Justin Scherer submitted the route:
A 30-40km loop of ice roads and backcountry snowmobile trails through the Boreal Forest near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Starting from the Back Bay Cemetery run up the trail between Niven and the Ski Club, cross the Ingraham Trail, then continue on the Frame Lake Trail system between Frame Lake and Jackfish Lake. Turn right at the fork in the trail towards the Lakeview Cemetery. Follow that trail to highway 3. Cross the highway and link up with the Prospector Trail. Follow Loop A, then turn right onto Loop B for a few hundred meters till there's a spur trail headed east back towards the highway. That trail follows beside the highway until it veers north between Handle Lake and Fox Lake. Near the top of Fox Lake, the trail will veer west before turning north again and touching the bottom of Martin Lake. It follows the western side of that lake until it crosses over the lake before the narrows. After that, the trail veers east towards Gar Lake, before turning north again and meeting up with the Vee Lake Access Road. Follow the access road to the beginning of the ice road, and continue up the Vee Lake ice road past the narrows and into Walsh Lake. Follow the ice road for 700m or so past the narrows on Walsh and strike out east south east above the peninsula and head to the portage between Walsh and Back Bay. This trail will continue south until it touches the Yellowknife River and continuing to Back Bay on Great Slave Lake. Follow the western shore of Back Bay past the abandoned Giant Mine site and the ski club until you make your way back to the cemetery where you started.
This route can only be completed in the winter when the trails and lakes are frozen enough to be passable. Ice, snow, and trail conditions are extremely variable. Conditions can get colder than -50 Celsius. Obviously, beware of extreme cold, relatively short days, and all the wildlife that calls this part of the Northwest Territories home (bears, wolves, coyotes, lynx, etc.). Most of these trails are unmarked and irregularly maintained. Areas of interest include seasonal ice roads, and a stretch on Great Slave Lake, the deepest lake in North America and the 10th largest lake in the world, abandoned mine sites, historical cemetery sites, and pristine stretches of Canadian shield. The area between Fred Henne Territorial Park and the Vee Lake Access Road is remote, with no way to bail out, and it's pretty unlikely that you'll see any other people on that stretch. The route traverses traditional lands of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, Chief Drygeese Territory, and Akaitcho territory. Please tread lightly on the land.
