Wednesday - 7/17/02 Photo Gallery
Traveled to the Yukon today, rising at 0345. Rose drove me to the Evans' Airport Service and we had a pleasant goodbye with coffee and quiet conversation.
Had an uneventful flight, passing easily through customs in Vancouver.
Got into Whitehorse in a rainstorm and the forecast is for clouds and rain later in the week. No matter, the trip does not need sun and will be more of a challenge with rain, more of an adventure.
Was picked up at the airport by Carsten Mercier. He did a verbal gear check and gave me my wet bad. I'm not too sure how to secure a wet bag but I suppose I'll work it out or get direction when the time comes.
Walked around town some and bought fishing gear and a license, the temptation of Yukon fishing is too good to pass up. Stopped by and looked over the river. It looks big fast and powerful and a little intimidating.
Caught an AA meeting and had a piece of a members first year cake. It was nice to meet and chat a bit with some of the locals. They are as friendly as one would expect of friends of Bill's.
I'm writing this in broad daylight at 10:30 PM and that's different.
Whitehorse is a nice Smallish town, nicely situated on the Yukon and overlooked by forested bluffs. The people are open and friendly.
Had my first Tim Horton's coffee and doughnut. My Canadian Inet friends who rave over these doughnuts have obviously never been to Krispy Kream. An so to bed.
Thursday - 7/18
Got a late start by about 1 hr this morning. There was plenty of time to go into town and take a few pictures and pick up a couple of post cards. Got the cards written and mailed before Karsten pulled up in the van and we are on our way to Carmacks.
Met Werner and Fred. Werner is from Germany and Fred is a Canadian from Toronto. On the way Karsten told us about the fire that took out much of the local forest in '95. The Yukon is generally pretty dry, not getting much rain or snow compared to the coast and fires are a yearly danger. We passed miles of burned forest. The burned areas are covered now with grass and young poplars and fireweed so there is lots of good grazing in any case.
Got to Carmacks and found our group. We are picking up a trip in the middle and three of the group are leaving and we are joining the three who are making the entire trip from Whitehorse. The three going on are a Swiss couple, Lawrence and Sabine from Bern and a Japanese student, Toru, from Tokyo.
After a quick pack of the canoes (I figured out the bag) we are on the river, my instruction consisting of sitting in the front and paddling and allowing the more experienced Werner to steer in the back.
Werner is very open and friendly. Learned from him that traveling to the Yukon region is very popular in Germany and that there are two direct flights from Frankfurt to Whitehorse every week.
The river is an is an easy run with very little paddling needed . This is in contrast to what the first group just went through which included a 25 mile paddle across Lake Labarge in heavy weather. They did rig a sail with a tarp and paddles that helped them make some time. Sounds like quite an adventure!
Our first run was short, just a quick run out of town to a campsite on the river. No need to worry about blisters or soreness today.
We landed on an Island for the night and I got to meet Thor, our guide. He is also a German but in the process of becoming a Canadian. That makes four of our group with German as their Mother Tongue. Thor joked that the Yukon is the longest German river in the world.
As we proceeded down the river I was awed by he beauty all around. Forest and tall bluffs. An occasional Native fish camp being the only sign of man to be seen.
We did pass one riffle that got me a little nervous, perhaps a taste of the famous Five Fingers Rapids to follow tomorrow! I think I'll let Werner drive again in the morning.
Our home for the night is a pretty little island, no bugs and absolutely quiet, except for the sounds of the river and a few birds.
Thor whipped up some great grub. Baked salmon fresh veggies and dip and a fruit salad. All was wonderful.
Our guide is an interesting fellow. He had been an architect in Germany but prefers the guiding business even though the pay is lousy. He is a perfect outdoorsman and loves the bush in all weather.
After camp chores we found that it was 10:30 PM. The light really fools you here.
The first half day on the river was great. Fine weather, beautiful forested scenery and a comfortable camp. They say this is the first camp where they have not had many mosquitoes. I think I booked the right trip!
Friday - 7/19 Photo Gallery
Woke to rain, not heavy but in showers. Spent a leisurely morning breaking camp.
Took a dip in the river for a bath. It was cold, but not so cold as the Merced in Yosemite, I think Thor measured 60 deg F.
We got on the river and made an easy paddle of it. The river moves very fast and does most of the work. This is not so apparent until you pass a shallow spot and see the bottom speeding by.
Saw a couple of Bald Eagles today. They are not shy but watch you float by only yards away as if you're some log or something.
