Dan's Hayes River Adventure 2023

A canoe expedition down the Hayes River from the Norway House Ferry to York Factory, Manitoba. The intent of this video is to help others prepare their own trip to adventure land.
-This trip took 14 days of paddling (plus two weather days), 27 July to 12 August 2023. There was no swimming or fishing or lounging about the fire with a hot coco; just paddle, eat, sleep, repeat. (for context, Hudson's Bay Company York Boats would do this trip in 9 days)
-Water levels are noticeably lower than what I was expecting. This isn't what the river will look like next June.
-Distances and maps are noted for viewers' reference and for planning purposes.
I recommend people get acquainted with the history of the river. Some notable events are the Selkirk Settlers paddling upstream in their York Boats 200 years ago, loaded with iron stoves and all their worldly belongings; York Factory was influential in shaping North America. To see artifacts such as indigenous rock paintings (at Nelson river & Knee lake) and the history at York Factory, you'll have to make the trip, either on the river or from Gillam.
RECOMMENDED LINKS:
Topographic maps at Toporama (NRC):
atlas.gc.ca/to...
Guide book: Wilderness Rivers of Manitoba (no affiliation or kickbacks, just a great guidebook I've used on several adventures). I bought my copy at McNally-Robinson.
hapwilson.com/...
Canadian Hertiage River Systems (CHRS) - search for ‘Hayes River’:
chrs.ca/en
Parks Canada- National Historic Sites (York Factory):
parks.canada.c...
Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) History: (search for ‘York Factory’ & ‘York Boat’)
www.hbcheritag...
Nelson River Adventures: (The boat charter for shuttle between York Factory and Gillam) has a nice York Factory video as well.
www.nelsonrive...

[@canoebuddies1473]

Thanks for posting this! I watched the whole thing. The Hayes River is on my bucket list. The remoteness and the history seems so interesting. Loved being able to see it!

[@StephanieSchneider-q9d]

Hi Dan. Wondering if you left at the end of July last year? A group of 4 left the day after a solo canoeist. Your path through the lawnsh of the Echinamish kept us motivated. We were in kayaks rather than a canoe and probably a fair bit less experience.

[@danschmidt8758]

Oh fellow sufferer of the Echimamish wet-lawn, yes, I put-in at the Norway House Ferry crossing 27th July '23 at 3pm. Did your crew catch a ride back to Gillam with Clint on 17th August? That was my scheduled pick-up, but I was pretty early, so Clint made space for me with a film crew on an earlier run. This was my first experience on the Hayes, next time I'll gladly lug a lawn chair, and maybe a second book too.

[@Ned-v6b]

Hi Dan. Thanks so much for the great video of your trip. What a beautiful river! I am curious about the issue of aquatic invasive species. Since there are zebra mussels now in the Nelson River but not in the Hayes, are paddlers taking precautions to try to avoid transporting zebra mussels on boats while moving from the Nelson up the Echimamish River and into the Hayes? Did any of the people you interacted with at the beginning of your trip discuss this at all? Thanks for any experience you have with that.

[@danschmidt8758]

A fair question; I actually took this into consideration during my trip. Manitoba has a great zebra mussel program, link here: www.manitoba.ca/stopais/spread/watercraft.html . At each portage, I inspected the canoe for any damage, as well as 'clingers-on' (had a leech attach to the boat on a previous trip). I wasn't doing any fishing, so no related issues there. The only point for potential transfer was at Painted Stone Portage, but as I have a hankering for exploring significant sites, the boat was dry well before moving down into the Hayes. Not sure if you know anything about Painted Stone Portage, it's the start of the Echimamish on the west side of the rock, and the Hayes on the east side. Both geologically and culturally significant, and apparently a great place to discard old gas cans and lawn chairs. I had no interactions with any other people on this trip until York Factory.

[@jonathanberger2146]

try the Gods River via the route from Logan lake to Asswampaswam Lake and Gods Lake

[@chrisd.4074]

Please share some details about the canoe (size, manufacturer, model). Also, if possible, some details about the gear, supplies, food, etc.

[@danschmidt8758]

I used a 16ft NovaCraft Prospector (Tuff-Stuff w/ skids), I absolutely recommend this canoe; the trade-off with the weight (56ish lbs) is that it is way more durable over rocky ledges and other things I mashed into than the ultra-lightweight composites. The gear is a mix of either high-end or low-end (but sensible) kit that works for me. Some people demand a $200 brand-name flotation bag in their bow, I'm happy with a $4 water bladder from the dollar store. Food was also on the cheap, a mix of home-made jerky, dehydrated snax, and freeze-dried entrees for dinner. Nothing fresh, all very spartan as I choose light weight everything over gourmet. Best piece of kit I had is my Garmin In-Reach Explorer, I got rid of my SPOT two years ago, nothing but terrible experiences with that thang. Knowing that locals have been paddling the Hayes for thousands of years without goretex is humbling, and helped me in discriminating needs from wants.

[@chrisd.4074]

​@@danschmidt8758Hi Dan. Your trip is quite inspiring. One more question: what is the strategy with the canoe at the end of the trip? Is there a way to bring it on board the train in Gillam? Do you leave the canoe behind at the York factory?

[@danschmidt8758]

I chartered a seat on Nelson River Adventures Inc (google them), a jet-boat that runs from York Factory to Gillam MB, took me, my gear & Canoe (strapped on top, short scene near the end of my video) right to the Gillam train station. Usually he'll spot beluga whales and polar bears for the passengers. Clint runs an awesome charter service! The train to Thompson is not daily, but I lucked out and caught one the next morning. There is no staff at the Gillam train (VIA rail) station, so I slept like a hobo at the platform for the 0500 departure, and 6hr train ride to Thompson. When you get off at Thompson, you'll need to pay for your ticket (mine was prepaid online) and about $100 extra for the canoe. Just toss the canoe into the baggage car! Via rail staff onboard the train are fantastic, but I have little else nice to say about our national rail service, recommend you don't try to get info from the kiosk at the Winnipeg VIA station, call the 800-number instead. Website has poor info for paddlers. From there a rental car back to Winnipeg (get pool noodles at Canadian Tire in town, and be super-careful loading that canoe on top!), as the VIA train wasn't running farther south than that last summer. By now they may run all the way down to Winnipeg again, but that is a crazy long trip (36ish hrs) that cuts into Saskatchewan. Another option from York Factory is to charter a float plane (YF to Thompson), but none of them would return my calls, so I'm happy to promote Nelson River Adventures instead!