Logistics: Scroll down to the bottom of this report.
Water level during our trip: 2300 m3/s at station above White River. That is high for August, but average for June/July.
Weather: mid-50s and raining the first 7 days, then 60s and clear. We wore drysuits and weren't bothered much by the rain.
Party: 2 adults, 13-yr old, 10-yr old.
Boats: 2 Clipper Yukon canoes from Kanoe People
Overall:
A fantastic river trip with lots of history to explore! The river
changes every day, and so does the scenery on this 470 mile journey.
Day
1. We left Seattle at 6am, caught a 11am flight from Vancouver to
Whitehorse, YT, arrived at 3pm, and were on the water at 6pm. 12 hours
after leaving our house in Seattle, we were paddling down the Yukon.
It was definitely surreal. We paddled about 5 miles and made camp.
The river here is not particularly wide nor strong. The river was
going about 4 mph.
Day 2. We paddled some 20+ miles easily to
Lake Laberge. Lake Laberge is very big (34 miles long) and famous for
wind and waves. We had a head wind as we entered the lake, and
paddled to an abandoned First Nations village on the eastern (paddler's
right) shore to look around and rest. There we met Ben, an
entertaining 76-yr old fellow who has been spending summers on the
river for 30+ years. He took us on a tour of the village and the
Great Rivers cabins, a company that had a scheme to have 4-star cabins
and clients but ended up 10 million in debt. After a couple hours, the
wind turned and we paddled onward to take advantage of the tailwind.
Camp 2 was on the eastern shore of the lake.
Day 3. The next
day, the rain continued off and on, but the scenery was spectacular.
Huge rock cliffs rise out of the lake. It was 25 miles or so to the
end of the lake, and we poked forward at 3.5 miles an hour against a
headwind. Getting to the end of the lake did not seem like it would
happen. The lake felt endless. Then we began to get a tail wind. It
picked up and the waves began to grow. We stuck close to shore and
just rode the wind and waves. The waves were big (2-3 foot?) but
manageable. The big ones had to be ridden down at an angle and I kept
an eye over my shoulder to watch the waves coming in. The kids held up
their paddles and the spare to catch the wind. We went 7 mph with
just steering. It was raining and cold, but we pressed on to reach the
end of the lake. We were very happy to see the 30-mile camp and the
shelter there!
Day 4. We paddled the 30-mile section from Lake
Laberge to the confluence of the Teslin River. The river was high and
the hydraulics were quite strong. There were lots of riffles, but
nothing hard (I+). The eddy lines were boiling and getting caught in
there was disconcerting. I had the bow too heavy at first and the boat
was spinning on its nose. I landed and moved weight back and center.
Whew, that made this section much more fun. We easily made the 30
miles to the old Hootalinqua village. There are some old buildings
there, interpretive signs, an outhouse, and a shelter. It was raining
steadily, and we made good use of the shelter again. Though it was
raining, we had drysuits, so it didn't matter. We were dry and
comfortable.
Day 5. The river doubles in size with the addition
of the Teslin water. Shipwreck Island is just downstream of
Hootalinqua, and there is a cool old steamer to visit (and a good
camp). On this section, we were drifting at about 5 mph and with 1
adult paddling, 7mph was easy. We wanted to average 35 miles per day,
and that was easy even with a late 10:30am start each day. We camped
around 5-6pm most days. There were many big cut banks in this section,
and the scenery is striking. We made a short day and camped above the
Big Salmon river at a nice trapper cabin. We stayed in the cabin to
avoid putting up the tent for a night. We lazed around a read, ate and
made bread. K began reading us 'Cold Comfort Farm' and this was a
nightly activity to the end of the trip.
Day 6. We decided to
skip the Big Salmon village and make some mileage today. We had seen a
lot of old cabins lately and were a bit maxed out on that. We paddled
about 40 miles. It felt long (note we had just 1 adult in each boat),
and the weather was dark, cold and rainy. We passed Yukon Crossing
and poked around the old roadhouse there. We camped past Little Salmon
River at a fisherman's camp. The camp was a bit junky, but it was
raining and blowing hard. We made a nice camp with our 2 tarps, a
table we found, some chairs we found, and some plywood. On day 6, K
unexpectedly snapped his paddle in half while ferrying to camp.
