The Spectacular Nahanni National Park
Trip Start
Sep 13, 2008
1
13
15
Trip End
Oct 04, 2008
Nahanni National Park, Northwest Territories, Canada
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Due to the parks remoteness it is only accessible by air. After a great deal of research we decided to fly with Simpson Air. Simpson Air is operated by Ted Grant and are based in Fort Simpson. They have a wealth of experience when it comes to the Nahanni National Park.
We arrived at Simpson Air's base in Fort Simpson at 09:15 and were greeted by Pam our Pilot for the day and Ted the owner and operator. A quick check of the weather and we were driven down to the Mackenzie River air terminal. We boarded our plane a Cessna 208 floatplane and were off.
On take off we flew over Fort Simpson and south west towards the park. Pam our pilot informed us that the park is around 250 Km from Fort Simpson and would take us just over an hour to get there. Our first port of call was Little Doctor Lake.
Little Doctor lake was beautiful set between the Nahanni Range on one side and forest on the other. We landed pulled the plane up onto the beach before setting off to explore the area. A Log Cabin had been constructed many years before by Gus and Mary Kraus. Gus a gold prospector and Mary a native had lived inside the Nahanni national park and were relocated when the park was give UNESCO World Heritage status in 1971. The cabin now owned by Simpson Air is run as a remote fishing and hunting retreat. The views from the beach in front of the cabin are breath taking.
On leaving Little Doctor Lake we flew between the mountains at the other end of the lake and into the Nahanni national park. Once in the park we flew over the Ram Plateau where the weather started to change. Thick cloud hung over the mountains and visibility was reduced. On arriving at Canyon One we were unable to proceed any further towards Virginia Falls. At this point Pam decided to head back to Fort Simpson, much to our disappointment.
Once back in Fort Simpson Pam and Ted checked the weather reports and suggested we return in a couple of hours to see if the weather cleared up. At 14:30 we returned to find that the weather hadn't changed. The only option remaining was to give it another go first thing in the morning. With our fingers crossed we headed back to the B&B.