Stopped at an abandoned coal mine and an old road house, relics of the Gold Rush. Many of these on the river.
Passed through the Five Fingers Rapids and these were not so big a deal as expected. We did ship a wave onto my cotton trousers and as there were still showers and no sun I did get a bit of a chill. Whenever the sun is not shining directly here it gets cold fast.
After a bit we found some sun and just drifted for a bit and I warmed up. I about drifted off and poor jet lagged Werner was out cold. Passed a couple of fish camps. The "First Nations" people, as they call the Indians up here, spend all summer catching and smoking fish at these camps.
A plane passed low over the river and wagged it's wings at us as it passed. That looks like fun!
Finally found a camp and I admit I was getting bushed. Once again on an island to avoid the mosquitoes, very nice!
We pull up and then carry the supplies to the "kitchen" that Thor has marked off. Some one digs a fire pit and we gather small wood and large to saw and split for the fire. This is light poplar and burns fast so a lot has to be gathered, but it saws and splits easily. Then we lug our personal gear and tents to whatever spot we've found and by the time our tents are up Thor has supper about ready. Tonight it is Spaghetti with a fine sauce that Thor has made up. He is a creative cook.
Caught and released a couple of fish tonight about 20" each. A fish a cast and fair fighters. These are Incounu and they look like a trash fish but there's a limit on them.
Sore and tired and ready to sleep. Lots of wind and sun today about wore me out. Fresh wolf tracks on the island. EEK!
Saturday - 7/20
It blew hard all night, pulling tent stakes if they were not held down by rocks. I think I was the only thing that kept my tent from becoming airborne last night!
I woke up at 0530 and got a bath in the river. I was counting on the wind to do some good and it did as all my wet clothes from yesterday are dry though I wash them this AM while I took my bath.
Had a good breakfast of bacon and eggs.
Packed up our camp and onto the river. I took the helm today and Werner has agreed to trade spots every day. The advantage of the front is that you can place your wet bag as a backrest, not so in the back. It took me a while to get the hang of steering with much experimentation and some unexpected wide circles.
The wind is at our back today and all you have to do is raise a paddle to be sailing. Werner rigged a sail with two paddles and his jacket and we made pretty good time. Thor rigged a sail with a tarp that made him look like a long ship. Then it's just kick back and watch the forest slide by. Miles of burn here covered by young poplars and fireweed. pretty in a way but it seems a little forlorn.
Past the burn we saw a cow moose and her calf. We heard the calf first as it bounded up the slope bawling to it's mom about these strange creatures on the river. She shook her head wildly as the calf caught up to her. That's a lot of critter to have upset!.
Many more bald eagles and an osprey on the river and some Dahl Sheep on the hills today. The river has opened up here to broad forested vistas stretching off into the distant western mountains and high volcanic bluffs on the eastern side.
This is the setting for Fort Selkirk, which we visited. This had been a trading post for the Hudson Bay Company before the gold rush and an RCMP outpost.. During the gold rush it was a bustling river community and an army base, the Army being brought in, I think, to ensure that American miners remembered what country this was. The bluffs across the river have two holes blasted into them where the Army did their cannon practice every day. Selkirk was considered as the capitol of the territory but the new road from Whitehorse to Dawson bypassed it, the steamboat era ended and that was that!
Now there is a caretaker in the summer and a reconstruction crew. The caretaker was a very pleasant Native woman who was quite attentive and helpful. I was especially impressed by the Indian grave yard which is brightly painted fences and houses over the graves decorated by Indian symbols.
Back on the river for a few more kilometers and then camp.
Passed a large rock that reminded me of the rock of the Lorelei on the Rhine. Werner confirmed the similarity though he says much of the Rhine is channeled these days. Seems he knows the village of Wolfach, where my great grandmother. Emilie Baumann came from, quite well. It's not too far from Frankfurt apparently. He says it's a small town of about 10,000 souls situated in a canyon in the Black Forest .
I sawed some wood and then went for a short swim. All my swims are short for while the river is not frigid, it's not exactly comfortable either.
A storm threatened at super but seemed to dissipate, we'll see what the night brings.
I almost clobbered Sabine tonight. Some previous camper had fixed an upright log under another for some tarp shelter, probably, and I snagged the upright with my jacket and it came down just missing her head and grazing her hand. Another couple of inches and we'd of been calling an air ambulance with Thor's satellite phone.. We were spared!
All in all a great day but it's 11:00 PM and my internal clock does not want to sleep in this apparent early evening. I will get used to it I suppose.
