In late June 2024, we headed up to the Northwest Territories in Canada for a guided canoe trip on the Upper Horton River with Canoe North Adventures. We started our trip by driving to Calgary and spending the night before flying to Yellowknife. We spent two nights in Yellowknife and enjoyed our layover day by walking around Niven Lake and looking at birds, walking to old town and climbing the Bush Pilots Monument, and enjoying some great food – Ethiopian one night and fish and chips the other. Then we traveled from Yellowknife to Norman Wells. There isn’t a direct flight, so we had to fly north to Inuvik first and then get off in Norman Wells on the way back south. On arrival, we were taken to the Canoe North Adventures Lodge and spent a relaxing evening hanging out on the deck. The next day we got outfitted with PFDs and paddles, packed our barrels, and made the all-important run to the liquor store.

Day 1 (6/29/2024) – Flight to Horton Lake and Paddle to Horton River: We were on the first of two flights on the Twin Otter from Norman Wells to Horton Lake with our head guide Maegan and three other clients, John, Larry and Rod. So we were up early to pack the last few items in our barrels and be ready to board at 8:30. It was fun watching them load all of our gear and three canoes into the plane. After a 90 minute flight (220 miles) over the tundra, we arrived at Horton Lake and unloaded the plane. While the plane returned to Norman Wells to get the second half of our group, we explored the tundra and then everyone but me did some fishing and it seemed like they were catching a grayling on every third cast.

When the plane returned, the pilot did the obligatory buzz of those of us on shore (video). Then we unloaded the rest of the gear, packed up our canoes and headed off. We had to paddle about 8 miles on two small creeks to get from Horton Lake to the actual Horton River. I started in the stern of our canoe but I couldn’t keep the boat on an efficient course, so we switched to have Sue in the stern for the second half and fared much better. When we arrived at the Horton River we set up camp at a nice beach with a tundra bluff just above it for our tents. The mosquitos were out in force, but fortunately we had a bug tent that was big enough for the entire group of twelve. Canoe North Adventures has a great tradition of getting together for happy hour and appetizers each day before dinner. Each guest is responsible for bringing an appetizer to share and Al Pace, the owner of CNA, makes adventure cups that we use for our adult beverages (and get to keep after the trip). Each adventure cup has a different animal on it and at our first happy hour, the guides presented each of us with our cup for the trip – mine was a muskox and Sue’s was a wolf.

Day 2 (6/30/2024) – Muskox: It never got dark on our entire trip, but when I got out of the tent at 2 AM our first night, I was rewarded with an amazing sunset. We awoke at 6:45 to blue skies, ate a hearty breakfast, packed up the canoes, and set off just after 9. We enjoyed a beautiful morning on the river, with light winds and great wildlife – an immature bald eagle, arctic terns harassing us at our snack break, and two muskox. At lunch the second muskox put on a show for us, coming down to the river, getting in the water, and then heading back to shore (video). As it normally does on the Horton River, the wind picked up in the afternoon and we paddled into a nasty headwind after lunch. We were paired up again, with me in the bow and Sue in the stern, and we really struggled to keep up with the rest of the canoes, each of which had a least one strong paddler. So we were quite relieved when we stopped short of our intended campsite at 3 PM due to the wind and set up camp on a rocky beach. The one good thing about the wind is that it keeps the bugs away.

Days 3, 4 & 5 (7/1-7/3/2024) – Wind, Rain, More Wind: The forecast for Day 3 was more wind, so the guides switched a couple of the canoe pairings to try and even things up. I got to paddle in the bow of Maegan’s canoe, while Sue and Elisha were put together and they decided to have Elisha try paddling in the stern before the wind got too strong. Elisha didn’t have any experience reading moving water and that turned out to be a problem when we ran a small rapid a few miles downstream, as they got sucked into an eddy and their canoe flipped. While they swam to shore, the two guides worked to right the overturned canoe and collect all the gear that was floating in the river. We lost Sue’s hiking poles and two chairs, but the good news is that the chairs sank and the guides were able to locate them and dive to retrieve them. We paddled into a nasty wind all morning and the guides made a few more canoe switches to try and find good pairings. After lunch, it started raining and Sue and I were reunited for the final push to camp. We set up camp on a rocky beach and fortunately it had stopped raining, as we discovered that Sue’s barrel leaked and we had to hang out lots of her gear to dry.

On Day 4, we awoke to a cold gray rainy morning and started paddling into a stiff headwind. After our snack break, the wind got even worse and we battled whitecaps on a long straight stretch of the river, where we got further and further behind the rest of the canoes. I was so relieved when we finally stopped for lunch, but then I got really cold as we ate, so put on too many clothes for the final few miles to camp. Overall, a very challenging day, but at least it wasn’t raining when we set up camp on a sandy beach.

