With the return of the CCR Gallery, I thought I would update the short route description I posted earlier with a map and some photos.
Last summer (2007) I had an enjoyable 18 day (16 travel day) solo trip from Whitefish Lake (the headwaters of the Thelon River) to Great Slave Lake (picked up at Pike’s Portage landing at the extreme east end of the lake).
My route was: fly from Yellowknife to Whitefish Lake; down the Thelon (2km) to Lynx Lake; by portage to Timberhill Lake, leaving the Thelon drainage. From Timberhill, south through small lakes and ponds to Sled Lake; Sled Creek to Eileen Lake; Eileen River through Tent Lake to the junction with the Snowdrift River. From here I went about 70 km down the Snowdrift before portaging north into Robert Lake; via small lakes and Dion Lake to Daisy Lake; from Daisy portaged down through a slot in the McDonald fault to a small lake adjacent to Meridian Lake; into Meridian Lake, portage into Great Slave, paddle to Pike’s portage landing. Totals were about 330 km and 35 portages.
I enjoyed the variety this route provided: some tundra, some trees; a mix of large and small lakes, rivers and streams; stretches of sand and stretches of shield. There were easy days and difficult ones, runnable rapids, wadeable rapids, and some dramatic cascades.
I’d be glad to share information with anyone else interested in visiting this area – feel free to contact me.
Starting out at Whitefish Lake:
Attractive esker complex, Lynx Lake:
Portaging towards Sled lake:
Cascades and falls - Eileen River:
Snowdrift River - easy and sandy:
Great Slave Lake in smoke:
Beach, Pike's Portage landing:
Old graveyard near the portage:
-jmc