Inuvik (Aug 22/03) - Looking a little bit ragged, muddy and river-worn a group of eight young people pulled ashore in Inuvik last Saturday night, after a journey of 48 days on the water.

The group are from a summer camp for young people either finishing high school, or just starting university in Ontario.

"Every summer, a group of lucky individuals does a trip in the Northwest Territories and in the Yukon," said Luky Corfu, a guide on the trip.

The group set out from Mayo in the Yukon, paddling up the Beaver River, then portaged to the high point of land at Elliot Lake.

"From there, we paddled down the Heart River, through the majestic Werneke and Ogilvie Mountains and into the Peel River," she said.

They paddled down the Peel, hiked around the Aberdeen Canyon portage, back into the Peel and then into the Mackenzie River.

"We got into Fort McPherson about four days ago," Corfu said. "Now here we are in Inuvik, 48 days later."

Before setting out, the group planned their itinerary and arrived on the exact day they had planned in Inuvik.

A couple bears were spotted along the way, as well as moose and caribou. Save for a little rain, they had good weather along the way.

"We had a few bitter cold days, but it wasn't too bad," she said. "We had lots of really beautiful sun and nice, clear sky weather as well."

They said the bugs were tolerable, but seemed to follow the group along the river, right to the end of the trip.

"They were pretty good the whole way through, but we thought they'd end as we came further North," Corfu laughed.

They carried their food along with them, mostly dried stores of pasta, beans, lentils and rice.

"We fished a little bit and we had good food," she said.

An outfitter from Inuvik met the group here on Sunday and drove them down the Dempster to Whitehorse where they will catch their flights back to their homes in Ontario and Nova Scotia.