The following photos were taken during a rafting trip down the Firth River, July 15-24, 2006.
The rafting began at Margaret Lake, 68^o 49.5 N, 140^o 37.1 W and ended at Nunaluk Spit, 69^o 33.4 N, 139^o 31.9 W.
The elevation of the river varies from 430 m at Margaret Lake to sea level at the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean).
We took several hikes up to 700 m, where some of the wildflowers were seen.

Please scroll down to see the photos.
You may want to make your window wider to see some of the photos side by side.

Click here to see wildflowers in Inuvik or photos of other days rafting.
View other photos on Jean van Berkel's web page

Google Earth tour of the Firth River showing our rafting route
(Open with Google Earth (free program), Double click on Firth_Rafting.kmz,
Select point to start (e.g., Firth Rafting), Play Tour (F10))

Photo       Date         Comment
#5557     July 15     Unloading our gear across the Firth River from Margaret Lake

July 15 - Google Earth image from Margaret Lake to Joe Creek

#5558     July 15     Our three rafts are ready for the gear, but we did not leave until the next morning

#5562     July 15     Bye, bye, to our life support. Now we are really on our own!

#5569     July 15     Mountain Death Camus - Zigadenus elegans - P. 17
Lots of these around - better not put them in the salad!

#5576     July 15     Alpine Arnica - Arnica augustifolia? - P. 170     Are these the same?

#5587     July 15     Three-Toothed or Prickly Saxifrage - Saxifraga tricuspidata - P. 76

#5588     July 15     Mike and Jean hiking above the Firth River with Margaret Lake on the left.
View looking East. Some sources say that the Firth River was the Western limit of the last major glaciation (about 12,000 years ago).

#5589     July 15     View to the East. There was aufeis to the south, but it did not photograph well.

#5591     July 15     Macoun's Poppy - Papaver macounii - P. 50
Sorry for the fingers, but the wind was strong enough that I needed to hold them still!

#5604     July 15     Butterwort - Pinguicula vulgaris - P. 160
Small insects are trapped on their leaf surfaces with mucilage secreted by microscopic glands.
Since they absorb the insect nutrients, they are considered to be carnivorous!

#5614     July 16     Denis with first fishing action at Muskeg Creek (after 5 minutes)

#5620     July 16     Rich got the biggest one! We greatly enjoyed the three Arctic Char for dinner

#5623     July 16     Two-Flowered Cinquefoil - Potentilla biflora (TT) - P. 83

#5627     July 16     Siberian Aster - Aster sibiricus - P. 176

#5632     July 16     Hike after lunch above Muskeg Creek

#5636     July 16     Saussurea - Saussurea angustifolia - P. 184

#5649     July 16     Arctic Fleabane - Erigeron purpuratus - P. 181     May be the same as 5627 above

#5691     July 16     Northern Sweet-Vetch (Wild Sweet Pea) - Hedysarum boreale - P. 97
There were many types of pea-like plants, so I can't be sure of the species.

#5642     July 16     Aufeis in creek to the north

#5658     July 16     Camping at Crooked Creek

#5661     July 16     John Walker's handiwork

#5663     July 16     Steve, Mike & Rich - Fish dinner after a hard day's work

#5667     July 16     Was a fish dinner

#5670     July 16     Broad-Leaved Fireweed - Epilobium latifolium - P. 108

#5680     July 16     A White Spruce - Picea glauca - clearly trying hard to reproduce

#5683     July 16     Shrubby Cinquefoil - Potentilla fruticosa - P. 85     There are many cinquefoils, and it's hard to tell them apart.

#5696     July 16     Whorled Lousewort - Pedicularis verticillata - P. 156     There are many louseworts, and it's hard to tell them apart!

Many thanks to Jean van Berkel who loaned me his Nikon Coolpix L1 camera when mine went on the fritz.
Numbers less than 1000 are the ones taken with his camera, some of which he took.
Thanks to John Limb for providing the photo of the Butterwort leaves.

Many thanks to Terry Taylor for identifying some of the plants.
Please let me know about any other plants that are misindentified! Surely some are.
If you can email the correct ID to me, I'll be very grateful (please refer to the number above each photo)

Reference pages are given from:   "Wild Flowers of the Yukon, Alaska and Northwestern Canada"
by John Trelawny. 2nd edition, Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, BC, 2003.
It seems to be the best book covering the flowers we saw in the Yukon.