 1997
65°F degrees at 8:30 (18.5°C). A
layover day on Black
Lake, no travel. Hashbrown potatoes with cheese and corn for
breakfast. The sky is mostly clear with a few thin, high clouds.
Sun very bright, and the caribou are moving around on the snow.
John wanted a "lunker trout" picture so he and Dennis went
out and got a fish for a photo, then released it
(see Salmonella). They were back for
lunch and a sponge bath while it was warm and sunny.
Cloudiness slowly
increased and a breeze appeared with some sprinkles about 12:30,
though still very warm. Mosquitoes were bad under the tarp during
the rain. The rain fly seems to collect the mosquitoes, and we
postulate whether they do any "rough sensing" for blood
by infrared, like our body temperature, or heated air under the dark
awning, then home in on scent or CO2
concentration when they get closer. The rain
didn't last for long. About 2:00 pm, John went back out fishing
alone, and as he left, pointed out a moose splashing across the
river delta to the west. It swam across the bay to a point south
of the trappers cabin, shook water off, and disappeared into the
brush there.
80°F+ degrees (26.5°C) on
Dennis's thermometer which was in the sun. A very
pleasant day and evening. On and off cloudy, but very warm. Noodles,
broccoli and fish supper. John also celebrated the day with a
"Mountain Man Margarita" (Shudder -- don't ask!). There was a light
sprinkle for a short time immediately after crawling into bed at
9:45 pm.
Back to previous page or:
| Previous Chapter |
Next Chapter |
| Getting There |
On North Lake |
On to Fire Lake |
Fire Lake to the Falls |
| Falls to Black Lake |
On Black Lake |
Black Lake to the Liard River |
| More Liard and on to Whitehorse |
| North/Black Intro |
North/Black Contents List |
| canoebase.com Home |
Paddle Trips List |
Copyright © 1996 - 2002, and legal fine print
Revised: 15 November, 2002
http://www.canoebase.com/nbl/journal6.htm
|