When we got up on Day 5, we could see rain clouds building and we managed to get packed up before it started pouring. We paddled in the rain all morning, but at least the winds were calm and we made good mileage. After three days of stopping short of our intended camps due to the weather, we really needed to cover some distance. The rain stopped just before lunch, which meant we had to fight the bugs as we ate, and then our nemesis the head wind returned. To help keep the group moving, I was switched to the bow of Hugh’s boat and Mark moved to paddle in Sue’s bow, and we powered through the final miles to a campsite that offered some shelter from the wind.

Days 6 & 7 (7/4-7/5/2024) – Rest Day & Marathon Day: The forecast for Day 6 was for even stronger winds than we had experienced already, with gusts of up to 25 to 35 mph during the afternoon, but then the wind was supposed to die down overnight. So the guides wisely decided that we would hunker down and enjoy a well-earned rest day. We got to sleep in and then indulged in a leisurely breakfast of pancakes with blueberries and sausage. Sue was feeling the effects of rowing in the stern every day, so she was happy to have a day to recover. A few of us opted to do a hike, which entailed paddling across the river and then climbing up to a ridge with a great views. And just as we were descending back to the river, the wind started gusting and we got caught out in a short rain shower. Fortunately, the winds did die down in the evening and we were able to sit outside by a campfire.

Due to the winds, we had yet to make the planned paddling distance since Day 1, so the guides warned us that Day 7 would be a long day. We needed to cover at least 25 miles to get back on track and set us up for a more leisurely second half of the trip. And because the winds were expected to pick up in the afternoon, we opted to start the day an hour earlier. When we got up at 5:40, it was raining lightly but there was no wind. We were on the river by 8 and it continued raining all morning, but the wind stayed light and we saw our first caribou. After our morning snack break, the wind started to pick up and it kept raining. Our lunch break was cold and wet, and then after lunch the wind really started blowing in our faces, which made the rain sting. But with our new canoe pairings (me and Hugh, Mark and Sue), we were able to stay together as a group and we ended up paddling 26.7 miles despite the nasty weather.

Day 8 (7/6/2024) – Turned into a Great Day: It was a brisk 40 degrees and blustery when we woke up at 6:45, so Maegan came around to tell us all to sleep in for another hour. It was still chilly when we packed up, but it was nice to get a little extra rest after our hard effort the previous day. Blissfully, there wasn’t much wind and the sun even came out during our snack break. At lunch we made an extended stop for fishing at a nice hole that contained two arctic char and several grayling. Mark had one of the char on his line, but it got away before Hayden could get it in the net. After another short paddle with no wind, we arrived at what is called “lake camp” around 4 and set up our tent on the tundra with a view of both the lake and the river. This was the first time we stayed at the planned campsite since Day 1 and the improved weather had us all in good spirits as we enjoyed margaritas during happy hour and pulled pork sweet potato stew for dinner.

Day 9 (7/7/2024) – More Rain and Wind: After such a great day on Day 8, we were hoping that we had finally put the bad weather behind us, but the weather gods had other plans. The morning started off looking okay, with partially cloudy skies and light winds when we got on the water at 9. But when we made a quick stop at 10, Maegan told us to put on our rain gear and within 10 minutes it started pouring. And then we turned west into a huge oxbow and the wind hit us full in the face. I’m not sure what we all did to make the weather gods so angry, but it must have been bad. The rain stopped after our snack break and the sun even came out, but the winds did not relent, so the guides decided that we would set up camp at our lunch spot and not fight the wind all afternoon.

Day 10 (7/8/2024) – Caribou and Muskox and Char Oh My!: We awoke to another gray morning, but thankfully the clouds cleared out during breakfast. So even though we had to battle some fierce west winds, we didn’t mind quite as much with the sunny blue skies. We saw two caribou along the shore and they put on quite a show, running along side us as we paddled downstream (video). We made an extended stop for snacks and fishing at a spot where a small stream drains into the river, as it had been a fishing hotspot on previous trips. And it did not disappoint on this trip, as all of the fisher people caught an arctic char and Rod caught a huge one (video). Our wildlife viewing continued during lunch, when we spotted about a dozen muskox up on the opposite hillside. We were happy to find a campsite just as the river turned west again, as the wind was still blowing and we were ready to be done battling it for the day. Our reward for another tough day of paddling was a delicious dinner of pan fried char!

Day 11 (7/9/2024) – Rafting a Tailwind: We had to paddle another long stretch of west bound river, which meant that we were battling fierce headwinds all morning. They were so strong that we took two short rest breaks before our longer snack break. Thankfully, the river turned north after our snack break and we were shielded from the wind by some lovely cliffs on the western shore. And then a miracle happened — we got a tailwind! That called for getting all the canoes together into a raft formation and putting our paddles up to sail for a short while. The guides again decided to set up camp at our lunch spot, as the river turned west again and we wanted to end the day with happy memories of the tailwind. In the afternoon, we did a fun hike up to the ridge above camp and enjoyed great views of the river looking north and endless clouds looking south. It was also amazing to watch the wind blowing up the river, as the current is flowing right to left (at about 4 mph), but the wind and waves makes it look like it is flowing the other direction (video).

