Rat-Bell-Porcupine Rivers: Fort McPherson to Old Crow (21 days / 460 km)
This trip is the historical route between the communities of Fort McPherson and Old Crow during the summer. It’s about 140 km up the Rat River, across the continental divide and MacDougal Pass into the Yukon River Watershed, down the Little Ball and Bell Rivers, into the Porcupine River.
Although not easy, and throwing several challenges at us, this trip turned out to be very memorable and going upriver proved challenging, but was more enjoyable then we thought it would be.
We did this trip from July 28th to August 19th2013, and it was an incredible journey. We were a group of 6 paddlers with 2 dogs in 3 different canoes: 2 Nova Craft Prospector 18 Royalex and one Nova Craft Prospector 17 Royalex, all with spraydecks. The water of the Rat was very cold, and murky for most of the trip, likely due to the heavy rains that we received early on the journey. The Little Bell and Bell Rivers were crystal clear and extremely cold, while the porcupine was slightly murky, but much warmer.
We kept going passed Old Crow by going down the Porcupine and Yukon Rivers to the Dalton Highway in Alaska. You can find information about that portion of the journey in another report.
Trip Completed: July/August 2013
Trip Summary
Location: Northwest Territories and Yukon
Traditional Territory: This route takes place on the traditional territory of the Tetlit Gwich’in and Vuntut Gwitchin First Nations.
Maps & Resources
Guidebook: A Guide to Paddling in the Yukon, Wild Rivers of the Yukon’s Peel Watershed.
Map: I use the Canada Topo app for all my river trips, which is a free app (on iphones) which uses the original topo maps of Canada. You download the maps of your route before departing, and you can use them on your phone (or ipad) while out on your trip just like you would use a regular GPS.
Permits & Reservations
Campsite Reservations / Permits: No permits or reservations are required.
Know Before You Go
Season: This route is very demanding, although with patience and the right set of skills, it is not overly technical. The Rat is well known to have gnarly floods when there are heavy rain events, and we got to experience this for ourselves. Doing it earlier would mean being more likely to have higher water levels, which would make it challenging. Later in the season could be spectacular with the colours starting to change, but also more likely to encounter cold weather, which would be challenging while lining upstream.
The First Nations of Fort McPherson were very generous and happy to share their knowledge about the river with us, which was a huge help before heading out on the journey. They spend lots of time on the land and will be able to let you know if there are any major changes you should know about in the area.
We did not have dry suits for this journey, and we considered ourselves lucky to not have encountered colder weather while lining up the Rat. We did not expect to have to spend so much time in the water, but the cut banks on the first couple of days of lining made it impossible to stay on dry land most of the time, and we ended up being in waist-deep water several times a day. Without the warm weather outside, we would have been freezing. That and some solid, good-quality river shoes are key to success when going up the Rat.
The Bell and Porcupine Rivers are slow-moving and easy to navigate.
Cell Reception: No cell reception
Water: The water was murky and cold on the Rat, crystal clear and very cold on the Little Bell and Bell, while murky and warm on the Porcupine. We never drank directly from the river, but would always boil the water and didn’t run into any issues.
Wildlife: I would not consider any wildlife to be a problem on this trip, there are black and grizzly bears in the region as well as moose, caribou and Dall sheep.
Waste: This is a remote route with no facilities
Outfitters & Shuttles
Outfitter: We did not use an outfitter for this trip. We had started this trip 3 weeks before on the Hart, but you can start the trip easily by driving to Fort McPherson. The more technical part is when you get to Old Crow if you want to bring your canoe back.
Shuttle: You can drive to Fort McPherson on the Dempster Highway, which is a long but wonderful drive. Several outfitters offer shuttle services either from Whitehorse or Dawson City.
The bigger hiccup is once you arrive in Old Crow. It’s a fly-in community, so getting a canoe out from there is pricey. Most people either sell their boat in town or do like we did and paddle on for another couple of weeks. (You can read about that other portion in another trip report). Air North has regular flights in and out of Old Crow which are affordable if you don’t have a boat with you.
