Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Scan of a print showing the whole group. Not sure who took it. Standing left to right: Rand, Mike, Rick, Colin, Ben, Kerry, Bob, Craig. Kneeling: Stan and Alex.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 11. The shore in Yellowknife.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Sorting gear preparing to load the float plane in Yellowknife. Left to right, Bob, Rick, Mike.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A Twin Otter landing (I think) at Yellowknife. This was our plane, or one very like it.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Loading the Ptarmigan Airways Twin Otter in Yellowknife. This is Rick and his canoe.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: This is the second flight to Rocknest Lake. Left to right are Bob, Craig, Mike, and Rick.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Looking down on Yellowknife and its airport shortly after takeoff.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Rick and Bob in the Twin Otter.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: This is a land of many lakes in depressions left by the ice age glaciers.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: More lakes on the flight in.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Unloading at camp on Rocknest Lake in the evening.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The plane heading out to return to Yellowknife.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The plane departing. There is a sobering moment when watching the plane depart and all goes silent. You realize you have been left hundreds of miles from civilization with just your friends and no way to correct any errors in preparation and you need to get to your destination to get out (while we had an HF radio, this was before satellite communication was common).

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The campsite was covered with bear tracks. Shortly after the plane left, a big grizzly wandered into camp. I think he was startled as we were. With 10 of us including Alex who fired a couple of warning shots, he took off and did not return. I barely got the camera out and did not get a good picture. But if you look carefully, you can see that the brown smudge left of center in this photo is a bear.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: This is our bear alarm. The food bags with paddles precariously holding pots to make noise if the bear came back. In hindsight, we should have put the food farther from camp although we were probably pretty safe with so many people, one of them armed. Anyway, that was the one and only bear we saw on the trip, but it got us off to a nervous start.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 12. Departing across Rocknest Lake for the Coppermine River in the morning. This was an intense crew with early starts and long, fast paddle days. We had a couple of 60 mile days.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: There were rapids at the lake outlet where we did some lining, and even took advantage of the big crew to carry loaded canoes over a very short portage (~40 ft) without unloading.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Lining around some of the bigger waves.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We also ran some of the waves when we could see a clear way through.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Kerry lining his yellow Tripper.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Rick and Mike in their blue Tripper.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A bald eagle by the river.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Ben (I think) and Colin escaping the mosquitos while eating. An advantage of wearing wetsuits.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The first camp - rather marshy and buggy.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Bathing in the river. The water was warm enough (low 60s F) to do this fairly often.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A closeup of Kerry's canoe with reflection.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We had some of the worst mosquitos I've ever seen at this camp. Looking over the water, they looked like fog.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: These specs are bugs.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 13. Tremendous fishing near Fairy Lake River - one fish per cast and they weren't small. We used the spray covers for the first time today and they really helped with big waves in the rapids.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Some arctic terns by the river. These birds migrate to Antarctica!

