2005 EXPEDITION ROUTE
(WOLLASON L.-FOND DU LAC R.-DUBAWNT R.-MEADOWBANK R.-BACK R.-CHANTREY INLET)

Wollaston Lake—Black Lake
The Borealis Paddling Expedition began in late May 2005. We put in at the familiar, frozen waters of Wollaston Lake, a traditional starting point of many Manito-wish expeditions. After a week of crashing through and hauling oer the ice we reached the Fond du Lac River, flowing out of the northwest corner of Wollaston. Referred to as the “Mother River of the North,” the Fond du Lac flows through the Athabasca Plain and parts of the Taiga Shield into Black Lake. The majority of whitewater sets along the way are class II and are characterized by sandstone ledges and boulder fields. Eskers and sandstone cliffs frame the shoreline as the river snakes northwest through the boreal forest.

Black Lake—Dubawnt River
Out of Black Lake we encountered our first major watershed crossing. This involved completing the historic Chipman Portage, lake-hopping through a series of small, unnamed lakes, and traveling upstream on the Chipman River in order to reach Selwyn Lake. After making our way through a series of other large, ice-packed lakes, we joined the waters of Dubawnt River. The Dubawnt was our gateway to the north, taking us out of Saskatchewan and into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut via a remote route highlighted by long sections of challenging whitewater.

The Dubawnt River is one of the less-traveled canoe routes in Canada due in part to one major obstacle along the way—Dubawnt Lake. It's huge. Encompassing over 1600 square miles, and often clogged with ice through mid-August, crossing Dubawnt Lake was one of our most significant challenges. We were again subject to the wills of ice and weather, making it a necessity for our travel timing to be right on. North of Dubawnt Lake, the Dubawnt River will took us along the border of the Thelon Game Sanctuary, providing us with the opportunity for wildlife viewing including caribou, musk oxen, and tundra grizzlies. The fishing (mostly Trout and Greyling) along our entire route was be phenomenal--see photos for proof!

Dubawnt River—Beverly Lake (Thelon River)—Back River
The third section of our trip began at the confluence of the Dubawnt and Thelon Rivers at Beverly Lake. In order to reach our final goal of Chantrey Inlet we crossed from the Hudson Bay watershed into waters flowing into the Arctic Ocean. This crossing was completed via an extensie series of portages that lead north from the Thelon to the Meadowbank River. Once we reached the headwaters of the Meadowbank we followed the river to its confluence with the Back. Like the Dubawnt, the Back River is a river characterized by its remote location and challenging whitewater, and has been rated at an advanced level according to Canadian Canoe Routes standards. One of the greatest rivers of the North, the Back is named after Captain Back who traveled the river in 1834.

Back River—Chantrey Inlet
The Back River flows into Chantrey Inlet on the Arctic Ocean…where our travels by canoe were completed. Paul and Aaron, two men from the Inuit community of Gjoa Haven on King William Isalnd, arrived six days after we reached the inlet. We managed to fit all seven of us, all of our gear and our two canoes in an 18 foot, 40 horsepower motorboat for the final ocean crossing. We eventually flew home at the beginning of September having paddled approximately 1200 miles over 95 days, transitioning from Boreal Forest into the Barrenlands and Tundra, and ending at the Arctic Circle.