Trip Report
Day 1: Fort McPherson to Camp 1 (33 km)
We were dropped off at the river from the Territorial campground by the local elder early in the morning. It was pouring rain and quite cold, but the spirits were high after spending 3 days in Fort McPherson. This section of the Peel to reach the Rat is very mellow, so there was no stress, and we were all just excited to see what was coming.
As the day went on, the sky opened up. We entered Husky Channel (the side channel of the Peel where the Rat comes in) with no wind and clear skies. Suddenly we heard lots of splashing across the channel.
We went to take a look to realize it was all giant inconnu jumping around. They are a huge species of white fish that live in the northern rivers and lakes throughout the north. After trying for about an hour without success, we finally managed to catch a few and had a feist. We even smoked some and ate inconnu for the following two days. We stopped to camp not long after, in a small grassy bay.
Campsite: Small grassy bay just in front of an old fishing camp. The shores of the Peel are quite muddy, so it was nice to find a flat grassy area to camp on with plenty of space for everyone.
| Total Distance | 33 km |
Day 2: Camp 1 to Destruction City (Camp 2) (55 km)
Today started like it ended the day before, blue skies without a breath of wind. We were surprised that the bugs weren’t worse. As we started paddling, the clouds started coming in. We got to the mouth of the Rat at about 5 pm, and being used to having late starts and late finishes to our days, we decided to push on instead of taking advantage of the flat ground of a fishing camp.
This was a mistake. We knew we could paddle against the current for the first 30 km or so of our journey up the Rat, but we hadn’t thought about the fact that it probably also meant that there would be nowhere to camp. To add to that, it started pouring rain, and the temperature dropped rapidly.
Within about an hour, we were drenched and starting to get cold. That section of the river meanders through a giant wetland with thick bushes all along the edges of the water. We couldn’t even stop to stretch our legs. We paddled for about 8 hours before reaching what is known as Destruction City. Although not a city at all, this place is called so because of a group of travellers who were trying to reach Dawson City during the gold rush days and had to dismantle their boats to keep going on their journey when they got there. Today, Destruction City is a flat grassy piece of land with a few tent frames used by First Nations during fishing season.
After such a long hard day of paddling, we simply put up our group shelter and all fell asleep immediately.
Campsite: Destruction City is the first camp spot after about 30 km of paddling upstream on the Rat River. It is nothing special, but it’s a nice clear area that could fit all of us and our drying gear with no problem.
| Total Distance | 55 km |
Day 3: Destruction City (0 km)
Today started very badly. One of the crew got up early to go to the bathroom to realize that the river had risen about 2m. He realized at the same time that there were two paddles stuck in the mud underwater with only about a foot of the shaft popping out and another paddle floating between the boats. He picked up the 3 paddles quickly before coming to wake us up.
We quickly realized that we had left all but one paddle on the bank, so other than the three that we had found already and the one on the bank, the other 5 were gone, and we were now short 2 paddles.
We considered ourselves extremely lucky to be camped on high ground, and we had to tie up the boats floating the previous night as the bank was too muddy and steep to bring them up. This was the first time in over 20 days of tripping that we had tied the boats and one of the very few times where we camped on high grounds. We used our sat phone and made a few calls, and quickly figured out that the RCMP in Fort McPherson had a new jet boat, and they were happy to assist us by bringing three new paddles to us. Since the river was in full flood, there were tons of trees floating down the river, so we told them to wait a day or two and we would let them know when it is safe to get there. We patiently stayed at camp and waited for things to calm down.
| Total Distance | 0 km |
Day 4: Destruction City (0 km)
We woke up to another grey day, but at least it hadn’t rained in about 24h and the river had stabilised, which meant that no more trees were floating down the river. We gave the green light to the RCMP, and later this afternoon, an agent showed up with a First Nations guide to hand us out the 3 paddles. We had a good little conversation with them, gave him the cash for the paddles and off they went back to Fort McPherson wishing us all the best.
