We were not the first to link up the West Hart/Hart/Blackstone/Ogilvie Rivers in the Peel River drainages of the Yukon. Credit for that goes to the participants of the trip detailed here(Alana's Adventures: Lomond Creek - West Hart River - Hart River - Blackstone River Packraft Trip, Yukon Territory). But the slog to Lomond Lake and the boatwack down Lomond Creek did not look at all appealing to me.
The Hart River Road takes off to the east of the Dempster Highway at the height of land north of the Tombstone Territorial Park Visitor Center. The “road” is an ATV trail that was built to access a mine east of the Hart River. The first 10 miles or so of the road are good walking, but it degrades beyond that where the track drops down to the river marshes. Nonetheless, it is findable, passable and better than cross-country travel.
We took the Hart River Road approximately 14 miles to a major confluence of the West Hart and a tributary entering from the south. We inflated and floated from that point on a delightful clearwater small creek with just enough water. After about 5 miles Char Creek enters from the west and further boosts the flow (note that a horse trail comes in from the Dempster via Yakima Creek and Char Creek, providing another potential access route). The major challenge in this section is navigating the forest braids, some of which are serious dead-ends.
A full day of floating took us to the confluence with Lomond Creek, a rusting river that doubles the flow of the West Hart. From there to the Hart River is another full day of floating, punctuated by two Class 3 drops about 8 miles from the Lomond Creek confluence where the West Hart enters some sharp corners. The first ledge drop is easily scouted on river left and easily portaged on river right. The second drop is another 100 yards downstream, with an easy entry but a large lurking ledge hole around the corner that requires you to move hard right.
I won’t give away the rest of the trip, except to say that the hike out to the Dempster Highway from the Ogilvie is made easier by lining 2 miles up the Ogilvie to shorten the hike to about 5 miles of sponga/tussocks/forest burn. The hike sucks, but it’s only 3 hours of sucking, versus nearly 8 hours of sucking if you hike out from the Ogilvie confluence. Believe me, I’ve done both.