Sunday - 7/21
Woke to a beautiful morning with a mist rising above the forested hills across the river. Went through the morning routine of sawing wood, doing breakfast dishes and packing all common and personal gear into our canoes. They seem to hold a lot for such small vessels. We stayed a bit longer than usual to boil some river water for our water jugs.
It's a glorious day on the river with high puffy white clouds over the forested hills and all of this reflected on the stiller water. We did not paddle much and spent the whole of the day on the river, even eating lunch in our canoes.
We took a smaller side channel for a bit and this required a bit of trickier paddling and we scrapped bottom in some of the shallower riffles. I'm glad that Werner had the helm.
The afternoon was hot, though the second a cloud covered the sun it turned cold. One thing you don't want to do around here is block someone's sunlight.
Saw another moose, She was grazing in some shallows in a side arm of the river.
Weather held good all day.
Lentil soup for supper, all excellent. A fine day!
Monday - 7/22 Photo Gallery
Woke to a pleasant morning. I'm struck by how much we take good weather for granted when we live indoors. Now it's something to be grateful for!.
Had pancakes for breakfast and there was some problem with the heat of the pan so the first few were... well... different. No one complained.
The day is a little cooler with high clouds giving some relief from the sun. There seem to be two temperatures here, too hot and too cold. If the sun is on you it's too hot, if anything at all blocks the sun it's immediately too cold.
The river is slower here and we paddled more today. Talked Thor into taking a stretch break today and he was willing. Saw a flock of Buffleheads, i wondered where they summered. Saw a black bear on a hillside and another cow moose with her calf. These two were ambling along the shore and paid no attention to us at all. Nice view.
Made camp in a forest today and there were more bugs. There are small flies and many more mosquities. My repellant works OK.
Pizza for supper! Very good!
Werner lives in a smaller city of about 150,000 west of Frankfurt called Karlsuhr (sp.) He works for Dahlmer-Chrysler as an exec in their training department. Toru is a student in Vancouver, studying tourism. This trip is research, He expects to go to work in a National Park in Hokkaido upon his return home. Fred is a music teacher in Toronto. This is a second career for him as he left accounting for the more rewarding teaching career. I have not yet gotten much info from Lawrence and Sabine.
The forest here is incredibly lush. The floor is completely carpeted with a sort of soft spongy moss that seems to immediately cover anything that falls. I saw no bare wood or ground, every inch of ground seems covered by something growing. The thickness of the forest is such that it would be nearly impossible to pass through with a pack if there is no trail. There are wild roses everywhere and the rose hips are nearly ripe. The bears will be feasting here soon. These roses are covered with thousands of very small and very sharp thorns. Ouch!
Tuesday - 7/23
Woke to a fine day. I slept the night through. Bread and jam and boiled eggs for breakfast, bacon sandwiches for lunch. We suffered our first casualty as Thor pulled his back lifting a heavy packing case this AM.
I was wrong about the weather as today is perfect, neither too hot nor cold! We do have a headwind today though so we have to paddle to make out 50 kilometers. That's OK because we need the exercise after these easy days.
We stopped at Kirkman Creek for bread. There is a sign on the river in the middle of nowhere and after a few Ks more you come to a landing. Going up the bank you find a beautiful little home with a lawn and garden set about 100 yards back from the river. This establishment is run by Linda Taylor. She sells bread and cookies and meals and coffee and has a cabin and camp sites for rent. Linda is a cheerful soul who raised a family here. Now she just spends summers here with her grand kids and a pack of friendly dogs. She has a sign on the landing that says "The dogs are friendly and the coffee is hot!" in German. This tickled Werner.
Proceeded past the influx of the White river. Here the Yukon changes from green to brown from the silt. Went through a riffle here and shipped some water.
Came to a nice looking beach and landed early. Here we had to build a tent against the sun as it is broiling on this gravel beach.
Fruit salad and veggie rice for supper. We all have appetites from the paddling today!
We are sharing the beach with a solitary canoeist from Florida. He is on a nine month trip through Canada. This is his last leg of the trip and he expects to take another week to reach Dawson. Some trip!
We had a close look at a moose today as we passed one feeding by the bank. We were close enough to see the shine on her coat. She was a magnificent animal and her feeding method was interesting. She would grab a branch and give her head a swing and a jerk, stripping off all the leaves. There is a lot of strength there!
Had a nice chat with our Swiss couple and Fred. Talked a bit about business and political issues of our countries. It was very interesting. They know Langnau and the Emmenthal Valley where my Mennonite Burkholder ancestors came from. All was quite sociable except some tenseness over the relative merits of out respective coffees. Werner opted out of this conversation and Toru was limited by his English and only responded to direct questions.
