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Canoeing Canada's Northwest Territories: A Paddler's Guide
Canoeing Canada's Northwest Territories: A Paddler's Guide
Edited by Mary McCreadie.
Published by the Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association. Hyde Park, Ont. 194 pp. $21.95 (Cdn)
Review by MICHAEL PEAKE --
Che-Mun Editor
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This book has been in the works for a number of years. I first heard about it in 1990 when it was four years old and have tried to follow its progress since.
The CRCA took over the project and have finally published it as one of their own. The editor, Mary McCreadie, lives in Yellowknife and has been compiling the trip reports and info that have gone into the reports on the 19 river trips covered here.
The rivers profiled are; the Anderson, Back, Beaulieu, Burnside & Mara, Cameron, Coppermine, Hanbury-Thelon, Hood, Hornaday, Horton, Kazan, Mackenzie, Mountain, Natla/Keele, Slave, Snare, South Nahanni, Wecho and Yellowknife.
Each river is described in 17 sections which include total distance, river profile, human history and hydrographic profile. This book is not intended as a definitive guide to the river. Major rapids and obstacles are listed but only in general terms. Water levels can cause big changes from year to year.
Maps are provided for each river and are quite simplistic - and contain a great number of typos. I found four mistakes in the first three minutes thumbing through this book. For example the Baillie River is the Baille, Hawk Rapids become Hawks. In another place, author Rudy Wiebe is turned into Judy Wiebe.
Also some of the info is incorrect. For example, John Hornby is listed as wintering on the Thelon in 1927-28 when it was actually the year before.
Most of the black and white photos inside are only adequately reproduced. By the way, I took the cover photo - though it's not credited.
This book contains a lot of info and they've tried to cover all the bases. It's certainly interesting to read and will be a necessary addition to a northern paddler's library. But when typos and incorrect facts pop up with some regularity it detracts from the experience.
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