You step onto the floatplane, strap into your seat and the engines fire up. You lift off the water and take one last look at civilization outside your window. The town of Fort Smith disappears and it’s the last time in two weeks you see anyone who’s not already on the plane with you.
For 12 days, you will paddle your canoe through transitional landscapes, where the boreal forest turns to tundra. You will navigate traditional Dene routes and drink from the very waters that carry you. You will pass muskoxen grazing just off riverbanks or, if you’re lucky, wolves rearing pups around their dens. You will walk barefoot on white sand beaches near old-growth spruce. You will crest hills and feel as if you can see to the ends of the earth. This and more awaits on a life-affirming, 100-kilometre journey with Jackpine Paddle into Canada’s newest national park, Thaidene Nene – Chipewyan for “Land of our Ancestors”.
It all begins when the plane lands near Sled Creek, almost two hours northeast by air from Fort Smith. Jackpine Paddle’s expert guides, including company founder Dan Wong who has led the journey several times, will help organize the gear and canoes. After crossing a series of small lakes and a couple manageable rapids on Sled Creek, you arrive at Eileen Lake, a beautiful water body blessed with an abundance of beaches and deep bays. Here, you can hike the hilly terrain and soak up an endless horizon of Canadian Shield, tundra and water, unblemished by any traces of manmade structures.