We went to bed that night excited that we could keep going and hoping that the river would drop enough for us to start moving again.
| Total Distance | 0 km |
Day 5: Destruction City to Camp 3 (6 km)
This morning, we woke up to a slightly lower river, although it had rained quite a bit at night. Anxious to see what was ahead of us, we decided to make a break and start going up the Rat. We paddled for about 500m until the current got too fast and we had to get out of the boats.
The water was still high, and very murky, making it challenging to find the best route upstream. The banks were often straight cuts with trees overhanging and the travelling was very difficult. About 5 km upstream, one of the team members’ paddles got hooked into a swinging tree and swept downstream… With the murky fast-moving water, we were never able to recover it. We soon realized that the river was again on the rise, with debris floating down everywhere.
With nowhere to camp around where we were, we had to make a quick decision, either go back down, which looked very dangerous with all the log jams exposed everywhere, or try to keep pushing until we found a potential campsite. About 1 km further upstream, we spotted a potential campsite across the river, and we made the hardest ferry we had ever made to get to it. Luckily it was a nice flat area high enough above the river not to be too worried about flooding.
Campsite: A nice flat gravel area on the edge of a slough overlooking the river.
| Total Distance | 6 km |
Day 6: Camp 3 (0 km)
We woke up to a blue sky and the sun shining bright for the first time in a few days now. The bad news was that the river had still gone up through the night. After what happened the previous day, we decided to stay put and wait for the water levels to drop before pushing on.
Now stuck with no spare paddles, we decided to use the day to cut out our own. We selected the perfect spruce tree and about 12 hours later, had a piece of wood good enough to help if needs be.
| Total Distance | 0 km |
Day 7: Camp 3 to Camp 4 (10 km)
Today I woke up early curious to see what the river would look like. It had dropped by at least a couple of feet! Good news!
The sky was blue, and we were ready to start pushing our way up the Rat again.
We managed to cover about 10 km in 10 hours, which felt amazing, but we had one major problem. One of the guys pulled his groin and could barely walk by the time we stopped. We found a gravel bar, and although we could tell the water had been over it during the flood, we had no other choice but to camp there, knowing that the water level was dropping quickly at that point.
Campsite: Large gravel bar with plenty of space for everyone. Not ideal in case of flood but worked for that night.
| Total Distance | 10 km |
Day 8: Camp 4 to Camp 5 (9 km)
Bad news this morning, our injured team member is feeling even worse… We are already a few days behind due to the flood, and with restricted amounts of food, we decide to keep pushing with the injured walking on the gravel bars on shore, and laying on the canoe when we have to ferry from one side to the other.
The water keeps dropping which is starting to make our travels slightly more manageable. We had been told that going up the Rat was like going up a staircase, which could not be more right. We go through steeper sections where we have to help each other push and pull the boats up, while the sections in between are nice and mellow. Even with one person injured, we covered good ground today, which was very satisfying and reassuring, we now knew we could still go up.
Campsite: Nice large gravel bar on an island with nice views of the surrounding mountains.
| Total Distance | 9 km |
Day 9: Camp 7 to Camp 8 (13 km)
Last night was restless, it started raining in the early hours of the night and we all suddenly got worried that the river was going to rise again. By morning, the clouds had disappeared, and we were in for another scorching bluebird day on the river.
The more we go up, the smaller the river becomes easier to travel, which is great. A combination of less water naturally coming from tributaries, but also the general water level dropping.
We had heard that another group was ahead of us on the river, and we could see colour marks of their boats on the rocks. Tonight, we caught up to them and stopped at their camp for a quick tea before setting up our own camp just upriver. We were super curious to hear from their experience with the flood. They were a very experienced older group, and they had also lost quite a bit of stuff, including paddles, PFDs and a camera. Although we obviously would never wish that for anyone, it did make us feel a little better that we weren’t the only idiots who hadn’t seen it coming!
