” we / page i8- July 6, 1977 North Shore News . WHITE WATER canoeing in the North West Territories. By TONY SLOAN Nahanni -- an exotic name for a remote and beautiful river in the far away Mackenzie Mountains. of Canada’s Northwest Terri- tories. li flows down a legendary mountain valley, through sheer majestic canyons and the 1840 square miles of untracked alpine wilderness that is now designated as Nahanni National Park. To date, the park has been pretty much the sole pre- serve of wilderness canoeists and river rafters making the run down from Rabbitkettle Lake to Nahanni Butte. Sightseeing jet boats go upriver from Fort Simpson to Virginia Falls. There are no roads at present, so access is .restricted: to chartered air- craft from Fort Simpson, via the Mackenzie Highway, or Watson Lake via,:the Alaska Highway in the Yukon.. PORTAGE Canocists find few pro- blems in the first 80 miles between Rabbitkettle and the falls. A one mile portage gets around the 315 foot drop and down into a steep walled canyon and from there on, the fast water is at hand. The canyons, numbered one-to-four, between Nahan- ni Butte and Virginia Falls treat river travellers to some of the most majestic alpine scenery in Canada. The sheep caves in the first canyon irvive a climb of 2000 fee. up a scree slope and the cave is protected by a locked gate. Visitors who are specifically interested in the caves should contact the park superintendent. for exact location and permission to enter. Virginia Falls is not to be by-passed with an admiring glance and a few hasty clicks of a camera. There is a trail at the upper end of the Albert Faille portage that leads to the top of the falls. It follows the canyon rim to the very brink of the mighty cataract and it is one of the most overpower- ing sights a white water canoeist is likely to see in the entire Canadian north... The falls begin as a long and increasingly steep slope until the river is flowing at a tremendous speed whien it jets out over the valley wall. FEARSOME EDDIES The speed and turbulence of the fearsome eddies and BAYVIEW ake FEENKOST HAUS DELICATESSEN IMPORT LTD. The Best and The Largest Selection of Frosh Food Delicacies Home Cooked Watch For Our Weekly Special We Are Not Only Professional But the Best In Our Trade TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT dee cbt Avesta ECAR ded a a SO tie ae oe boils are overpowering. A heavy hissing and thunder reverberafe from the tower- ing rock faces as_ the. maelstrom of rushing water coils, geysers, foams writhes and seethes before crashing against a great rock buttress that stands on the. brink in. « s ~ : 4 mid-river and cleaves the asanne hurtling waters like a titan’s sword. ’The water now appears as plumes of snow and spreads a delicate curtain of spray that drifts lace-like across the cliff faces of the canyon and abyss below. A place of wonder and contemplation for the voya- geurs who seek. out and travel the remote rivers. of panada that still run wild and ree. Canoeists interested in the Nahanni should first obtain a booklet entitled Canoeing Nahanni National Park from Parks Canada, Prairie Re- WT Dake oka Mak a aR! Cons nati wn ase alae Sadana eae bt gion, 114 Garry Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 1G1. Read it carefully, as the Nahanni is not a river to be _taken lightly and is for experienced white | water canoeists only. River rafters should con- tact North-West Expeditions Limited, P.O. Box 155i, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 2N7 and inquire about their 12-day guided tour down the Nahanni. Dave Rowe of North-West Expeditions and his group arrived at Virginia Fails prior to our departure by air to Fort Simpson. They were enjoying themselves and the real adventure was just beginning. - Fort Simpson is the depar- ture point for the jet boat tours that make the seven- day round trip upriver to ' Virginia Falis and back. Information and bookings for this unusual experience can be obtained from Wilderness Expeditions, nue, Edmonton, Alberta, T6E 6G2. Hiking will be the next park activity added to the ongoing river tours. Plans for trail layouts are already underway. We were fortun- ate enough to accompany Park. Superintendent, Erick Hiscock on a tour of park highlights such as Rabbit- kettle Hotsprings where the depssits have built up over the centuries to form a huge hillock of carbonate). Hole-in-the-wall in Pass Creek Valley is one of those the mountain wanderer can spend hours appreciating the unique,. composition beauty of the scene. A hiking - trail is proposed for the area and it will be a memorable experience -for the trail- walkers when they pass this "way. Our next stop was a small. + mountain lake backgrounded | by a sheer cliff rearing 1,000 feet from the mirror-like waters. The luxuriant virgin forest is the final touch to this secret place. The heavy timber growth revealed a startled cinnamon-colored grizzly bear who quickly quit a stream he was fording and bounded with amazing speed into tree cover as our helicopter swept by over- head. | *‘Nahanni that bear certainly lives in a pretty place.”’ upndemrentant pe tupacogniuntsunanas herp Menon oxseteyrm rragenserrie rsp oureresrerernvemects eat etal BRE A a an vet ang 40 different tea wie aie de cat Over 3000 private blends, Ideal for gifts. Mail orders our specialty. "Pacific Cantra “BGO.Camble Sti.” | 0% discount store’ {008 ROBSON ST, 681.2806" bo PARK ROYAL (We Vanj) ey, as 23 FORT ST 23138 APR ICHMONI Wiooky uh nd ea i: ‘ye Pap « {Viet deny a SQUA ‘ : ay! ‘ 9511-63 Ave-- tufa (caicium rare alpine meadows where and North Vancouver resident Patsy Hinton, pictured above, has been selected Outstanding Rusiness: Edu- cator of British Columbia: for the 1977 school year. She is presently head of the Dep- artment of Business Educa- tion at John Oliver Senior Secondary School, Van- couver. vO The award is presented annually in honor of Sheila E. Cameron, a retired consul- tant and coordinator, who encouraged and stimulated. teachers*in the Vancouver . School District for.. many years. The author of numerous. instruction booklets and many articles on her subject, ‘Patsy Hinton is cited as having ‘“‘made. significant contributions to the ad- vancement and improvement of business education.”’ Marketed across C Humphrey's Restaurant. just Open. Lenn! aa a ee ee ee anada by Canadian quiet and charm of an English tnn Atmosphere. An -exper- ience you’d be proud to shave with friends and relatives. Relax by the crackling fire. |The Pub—have an evening of fun and sing-along. You’ve got to come early and be prepared togetinvolved. . - ' Table reservations 926-5511 - 922-2826 OS 440 Clyde Ave. - West Vancouver, 2s EOE RLET S=sk rn oking _ re, there’s ne past. Atop Denman Place Inn. 1733 Comox Street, Vancouver. Phone 688-7711, Our parking off Comox or Nelson