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Rick and Mike. One nice aspect of a trip near the continental tree line is the mixture of forest clumps with tundra.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A beaver. The photos is not too well focused. Somehow I didn't do too well with the animal photos on this trip except the gyrfalcon coming later.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Mike and some soft cliffs along the river.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Camp on the river. We had a very localized thunderstorm here followed by bad bugs. The bugs beating the tent were so bad for Rick that he almost didn't come out for dinner, thinking it was still raining.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 14. Trumpeter swan taking off.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Placid water canoeing. We were making about 30-35 miles per day in conditions like these. The sandy hills are presumably an esker which is thought to be made from deposits of sand and gravel by streams under the ice age glaciers.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We rafted up in the middle of the river for lunch to avoid the bugs. If anyone went to shore, they were supposed to make a concerted effort to kill all the bugs on their boat before rejoining.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: When the breeze came up, it was tempting to sail using tarps. This is the two-boat catamaran sailboat scheme. It's not clear that trying to sail with make-shift sails was any faster than paddling, but it was more fun and relaxing.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A campsite on sand by the river.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The view up the river valley from the hills above camp. One note from Bob indicates the sun was still a few degrees above the horizon at 11:10 pm. We missed the midnight sun, but not by much.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Another shot from above the river.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A shot of me on the hill above the river looking in the other direction.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 15. Kerry and Alex. More flat water today.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Craig and Bob.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We found two small cabins by the river. Some saw a moose near here.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: My canoe hear the cabins.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Some residual snow on the water's edge. Note the minimal shrubbery and trees near the water. Anything along the water's edge is subject to the violence of spring break-up. Some gravel bars looked like someone had run amok with a bulldozer. But it was just ice blocks pushed by current in the spring.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A rocky camp site near a small rapid.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 16. Some more flat water with Kerry and Alex in the foreground and Ben and Colin in the background. \photo RCW55571_G Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Now we hit some more serious conditions with more frequent rapids. This is the entrance to Rocky Defile. Some of these rapids looked like they could be run and indeed have been, but the consequences of having problems were greater than we wanted to deal with. Often there were wall hits where the whole river went down.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Our decision to portage was confirmed when about half way along the trail we found a memorial to two people who had drowned here in 1972. Apparently others have drowned there since.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We saw a caribou during the Rocky Defile portage.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The sandy beach at the end of the Rocky Defile portage.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: I went exploring while the group relaxed at the end of the Rocky Defile portage. Up above the cliffs I encountered this gyrfalcon standing on the edge. He let me get within about 20 feet and I had a 500 mm lens, so I got a number of photos.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The gyrfalcon is getting a bit annoyed at my approach.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Finally, the gyrfalcon decides it's time to leave. Unfortunately the photo is a bit blurred.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Bob and Craig and their tent at the camp at the confluence of the Coppermine and Kendall Rivers.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Rick and Mike exploring a bit up the Kendall River.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A rough-legged hawk (based on comparison with Google image search results) in a tree near camp.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 17: Along some cliffs, maybe just below the Kendall River confluence.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Some swallows nests along the cliffs.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We ran into a sizeable snow bank along the river and went exploring.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A close up of the edge of the snow bank.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Rand and Stan taking a nap. -->

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We encountered the Arctic Char camp of an outfit based at Great Bear Lake. They were supplied and accessed by plane, which we saw. We later encountered their clients fishing downstream from the camp. We stopped and fished a short way downstream of them and seem to have better luck than they were having.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Camp above the river after the fishing camp.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Looking up river from the hill above camp. Now the evidence of the scaring by the spring break-up is getting dramatic, with almost all vegetation for many feet above the water completely stripped away.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: At camp above the river.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: A close up of the fire with a fish cooking. The char on this river were generally big enough for 2 fish to feed all 10 of us.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 18: Rick and Mike. The weather so far had been beautiful, and buggy. It turned dreary here and that lasted the rest of the trip. At least the bugs thinned out. It doesn't show here, but the river started to get faster and rougher

