Tsichu-Keele Rivers (Yukon Territory, Canada)
Rising at the top of the world just off Mac Pass the little known and rarely traveled Tsichu River starts at the Yukon/NWT border and flows nonstop down to where it joins with the Keele R. Continuing its rapid descent the Keele joins with the Natla and then the Twitya before finally emptying out into the historic Mackenzie River. Paddling right from the top down to the Mackenzie, and beyond, our trip will drop almost 3000ft over the course of the canoe trip.
We meet in Whitehorse, Yukon and end in Norman Wells, NWT. The trip starts either with a drive from Whitehorse up the Historic Canol Pipeline Road to MacMillan Pass, an epic and historic journey in itself, or if that route is impassable with a float plane trip from Finlayson Lake into the River. If we drive it will be up the Canol Road to the end of the ‘passable road and then our gear will be shuttled the final 10km by 4×4 while we spend a half day hiking the Historic Canol Trail. At mile 222 we will start our paddling journey on the very upper reaches of the Tsichu River. If we fly it will be by charter float plane into a small lake just off the river.
In either case the river at the top, high in the mountains is a fairly small creek only 10ft or so across. As it moves quickly downriver its size increases.
During the 1st week that we will spend on the Tsichu we will travel down exciting narrow, steep and twisty class 2 (and some class 3) rapids, it will be a great fun ride! By the time we reach the confluence with the Keele the Tsichu is a fair sized river. After the confluence with the Natla the river again doubles in size. The next few days on the Natla/Keele are made up of fast current and enjoyable class 2 rapids down to the confluence with the Twitya. We will continue on for another week down the main Keele to the mighty Mackenzie through miles and miles of swifts, R1s and R2s. Once on the Mackenzie we will be met by float plane where the paddling trip end and transported to Norman Wells.
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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.