Pelly River Upper
The Pelly River in the Yukon Territories is a relatively well known and famous paddling river, most people though only ever paddle the lower river. Only a handful ever venture into the inaccessible upper watershed to paddle the higher reaches of the river.
This year we will be one of these rare groups. We’ll start high in the Selwyn mountains right at the Yukon/NWT border on Summit Lake. This is only 20km from the famous Little Nahanni. It is truly spectacular country. Summit Lake sits at 3600ft elevation with the surrounding mountains rising another 2500ft to 6000. We’ll spend a couple days at this stunning location before beginning our descent. Over the next two weeks we’ll paddle the small creek tributary of the Pelly, the Upper Pelly, and the Middle Pelly, travelling rapidly downstream with only a minimum of portaging as we make our way 280+km through the mountains down to the community of Ross River on the Pelly River. An Alternate ending if we find the upper river slow going would be on the Robert Campbell Hwy, 60km upriver. Rapids in the upper river will be class 2 & 3. In the lower river class 1 & 2.
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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.