Campsite: Very large gravel bar on an island surrounded by large rolling hills.
| Total Distance | 13 km |
Day 10: Camp 8 to Camp 9 (7 km)
I woke up early and sat by the fire while looking around at the scenery. Suddenly, I spotted a huge bull moose on the hillside, with a huge bull caribou about 100m away from him! It was an incredible moment to witness two such amazing animals just going on with their regular daily lives totally undisturbed.
A couple of hours later, the other group passed by our camp, and we wished them good luck for the day. We left a couple of hours after them. It was another beautiful hot day on the Rat. As we pushed up, we started seeing caribou tracks everywhere. The porcupine caribou herd was in the area! We caught up to the other group, and although we hadn’t covered quite as much ground as we were hoping to, we decided to camp with them for the night. After all, we hadn’t really spent time with anyone else than our group in over a month now.
We picked berries to make cake, shared stories around the fire and went for a little hike up a small hill behind camp which was beautiful.
Campsite: We camped in the forest on mossy ground. Although not as easy to find a good tent spot, it felt nice to camp on softer ground.
| Total Distance | 7 km |
Day 11: Camp 9 to Camp 10 (14 km)
We woke up to another clear sky early in the morning with the other group. After sharing breakfast, we all started lining up the Rat again. We were slightly faster, so we said our goodbyes, wished them luck and pushed along.
The river was smaller and smaller, making for easier travel. There were few trees left and we started to be surrounded by tundra and caribou. There’s a nice cabin at Bear Creek, which we had been told about. We took a quick look and kept going as we had only covered 6 km so far and the weather was beautiful.
After a long day, we decided to hike up the bank to set up camp on the tundra for the night. We had the most beautiful sunset, with caribou passing by just behind camp.
Campsite: Large open tundra flats overlooking the river. Incredible views all around us.
| Total Distance | 14 km |
Day 12: Camp 10 to Camp 11 (17 km)
I woke up early this morning and made pancakes for the group. It was another beautiful morning, and we knew we were getting closer and closer to our goal.
We left at a good time and made good ground. The weather was amazing, and we had heard of a famous ‘’fish hole’’ where 3 creeks merge at the headwaters. At about 10 pm we were only 4 km away. We were starving, so we decided to quickly heat up and eat some dehydrated meals before pushing the extra distance.
It did not disappoint, the fish hole provided! We were short on food at that point, so the extra meal of dolly varden came as a welcomed surprise! We caught and ate a few fish, but we also made a smoker and smoked two large Ziploc bags worth of fish overnight. We spent the following two days eating smoked char on crackers for snacks, we couldn’t have asked for anything better. We also had a small herd of caribou passing through camp just before we went to bed.
Campsite: Nice gravel bar in front of where all three creeks (Sheep Creek, Rat Creek, Fish Creek). Incredible fishing spot.
| Total Distance | 17 km |
Day 13: Camp 11 to Ogilvie Lake (Camp 12) (13 km)
Today we woke up to another blue sky. Although we got flooded at the start of the trip, we were having an incredible stretch of weather which was amazing.
We went to bed super late, so this translated into a late start. We left for our last push upstream at 5 pm. The start up Rat Creek was challenging, being a bit steeper and very narrow, but it quickly slowed down as we went up and in no time we were paddling. The creek was stuck in between two steep banks on either side, making it impossible to see around us. After about 7 hours of going upstream without knowing what was coming in front of us, we arrived at Twin Lakes! One of the biggest reliefs of my life! We had made it up the Rat, but not only that, the view was just absolutely incredible, with not a breath of wind on the lake… It was a moment we are not going to forget!
We pushed for about another hour up a couple of small creeks and ponds to reach Ogilvie Lake, the headwaters of the Rat River.
