The South Nahanni is one of the most classic Canadian rivers, renowned for wildlife, beautiful canyons, and a thunderous 300 foot waterfall that puts Niagara to shame. Avery and I received a generous grant from the Ritt Kellogg Fund to explore this stretch of river, so in July of last year we embarked on a road trip from Colorado to a small town in the Northwest Territories named Fort Simpson. We quickly learned of the horrendous wildfires as we drove along smoke-filled dirt highways, and delayed our departure as the bush plane wouldn't be able to fly in with such low visibility along the river corridor. Eventually the weather turned in our favor as the smoke cleared, and rains took care of the wildfires.