Day 12 (7/10/2024) – Great Last Day of Paddling: We had our coldest night yet, with it getting down to about 36 degrees – it’s been a long time since I slept fully zipped up in my mummy bag! We only needed to cover about 10 miles to get to our takeout location, so we got to sleep in for an extra hour to allow it to warm up for breakfast. The paddling was quite serene all morning and after our snack stop, I got back in the bow of Sue’s boat for the final stretch. At the Whaleman takeout, we carried all our gear up the hill to a nice campsite with a great view of the river. In the afternoon, we walked down to the lake where the plane would be picking us up and saw a loon, a duck and her chicks, and several arctic tern. Just before dinner, we had a caribou wander right up to camp. And then we enjoyed our last happy hour (cheese and crackers with sangria) and dinner (spaghetti bolognese) on the river.

Day 13 (7/11/2024) – Flight Back to Norman Wells: We awoke to the best weather of the entire trip – a beautiful calm sunny morning. We enjoyed tea and coffee overlooking the river and even got to see a wolverine running along the shoreline (but sadly no photos). We were on the first flight back to Norman Wells, so we carried our gear down the hill to the lake and watched the Twin Otter land around 10:45. They refueled from a barrel that had been cached at the lake, loaded all our gear, and we were off around 11:30 for the 90 minute flight back to Norman Wells.

Recap: I tracked our flights and all of our days of paddling with a GPS and have included two images here – one that shows where we were in the Northwest Territories and a second that zooms in on our river journey.

Over 12 days of paddling, we covered about 174 miles on the Horton River and the river descended 957 feet over that distance. When we started at Horton Lake, we were at 67°32′ N, about one degree of latitude north of the Arctic Circle. When we finished at the Whaleman takeout, we were at 68°44′ N and about 40 miles due south of the Arctic Ocean.

The Horton River is known for headwinds, but the winds we experienced on this trip were way beyond the typical afternoon winds. When we got back to Norman Wells, we learned that Hurricane Beryl was responsible for the weather being haywire on our trip. According to Al Pace, the owner of Canoe North Adventure, there is normally a clockwise weather pattern over Hudson Bay, which leads to hot sunny days on the Horton River in early July. But Beryl got the weather pattern spinning counterclockwise, which brought cold, rainy, windy weather down on us for most of the trip. At our celebration dinner the night we got back to Norman Wells, our head guide Maegan told us that our trip was the hardest canoe trip that she’s ever done. That made us feel a lot better, as the trip was way more difficult than we expected and one of the most challenging things either of us has done (and Sue has done a lot of challenging things). And to top it off, Sue paddled almost the entire trip in the stern, which is pretty darn impressive for a 77-year-old lady!

Another Canoe North tradition is that at the celebration dinner, each of us had to present something about the trip to the whole group. So I wrote a poem about our adventure, with one stanza for each day.

1
On a day quite warm to Horton Lake we travelled
Then down a creek with many swifts we paddled
In camp our adventure cups presented
Before to tents we retired quite contented

2
A beautiful morning to start our journey down river
Who knew it would be the last without a shiver
At gorp from the arctic terns we did cower
Before the afternoon winds required all our power

3
Sue and Elisha their canoe did flip
Guides for chairs took a dip
Sadly many items got soaked
But carrot cake got us stoked

4
To the weather gods we did pray
But morning broke both cold and gray
Into the headwinds we did row
Our reward a coconut mojito

5
Rain to start our day
Time for musical paddles to play
Oh headwind we do despise
But to this challenge we must rise
A final push to camp
At least we weren’t damp

6
A layover day to rest and recover
Over pancakes with blueberries we did hover
A hike up the hillside to see the view
Afternoon wind and rain right on cue

7
Up early to beat the wind
To paddle all day we did not intend
The afternoon gale would not relent
The result a marathon not a sprint

8
The morning broke quite cold
Back to bed we were told
A leisurely start allowed sunshine to prevail
Fishing at lunch but to no avail
Lake camp and margaritas a delight
A day that made us all feel bright

9
The weather gods do not seem pleased
Oh what can we do to make them appeased
Fierce headwinds as we headed west
Stopping at lunch seemed for the best

10
Caribou along the shore were prancing
Char at the inlet were dancing
Nature answered our wish
Rod caught a fine fish
Boy was it delish

11
More winds from the west
Will we get no rest?
But as we turn to the north
The river lets us sally forth
A caravan we make
We bend but do not break

12
The temperature took another dip
The coldest night of the trip
But the paddling was serene
The sun on the water so green

13
A beautiful calm sunny morning
Now it is time for mourning
While the river keeps on wending
Our journey together is ending