Thankfully it did not snap while while K was frantically trying to pull
away from a sweeper! It was like this Snap! "Sh*t! Jake, PADDLE!" Jake
paddles hard and begins spinning the boat around. Jake happened to be
using the spare and so K couldn't reach it. "No, PADDLE!" "I AM
paddling!!" "No, give me the paddle!" "What?" "Give me the paddle!!!"
"What?" "F***!" Eliz. and Karina on the shore: "What on earth are they
doing out there?"
Day 7. We paddled to Carmacks. We had been
dreaming of the 'well stocked grocery store' for days. The river was
now quite a bit wider, and there were not so many cliffs. We paddled
through large old burn areas. We saw a couple moose. We arrived fairly
early into camp and settled in for a rest. The campground is outside
of town, but they have bikes we could borrow to bike into town for
dinner. We hit the 'well-stocked store', but in the end, we couldn't
decide what to buy so just got some more butter. Dinner was good, but
our thoughts were on the river and what we'd face the next day.
Day
8. The dreaded Five Finger Rapids. I'd been worrying about this the
whole trip, but I tried to console myself with knowing that few people
dump in them. The books all said that if you hug the river-right bank
and take the right channel through the center, the rapids are easy and
you don't need to scout. There is a big (easy) eddy at the top if you
did want to scout. In retrospect, I would have stopped and gotten out
to take pictures. But when I got there, I saw that the run was easy
and straight-forward and I just wanted to get it over with. At the
water level, we did it at (2300 m3/s above White River, which is high
for August but average for July), it was easy class II. My daughter
and I were so happy when we came through, and we laughed at how much we
had worried about it. Rink Rapids are a couple miles below. They are
supposedly easier, and we were keen to run them after our success
through Five Finger Rapids. However, as I got close, it looked to me
that there were huge standing waves all the way across the rapids. The
books said you could avoid the rapid by taking the right shore, so I
headed that way and looked for an easier way through. K and Jake, in
contrast, thought the waves looked fun and headed straight in. We
watched as they entered...and then disappeared in the trough. Hmm,
maybe we were going to need to fish the boys out! But they appeared
back on the crest of the next wave, and K navigated the canoe down at an
angle into the next trough, where they disappeared again. He had to
navigate a few of these standing waves; they were certainly big enough
to swamp the canoe if taken head on. Even taken at an angle, K took on a
bit of water. Anyhow, the boys came out unscathed. We skirted to the
right, avoiding the rapids altogether, and joined them at the bottom.
That evening we had a lovely camp above the river at Merrice Creek.
Day
9. The river was now really wide and full of islands and braiding.
The map is quite good and guided us most of the time. The current was
about 4.5 mph. We headed down below Minto without stopping and had
lunch at a lovely spot called Thom's place. The weather cleared and it
was even hot sometimes. We decided to make a long day and push onto
Fort Selkirk where we would spend the night and explore. This section
is full of braiding and islands. It was a long day and the river was
pokey here, but we were rewarded by the fort which is on a bluff
overlooking the river and has much to explore. There is also a building
for cooking with a wood stove. We cranked up the heat and stayed up
late reading and playing cards.
Day 10. We lounged around in the
morning and spent a few more hours checking out the fort. It is
maintained and restored by the First Nations and Canadian government.
It is very well done with lots to see. The fog burned off mid-day and
the weather was beautiful. After lunch, we paddled to Selwyn Creek, a
short 30 miles away. We saw many bear and moose this day. The river
was wide and barges came by a couple times a day. Selwyn camp is a bit
small and darkish, but the next camp was a bit too far to go.
Day
11. We paddled another 35 miles along the river. Big river, moose,
and bear. Hot weather. We ended at a lovely camp high above the river
on RR. We were treated to a beautiful red sunset.
Day 12. We
paddled about 5 miles downstream to Kirkman Creek where a family has a
bakery. We bought some fresh bread and everyone was excited about
french toast for the next morning, as we have had oatmeal for 3 days
straight now after the other options ran out. We continued on to the
confluence with the White River. We saw bears on and off. The White
River comes in from the left. It is huge, really huge. We stopped near
the confluence and hiked up to look around. The views are incredible.
