2013/06 NWT trip - Sambaa Deh |
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We could have camped in Fort Simpson another night, but we were worried about how long the ferry repair might last and thought we’d try to get to our next stop that evening. We didn’t need to worry about arriving in the dark; sunset was at about 11.30pm and twilight lasted about three hours until sunrise. It never gets dark in the summer, which is why you can’t see the Northern Lights until September.
We were retracing our route back to the junction with the Liard, and then we had a rough few hours bouncing along a gravel section of the Mackenzie Highway to Sambaa Deh, our next campground. Despite the late hour, the ranger was happy to check us in and gave us some little hand-drawn maps of the trails to the waterfalls.
Wednesday June 12th 
The day began cool and cloudy, just as well as we needed to cover up against the mozzies in the shade and the big black flies in the clearings. It was a complete contrast from the Nahanni, which had been mostly bug free.
We hiked up the Trout River to Coral Falls, named for the fossils of sea life found in nearly all the rocks. Back in the woods were these calypso orchids; fossils and orchids, a good place for Sandie.
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Coral Falls (2.56) |
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Getting to the falls was more problematic with lots of interesting trails, with rocks to climb and fissures to squeeze through, mostly leading to dead-end beaches. Eventually we found the right one and came out high above the falls to a giddy viewpoint.
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Sambaa Deh Falls (8.29) |
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The sun was now out so we returned to the camper to spray ourselves, something we rarely bother with. It seemed to work on the mozzies, 
but the flies thought it was barbecue sauce. We headed downstream to the roaring Sambaa Deh Falls, easy to get to but hard to 
see safely. The rock there is layered limestone, heavily undercut by the river. Sometimes there’d be shrubs growing out of a ledge that was only a few inches thick and cantilevered out over the canyon. Even the solid bits were separated by foot-wide fissures, sometimes still packed with ice. A very scenic spot, but rather dangerous. We found another pretty waterfall further down the canyon, and the map showed yet another a couple of miles further on.
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Trout River (1.02) |
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We packed up and drove to that one where we met up with a bunch of Aussies from Brisbane. They own a motorhome which they pick
up from storage each summer, then drive to some destination, putting it back in storage. They were headed for Alaska this time. The waterfall wasn’t worth the effort but we had a great view of the canyon. We found this beautiful yellow lady’s slipper orchid along the trail.