Northwest Territories Road Trip July 16-22, 2006

This was a road trip that I took with my Dad and brother.  It wasn't a hike but a week long adventure where we drove from Southern Alberta to Edmonton to Hay River NWT to Fort Simpson NWT.  Then flew to the Nahanni National Park then back to Fort Simpson then drove to Yellowknife.  It was a path less traveled by.  It was a fun trip and we saw some awesome stuff.  Along the drive north between the Alberta/NWT border which is the 60th parallel you hit many waterfalls, that are just breath taking, from there till Fort Simpson.  Then at Fort Simpson you see the Mackenzie River meet up with the Liard River.  From there we flew by float plane to the Nahanni National Park where we flew over and hiked around Virginia falls which is almost 100 meters tall and just amazing.  It is such an awesome site and pictures will never do justice at the awesome site this is to behold.  From there we flew up to the Cirque of the Unclimbables which is a world famous cluster of mountains that are known for rock climbing.  Then we flew back and touched down on another lake before coming back to Fort Simpson.  From there we drove to Yellowknife and spent a couple days touring around there.  It was an awesome man trip and we all had a blast.

Had to stop and get a picture of this

Alexandra Falls pretty impressive

Close up of David at Alexandra Falls

Louise Falls

At Hay River on the banks of the Great Slave Lake, almost like being on an ocean

We saw this giant golden eagle in Hay River

Lady Evelyn Falls

This gives some perspective of how far north we were

Sombe Dhe Falls

Sombe Dhe Falls again

That my brother on the right to give a little perspective of the size of this waterfall

At Fort Simpson at where the Liard meets the Mackenzie River.  It looks like a lake behind us but it is two rivers

On our flight tour, those are the Mackenzie mountains coming up

Flying through the Nahanni gorge to Virginia Falls

Virginia Falls that waterfall is almost 100 meters tall

We flew around it a few times and then landed above the falls

Shot from the side

Couldn't get the whole falls in the picture like I wanted

We hiked down to the base but ran out of time to get closer

Picture of me with the falls, remember that is almost a 100 meter drop behind me

Beautiful sites along our flight

More stuff we saw along the flight

In the summer you can actually do rafting trips down this river, it is something I'd love to do one day because you can raft almost all day because the days have almost 24 hours of sunshine this far north

Check out that winding river

Glacier just west of the Cirque of the Unclimables

This is Mt. Harrison Smith in the Cirque of the Unclimables

Me on the banks of Glacier Lake below Mt. Harrison Smith

Our last stop on the tour was Little Doctor Lake and boy was it calm and beautiful there

Sun set (at like midnight) on the Mackenzie River

Coral Falls just north of Sombe Dhe Falls

This is what the forest looks like around Yellowknife, kind of reminds me of the trees in the Dr. Seuss books

Cameron Falls 

Dad standing in Cameron Falls

Giant Mine an old gold mine that had an explosion years before where employees who had crossed picket lines were killed by a explosion set off by a disgruntled union representative.

The oldest restaurant in Yellowknife the Wild Cat Cafe!

Went fishing outside Yellowknife and this is the fish my dad caught!