As we headed down river, the current really picked up. It was about 7
mph and the hydraulics were attention-getting. The river is 3 times
wider and it made me a little nervous; not because it was hard, but the
river was so big and kind of brooding. The banks are cut and marked
with many sweepers, so you cannot land just anywhere. Also the current
is ripping along, so landing is harder for that reason too. The forest
is dense with trees in this section and there were no marked camps.
It took us about an hour of searching to find a so-so camp. We have
mosquitoes for the first time. The muddy river was racing just below
our little camp.
Day 13. The current slackened a bit and the
trees opened up. This section was not so brooding as the White River to
Stewart River section. In fact, it was downright pleasant. The river
felt calm but it was going at a good clip of about 7 mph. It was
still wide, but it was not as spread out as before. At 2:30pm, we
found a really lovely camp in a bit of dry woods. We decided to call
it a day and enjoy a long last camp on the river. We read, played
cards, and I baked some more.
Day 14. Our last day on the
river. We had 37 miles to Dawson City, but the river was going fast
and it didn't take long. The river is straighter now with rock
cliffs. At 5pm, we rolled into Dawson City!
Day 15-16. We
spent a day and a half exploring Dawson City. There is much to see and
we only saw a small bit. The weather was nice and we had a great
time. Too soon, we were at the Dawson airport for the flight to
Whitehorse and then onto Vancouver. It was hard to leave, and K and I
would rather be back in the canoes heading downstream for Circle....
another summer.
------------------------------------------------
Logistics.
Getting
there and back: You can drive 3 days Seattle to Whitehorse or take a 2
hr flight from Vancouver to Whitehorse.... We downloaded a coupon for
long-term parking at the Vancouver airport and it was only $130 for 16
days of parking. Flights were about $600 each on Air North for
Vancouver-Whitehorse + Dawson-Vancouver. You can get a shuttle by car
(12 hrs or so) from Dawson City to Whitehorse, but it wasn't going to be
much cheaper than flying. Kanoe People picked us up for free from
the Whitehorse airport on our arrival and took us to Canadian Tire to
buy white gas. Note: when ordering online on Air North, try ordering 1
person at a time. The price goes up with each person (as the plane
fills), and if you pay the price of the x-th person, so you can save $$$
by getting 1 ticket at a time if you have a bigger party. Watch your
weight. Vancouver to Whitehorse leg weight limit 100lb/person; Dawson
to Whitehorse is 44lb/person. After that you pay overweight charges.
Canoe
rental: We rented a couple Clipper Yukon canoes from Kanoe People.
All their info is on the web. It was $395(+tax) for 2 weeks plus $75
per canoe to leave them in Dawson City. They rent other equipment too.
We rented a food barrel from them, but brought our own pfd's and
paddles. Look over your gear carefully. Our food barrel had a big
crack that we didn't notice until later. Our canoe was missing some
clips and bow and stern lines. We had our own, but if you don't, check
your canoe carefully and pick up what you need before you leave.
Map:
The book/map 'Marsh Lake to Dawson City' by Michael Rourke is all you
need. Kanoe People sells it or you can buy it online. The book is
paper, so you will need a good (and big, like 8.5 x 11) map case for
it. I printed off instructions from the Yukon Quest website about
running the Five Finger Rapids. It has lots of pictures, and I liked
having the extra info (though it wasn't really necessary I did read it
about 20x before the rapids ;). We also took 'Paddling the Yukon River
and it's Tributaries' by Dan Maclean, but that wasn't useful; that's
better deciding on a river to take but not so useful on the river. It
would have been better to take a book just on the Yukon River history,
or say Jack London's books to read in the evening, or some story about
the stampeders.
