Difficulties faced on the first voyage began right from the start when it took three weeks to find the inlet of the Slave River. Ice, rough terrain, mosquitoes and gnats were encountered along the way of what Mackenzie thought would lead him west to the Pacific, but instead ran north to the Arctic. Mackenzie’s absence of expertise in navigation led him to the wrong destination on his first exploration Mackenzie also experienced difficulty on his second exploration where the Peace River Canyon cuts through the Rocky Mountains. On their way up the canyon against the strong current they concluded “no boat could navigate such water route”, so they began to drag the canoe. Fallen timber became an obstacle, which greatly increased the difficult