Campsite: We camped on the edge of the lake. Beautiful little open area in a subalpine tundra environment surrounded by mountains. The lake was quite warm, which made for good swimming!
| Total Distance | 13 km |
Day 14: Ogilvie Lake to Summit Lake (Camp 13) (1 km)
Today the spirits were high! Not only were we done with the Rat, but the weather was still perfect. We slowly enjoyed our breakfast by the lake before slowly starting to make the short portage over MacDougal Pass and the continental divide to Summit Lake. We took our time through the day and did the portage in 4 trips since it wasn’t too long and too hard.
Summit Lake was also stunning, and quite warm with a long shallow bench of water right in front of camp, perfect for swimming.
Campsite: Great camp overlooking Summit Lake with incredible views of the surrounding mountains.
| Total Distance | 1 km |
Day 15: Summit Lake to Camp 14 (23 km)
Today I got up early and went for a quick relaxing paddle on Summit Lake to enjoy the scenery. The weather was once again amazing. We slowly packed all our gear in between a few swims and started our journey downstream once again!
While crossing the lake, we noticed a pile of caribou antlers on a long skinny point. We stopped to take a look, and it was a logbook hidden in an old ammo box. It was cool to see the kind of journeys that people had been on to pass through there, dating back to the late 70s!
When we got to the creek coming out of Summit Lake, we quickly realized that the vegetation had grown too much, and it was basically impossible to go down the creek. The Little Bell was only about 100m away over flat tundra. So, we decided to drag our loaded boats in straight lines to the small cold river.
The Little Bell was crystal clear and winding its way through tall mountains. There were a couple small bouncy rapids but not much to worry about. We reached the Bell after a few hours, and we were surprised to see that the water here was also crystal clear. We saw a huge bull moose only about 50 feet from us when turning a corner! Saying that it didn’t scare us at all would be a lie.
As the sun was setting, we found a beautiful little gravel point next to a small set of rapids and settled for the night.
Campsite: Gravel point next to a tiny rapid. Beautifully tucked into the mountains, beautiful sunset.
| Total Distance | 23 km |
Day 16: Camp 14 to Camp 15 (35 km)
We woke up to another clear sky ready to paddle downstream on a slow easy river. The mountain views were stunning, and the vibes were high. We covered about 35 km having to paddle hard as there is very little flow in the river. We saw several groups of Canada geese and lots of suckers swimming in the river.
Campsite: Small gravel bar with a steep drop off by the river, perfect for jumping in!
| Total Distance | 35 km |
Day 17: Camp 15 to Camp 16 (42 km)
Another day, another sunny morning! Today we were forced out of our tents as they were getting too hot from the sun. We went for a quick swim and got going down the windy Bell River once again.
This ended up being our last day in the thick of the mountains. We saw a family of curious river otters which was super cool. We ended up camping on a tall patch of grass high on the riverbank.
Campsite: Tall grass on top of riverbank on river left. We found signs of an old camp in the forest as well as what looked like an old wolf den. The Bell turns into a very slow meandering river when it leaves the mountains and there are very few camping spots, so we were happy to find this one.
| Total Distance | 42 km |
Day 18: Camp 16 to Camp 17 and the Porcupine River (46 km)
For the first time in a couple of weeks, it rained during the night. Everything is very wet, especially since we camped in tall grass. That said, the rain had stopped by morning, and we were ready to hit the river and try to reach the Porcupine.
We made it to the porcupine late in the afternoon and stopped for a quick bite. We threw a line in and right away caught a large pike! The place was filled with them. We kept one for dinner and kept paddling. The Porcupine is slow moving at low water, we were going about 7 km/hour while paddling with no wind. The Porcupine is wide and shallow, with giant gravel bars when the water is low. So, there are endless places to camp.
