News

Tebob Creek

The McNeil River, Yukon, is a fly in trip but we looked for another way in. We heard rumors of a horse trail going in but nobody knew where it started or ended. A group from IWLS, International Wilderness Leadership School, tried to get in, one spring. Because of a late heavy spring snowfalls they encountered snow in the alpine and flooded rivers in the low land. They returned beaten by the land. A youth at risk gave it a try; they got lost in the dense willows following a creek and were evacuated.

Theresa and I decided to give it a try; we left early October from the Ketza mining road.

My sense of direction is generally good and I can read a map. We found a horse trail right away. Down the first valley we encountered a no named creek, which eventually joins the McNeil River. We crossed it and flowed the horse trail towards the mountains and a pass headed for McNeil Lake. In one clear day we covered over half the distance; I was happy and let my guard down. When you follow a trail you sometimes forget to look at the land. We climbed over one pass, set up camp and went to sleep happy to be so close.

We woke up in a whiteout and a foot of snow. The trail was gone and we could not see the mountains to get our bearing. Yes, I was lost. Our only option was to follow an unnamed creek which I thought was going right to McNeil Lake, unfortunately I was one valley over; the creek lead right to the McNeil River not the lake. We trekked on down the creek, in wet snow, until we came to a river junction. Our unnamed creek join the first unnamed creek, now a river, we had crossed at the start. We named this river Tbob River after Theresa and Bob, us. It cleared up; I could see the mountains, got my bearings and found our location. We will have to trek upstream on the McNeil to meet the Lake. We had made an extra detour of half a day.

We decided then to float Tbob River in the future. Alison, my youngest daughter, and I were set to do the trip as the start of a hunting trip. We would meet our hunting friends in two days, downstream on Moss Lake, a lake halfway down the McNeil River. Unfortunately for the trip, fortunately for Alison, she found out she was pregnant two weeks before leaving. I did not want to go exploring with my now pregnant daughter. We postponed the trip. The day we were supposed to leave I was bemoaning the fact of missing a good exploration then decided to go alone. Theresa, my wife, decided to join me; she had Monday off and it should not take more than 2 days. We packed and drove most of the night to get to the start of the hike in. If all went well she would fly out from Moss Lake the next evening. The exploration became a race.

We came back and hiked in the 7 kms over a pass, carrying our canoe and started right a little creek, which is the headwater of Tbob River. The creek is no more than 4 ft wide and right away drops over a 15 ft beaver dam; we slid right over it. We never stopped moving, dragging, pushing, jumping back in the boat. The scenery of these 20 kms of unknown river is spectacular. We stopped at darkness and settled in our tent until daylight. We passed a grade III canyon and continued down the meandering flats. We reached the McNeil River to the scent of a fire. Our hunting friends were surprised to see us. We did not have any time to talk, as we still were 3 hours away from Moss Lake and the plane ride for Theresa. We arrived just an hour before the plane and the rest of the party showed up. The race was over.

Hilary is Married

Guide Hilary Walkley was married this July 27th on the Yukon River.
It was a great pleasure from all of us at Tatshenshini Expediting to be part of this event. We all took the day off rafting to go rafting and be part of this special occasion. What a fun day it was! Congratulations Hilary and Joe.

Old Man River turns 60

Bob Daffe, founder of Tatshenshini Expediting LTD turns 60 on the river. Still guiding because it is fun and loves being part of the gang. Bob's son, Kevin, is taking over the family business. Life is good.

Freeze Dried Food

You need freeze dried food when you are traveling light or in extreme cold or in the tropics where your fresh food goes rotten in a matter of days. Freeze dried food does not have the best tasty reputation but wait until you try Len Bauley' food. Call Len at 1 800 351 3663 or e mail at: lebauly@yahoo.com. You can order the quantities you want and have packages for the number of persons you want. Len, once, prepared food packages for 16 of us. Len will prepare your food fresh and then ship it. Once, coming back from an ocean kayak trip, we skipped stopping in a truck stop, choosing instead to eat one of Len's very tasty supper in a campground.
http://www.bauly.com/Site/Home.html

Instructions

In 2009 Tatshenshini Expediting taught many courses, canoeing level I and II, kayaking, raft guide training, river rescue and ice rescue. Each year we are asked to set more programs for various schools or adventure agencies.
We are proud to be part of the IWLS programs,International Wilderness Leadership School, 800.985.4957 www.iwls.com
It is our 4th year teaching for the school.
Once again, for the 7th year. we joined the Junior Rangers program.