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: This is likely Muskox rapid which Rand and Stan, and Rick and Mike lined. Ban and Colin ran it, then Craig and Bob followed by Kerry and Alex ran it. The waves were fairly large and going in every which direction, but the heavily laden boats were very stable and the spray covers kept the water out so it proved fairly easy despite doubts at the start. This sequence is Kerry and Alex running it. One reason we were willing to run it is that the consequences of a mistake did not look bad.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Kerry and Alex farther into the rapid.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Kerry and Alex in some of the tail waves.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: At a rather dreary lunch stop after Muskox Rapid.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: At one point, we had three boats ahead and two behind. The three stopped at a place where the whole surface of the river was flowing up stream. We saw some pieces of wood float by. There weren't many places that they could have come from. The most disturbing option was from Colin's boat which had its spary cover pulled back at the bow to carry firewood. We had encountered some unexpected white water which did not cause problems for the rest of us, but Colin's boat took on too much water and swamped. Much hard swimming and pulling by Kerry and Alex got them to shore.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We took an early camp on a bench above Sandstone Rapid. Here we are drying Colin and Ben's gear.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The camp above Sandstone Rapid. We opted to stay at this camp for a rest day.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 19. During the rest day, the Perleys and Walkers went for a walk down river and somewhat inland. We saw many flowers and 3 caribou. The tundra is very uneven making walking somewhat difficult.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: And some more flowers.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: An iteresting rock found during our walk.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Looking downstream (I think) along the river.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Two of the three caribou we saw during the walk.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The three caribou on the skyline.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Our camp at Sandstone Rapid wth a rain shelter.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 20. The river is fast and has frequent whitewater. In one big set of waves, water entered Colin and Ben's boat through the front opening the spray cover. They sank again. It took all four of the other boats to get both people and canoe to shore - it's a big and fast river. It was probably fortunate that the only team that swamped on this trip (twice) were also the only ones wearing wetsuits. But remember the water temperature was in the 60s. We built a fire and were warming everyone when Ben noticed some metalic copper in a vein.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We started a minor mining operation using the hammer end of an axe. We each managed to extract some pieces of copper. Between us we extracted around 5 to 10 pounds. This was a location that probably doesn't get visited much at all. There is no obvious reason to stop there unless you are dealing with a capsized boat. The river is named the Coppermine because the natives obtained raw copper from deposits like this long ago. For some reason, actual mining operations have not been done. Perhaps there isn't enough to be commercially worth while.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The copper that we extracted. I still have my pieces.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Escape Rapids. Kerry and Alex ran it. Colin wanted to but Ben did not and he could not convince anyone else to go with him. The rest of us portaged. It wasn't that it looked all that hard, but there were potential bad consequences if things went amiss and we were being conservative.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Escape Rapid with waterfall on a side stream.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Looking down on Escape Rapid.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: At the top of the waterfall at Escape Rapid.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Rand and Stan on the Escape Rapids Portage.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: We camped at the end of the portage. That night I put too much chili in the dinner for the Walkers and Perleys and only Rick and I could take it.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: At the Escape Rapids camp. Rick has an aversion to sand so he camped on the rocks. The rest of the tents were on softer surfaces.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 21. The final obstacle - Bloody Falls. This rapid looks like it would be very serious for a canoe. Rafts maybe. Anyway, there was no debate. We all portaged.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: This is the final drop of Bloody Falls. It is also the limit of upstream navigation by motor boats from the town of Coppermine (Kugluktuk). The two people on the far side are from town.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: The river below Bloody Falls was very wide and mostly, but not always, shallow. You'll note that the farther boat is being walked. At one point Stan was walking his boat when he suddenly went for a swim - the bottom had dropped away.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: At the end of the Coppermine River, you paddle out a bit into Coronation Gulf of the Arctic Ocean and go around the point to town, which faces the sea rather than the river. Some of river is doing the same so you are still on fresh water at town.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: This is near where we landed. Since the town is not connected to anywhere else by road, many people have boats. Most are modern motor boats, but some are more traditional like this one.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: This is on the hill above town when the sun is low, which it is for a long time while it is skimming the horizon. Toward the left end of town, a flag pole flying the Canadian flag can be seen. No hotels or other lodging facilities were available so we ended up camped in the yard of the RCMP office. We had a couple of day's wait for our flight out. It was an interesting couple of days visiting the Co-op, buying some local art, visiting some of the artists in their home, and getting a demonstration of the events of the Northern Games from the local team during training.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: July 23. This is our plane for the flight out. These northern aircraft are configured with cargo in the front half and passengers in the back half. We had a pile of gear and 5 canoes. Here Kerry's and Colin's canoes are being loaded onto the plane, on top of the cargo.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: Looking back on Coppermine with the Coppermine River in the foreground.

Coppermine River Canoe 1987: During the trip, Ben (as I recall) broke a corner off his paddle and made a field repair. After the trip, we all signed it.