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Directions and Guide:
The starting point of the tour on the Dempster Highway can easily be found, it is
about 56 km north of the Ogilvie Bridge. The Ogilvie River, which basically runs
along the Highway to about 50 km past the Ogilvie Bridge, leaves the highway at that point
and turns to the right (east). This is 7 km past an airfield on the right side of the
Dempster Highway which is well marked and thus can’t be overlooked.
On the point where the Ogilvie River turns to the east the Dempster Highway begins to
rise to the mountains. This point is easy to find because a creek which always has
running water flows into the Ogilvie River there and is thus crossed under the highway.
Then you must go on till you have reached the highest point of the highway, above the
timber-line, where there is a deposit for the road gravel run by the road surveyors.
This deposit is at about 100 m to the left of the highway and a gravel pass leads to it.
This is exactly the starting point of the tour. To its left is the ridge or flat peak
when looking NNW (Dempster Highway behind you). Four valleys stretch out in front
of you then; the one in your line of sight and to the right of the starting point, being
4 km long. The second one borders on the first, extends at right angles to it in NNE direction
and is again 4 km long. The third valley runs parallel to the first, is 3 km long and
again borders at right angles to a valley parallel to the second one. The latter contains
the first navigable creek where as the creeks of the three valleys mentioned before are
too small and don´t have enough water to be navigated in summer.
The portage to the first navigable creek is therefore at about 12 km long, which means
a footpath of 60 km because carrying all the proper equipment makes it necessary to walk the route five
times. This march should - if possible - lead people along the creeks and valleys because it is
important that water is available for the whole time. A well-trained group is able to
do the route in 4 days.
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The start of the journey on the watershed
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1st stage:
The first kilometer of the tour can easily be covered with no obstacles or trees standing
in your way. Then you have to cross quite a steep slope overgrown with trees and bushes to
reach the valley to the right. The best thing is to go as far as the creek and then along
the creek as far as possible. After three kilometres there is a relatively open area to the
left of the creek, which is only covered with moss and grass. You can’t miss this open
area because it can clearly be recognized as such from the starting point of the tour.
If you want to avoid camping in the woods, this is the only acceptable camping-place although
the ground is relatively moist and contains numerous deep holes with so called "niggerheads"
in between. Yet, there is a flat place for 2 or 3 tents, the creek is not far away and
provides you with good drinking water.
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Beating through the bush
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2nd stage:
Instead of following the creek it is best now to cross it and march in a slanting direction
to the second valley. After one kilometer you reach a cutline which runs through the
whole valley and makes orientation so easy that it is no longer necessary to mark the
route with little coloured hunter flags. Following this cutline till it crosses the
creek you reach a point which is quite apt to act as a camping-place for the night.
3rd and 4th stages
The 3rd and the 4th day stages of your tour lead along the aisle to the end of the
valley. However, this march was not at all easy because there was no beaten path.
Numerous holes, marshy country and "niggerheads" render the march difficult and
involve the danger of breaking one’s leg. Yet, it is easier to follow the way described
above than to walk along the right slope as we tried for one day.
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Danny Hildebrand
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5th and 6th stages:
This aisle ends with the second valley, yet, there is a new one at right angels to
Dempster. Before reaching the creek of the third valley you go towards the valley
till the creek meets the steep slope. From that point on it is better to cover the
following 3 km in the bed of the creek itself although it is very difficult with the
creek having to little water for paddling at towing. Additionally, overturned trees
block the creek, thus making navigation almost impossible. You can use the canoe as a
means of transport for one quarter of the distance only; the other three quarters have
to be walked. In spite of all these difficulties, this way is by far easier than the one
through the bush; and there are also two fairly great sandbanks in the river-bed which
offer two good camping-places.
The creek suddenly and quite astonishingly flows into another creek which runs through
the fourth valley. Now it can nearly be regarded as a river because of the width of
its bed. From now on you can go by canoe; only in some places is there the need to
tow.
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Camping on the river
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Canoeing:
The wide creek makes paddling eventful as well as easy. Calm deep water changes to
fast water in numerous small turns. There are no rapids, yet, you must take care of
certain obstacles like trees or bushes (logjams) in the turns. Every now and then
there are swells and back eddies. There are a variety of camping-places, the water is
clear, containing a lot of fish, above all graylings, sometimes catfish and pike.
All the tributary creeks shown on the map were dried up during our tour; a few kilometres
before the creek flows into the Whitestone River there are two tributary creeks
(the one is coming from the right, the other immediately afterwards from the left side)
which had enough water. Fishing was splendid there, too (grayling, she fish, pike).
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More than enough Pike
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After 50 km this creek flows into the Whitestone River which comes from the left side
out of a wide valley. There is a back eddy, but it is not dangerous. Right where the two rivers
join, there is a huge sand-bank on the left side offering good camping-places as well
as good places for fishing (she-fish). From this point on you go along the Whitestone
River for 120 km till the Miner River flows into it. The Whitestone also has clear as
well as fast water. Its bottom is either sandy or covered with light pebbles. Again you
won’t have to cope with rapids, yet, there are many narrow channels with swells in the
turns, as well as obstacles like trunks or bushes you must take care of. Although there
are a variety of fish. It is much easier to catch pike and catfish too(bottom fish).
You can choose between a lot of camp sites; best are sand-banks which
protect you from mosquito’s and unexpected appearances of bears.
The tributary creeks are difficult to find because they often flow into dead branches
of the Whitestone River and have little water in midsummer. Whitestone Village no
longer exists, just a few dilapidated log-houses can be found on the left side of the
river a couple of meters above the site where the village once was.
Shortly before the junction with the Miner River are a few islands so that the river,
now being relatively wide, shows some channels, making the choice difficult with the
low water-level.
As the Whitestone River and the Miner River rise in the Ogilvie Mountains, the Miner
has clear water and heavy current which makes it appear more gigantic than the
Whitestone which flows more sluggishly. At the junction there is a huge gravel-bank
which is not good for camping because of its large pebbles. Yet, 3 km farther there
is an ideal camping-place on the left side just before tjoining with the Cody
Creek and there is the best possibility of catching graylings. The river then grows
wider and wider and the velocity of flow steadily decreases. The water remains
clear, but fishing is reduced to catching pike which can be found in great number.
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Caribou at the Bell River Mouth
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The following part offers only a few good camping-places because sand-banks are
lacking, the shore is muddy and the land is characterized by shrub and marshy meadows.
Five miles above the junction with the Little Porcupine River there is an old Indian
camp used by lumber-jacks from Old Crow with a comfortable hut. Further there are
some cabins, but they are hardly seen from the river and often very desolate, that is
they can’t even be recommended as make-shift beds. From the junction with the Bell
River onwards the velocity of flow increases slightly but the clarity decreases
because the Bell River brings a lot of sediment with it. Thus, there are various
sand-banks which again offer better camping-places. There are even some camps and
cabins partly used on the shore. During late summer and autumn you can find a lot of
caribou in the area between the confluence with the Bell River and Old Crow.
There are not many difficulties when paddling along the whole Porcupine River.
Even if the water-level is extremely low you can choose between many shallow channels
running between a lot of sand-banks..........
THE END
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