-presents-

Wild Wolves & the
Great Summer Caribou Migration

Territory of Nunavut, Canada

 

Join us in Canada's mainland Arctic to explore for wild wolves, musk-oxen, and the mid-summer southbound migration of the massive barrenground caribou herds - one of the last great wildlife spectacles in North America since the bygone days of the buffalo! 

The Barrenground caribou herds of Canada's Nunavut are the largest & least influenced in the world. Every year, hundred of thousands of animals migrate from the tree-line to the calving grounds on the remote Arctic tundra, and then back again during the summer and autumn. Our wildlife camps are ideally located closeby to the calving grounds and southbound migratory routes of three of the largest herds: the Bathurst, Ahiak & Beverly; allowing us triple the chances at quality caribou migration exposure. Photo copyright Eric Peterson.

 

**Click here to make your reservation on the 'Wolves & Summer Caribou' trip!

Wolves & the Great Summer Caribou Migration 2008
Departure Dates
Seats Left
Prices Rates do not include GST.
Jul. 11 to Jul. 18 - 2008
0
Single: $5,750.00 US - $5,750.00 CAD
Double:
$10,350.00 US - $10,350.00 CAD  
Jul. 18 to Jul. 25 - 2008
0
Single: $5,750.00 US - $5,750.00 CAD
Double:
$10,350.00 US - $10,350.00 CAD  

Click here to download & print the detailed trip supplement
for the 2008 & 2009 'Great Summer Caribou Migration' trips in PDF format

*Click here to make your reservation on the 'Wolves & Summer Caribou' trip!

 

Wolves & the Great Summer Caribou Migration 2009
Departure Dates
Seats Left
Prices Rates do not include GST.
Jul. 10 to Jul. 17 - 2009
4
Single: $5,750.00 US - $5,750.00 CAD
Double:
$10,350.00 US - $10,350.00 CAD  
Jul. 17 to Jul. 24 - 2009
6
Single: $5,750.00 US - $5,750.00 CAD
Double:
$10,350.00 US - $10,350.00 CAD  

 

You have the choice to combine a week of 'Dance with Wolves' with a week of the 'Great Summer Caribou Migration' at a substantially reduced rate! 

Add on $2,800.00 USD // $2,800.00 CDN per person

Prices do not include GST tax.

Click here or on photo to visit the 'Dance with Wolves' trip page!


Curious caribou calves will sometimes approach within feet of the photographers! / photo courtesy Beverley Morris

Ccurious caribou calf approaches the photographer

 

Caribou bulls grazing on a big skyline /
Caribou bulls graze in the late afternoon skyline

Thousands of caribou of the Beverly herd following the Thelon River valley / photo copyright Maxwell Finkelstein / click to enlarge!
The cows & calves of the Beverly& Ahiak herds as the migrate along the Thelon River valley in July.  Click photo to enlarge!

 

Caribou bunch near the upper Thelon River / photo copyright Terry Elliott - Savage Island Photography

This special wildlife expedition offers one of the best chances for a rare opportunity to encounter the caribou herds en-masse!

 

We will start this unique wildllife trip by boarding a float-equpped aircraft at our starting point which varies from season to season (see www.thelon.com/map.htm); to fly 120-240 airmiles past the tree-line, and out over the remote Arctic tundra known locally as the 'Barrenlands'. Here we will land at our isolated wildlife basecamps located at one of the most isolated regions in mainland North America!


A sand esker system near the Thelon River region as seen from the air - these sandy areas offer major migratory paths for the barrenland caribou herds, and perfect den conditions for wild wolves and assorted fox. - photo copyright Noelle Tufts

Click here to learn more about how to get to our wilderness trips.

Once at one of our unique wildlife camps located at one of the last true wild wolf ranges remaining in the world, we typically offer comfortable tent-camp accommodations including private sleeping Quonsets, dining & shower facilities. We also offer an array of equipment on site such as boats, motors, canoes & kayaks to enhance the expeditions; to explore new areas and to seek other dens & wildlife.  On occasion, we set up and offer optional ground tent 'spike camps' to maximize wildlife viewing.

Ecoventures main wildlife basecamp & expedition staging area on Whitefish Lake on upper Thelon River - NWT Canada in 2004

 

From one of the most scenic tundra locations in the world, you will enjoy daily cuisine & comfortable Quonset accommodation, and qualified trip leaders to watch for wild wolves during the secondary stage of their den cycle, to boat & hike to see musk-oxen singles and herds, and a choice of daily interpretive programs. 

 

wild tundra wolf on the skyline behind camp / photo copyright Art Wolfe Inc.

Ecoventures camp on Whitefish Lake / photo copyright Michael H. Francis

Dinnertime at the basecamp

 

Trip leader helping to re-adjust the daypack /  photo courtesy Beverley Morris

 

  In the meantime, through a series of techniques that includes aerial reconnaissance, satellite imagery, GPS positioning & traditional knowledge, we will keep monitor the movements of the caribou herds - and once they move close enough to our position (within 100 miles) we will fly out to meet them on their migratory route.

Beverly herd caribou cows & calves bunch along the upper Thelon / photo copyright Max Finkelstein

Caribou bunch on the run / photo courtesy Allicia Kelly

We will then position participants to see and photograph the summer large 'bunch' movements usually 5,000 - 50,000 animals - of cows & calves of either the Bathurst, Beverly or Ahiak herds as they traditionally migrate southward off the nearby calving grounds in July.  

