Good Books

The definitive book on the Kazan River is The Kazan, A Journey Into An Emerging Land, edited by David Pelly and Christopher Hanks. This book is a must read if you plan to paddle this river. It tells the story of the birth of Inuit Ku as the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated some 7000 to 8000 years ago, describes the intertwinings of the Dene, the Inuit, the explorers, and the caribou, and describes the beauty of the unique flora and fauna, in what is now, a lonely and silent land.

There is a good article about the Kazan River in Canoeing Canadas Northwest Territories: A Paddlers Guide, edited by Mary McCreadie, and in it you will learn much about the river. As well, much information can be obtained from the Nunavut Tourism Ofice. If you call the office, be sure to ask for a copy of the descriptive brochure put out about the Kazan River by Canada Heritage River Systems.

The Caribou Inuit were first brought to the widespread attention of Canadians by Farley Mowat's highly controversial books, People of the Deer, and The Desperate People. Lynda and I had made two other canoe trips into the taiga of Nunavut's southern reaches, at the north end of Nueltin Lake. These trips had been largely motivated by reading P. G. Downes' classic book Sleeping Island. This book recounts Downes' 1939 canoe trip with John Albrecht, from Brochet at the north end of Reindeer Lake, to visit the sites of the fur trade posts at which these Inuit had traded.

Season

This river runs from south to north, so you can start on ice-free waters and quickly paddle your way to solid ice if you aren't careful. Many notes, at the cairn at Kazan Falls, tell of groups who spent a week, or more, waiting for open water. Starting toward the end of the first week in July is usually a safe bet, but before leaving, phone Baker Lake or Kasba Lake Lodge, and check on how break-up is progressing. Fall comes early in Nunavut, and you should plan on being off of the river by about mid-August unless you want to battle the ever-possible early snow and ice. Be ready to fight lots of wind, and plan for it in your food. We were 26 days on the Kazan but had food for 35 days.

Essentials

It is our feeling that a covered canoe is mandatory on subarctic rivers, not just for the rapids, but as well to allow an extra degree of safety on big lakes where high wind seems to be a daily occurrence. On cold days, a spray deck is also a blessed relief to keep you warm.

We also carry a Personal Locator Beacon, and a VHF radio. The former is like the locator used to rescue a downed aircraft, and the latter allows us to talk to airplanes in case of trouble. As well, we each carry a Silva Ranger compass, and these are put to good use in crossing the many big lakes we encounter. I also carry a GPS, but I don't use it much for navigating. I find that it is better suited to confirm my exact location when I am making a critical change of direction on a big lake, and I prefer to use the compass for point-to-point navigating. The other function of the GPS is, of course, to allow me to re-orient myself if we ever become hopelessely lost. This hasn't happened to us yet, but if it does I am familiar with the GPS, and understand how to read the U.T.M. (Universal Transverse Mercator) co-ordinates of my topographic maps. Do yourselves a favour if you aren't familiar with U.T.M, learn it now! This is a far better system, than latitude / longitude for locating precise position on topographic maps.

Of course, a good first aid kit is indispensable, and ours got a good work out last year. I ended up with an abscessed molar, and was in real rough shape for three days until the antibiotics I had began to work. Without the antibiotics, it is quite possible I would have needed to be flown out. Last but not least, make sure your trip is logged with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Baker Lake, and be sure to deregister when you get there.

Transportation

We shipped our canoe and gear to Points North Landing in northern Saskatchewan with Ridsdale Transport. From here it was flown into Kasba Lake on a Points North Air DC-3 freight plane. Lynda and I arrived at Kasba Lake aboard one of Kasba Lake Lodge's twice weekly charter airplanes from Winnipeg. Alternatively, you could drive to Points North Landing, and charter a float plane to Kasba Lake, or you could drive to Lynn Lake, Manitoba, and charter a float plane from La Ronge Aviation. A group of Danish paddlers we met had flown with Canadian North to Baker Lake, and had arranged with Baker Lake Lodge to charter a Twin Otter on tundra tires to drop them at Angikuni Lake to start their trip.

Kasba Lake Lodge has canoes for rent, and with a Beaver airplane for charter on site, provides a convenient location to start and end many canoe trips in the area. Horizons Unlimited has canoes for rent at Points North Landing and can arrange a guided trip on the Kazan River. Maps can be bought from World of Maps in Ottawa.

Two scheduled air companies service Baker Lake  Canadian North and Skyward Aviation. Candian North can take you directly to Winnipeg, and Skyward Aviation can take you to Churchill where you can take the train, the infamous "Polar Bear Express", to points south. Skyward Aviation offers a better fare for cash payment, but cash is a hard commodity to get in Baker Lake so take sufficient funds with you if you plan to use this option. Your canoe can be taken out of Baker Lake on a plane, as room permits, or if time permits, you can send it with Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL), by barge, to Churchill, where it can be interlined with the train and a trucking company. NTCL can easily arrange all the interlines for you, and they provide a much more economical way of getting your canoe home than does air transport.

We stayed at Baker Lake Lodge for 2 days after our trip, and the hospitality of Boris and Liz Kotelewetz comes highly recommended. Boris also handled all the details of getting our canoe onto the barge for us.

North Star Tours' staff, in Churchill, can arrange everything from hotel rooms to train tickets, and have a staff that is knowledgeable about what canoeists need.

Phone Numbers

Ridsdale Transport, Saskatoon, SASK. (306) 668-9200

Points North Landing, SASK. 306-633-2137

Kasba Lake Lodge, Parksville, BC. 800-663-8641

La Ronge Aviation, Lynn Lake, MAN. (204) 356-2457

Baker Lake Lodge (867) 793-2905

Canadian North (800) 665-1177 (Canada), (800) 426-7000 (U.S.)

Skyward Aviation (800) 476-1873 (Canada), (867)645-3200 (U.S.) North Star Tours (204) 675-2852

Northern Transportation Co Ltd (204) 675-2378

Horizons Unlimited Canoe Outfitting (306) 635-4420

World of Maps (613) 724-6776

Maps

1:250,000 Canadian National Topographical Survey (NTS) Maps required:

Snowbird Lake 65D	Ennadai Lake 65C
Ennadai Lake 65F	Kamilukuak Lake 65K
Tulemalu Lake 65J	Feguson Lake 65I
Thirty Mile Lake 65P	MacQuoid Lake 55M
Baker Lake 56D

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