The Snare River – 1977
The Snare River is located in the MacKenzie District in the Northwest Territories. Northeast of Great Slave Lake, this 375 kilometre river moves southwest in a river-lake pattern and ends at the town of Rae. The headwaters are northwest of Jolly Lake about 160 k’s from Yellowknife. The first section of the Snare flows NNW to Winter Lake and is a series of small interconnected lakes.
We flew from Toronto to Yellowknife and stayed at the Explorer Hotel to await pick-up by a Twin Otter and Beaver for our trip to the put-in point. Destination – Winter Lake.
Two members of the team tell their stories about the Snare.
The Snare River by Ian Urquhart
Unlike the Nahanni, the Coppermine and the Thelon/Hanbury, the Snare is not one of the famous canoeing rivers in the Northwest Territories. But it has its own unique history and it certainly proved to be challenging enough for our party back in 1977. There were six of us, an eclectic group, all of whom shared a love of canoeing and the wild. More..
Snare River Diary by Tim Kotcheff
We landed in rain and falling temperatures, unloaded, and paddled down to the chosen campsite just above first set of rapids. We explored the beautiful surrounding landscape which is considered to be semi barren lands. The fishing was superb. Peter Stollery brought in 3 grayling cleaned and prepared for breakfast. Lots of antlers and bear tracks. More..
On the Snare River – July 1977
L-R: Tim Kotcheff, Ian Urquhart, Craig Oliver, Peter Stollery, Michael Sainsbury, Jean Pelletier (seated)