A fine day.
Wednesday - 7/24
Woke to a pleasant morning. Saw a moose across the river this morning. While these animals seem to have little fear of man it did amble in the direction away from us.
Brown craggy cliffs made of ancient lava flows line the West bank of the river here. These erode into fantastic shapes, looking sometimes like ancient sentinels watching our passage..
The morning threatened rain and the afternoon delivered. We put on our rain gear as we paddled in a light but steady rain. It is not a downpour so there is no real discomfort as the day remains warm.
Made some interesting moves through some riffles so I really got a chance to practice some steering.
Stopped for water at a stream flowing into the river and it was interesting to see the clear water flowing for some distance with a well defined line into the river before mixing with the muddy silt of the Yukon. While he was filling the jugs, Fred came upon some fresh bear tracks on the sandbar we'd landed on.
Passed under a porcupine that had climbed out onto a fallen tree leaning over the river. Poor thing was minding his own business and got surprised by canoe after canoe passing directly under him. He beat a hasty retreat... or as hasty a retreat as a porcupine on a six inch log can make. Some show!
Found our camp and made our tent for the kitchen and went through our regular routine in the rain. For our coffee and tea we are using river water. At this point this is water with some "heft". Real mineral water!
Ruben sandwiches for supper. The Germans had never heard of these but thought they were pretty good. Sabine would not eat hers without dill pickles.
After supper a barge for the mining camp went by. This is the way things get around up here if they are of any size. This one was carrying a pickup and trailer and assorted supplies. I cannot imagine navigating one of these with all of the gravel and sandbanks everywhere in the river. I admire these pilots!
Thursday - 7/25
Woke to rain. It rained all night and shows no signs of letting up. Folks congregate under the tent a lot and we did not build a fire for coffee water but rather did all cooking on the stove. Had Red River cereal for breakfast. This is famous stuff in Canada, a sort of creme of wheat on steroids. Very filling.
We moved a little slower this morning and got a later start than usual.
The place to do sanitary business is in the woods (as far form the river as possible) so I find myself in the interesting position of squatting in the bushes in the rain doing my business while using one hand to protect the only area where I have no bug repellant from the mosquitoes who DO hang out in these woods.
Ah well we are soon enough on the river again and all are in good spirits.
I asked Thor if there were ever grumps along to spoil the mood and he'd said he hadn't met any yet. We concluded that expedition travelers are a congenial breed. This has been my experience on several trips too.
It's a beautiful morning on the river as we paddle through a steady warm rain. Mists and clouds make their own beauty on the landscape, different but no less pleasing to the soul than a sunny day.
After some hours of this we come to a place called Ancient Voices which is a kind of Wilderness Lodge where we have decided to spend the night in relative comfort. Cabins are $25 per person and a sauna and hot shower $10 Canadian. Its a pretty little spot with rustic cabins spread around a meadow.
It is run by a young fellow who has his girlfriend visiting. They are a pleasant couple. She's something of a character, braiding her hair and dressing in an Indian costume to practice bow and arrow. She's Quebecois and has a charming accent.
Saw a permafrost freezer today, which is just a freezer box buried some five feet or so into the permafrost. Very interesting and quite cold enough.
The cabins are very rustic but clean and neat. Took a shower and a Sauna and all is right with the world.
Werner and I climbed a hill above the lodge for a good look at the river. It was a beautiful view. The local dogs came along like we were old friends. They took to chasing a squirrel and pranced along the edges of the cliffs in a heart stopping way. I guess they know their turf but it was nerve wracking to watch them.
Had a German dish, the name of which translates into English as "Poor Knight". A sort of a French Toast. The lodge will sell you meals but Thor has his supplies and continues to cook.
Our Quebecois hostess provides us a chocolate cake made with bananas that is great.! A fine day!
The skies are clearing but there's still a bit of a chill so I made a small fire in our stove. Big mistake! The cabin cooled off enough for sleeping by about midnight but we were all pretty well up until then anyway. A single mosquito that had slipped into the room kept me awake for a bit longer. Not sure what it is about the whine of a single mosquito that is so disturbing... the suspense I guess. The generator stayed on too long.
Friday 7/26
Woke at 0900 well rested and had a breakfast of bannock, a sort of heavy biscuit made of bran dough and raisons. Fine fare for a Yukon morning.
Saw a bird called the Whiskey Jay this morning. A sort of a gray jay with a black eye stripe and a lighter gray chest.
