July 2, 2023: Nahanni National Park Reserve

We made it to Nahanni National Park Reserve - Nahʔą Dehé, Dehcho First Nations!

It was looking optimistic at breakfast, after which two of our guides and lots of gear was flown in on the first flight. We hung out at the inn, ate lunch, and then mid-afternoon were ready for our take-off when the plane returned. The wind was very strong, blowing whitecaps against the river current, and many of us were skeptical, but we took off.  

Mark and I saw this dog driven by in this boat, in the back of the truck, three times the day before. And then we saw him again, parked nearby. I guess he just likes hanging out in his boat, in his truck.

Being buffeted by the wind while readying for take-off

Miles was fine for the first half of the flight, but once we got into the mountains there was a lot of turbulence, like a very long rollercoaster ride, and Miles lost his lunch - "and my breakfast too!" But he made it into the bag every time.

Before the rollercoaster...

Braided channels

The meandering river course. 

The Nahanni is an antecedent river, with a meandering course established on a long-ago flat plain, before the land rose to form mountains. The river continued to cut its existing course down through the mountains, forming deep, winding canyons.

Winding canyons of the Nahanni

After our "surprise appetizer" for the group of our favourite Comté cheese and olives (carefully toted from Toronto) Miles bounced back, and we all went for a walk to the top of the falls. Miles was in awe of the power of the water and the beauty of the cliffs - "Just take it all in!" 

Nahanni National Park Reserve was the first site in the world to be granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1978, in recognition of its natural beauty and significant representations of ongoing geologic processes. "The South Nahanni River is one of the most spectacular wild rivers in North America, with deep canyons, huge waterfalls, and spectacular karst terrain, cave systems and hot springs. In Nahanni National Park, there is exceptional representation of on-going geological processes, notably fluvial erosion, tectonic uplift, folding and canyon development, wind erosion, karst and pseudo-karst landforms, and a variety of hot springs. The major geologic and geomorphologic features provide a combination of geological processes that are globally unique." [UNESCO World Heritage] 

Virginia Falls - Náįlįcho seems far more dramatic than Niagara Falls, and it should, being twice the height (96 m - 30 storeys), and having incredibly powerful rapids leading up to the drop before splitting around Mason's rock. 100 millions tonnes of water fall every day.

Looking upriver - you can see the water starting to get rough

Sluice Box Rapids




Mason's rock

We had a later dinner of burgers (again - after the first night at the Lady Slipper and then also the Canada Day lunch), salad, and Digestive cookies for desert, watched closely by the squirrels (they look like large chipmunks) and whiskey jacks (grey jays). Then, to bed in our tent, which started off warm, but was quite cold by morning - I tossed on many of my layers once I was out of the sleeping bag when I got up.

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