Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (July 26/99) - The Coppermine River has long been considered an ideal destination for canoeing and kayaking adventurists from around the world.

For a group of eight canoeists from New England, however, a recent trip to the Coppermine proved to be a disappointing experience.

"The water level on the river was too high," said Jeff Asher from Yonkers, N.Y. "It was right up into the bushes above the shoreline.

"We didn't know that the water would be that high. We knew that spring had been late this year. We were actually more worried about encountering ice."

The group had set out for the Coppermine River on July 4 from Obstruction Rapids, which feeds into Point Lake. After paddling more than 161 kilometres up the lake to reach the river's mouth, it did not take long for the group to realize that something was wrong.

"We came to the narrows at the river's entrance and we saw that the river was much higher than it should have been," said another member of the expedition, Kathie Armstrong.

"We thought that we would be able to run the whole set of rapids but, because of the high water and the bushes at the shore, we couldn't get to land so we could sight the river. We were forced to portage over a point of land that was very buggy and swampy."

The party continued on to the next set of rapids, which were much larger and dangerous because of the increased volume of water and knew that their trip was over.

"We anticipated portaging three times on the whole trip," said Chet Harvey who, at 77 years, is the oldest member on the expedition.

"That would have been late on the journey, where we would have less to carry, but then we saw that we would have to do 11 additional portages.

"We're an older group and it would have been much too difficult. I've learned that most injuries on canoe trips occur over land."

Some members of the expedition, including Harvey, Armstrong and Asher are no stranger to wilderness adventures in the North. The three, including Asher's wife Reed, completed a trip up the Nahanni River two years earlier. This trip, however, would not be as successful as the last.

After reaching the second set of rapids on the Coppermine, the party soon realized that going further would mean not being able to get a plane to come in if a rescue was needed. Dejected, the group decided to head back the way they came in.

Paddling for more than two days, the party reached a high point above Rocknest Lake, where they could radio their charter, Air Tindi, to come and pick them up.

"It's a gamble, you take your chances," Asher said. The group figured that they had paid approximately $1,700 Canadian each, not including supplies and lodging, only to have their hopes for a dream trip dashed.

"It was a great disappointment," said Armstrong. "We wanted to see the famous Coppermine, with the hills, tundra and wildlife, but I guess we never will see it."

Dale Ross, manager of water surveys NWT/Nunavut area, contends that this year's water levels on the Coppermine are much higher than normal.

"The Coppermine River is experiencing extremely high water levels right now," Ross said. "We're about a half metre above the July average."

The Coppermine is at its second highest water levels since records began being kept in 1963. The highest was in 1984.

According to Alex Buchan, manager for wildlife and fisheries with the Department of Sustainable Development, Nunavut, Asher and company were not the only ones to find this year's trip of the Coppermine a less than pleasurable experience.

"We did a patrol to Bloody Falls," Buchan said. "It seemed about three to four feet above normal.

"We actually met the first group coming in up the river and the cloudy, damp weather had made their trip miserable. It's been an unenjoyable summer all-around."

"Touring with a group who spent a lot of psychic energy, time and money and realizing that we probably wouldn't make it back to the river in our lifetime was very difficult for our group," said Asher.