Liard River Upper
The Upper Liard River, of the Pelly and Cassier Mountains, is a classic mountain wilderness canoe trip. Starting high in the Mountains at the Caribou Lakes, the rive winds its way south for 250km to the Alaska Highway near the famous Liard Hot Spring. After shuttling from Whitehorse to the float plane base the trip begins with a spectacular flight through the mountains to the headwaters. We’ll spend the 1st night camped on this spectacular lake and then our paddling trip begins. At the start the creek out of Caribou Lake is only a small stream, just wide enough for a canoe. Once in the Liard itself though the river widens and braids, creating a shallow, easy, clearwater river in which we will paddle and float for ten days. For those who like, the fishing is excellent. You can literally float over pools and see the arctic grayling or bull trout below you.
In August the weather should be warm and relatively dry (the Yukon only receives 13 inches of rain annually). It’s like an Arctic desert, but surrounded by mountains covered with spruce, willow, birch and aspen, and bugs are minimal to non existent. In August we may get northern lights.
In the event that the Yukon does not open for outsiders the Back-up alternate trip for Liard will be:
Natashquan River
This Quebec north shore river provides a rugged scenic trip, akin to the Moisie but easier.
The river contains many class 1 & 2 rapids
There are a half dozen portages around chutes and waterfalls, but all these carries are short and most of them are near the end of the trip. The trip starts with a bush plane flight in from the village of Natashquan into km 280 on the river. From here we will paddle south back to the St Lawrence.
Dates and Costs would be the same.
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I'm Shawn Hodgins, owner and chief guide of Wanapitei Canoe & Northern Outdoor Expeditions.I've been guiding our trips since the late 1970s and have been heading up the company since 1985. I continue to guide a number of trips each season and still plan all of our adventures myself. Each year I try and plan a few new and exciting trips that are off the beaten path. This is one of the best parts of the job—apart from actually going on the trips of course!If you have any questions, let us know. When I’m not out on the water, I'll personally try to help you.