Wilderness rivers tug at canoeists, and in recent years many have discovered that it is possible, with proper planning, to embrace successfully an adventure that once was an impossible dream.

In 1985, seven men and one woman and their gear, provisions and canoes were taken by float plane to glacier-fed Bonnet Plume Lake atop the divide between Canada's Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Ahead of them lay a 17-day, 340-mile paddle north down the Bonnet Plume and Peel rivers, across the Arctic Circle to Fort McPherson, which is a short distance from the Mackenzie Delta and the Arctic Ocean.

The party included one novice canoeist, Bruce Johnstone, president of Buffalo State College - and two former United States white-water champions, Jim and Kay Henry, owners of the Mad River Canoe Company in Vermont. The others were canoeists of considerable experience, as were some of the four-person film crew. The members of that crew plus a local rafting expert, Chris Buckliss, and their equipment rode in two 15-foot rubber rafts, although there were occasions when, seeking special shots, they also worked from a canoe.