View topic - Recommendation for extended solo trip in Canada

Hello,

My name is Gabrielle and I am new on the forum. I am an avid paddler, both canoe and kayak, living in Whitehorse, Y.T.
I have done many river trips, in groups, solo or dup. The typical trip would be a 10 days canoeing trip in the Yukon. I have done the Yukon River (Whitehorse to Carmacks), the Big Salmon, Porcupine, Bell. Last summer, with a group of American paddlers we did the Alatna and Koyukuk River in Alaska, from Circle Lake to Huslia, one month long trip (I loved it).

But one trip that really got into my soul was the solo kayaing trip I did in 2015 on the Mackenzie River. It lasted 5 weeks and despite the many challenges I had, it was an amazing experience.

The Mackenzie River was just perfect for what I was looking for : remote but non-technical, multi-weeks, road access (put-in in Fort Simpson), communities along the way to re-supply, options to stop the trip at various locations.
I would be interested to do another solo trip like that in the summer 2018 but I am not too sure where I could go, could be anywhere in Canada. Any suggestions ? (other than the Yukon River)

Thanks !
G.

Peace River from near Taylor, BC to Fort Chipewyan or to Fond du Lac, Saskatchewan. (at least one portage)

North Saskatchewan River from Rocky Mountain House to The Pas, Manitoba (at least one portage)

Bow River (or Oldman River or Red Deer River) and the South Saskatchewan River then the Saskatchewan River to The Pas, Manitoba. (at least two portages)

Are you willing to do more portages? If so, I would suggest the Churchill River from Ile-a-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan to Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan or the Pukatawagan, Manitoba or further.

How about one of Canada's large lakes?

I got nothing... I can only go for a week or 2 week at this point.

I'd like to hear more about your journeys though if you'd like to share?

@Ralph, Thanks for these recommendations. I will checked these out on google earth and what the logistics would looks like to get in and out of these rivers. I guess portages are fine in small numbers. Travelling solo, I would go with the kayak, it kind of force you to travel light so portages would not be too problematic.

I think the Great Lakes would not be remote enough for me, but Great Slave lakes could be an option, althought I prefer river travel. Now, that makes me think about Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg....

@Mark, Sure I can share, what would you like to know ?

If you want to add more to a Churchill River trip... remote, rapids, falls, fishing, culture, history...you could start at Lloyd lake do the Clearwater River to the Methye portage, do the Portage to Lac la Loche and continue on to the
churchill system...nice thing about the churchill system is the number of communities along the route to resupply, learn the history, but still be "remote"...and have lots of take out options

North Sk and South Sk tend to get to be more of the "same" day in and day out....IMHO

From Fort Chip to Fond du lac is worth it for the fishing and the Sand Dunes...

Don't underestimate the "remoteness" of the north shore of Lake Superior...not to mention some of the most beautiful scenery in all of Canada....IMHO....you could also extend the trip by getting there from points to the east or starting on Superior and heading through the Sault to the north shore of Lake Huron/Georgian Bay

Another option if you want truly remote would be one of the many barren land options...possibly Great Slave into Thelon to Baker Lake or Kasba Lake to Kazan River onto Baker Lake or the Dubawnt System...

I guess as a soloist, how did you arrange ground transport and equipment movement for both the Yukon and MacKenzie? Any suggestions on good put in and take out points on those as well?

Hi Mark,

The logistic was quite simple for the Mackenzie trip. I had a very kind friend who drove me to Fort Simpson from Whitehorse (3 days one-way, Alaska Highway+ Liard Highway). The take out point was Inuvik where I shipped back the kayak to Whitehorse on a freight truck via the Dempster Highway. The local taxi companies will move your gear to the freight depot. I flew back to Whitehorse with Air North, putting much of my gear in the kayak instead of flying with it.
You could have take out points in any communities along the river, they all have small airport with weekly flights to Inuvik or Yellowknife. They will fly your hardshell kayak/canoe to either Inuvik or Yellowknife, it is costly (but not outrageous).
Depending how much time you have for this trip, you could start at Hay River on Great Slave Lake. I didn't because I thought this was more than what I could chew for a first solo trip. All in all, movement of gear was quite easy because local people will help you in the small communities, just need to ask and there is good taxi services in Inuvik.

G.

The Inside Passage north of Vancouver Island.

It looks like paddlers with which I do most of my trips will not be available for any long trip this year, so a solo trip is much possible. Thank you all for your recommendations.
I will ponder on this in the next few months.