Day 1 (July 31) - Flying into Lac Brochet
Day 1 (July 31) - Wasting the day away waiting for our cargo to arrive
Day 1 (July 31) - Loading up for the first time as the storm moves in
Day 2 (Aug 1) - Lac Brochet: Drying clothes after the first wet night
Day 2 (Aug 1) - Lac Brochet: Full canoe on Lac Brochet after a windy crossing
Day 2 (Aug 1) - Lac Brochet: Trever setting up tent in the sphagnum (so comfortable) after being wind bound late in the day.
Day 2 (Aug 1) - Lac Brochet: Alex setting up tent in the sphagnum
Day 2 (Aug 1) - Lac Brochet: Some tea before bed
Day 3 (Aug 2) - Lac Brochet: Colin and Trever in the loaded canoe (before weights were balanced a bit better)
Day 3 (Aug 2) - Bull moose on Cochrane River between Belfie and Remillard Lakes
Day 3 (Aug 2) - Lining up some fast water on the Cochrane River
Day 3 (Aug 2) - Trever fishing on Cochrane at Remillard Lake
Day 3 (Aug 2) - Remillard Lake: Trever and supper on our way up the Cochrane River
Day 3 (Aug 2) - Remillard Lake: Cannibalism. Alex fillets the pike and finds a young in the belly.
Day 4 (Aug 3) - Mist over the Cochrane River first thing in the morning.
Day 4 (Aug 3) - Morning mist over the Cochrane
Day 4 (Aug 3) - Seagulls were never too far off.
Day 4 (Aug 3) - Unnamed lake between Lovell and Smithhouse Lakes on the watershed switch between the Cochrane and the Thlewiaza. Alex trying deal with Colin's 40 lb test line.
Day 5 (Aug 4) - portage while skipping watersheds: Trever with the big barrel (after one strap had already ripped)
Day 5 (Aug 4) - Colin portaging his canoe on one of 8 portages between the two watersheds.
Day 5 (Aug 4) - Alex portaging canoe
Day 5 (Aug 4) - One of the several lakes while hopping watersheds. Canoe tied to caribou antlers.
Day 5 (Aug 4) - Smithhouse Lake: One of the many large eskers along the way
Day 5 (Aug 4) - Alex writing in his journal - South end of Fort Hall Lake. This is where we start heading downstream.
Day 5 (Aug 4) - Trever writing in his journal while Colin prepares tea at south end of Fort Hall Lake.
Day 5 (Aug 4) - Old cabin built into an esker at the south end of Fort Hall Lake
Day 5 (Aug 4) - The remnants of Fort Hall overlooking Thanout Lake
Day 5 (Aug 4) - Colin with an average sized pike.
Day 5 (Aug 4) - River otters above Kasmere falls.
Day 5 (Aug 4) - Country club Alex fishing for supper in dry clothes (after the 2 km portage around Kasmere falls in heavy rain and bugs)
Day 5 (Aug 4) - Trever washing dishes just upstream from Kasmere Lake
Day 6 (Aug 5) - Fishing after lunch on Kasmere Lake
Day 8 (Aug 7) - Checking out the maps before a long line in some beautiful country
Day 8 (Aug 7) - Arctic grayling near some rapids between Sucker and Sandy Lakes
Day 8 (Aug 7) - Alex washes clothes, Trever repairs the broken strap on the big barrel and Colin tidies camp at "the grayling site"
Day 8 (Aug 7) - Preparing tomorrow's bannock lunch
Day 9 (Aug 8) - Bull moose on Tuninili Lake
Day 9 (Aug 8) - A small rock garden we had to squeeze through to get into Nahili Lake.
Day 9 (Aug 8) - Nahili Lake beach where we camped
Day 9 (Aug 8) - Sunset over Nahili Lake
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Colin, Trever, Dan loading up in the morning on Nahili Lake
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Huge wolf track on the portage between Nahili and Nueltin Lake (Alex's hand)
Day 10 (Aug 9) - South wind! Alex sailing up the south end of Nueltin Lake
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Dan ruddering for the sailing, with Colin and Trever in the background (south end of Nueltin Lake)
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Colin and Trever sailing on Nueltin Lake
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Alex's improvised side sail, which allowed us to better cut into a cross-wind
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Beach on Jonsson Island (southern Nueltin Lake). Ragnar Jonsson, a famous hermit had a permanent camp here from 1939-1982.
Day 10 (Aug 9 ) - Jonsson Island
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Monument/gravesite for Ragnar Jonsson, an old hermit that had a camp on the island
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Colin cooking up supper on Jonsson Island
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Alex writing in his journal on beach on Jonsson Island (South Nueltin Lake).
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Trever writing in his journal on Jonsson Island (Nueltin Lake)
Day 10 (Aug 9) - Alex cooking bannock on Jonsson Island (South Nuletin Lake)
Day 11 (Aug 10) - Having a break on Indian Camp Island, right on the Manitoba - Nunavut border
Day 11 (Aug 10) - Colin and Trever looking north from Indian Camp Island
Day 11 (Aug 10) - Den on Indian Camp Island (Nueltin Lake)
Day 11 (Aug 10) - Looking north to the Nueltin Lake narrows.
Day 11 (Aug 10) - Nueltin Lake just past the Nueltin Lake Narrows, where the tundra begins. We camped in trees down by the water.
Day 12 (Aug 11) - A surprise portage. This was all water on the maps. West side of Nueltin Lake
Day 12 (Aug 11) - Old tent ring near Smith Bay (Nueltin Lake)
Day 12 (Aug 11) - Alex wresting a trout with a splinted fishing rod while Colin helps it in. North-west Nueltin lake.
