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A More Recent Look Back
Story and Photos by PAUL VAN PEENAN
Lookin' Back -- Part I
Researching my 1999 Back River expedition almost immediately led me to a Sports Illustrated article from August 1963 describing John Lentz's 1962 expedition down the Back River. I hadn't even been conceived when Lentz and his partners made their journey down the largest of the Barrenland rivers--the first party to do so since HBC Chief Factor James Anderson in 1855.
Reading the article stirred-up doubt about the sanity of going on this trip. I had very little moving water experience and descriptions of long rapids, capsizing canoes, and nasty weather only fueled my doubts and fears. However, I had great confidence in my traveling partners, John Dunn, Ian King, and Dave Read, seasoned wilderness travelers all. The planning continued, and on June 9, 1999, John Dunn and I were dropped on the beach at Ft. Reliance. Dave and Ian would join us at Muskox Lake three weeks later.
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Exploration camp garbage litters the shore on the Back River in the summer of 1999.
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Our goal was to retrace the route first traveled and mapped by George Back from Ft. Reliance to Chantrey Inlet, a journey of about 900 miles. The three weeks John and I spent traveling from Ft. Reliance to the Back River at Sussex Lake involved very little paddling. The big lakes on the Lockhart River were still frozen and we spent most of our days hauling the canoe and a make-shift sled loaded with our gear. My 17-foot Clipper Prospector was an excellent sled, by the way.
Once on the Back River, we experienced the same conditions Lentz did: little water and lots of wading and portaging to get from Sussex Lake to Muskox Lake. On June 29, Dave and Ian joined us with 50
days of supplies, and we spent two more days toiling down frozen Muskox Lake before shooting our first rapids as the Back's volume slowly increased.
On Canada Day we portaged around Muskox Rapid: 1,200 lbs. in 13 trips. "O Canada, my body aches for thee" is the entry in my journal for that day. Like Lentz, we too experienced the fury of the wind on the big lakes of the middle section of the Back River. We were wind-bound several times while crossing the 140-mile section of big open water and were relieved to have put it behind us only to face the huge rapids of the now "mighty Back" we had read about. While on the big lakes we met up with veteran paddler George Luste. The week before we had run into Robert Perkins and his partner, Bailey. The only other people we met were a group of teens and a guide from a YMCA camp in Ely, Minn.
By August 9, 68 days after setting off from Ft. Reliance, we reached Arctic tidewater and Victoria Headland in Chantrey Inlet. This was my first Barrenlands canoe trip but I was hooked.
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Paddlers Ian King (l) and John Dunn (r) run the whitewater entering Pelly Lake.
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Unfortunately, even the remote Back River is showing signs of exploitation. On an island in Muskox Lake were the remains of an mining camp. Fuel drums were leaking onto the tundra and the river, buckets and other debris lay scattered. Although I was relieved to learn that the Diavik diamond mine operation on Lac de Gras had slowed, development in these remote regions is surely imminent. While the Back remains, on the whole, the domain of caribou, musk ox, wolves, and grizzly bears, these watersheds needs protection . s
NOTE: I'm busy planning this summer's trip, which will be another route travelled by George Back--the disastrous 1820-21 Arctic Land Expedition under John Franklin. I aim to start from Yellowknife in early June, travel up the Yellowknife River to Winter Lake, traverse into the Coppermine to Point Lake, and follow the Coppermine to the ocean. Weather and time permitting,
I plan to travel east along the coast to Bathurst Inlet. I will need to resupply on the upper Coppermine and would like to connect with any parties planning to travel the Coppermine this summer to see if I can piggy-back my supplies with any of them. I will, of course, be happy to pay for my share of the charter.
This is going to be a solo venture lasting up to 12 weeks, however,
I would consider teaming up with any one interested in doing the Coppermine River section while leaving the upstream grunt on the Yellowknife and the coastal section to Bathurst Inlet to me. I can be reached at paddler@istar.ca or by phone at 604-462-7558.
Keep your gunwales up!
Lookin' Back -- Part I
This article first appeared in
Che-Mun Outfit 100
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