After breakfast we still had a few hours so I packed up early and took a hike in the forest. Thor gave me a canister of pepper spray to take along for bears... they like their food spiced I guess! Crossed a burn and saw many mushrooms and wildflowers fresh after the rain. Saw a robin and a northern flicker and a Lincoln Sparrow but mostly I saw beautiful scenery.
Came back to find most everyone ready to go as they'd fired up the generator again and we were looking for quiet.
We set off and were glad to be back on the river. The dogs saw us off and one even jumped into the river and swam a short way with us. It was touching. These two slightly overweight jolly companions were good company to all during our stay.
Floated a couple of hours and to our last camp. Campfire potatoes for supper tonight. Yum!
No one moved very fast after supper as if we were savoring our last night on the river. We are blessed with a quiet evening and we chat quietly and watch the river. A so to bed.
Saturday - 7/27
Woke to a cooler morning with over cast skies. Had a light breakfast and loaded up for the last time. The cases are very light now. I guess Thor planned pretty well.
It's an easy glide the 20 kilometers or so into town. There were more boats yesterday and even more this morning and we can hear Dawson long before we see it.
Then we are there and our river trip is over.
I feel a little dazed for a couple of hours by all the noise and activity as we get settled into our rooms at the Downtown Hotel.
I do a little laundry and finally get through to Rose after several tries. It's good to hear her (and Mary's) voice again. Out for a little souvenir shopping and it's time for supper at a local restaurant that Thor has picked. We all have a nice chatty conversation, again about Life, the Universe and Everything and it is a nice get together. After supper we go to a local dive and I bought one round but soon saw fit to leave, having fulfilled my social obligation.
I'm sharing a room with Fred and he is a good and genial room mate.
When I talked to Mary this afternoon she asked me if I'd seen the Pope in Canada while he was here. I told her he'd missed the Yukon River this trip.
Sunday - 7/28
Woke to a rainy day and found that Fred did not sleep well, the TV in the next room being too loud. I did not hear a thing.
Took a walk after breakfast and let him get some sleep. Pretty well covered Dawson City, but that's pretty easy to do. It's a typical gold rush frontier town with false store fronts, wooden sidewalks and dirt streets. Took in the Robert Service and Jack London cabins and later the local museum.
The museum is a bit of a mish mash with little apparent order of sequence. There's a quick nod to geology and pre-history and the rest is Gold Rush.
At 11:00 AM we met and drove up to the Midnight Sun dome but the rain and wind made it a short visit. Then off to Dredge #4 which is a fine old huge machine for tearing up the landscape. An interesting electrically driven dredge that dug it's own pond as it went across the land and filled in behind itself as it crawled across the land at about 1/4 mile per season.
We then visited a placer mine which is a messy and destructive way to get gold out of the hills but about the only way it can be done here abouts. Had to wince just a little though as the operator described his operation as being beneficial to the environment. I suspect he believes that to be true.
I passed on the panning in the rain part. I've panned gold before.
Rest of the afternoon relaxing and called Rose. Took in the show at Diamond Tooth Gertie's after supper and that was a fun Can-Can style review. Dropped a little in the slot machine and very little came out. Oh well. Took a walk past the local dive and there was nice music but I could think of no business or social reason to be there so back to the Hotel and to bed.
Monday - 7/29
Woke to a drizzly day and enjoyed huevos rancheros for breakfast at Kate's. Walked over to the coffee shop to buy lunch and ran into Werner, Thor and Fred in quick order. This is the place where people meet it seems, They DO make a good Mocha.
Upon checking out I find that while the Downtown Hotel is comfortable and convenient I'd stay at a hotel just a bit out of the center of town as it seems that the 0230 closing time noise is an every night affair here.
We were on the road by 11:00 AM with eleven of us in a van that will comfortably seat eight. We had picked up three extra travelers and their gear in Dawson.
These are German lads but of a special sort. They are ethnic German immigrants from Russia. Apparently their ancestors emigrated to Russia a couple of centuries ago. It's an interesting piece of German law that someone who can prove German ancestry can emigrate to Germany with full citizenship. I might even qualify I suppose.
Werner says that they have a special problem in that the Russians have always considered them Germans and gave them a rough time of it, especially after WWII while the Germans consider them Russian. No real homeland it seems.
Well that's about it... nothing remarkable about my last day in Whitehorse. Werner and Fred and I did have a nice supper at the Klondike Restaurant. I had buffalo steak and it was pretty good and we had a nice supper and walk after.
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