Day 12 (Aug 11) - Large lake trout landed with Colin's help. Nueltin Lake
Day 12 (Aug 11) - Alex and his lake trout. Great supper.
Day 12 (Aug 11) - Campsite on north-west Nueltin Lake
Day 13 (Aug 12) - The first caribou. This one on an island at the north end of Nueltin. All of the sudden, they are everywhere.
Day 13 (Aug 12) - A steady stream of caribou walking north from the vantage point of our small island campsite (north Nueltin Lake)
Day 13 (Aug 12) - Sunset on north end of Nueltin Lake
Day 14 (Aug 13) - Going for a walk on our day off. North end of Nueltin
Day 14 (Aug 13) - Trever and Colin checking out the caribou. Island campsite in background. Nueltin Lake.
Day 14 (Aug 13) - Alex and the caribou.
Day 14 (Aug 13) - Dan, Colin, Trever, Alex at the top of a hill at the north end of Nueltin Lake on our day off.
Day 14 (Aug 13) - Caribou on the horizon off Nueltin Lake
Day 14 (Aug 13) - Bull caribou comes right up to us (Nueltin Lake)
Day 15 (Aug 14) - Colin and Trever coming in after a long day on the northern section of the Thlewiaza
Day 15 (Aug 14) - Waiting for supper to cook, first night past Nueltin Lake
Day 16 (Aug 15) - Scouting a rapid
Day 16 (Aug 15) - Colin, Alex, Trever scouting rapids
Day 16 (Aug 15) - Hiding from the rain for a morning snack break.
Day 16 (Aug 15) - Dan with a caribou skull he found on a miserable rainy windy day.
Day 16 (Aug 15) - A family of ptarmigans
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Colin and Trever scouting a nasty rapid (Portage Rapids)
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Wet Trever at Portage Rapids
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Dan and Alex lining Portage Rapids
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Dan and Alex lining along Portage Rapids.
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Alex at Portage Rapids
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Colin and Trever running part of Portage Rapids
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Alex and Dan running part of Portage Rapids.
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Alex with the ultimate lunch - blueberry bannock and cinnamon spread
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Lunch spot on a cold windy day
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Alex collects nice shed caribou antler
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Trever and Colin running a rapid
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Dan and Alex running a rapid
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Alex at the bottom of a rapid
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Trever, Colin, Alex waiting for supper to cook.
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Robin Hood Colin
Day 17 (Aug 16) - View of river and campsite from a large esker. A black bear wandered into camp while Alex and I were exploring.
Day 17 (Aug 16) - Beautiful esker up river from Edehon Lake.
Day 18 (Aug 17) - Cores at a mining exploration camp on Edehon Lake.
Day 18 (Aug 17) - Sunset over Edehon Lake
Day 18 (Aug 17) - Sunset over Edehon Lake.
Day 19 (Aug 18) - Alex
Day 19 (Aug 18) - Trever stretches on big boulder while Colin and Alex eat lunch
Day 19 (Aug 18) - Truly the barrens. Several miles past Edehon Lake.
Day 20 (Aug 19) - Small beach campsite after a beautiful day (N60.49 W96.15)
Day 20 (Aug 19) - Black flies through Alex's bug net.
Day 20 (Aug 19) - The mantis tent saved us when the bugs got bad.
Day 20 (Aug 19) - Colin stokes fire.
Day 21 (Aug 20) - "Holly shit there's a polar bear" says Colin. Polar bear in the water after swimming across river. This is still 100 km up river from the Bay.
Day 21 (Aug 20) - Hiding from the bugs (N60.43, W95.61)
Day 21 (Aug 20) - Sunset over the river
Day 21 (Aug 20) - Alex lets a bowl get away while washing dishes while Dan looks on.
Day 22 (Aug 21) - Dan tries to untangle a rats nest before just cutting it all off.
Day 22 (Aug 21) - Caribou highways near the Thlewiaza / Tha-Anne delta
Day 23 (Aug 22) - Foggy morning near the bay
Day 23 (Aug 22) - Foggy morning near the Bay
Day 23 (Aug 22) - Alex prepares some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.
Day 23 (Aug 22) - Colin and Trever in the fog as we get nearer the Bay.
Day 23 (Aug 22) - Dan and Alex in the fog.
Day 23 (Aug 22) - Dan and Alex
Day 23 (Aug 22) - Tundra swan near the delta
Day 23 (Aug 22) - Finally the Bay! An old cabin marks the spot of our pickup.
Day 24 (Aug 23) - Caribou grazes near our tents at the Bay.
Day 24 (Aug 23) - Sign pointing to Arviat with some Inuktitut writing
Day 24 (Aug 23) - Belgua vertebrae on the coast
Day 24 (Aug 23) - Wasting a day away waiting for a boat pickup at an old cabin at the mouth of the Thlewiaza
Day 24 (Aug 23) - Alex trying to call for our pickup, but having troubles with reception, batteries, and no one picking up at the other end (we're in the cabin because of the noise from the strong wind outside).
Day 24 (Aug 23) - "Wait a minute, those aren't caribou". To our surprise, 4 ATV's showed up to pick us up, as the weather forecasted winds for several days.
Day 24 (Aug 23) - Loading the canoes on a small ATV trailer
Day 24 (Aug 23) - One of the many breaks on the 80 km ride from the river to Arviat.
Day 24 (Aug 23) - Another break on the ride back
Day 24 (Aug 23) - One of the dozens of times we got stuck in the mud.
Day 25 (Aug 24) - After leaving our gear on the tundra for the night (didn't get in until 1:00AM) Donny and Michael brought the trailer back the next day.
Day 25 (Aug 24) - Cleaning our gear in Arviat after the quad ride.
Day 27 (Aug 26) - The final portage from the train station in Thompson to the vehicles.
Map of route