Caribou of the Ahiak herd swimming the Back River

Bathurst caribou bunch & photographer /  photo copyright Terry Elliott - Savage Island Photography

caribou grazing & milling along the Hanbury River / photo copyright Max Finkelstein

Beverly herd caribou bunch swimming near upper Thelon / photo courtesy Peter Money

Muskox bull along the Thelon River / photo copyright Max Finkelstein

 

Caribou bunch along the upper Thelon River / photo copyright Allicia Kelly

Depending on the circumstances, such as how far the herd is located from the main camp, the suitability of the country, and the logistics needed to access that specific area, we will either set up an overnight spike camp, or simply spend a day with the migration and head back to overnight at the active main camp. 

Watching for wolves on the upper Thelon /  photo courtesy Beverley Morris

Bathurst caribou bunch in 2004 / photo courtesy Beverley Morris

On occasion we will set up rough spike camps using ground tents like this one / photo copyright Craig Duncan

 

Designed for photographers and wildlife enthusiasts, we will accept only a total of twelve participants on this expedition. 

tundra white wolf stands guard over its den behind Ecoventures main wildlife camp  / photo copyright Eric Peterson

Gyfalcon feeding its young on its esker nest on the upper Thelon /  photo courtesy Beverley Morris

While on this special departure, participants will almost certainly encounter musk-oxen herds, & tundra wolves during their secondary-stage den cycle.  It is also quite possible that we will encounter moose, barrens grizzly plus a variety of nesting raptors and waterfowl - all under the summer midnight twilight of the sub-Arctic summertime!

Click here to obtain our bird list (in PDF)

The Summer Caribou trip is essentially the same as the 'Dance with Wolves' trip with the charter flight to see the summer migration added.  Thus you can learn more about this trip by going to the 'Dance with Wolves' page.

Caribou bull silloetted against the midnight sun twilight / photo copyright Steve Maka



 

Incredible wildlife opportunities and awesome tundra vistas highlight this
very special departure
to one of the most remote wilderness locations on earth!

 

**Click here to make your reservation on the 'Wolves & Summer Caribou' trip!

 

Wolves & the Great Summer Caribou Migration 2008
Departure Dates
Seats Left
Prices Rates do not include GST.
Jul. 11 to Jul. 18 - 2008
0
Single: $5,750.00 US - $5,750.00 CAD
Double:
$10,350.00 US - $10,350.00 CAD  
Jul. 18 to Jul. 25 - 2008
0
Single: $5,750.00 US - $5,750.00 CAD
Double:
$10,350.00 US - $10,350.00 CAD  


Click here to download & print the detailed trip supplement
for the 2008 & 2009 'Great Summer Caribou Migration' trips in PDF format

*Click here to make your reservation on the 'Wolves & Summer Caribou' trip!

 

Wolves & the Great Summer Caribou Migration 2009
Departure Dates
Seats Left
Prices Rates do not include GST.
Jul. 10 to Jul. 17 - 2009
4
Single: $5,750.00 US - $5,750.00 CAD
Double:
$10,350.00 US - $10,350.00 CAD  
Jul. 17 to Jul. 24 - 2009
6
Single: $5,750.00 US - $5,750.00 CAD
Double:
$10,350.00 US - $10,350.00 CAD  

 

You have the choice to combine a week of 'Dance with Wolves' with a week of the 'Great Summer Caribou Migration' at a substantially reduced rate! 

Add on $2,800.00 USD // $2,800.00 CDN per person

Prices do not include GST tax.

Click here or on photo to visit the 'Dance with Wolves' trip page!


 

Check out what some of our clients had to say about this incredible adventure:

Photographer Christopher Crowley

Past 2005 US client Chris Crowley had a magnificent experience on his Great Summer Caribou Migration trip.  Click here or on photo to read Chris's on-line testimonial!  Chris had this to say about his trip with us: 

"The circle of life is pretty small on the tundra. Caribou eat lichen. Almost everything else eats the caribou. Circles lie within circles. Every spring, large herds of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) migrate hundreds of miles northward to the calving grounds and return later in the summer. We watched as several groups of caribou, hundreds in each group, crossed a river. In places they swam, heads bobbing in the river. In shallower places they waded, stumbling on slick rocks. The calves had to hustle to keep up with the crossing adults. Once the herd reached land, however, they were all off and running with a rumbling of hooves oddly muted by the soft ground."  

2005 summer caribou migration: photo copyright Christopher Crowley

Great Summer Caribou Migration 2005

 

Canadian Northern Lights 

Award for Excellence in Travel Journalism

Past client & Canadian Author Catherine Senecal won the prestigious Canadian Travel Commission's Northern Lights Award for Excellence in Travel Journalism for best Internet Reporting. Well, Cathy's winning story was written about her year 2000 trip with Ecoventures on the 'Great Summer Caribou Migration'! Click here or on photo to read Catherine's' on-line article!   Catherine had this to say about her trip with us: 

"I loved the camp and being out on the barrens-I even love saying, "when I was out on the barren lands" to people. It makes me sound so adventurous! The truth is your trip, camp and tour make this stunning land and its animals accessible to people willing to let their minds and spirits compel them to a place perhaps more wild and epiphanic than they could have predicted."

 

Click here to learn about our autumn caribou photography trips!

 

If you would like to take a virtual tour of one of our main wildlife camp facilities - click on the photo!

 

 

Great Canadian Wilderness

 

Click here for Conde Nast article.

Read the Conde Nast Traveler controversial article 'Diamonds in the Wild', about the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary and the potential future effects of diamond and mineral exploration in our last great North American wilderness. Click here!

 

Come warm yourself by our fire.
Great Canadian Wilderness
Phone: 1-800-667-9453 (Canada & USA)
Overseas Phone: +807-727-3758
North American toll-free Fax: 866-416-5548
Email: tundra@thelon.com
Request More Information