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Thanks!

Thanks! Hess is on my bucket list. Nice that you can end on the Stewart and do a loop to make an easy return. Good luck with the planning. Check out Jim Baird’s videos here on YT. He has paddled solo on a couple Yukon Rivers and I think he has done the Hess.

Thanks. The historical background for this river is not lost on me or my paddling partners. Paddling the same waters as traversed by Hearne and Franklin decades ago is memorable. I didn’t include it in this video, but we found an old cast frying pan that I think may have been left behind by George Douglas during one of overland expeditions in the early 1900’s. Pretty cool. Even more powerful for me though was meeting some of the indigenous people and talking to them about living life so far North and their connection to the land. We discovered almost pure pieces of copper that the Inuit ancestors used for their tools.

Agreed, but sometimes life, work, and other family commitments/responsibilities get in the way of personal enjoyment time. We only had 2 weeks to give up that summer and couldn’t commit to 3 weeks. Trust me when I say, it was hard to get on that float plane at Rabbitkettle!

2 portages at our water level. Tons of hiking. Don’t miss Aquamarine Lake. Bugs weren’t bad despite the heat (sometimes +30!). Hit me up for other details if you want. Fantastic river. How was the Hood?

(62.8205769, -128.0315811). These are the coordinates. I think the area is known as Three Valley Gap because you can see up two other valley watershed tributaries from the peak above the Broken Skull. It’s beautiful up there and a pretty easy hike opposite a great place to camp.

@kentorlando8676 Thanks, much appreciated. We are planning out trip on the BS and Nahanni next summer and that hike looked great.

Great. The BS is gorgeous and a fun paddle with lots of Class 2 stuff to run. Take your time up there. Unfortunately we only had time to run a small part of the Nahanni and had to take out at Rabbitkettle Lake. Someday I’ll do the rest. Have a great trip!

Thanks brother. I had 4 hours of video and pics worth of footage, but I try to keep my videos to 15 min or less for attention span purposes. Such a great river.

@@kentorlando8676 Wow. Great job of editing, and the music choices are fabulous. You had me well hooked when I saw the Y-Knife airport and polar bear and then Air Tindi. As a fisherman that has fished NWT and Nunavut I greatly enjoyed your fishing sequences.

@@LukasEddy ok, I thought you meant solo. Pack rafts are maybe more forgiving but also a bit slower than canoes so you would need a solid 2 weeks to do that distance. Even longer if you want to enjoy yourself. The Broken Skull is narrow and intimate out of Divide Lake so you will want to spend time up there. However it isn’t very long really. Consider North Wright Air based out of Norman Wells for your float plane flights.

I’ve had the great opportunity to paddle it in 2015 and again in 2021. It is gorgeous country up there. Rugged and remote, with wide open scenery, abundant wildlife and fantastic fishing!

@@kentorlando8676 Based on your two trips which a be the time to minimize the bug situation. Fyi I also did the Broken Skull, Mountain, Nahanni amazing country!

@@brianwraight4966 we did both trips middle two weeks of August. It was cold and windy both times. Bugs only a problem when the sun was out and when wind died down. So maybe 3-4 days total out of both trips. Didn’t use bug spray or bug nets either trip, but on a couple of campsites we used the bug screen on the tarp. I would recommend going those dates or even later. Personally, I’ll take the cold over the bugs. 🦟🦟🦟

Glad you enjoyed it!

Interesting rock deposits.

Greetings from Canada. It is barren country up there, but beautiful. There is also an interesting account of the Coppermine from the explorer George Douglas. His book is available online if you search “Lands Forlorn”. It talks about this search for Copper. If you get a chance, you should paddle the Coppermine or at least explore the vast wilderness of the Canadian North. Cheers

Thanks Hunter, it was really nice meeting you and your friends!