Hess Mountains

Departures

July 21st to 30th 2024 – 6 spots left

Other dates, contact us

June 28th to July 7th 2025 – 6 spots left

Other dates, contact us

Welcome to the true Wilderness! Fly away and spend 7 days trekking in a landscape of mountains and lakes, more than 200 km from civilization. A unique experience one must live at least once in his life!

Itinerary

Upon arrival in Whitehorse, you take the free shuttle to get to your hotel (right there when you exit the terminal). Note that we always try and book hotels which offers the free shuttle but in case there is no more availability, there are always taxis available to drive you downtown (count approximately $25 for a ride from the airport to your hotel). Depending on your arrival time, you will have time to explore Whitehorse and take a stroll on the Millennium Trail or check out the MacBride Museum.

A pre-trip meeting takes place in the lobby of your hotel at 5pm today with your guides. This is the perfect opportunity to ask any last-minute questions, do a gear check and meet your fellow adventurers!

Check our FAQ to know what date day 0 corresponds to.

Night in a hotel in Whitehorse

Today we drive north, on the Klondike Highway and then on the Silver Trail to the village of Mayo, the heart of the Yukon. We get there in the afternoon and we take off from the Stewart River in Mayo and fly towards the remote territories of the Eastern Yukon. Shortly after flying over Mayo Lake, we see the Wernecke Mountains to the north and the Yukon plateau to the south. We will be surrounded by rugged mountains, lakes and rivers, and after a one hour flight we will land on a lake in the heart of the Hess Mountains. Only a few minutes later, the sound of the float plane will fade away, leaving us to enjoy the peace of the wilderness, almost 250km from civilization!

After enjoying our first breath of fresh wild air, we will set up our first camp on the shore of the lake.

Lunch and Dinner

Night in a tent

Even though the schedule allows for a 40 km loop across the mountains, the high alpine valleys allow us to define our itinerary every day. Want to hike up to that mountain top to see the sun rise, to spend the day enjoying the wilderness serenity by the lake shore or event go watch the caribou on the other side of the saddle? Nothing is holding us back, you choose!
Along the way we will find a number of clear water lakes and rivers where we can set up camp. Equipped with binoculars and a spotting scope we will take the time to scout our surroundings and observe whatever wildlife we encounter. Hoary marmots, pikas and mountain rodents will be our companions along our trek but we might also have the chance to see grizzly bears, caribous, moose or even wolves. To watch these animals in their natural habitat is a thrilling and unique experience!

There is only one thing we must do : get back to the first lake on day 7 in the afternoon.

As we carry all our gear and food with us, you should expect between 6 and 8kg of common gear and food per person, to go in your pack with your personal gear and tent. Each day, we hike 3 or 4 hours to get to the next camp, which leaves us enough time to explore the wilderness. We also have a day “off”, at about half way, where we can relax at camp or explore some more!

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Nights in a tent

Our adventure in the wilderness is coming to an end and the float plane is back to pick us up where we started a week ago. From high up in the air, we try to find and track the route we created and followed across the wild mountains.
After landing in Mayo, we drive back to Whitehorse where you can enjoy your evening freely.

Breakfast and lunch

Night in a hotel in Whitehorse

Connection to the airport or to your next adventure.

On this trip, we are proud to offer 100% home-made foods with home-made dehydrated meals and home-made snacks. This allows us to offer you only high quality and local food as well as to control our waste output. In fact, ours trip are zero waste, we have banned plastic single-use bags and use only fabric bags to store our meals and snacks.

Terre Boréale respectfully acknowledges that this adventure takes place on the traditional territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun.

Elevation

Hess-Mountains-Elevation-Profile-fr-eng
  • Ground transportation for the whole duration of the trip
  • Float plane flight to and from the Hess Mountains
  • The following equipment : tent, bear proof container and bear spray
  • Accommodations as indicated in itinerary, based on double occupancy (+ $ 250 CAD for single occupancy)
  • Meals as indicated in itinerary
  • Bilingual guide(s) French/English
  • Satellite phone for emergencies
  • Single occupancy supplement of $250
  • Airport transfers
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Domestic & International flights
  • Gratuities

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Tour Reviews

“We spent two wonderful weeks in the Yukon (hiking in the Hess Mountains and canoeing on the Yukon River) with Max and Robin, our guides extremely knowledgeable but also passionate and exciting, friendly, funny, reassuring, enthusiastic, helpful, endearing, generous … In short, an exceptional quality of support, far exceeding anything we have known until now (and we are great and tireless .. or almost .. travelers!). We are all 4 (parents + 2 young people aged 20 and 22) fell in love with our new friends from Terre Boréale and this incredibly beautiful nature and hope to be able to return there very soon. This comment would not be complete without mentioning the gourmet and gourmet side of the adventure (Max was probably a great Chef in a previous life!).” (translated by Google)

Catherine Cambie

“We spent two weeks, at the end of July 2014, with Miléna and Max, our two guides, passionate about nature and anxious to preserve it. This stay will remain an excellent memory for us. The stay began with four days to discover Lake Snafu by canoe, with, on the program, watching wild animals (beavers, elks, fishing eagles, etc.) as well as their tracks, discovery of magnificent landscapes, pike fishing (a thirty in total, all released except two!) and convivial evenings around the fire and delicious meals prepared in front of us. We then left for a seven-day trek in total autonomy with our backpacks in the Hess mountains. Magnificent landscapes shaped by glaciers and inhabited by caribou, marmots, wolves, elks and bears (which we did not have the chance to observe despite the presence of very many traces). The seaplane flight of about an hour to reach this remote area is a real plus of this trip. We especially enjoyed the food that was offered to us (Max and Miléna wanted to prepare the dishes they served us throughout our stay themselves, including the dehydrated one. Well done to the two chefs!) And their enthusiasm to share with us their passion for this region of Canada. To conclude, we just want to encourage lovers of nature and the great outdoors to discover the Yukon, a Canadian state that really deserves a detour, in the company of Terre Boréale. Two recommendations to finish: for fishermen, remember to bring equipment to fish for big pike from Lake Snafu (there are a lot of them but are difficult to catch!) And for those with the cold, beware, it can get really cold in the valleys. remote areas of the Yukon, even in summer.” (translated by Google)

Montal family

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