Jolly Lake

Jolly Lake is a large lake in the middle of the Northwest Territories that is difficult to access. The only way here is by floatplane. There are sandy beaches where a plane can land, mostly at the east end of the lake, but there is at least one on the southwest end. There used to be a caribou hunting lodge on the southwest end, but it is no longer active and we didn't bother to check it out. We could see a large pile of antlers as well as a few old buildings from a long ways away though.

The lake itself is fairly non-descript. There are some fish, but it wasn't as productive as MacKay Lake - a little further south-east.

The unnamed river flowing east out of Jolly Lake is very shallow. Our canoes ran aground in a few places, so we had to get out and line them. There is also one waterfall / large rapid to portage around. The river is spectacular, running parallel to an esker. There are many beautiful camping spots and good fishing.

The surrounding land is rocky and covered in dwarf birch. In the valleys are high, thick willow and some spruce. The hills are mostly rock with very low shrubby plants.