Day 00 The adventures starts with your flight to Norman Wells a remote oil town established by Imperial Oil in 1919 on the banks of the mighty Mackenzie River. Participants need to arrive in Norman Wells on day one of the Mountain River itinerary.

A second option is to arrive the day before the trip starts if you wish to check out the town, its unique visitor’s center or rest off some jet lag. Let us know when you are arriving and we can meet you at the airport. We can offer suggestions for accommodation in Norman Wells.

Day 02
With rafts inflated and packed we will shove off after a hearty breakfast and feel the surge of the river beneath our rafts. With the use of oars the guides will keep the rafts floating in the deeper water while everyone keeps their eyes peeled for wildlife on the slopes above the river’s willow covered banks. This is moose country. Last year, rounding a bend we surprised a cow and calf on a small island. Our group was in awe with this close encounter. The cow, bristling, stood as tall as a thoroughbred, her young calf darting back and forth between her legs. Further on we move through the transition zone of willow into a mature conifer forest than boarders the river and spreads out over lower elevations. As the peaks around us close in upon the valley a canyons are formed at river level. In the afternoon we will float the first two of the Mountain Rivers 7 canyons. The rocky walls offer good nesting for raptors. Further excitement was created in 2003 with eerie calls of a gyrfalcon in second canyon. Camp this night will be at the confluence with Black Feather Creek from the Willow Handle Lake access from the south.

Day 03
The Mountain River has now doubled its flow and races through the Sayunei Range. Large alluvial fans open up the country and provide vegetation and berries that are popular with bears. Today we will make good time as the river races toward the colourful Ten Stone Range. We will stop for lunch at Shale Creek flowing in from a lake of the same name from the north. Over the years Shale Creek has been one of the better fishing tributaries. Fishermen in the group will have the opportunity to add some grayling and Dolly Varden trout to our dinner. Pushing on through the afternoon the Ten Stone Range looms high above the river. Ridges dipping into the valley display uncommon rock sections of faded purple and gold. In the evening we will camp at what has become known as the Moonscapes. In the evening we will have the option of exploring them on foot. The Moonscapes are an unusual plot of pot marked land that boarders the west side of the river and reaches back with a circumference of more than a mile. Up on the Moonscapes one finds an unusual grey and weather worn soil, almost devoid of vegetation.
So foreign is this land that many a group has spent hours trying to unravel the puzzle it presents. A landslide is what most groups’ consider most plausible. However the source cannot be found. The most likely theory, which came from an associate guide, is that the Moonscape is actually a collapsed tufa mound. The soil closely resembles calcium carbonate. The lack of nitrogen in these elements explains the near absents of vegetation. There are other active warm springs with subsequent tufa mounds just a few kilometers down stream. Anyone visiting the Moonscape will find the area similarly puzzling. Unusual wildlife encounters have been had at the Moonscape. Once a red fox inquisitively walked right up to us. Another time we shared the open land with a wandering bull caribou that showed little concern over our presence.