Campsite: Large gravel bar on an island.
| Total Distance | 46 km |
Day 19: Camp 17 to RCMP Cabin (Camp 18) (36 km)
It rained all night and some kind of large animals passed through camp in the middle of the night. We could only hear the splashing in the water but not the hooves on the rocks, so we got up to check but there was a thick fog, and we couldn’t see anything around us. It made for a hard night of sleep.
We headed out at 10:15 am and after 36 km, we stumbled onto a beautiful cabin owned and maintained by the RCMP in Old Crow. The cabin was open, and all our gear was wet from the previous night, so we decided to stop early and sleep in the cabin.
Campsite: Beautiful small RCMP log cabin open to the public.
| Total Distance | 36 km |
Day 20: RCMP Cabin to Camp 19 (67 km)
Today we woke up early after a hard night of sleep. After sleeping to the sounds of nature for weeks, sleeping next to 5 guys including a couple that snore wasn’t ideal.
We got off to an early start to cover some ground and arrived at Old Crow at a reasonable time the following day. As soon as we left, we witnessed a huge landslide coming down from the hill across the river. This was a slump, basically created by thawing permafrost. The permafrost thaws, the water from it creates a slick surface under the topsoil, and eventually, with the right conditions, it slides. Tons of mature trees and all the rest of the vegetation just coming down the hill and into the river, quite the sight!
We covered around 67 km and found a beautiful camp spot on a steep gravel bank overlooking the river directly into the sunset and decided to stay there for the night!
Campsite: Beautiful tall gravel bank overlooking the river to the West.
| Total Distance | 67 km |
Day 21: Camp 19 to Old Crow (35 km)
Today we were woken up by the loud sounds of Pacific loons. These birds are everywhere in this part of the world, and contrary to their southern cousins, the common loon, their sound is terrible. (I won’t try to describe it, google it if you’re curious).
We packed everything and left fairly early to cover the last 35 km we had to cover to reach the small First Nations community of Old Crow. We had a couple of friends waiting for us there and had never been there before, so we were all excited to go back to civilization! We saw lots of people boating up and down the river that day as it was a long weekend in the Yukon. Everyone was super friendly and curious as to where we came from. We arrived in town in the middle of the afternoon.
We were invited to spend our days in a local person’s house in Old Crow. There is no specific campground in town, but people are welcoming and will let you know where you can stay as you arrive in town.
| Total Distance | 35 km |
Trip Video
Reflections
This trip was the second 3-week portion of a 2-month long documentary expedition called ’’Paddle for the North’’. The trip started on the Hart River, and down the Peel before this part of the journey.
The Rat was an incredible experience that I feel any experienced canoeist could truly get to enjoy. Patience is key there, but the journey upriver is just stunning. And even though it was very physically demanding, it wasn’t as painful mentally as a long portage for example, where you have to go back and forth several times. The other thing is that with most river trips in the North, you start in the mountains and paddle away from them. Going up the Rat provided the opposite experience, where every day just kept getting more and more beautiful. Summit Lake, the headwaters of the Bell Rivers, is now a Territorial Park in the Yukon, adding some extra protection to the area, but you still don’t need special permits to access it.
Going down to Old Crow from Summit Lake is easy and beautiful. So, flying into Summit Lake to do a few days of hiking before paddling down to Old Crow would also be a great option if you’re looking for something a little more relaxed.
All in all, this was my favourite section of our 2-month journey.
Author Bio
Gabe grew up paddling in Abitibi, Qc and moved to the Yukon in 2008 and guided throughout the Territory for several years. In 2013, he led a 2-month canoe expedition called ‘’Paddle for the North”, to document what was happening in the Peel Watershed at the time. The documentary won several awards in film festivals including the Banff Mountain Film Fest, International Vancouver Film Fest and the Paddling Film Fest. Since then, Gabe became a biologist and now teaches field courses in the Northern Environmental Science program offered at Yukon University. The canoe is by far the preferred way to explore the north.
Instagram: @gabe_rivest
YouTube: @gabrielrivest5892