Tatshenshini Guides win Golden Host Award.

The Golden Host Award recognizes front-line tourism workers for extraordinary service to visitors in the Yukon. The Yukon Tourism Education Council, along with partners Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, and TIA Yukon are pleased to announce the winners of the Golden Host Award program for June 2006.

The Tatshenshini Guides honoured are: Alison Daffe, Chris Pratt, Hilary Walkley and Dean Bennett

Golden Host Awards

Accepting the award are:
(Sitting from left to right) Kevin Daffe, Chris Pratt, Pat Bennett

Tatshenshini Expediting and the Junior Rangers.

The Junior Rangers Program bring youth from Northern Canada to the Yukon for a week of training. The Youth are between the ages of 13 to 18.

For the last few years Tatshenshini Expediting LTD has been teaching the youth canoeing, rafting and river rescue skills.
This program has been a lot of fun for us and our guides. Some of the kids from the far north are not used to play in the water and rivers. It is great to teach them how to swim and enjoy the water.

Through teaching this program we have learned a lot about living in Canada's far north, the Canadian Rangers and the army staff that coordinate the whole program. It is also a great experience for us.

We have been able to rid the kids from their fear of water and replace it with a healthy respect. The promotion of using a life jacket has been a huge success.

Tatshenshini Expediting wins Crime Prevention Award.

Yukon Crime Prevention.

Tatshenshini Expediting received the RCMP Crime Prevention Award for its outstanding volunteer service to youth in the Yukon . In partnership with Crew Whitewater, Tatshenshini Expediting has provided opportunities for high risk and disadvantaged youth for the past four years. Youth participate in Swift Water Rescue, Guide Training and Kayak courses, while having the opportunity to develop and enhance their social skills. Tatshenshini Expediting, under the direction of Bob Daffe , has provided instruction and transportation, purchased equipment, chaperoned trips, and offered employment to youth participating in the program. Crew Whitewater, run by RCMP members, probation officers and river guides, teaches employable skills and encourages participants to emulate positive role models.

Wilderness Tourism Association of Yukon commends Bob Daffe and Tatshenshini Expediting for this worthy contribution to young people in the Yukon!

Coal Rive

Kwanlin Dun First Nation
Coal River, 2005

Tatshenshini Guides Paddle the White Nile and Perform Volunteers Work in Uganda, Africa.

Paddling and volunteering in Uganda

In October 2005, 5 Tatshenshini guides went to Uganda's White Nile to paddle and to do volunteer work with Soft Power Education.

Orphanage

From right to left:

Bob Daffe, Alison Daffe, Ayla Kempton, Laina Rushant, Theresa Landman

Check out: http://softpoweruganda.brinkster.net/home.htm. This is who we worked with in Uganda and it is a great organization.
If you are interested in Malaria information check out the work Dr. Jessie Stone is doing: www.softpowerhealth.org

Africa is an eye opener! You get back to Canada and you want to kiss the ground we live on. Education is key to helping Africa but you don't educate in a week, it will take years. People in Uganda are super friendly.

Paddling the White Nile is fun, fun, fun!

The water is warm, warm, warm!

Theresa Landman running "overtime".

Can you raft the White Nile without swimming?

Probably not!

Is it dangerous?

Not really, they raft everyday without any problems

Aside from the whitewater you will see lots of local culture on the side of the river and the bird life is fantastic, best I have ever seen.

Best company to go with:
http://www.raftafrica.net/rafting.htm

Right: Laina Rushant abandoning ship.

Gorilla Uganda is famous for the mountain gorillas. It is expensive to see them, last year we paid $ 360 US for the privilege and the price is going up.

Giraffes

There are many other parks where you can see wildlife

Right: Giraffes in Murchison National Park

For more News about Tatshenshini Expediting check out: