The Mountain River, Northwest Territories
Difficulty: Class III, intermediate - advanced
Distance: 300 km, one portage
# of Days: 14 days
Group Size: 8 to 12
Back to the Dream Rivers

The Mountain is a pristine river in the MacKenzie Mountains north of Norman Wells. Part of the MacKenzie basin, it lies within the arctic watershed flowing along the border of the Yukon down to the MacKenzie River. It flows through a panorama of mountains and canyons with magnificent scenery, abundant wildlife, alpine hiking, steady current and miles of runnable rapids. North of the tree line, we meet the arctic circle with its tundra, alpine grasslands, and sparse aspen and spruce forests. This is a challenging Class III river with complex river dynamics suitable for paddlers with solid whitewater experience.

After flying from Yellowknife to Norman Wells, we go directly to the float dock for a sandwich lunch before a spectacular, one-hour flight into Willow Handle Lake. We camp on the lake and have time for a hike, a warm-up canoeing session or fishing for lake trout and arctic grayling. Camp is set for an evening in readiness for the paddling on Push Me Pull You Creek which will take us into Blackfeather Creek down to the Mountain River.

We portage about 1km to Push Me Pull You Creek. The morning will be spent paddling or wadding through the shallow creek to Blackfeather Creek. We paddle a small canyon and arrive at the confluence of the Mountain River. Once we camp, hiking is possible in the upper Mountain River Valley.
In its upper reaches, the Mountain is a young river, quick-paced with Class II rapids that challenge the paddler with lively curves. We start the river with easy paddling through a few small rapids. Cache Creek is a layover camp with opportunities to hike, fish and photograph. We run the1st canyon which is beautiful and not a difficult paddle. Then comes the 2nd canyon and U-turn Canyon (3rd canyon) which are consistent wavy rapids and standing waves. After the 4th canyon, we run swift current and small waves down to the 5th canyon. After this is the hot springs where we begin to say goodbye to the mountains. The current gradually slows as we pass through the flats down to the MacKenzie River to our last camp. The five canyons demand caution because of tight corners but soon, the flow becomes more distinct and there is room to maneuver. The Painted Mountains come into view surrounding us for the 1st week. Wildlife sightings include all sheep, caribou, moose, fox, grizzly bears, possibly wolf and we have seen a wolverine.

Campsites on the Mountain are on open gravel bars keeping the bugs at bay. And don't forget the midnight sun. It never gets dark at this time of the year. It is an eerie but inspiring sensation to not see stars in the sky after midnight! There is ample driftwood or scrub wood for campfires and our gourmet menu will delight.

The river grows from a tiny stream deep in the mountains to a broad, mature river. Paddling out of these mountains, we move on the steady current and often do a "night-paddle." We near the MacKenzie River as the hills pull away into a broad panoramic valley. Where the Mackenzie and Mountain Rivers meet, we will rendezvous with our trustworthy captain for an equally spectacular boat trip back to Norman Wells and our final night dinner.