Anyone know anything about the Tree River? You can see it on 86I14.
Access to Tree R possible? from Napaktulik.
Access to Napaktulik possible??? from Contwoyto.
Looks to have some interesting ww sections.
Mouth is 160 km E of Kugluktuk so exit is difficult or expensive.
Yours in paddling, Allan

_________________

A literal mind is a little mind. If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all. Good enough isn't.  None are so blind as those who choose not to see. (AJ)

Allan:

Willem Lange paddled it many years ago. He will be at the Symposium. I think it was tough going down the river. Great Bear Lake Lodge folks may still have a fly-in fishing camp near the ocean.

In 1996 I paddled past the mouth of the Tree River in canoeing from Bathurst Inlet to Kugluktuk along the arctic coast. It's not that far to Kugluktuk and so you might consider paddling. The exit cost then becomes reasonable.

George

Allan,

Great Bear Lake Lodge still has an active outpost lodge on the Tree. Google "tree river lodge." They specialize in Arctic Char fishing there as the World Record came from this river.

Perhaps contact the lodge and see if they can put you in contact with a guide who is familiar with the river.

I corresponded with a Masters grad student who was a guide there and very knowledgeable about the river but I've lost his contact info.

Preston

The Tree looks like a horror story; Will gives a talk on his experiences.
I won't go anywhere near it after what I've heard.
Regards, Allan

_________________

A literal mind is a little mind. If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all. Good enough isn't.  None are so blind as those who choose not to see. (AJ)

Interesting Allan. What did Will say?

I was down at the Sportmen's Show and the Tree River Lodge guys were there. I spoke with them and they said someone this year inquired about going UPSTREAM on the Tree...

They fish the last 2 kms of the river...they say it's pretty calm above that stretch...

Sorry, can't find the correspondence with Will, if indeed I had any; I'll keep searching though.
The essence was that it was one of the toughest trips he has ever done.
I know from other sources that he has done some demanding trips.
Regards, Allan

_________________

A literal mind is a little mind. If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all. Good enough isn't.  None are so blind as those who choose not to see. (AJ)

The title of the talk Will gave to the Green Mountain Club is "The Best Worst Trip I Ever Was On". He says that they walked more than they paddled.
Regards, Allan

_________________

A literal mind is a little mind. If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all. Good enough isn't.  None are so blind as those who choose not to see. (AJ)

You might try contacting Willem directly.

There is a form here..

http://www.willemlange.com/contact.html

Allan (and others),

Max Finkelstein gave a talk this past winter that I attended regarding travels in and around the Tree River. I think it was titled "Up north and in Trouble.....Again". Max and a friend David set out to ASCEND the Tree River but they did not get very far. The river is apparently almost one continuous rapid and a serious one at that....at least where it nears the ocean where they started. Once stopped (perhaps 17-30km upriver, I can't recall how far they got), they did much reconnaisance on foot to try to find a means of portaging the nastiest bits and found the surrounding land was way too rugged and dangerous in that area to portage. They tried ascending a feeder stream as a means of skirting around the nastiest bits of the Tree but this too proved way too difficult. In the end, they had run out of reasonable options and they went back the way they came, paddled along the coast and ascended the Hood River to Wilberforce Falls. If I recall correctly Max's final word on the Tree River was that the Tree is not a river to ascend or descend by canoe.....but you may wish to contact him directly to verify his take on this. If it's too hard for Max Finkelstein (and he seems to always greatly understate difficulties) then I doubt The Tree is much of a river for canoeists.

Cheers,
David Schindel

I've visited the fishing camp at Tree River a number of times. It is one on the most beautiful spots one can imagine - a verdant valley surrounded by tundra with about 4 km of solid white water flowing through it. This stretch, from the lowest of the major rapids to the falls looked pretty much impossible to descend in an open boat. Upstream travel would require a portage over tundra of 5 - 6 km (going from memory..I think I made it to the falls from the camp, which is the lowest rapid in 1.5 hours). I've hiked it, but not with a boat on my shoulders. The trick is to climb up the gorge, and walk the ridgeline, rather than trying to follow the course of the river. Still, it is tundra, and requires a lot of leaping from hummock to hummock. The river appears to flatten out above the falls.

Thanks David, Mike and the others who have contributed.
This one looks like real trouble; not sure I did a service to CCR and the paddling community at large by asking about it. But it looked so appealing on the topo.
Yours in paddling, Allan

_________________

A literal mind is a little mind. If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all. Good enough isn't.  None are so blind as those who choose not to see. (AJ)

I've always thught a Sea Kayak trip from(or to) Tree River to(or from) Kugluktuk would be spectacular. Would need to plan lots of hiking time at each of the river valleys.

I remember a thread a while back on the Rae River, which also looks enticing on the Topos. Has anyone made any more progress on that one?

George Luste has paddled the coast past the mouth of the Tree, all the way over to Kugluktuk I believe. Please have a look earlier in this thread (should have done that myself).
Regards, Allan

_________________

A literal mind is a little mind. If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all. Good enough isn't.  None are so blind as those who choose not to see. (AJ)

There may be more information on the Rae available later this year.

This group of young women

http://www.borealispaddlingexpedition.com/

hope to reach the Rae this summer, by crossing from the Coppermine up the Kendall and then overland.

Remembering their excellent presentation at the 2006 WCS, I wouldn't bet against them.

There is contact information on their website. Allan J, might they be interested in your Parent - Coppermine report?

-jmc

-jmc

The Dease-Kendall portage looks like an utter brute, either direction. That's partly why I decided to forget about that route from Yellowknife to Kugluktuk; the other reason is that it requires so much paddling on Great Bear.
I agree though that they can do it if anyone can. I'll have a look at their website, but I doubt very much that they need any help from me.
BTW, George Luste paddled the coast from Bathurst Inlet to Kugluktuk, in a canoe I believe, passing the mouth of the Tree.
Best wishes, Allan

_________________

A literal mind is a little mind. If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all. Good enough isn't.  None are so blind as those who choose not to see. (AJ)