Water level info: Yukon above White River:
http://www.wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/graph/graph_e.html?stn=09CD001Food/Fuel:
We brought all our food from Seattle since we didn't want to pay
Whitehorse prices and we dehydrated lots of food. We brought our
whisperlite stove and bought a gallon of white gas at the Canadian Tire
store on the way from the airport to Kanoe People. The Air North
people whined about our fuel bottles, but I said they were empty and
cleaned out and they relented. Next time, I'll pack my stove and empty
bottles in a airproof bag and not mention them. We tend to pack very
light, so we didn't have to pay over-charges for our luggage. The
Vancouver-Whitehorse leg had a limit of 100lb each, and the
Dawson-Whitehorse leg was 44lb each. You pay extra if you have more
than 2 checked bags per person.
Camping: On the Whitehorse to
Carmacks sections, there are many camps marked on the map. On the
Carmacks to Dawson City section, there are few. And from the White
River to Dawson City, there are almost none marked. Many people camp
on the sand bars, but they were mud bars for us and the water level
went up 6 inches overnight once, so we were not inclined to camp near
the water line. Where camps are not marked, you need to look for
clearings and old wood camps marked on the map or paddle near shore and
look for camps. We did not have to compete with other paddlers for
camps, but I think in June/July there are many more paddlers and guided
groups, so finding open camps might be harder.
Water: We drank from the river. After White River, the water is really muddy so we let it sit out to settle.
Mosquitoes:
We didn't have many at all in mid- to late-August. We used bug spray
one night otherwise they just weren't there. I assume they are bad in
June/July.
Animals: We had no problem and have not read of
paddlers having problems with bears. We did see lots of black bears and
maybe one grizzly. Keep a clean camp and do not camp where bears
like to feed (next to creeks and in the deltas at confluences). It is
also wise to avoid areas heavily used by fishermen due to more fish
smells. Do not dump food stuff in the woods near camp; burn it or toss
it well out into the river to be carried away (no soap). Do not leave
dirty dishes out overnight to attract bears (or other critters). Re
sleeping on islands to avoid bears, they are great swimmers; we saw one
out-swimming a 7mph current! There are also many moose, and it's wise
to avoid areas frequented by them too. You can tell where they hang
out from their prints. What you really need to watch out for are the
brazen mice. Yes, mice. They will chew up stuff left out (yum, dirty
socks) and chew into your dry bags. So don't leave dry bags on the
ground and keep food in something mice cannot get into. A food barrel
works well. We also have a ActionPaker box that we keep stuff in.
Every night, we cleaned our camp and hung everything or otherwise
secured it in the ActionPaker box. We did rent bear spray from Kanoe
People.
Difficulty: The trip is mostly class I/I+. I have read
in books that this suitable for those with little paddling experience,
but that seems foolhardy to me. The current is strong and the
hydraulics are strong. You'll want a good ferry to get from bank to
bank, and know how to spin the boat around to land in a strong current.
You'll also want to know how current pushes a boat around, otherwise
you'll try to paddle away from something (like a sweeper) at a 45
degree angle and the current will push you right into what you are
trying to avoid. Take some moving water classes beforehand to learn to
read the river and deal with current. Whitewater skills are not
needed; you need basic skills for paddling in a current. Also you'll
need to know how to load a boat so that it is stable and is properly
trimmed so it maneuvers properly and doesn't spin on its nose. This is
fast cold water and no place for a top-heavy or poorly loaded boat.
Lake
Laberge is big and prone to winds. Big lakes need to be paddled close
to shore. It is very hard to get back into a boat if you flip and you
won't be able to swim long in cold water. The lake is prone to tail
winds (thankfully) but that also means running waves. You should
practice paddling in running waves before trying to paddling them on a
trip. They can be tricky and if you mess up, you'll be in trouble.
Head to land long before you are in waves you can't handle.
There
are two sets of rapids you'll face 25 miles downstream from Carmacks.
The Five Finger Rapids is usually class I to II, but can be III in
high water. The water was 2300 m3/s (above White River) when we did
it, and that is high for August, but typical for June/July. It was
easy class II- (1-2 foot waves) we did it. We talked to a couple who
did it in 2010 when water was below 2000 m3/s (abv White River) and they
said there where hardly riffles. In 2012, they did it again at 3000
(abv White River) and had 2-3 foot waves. Hug the right shore as you
come around the bend before the rapids. Then you'll easily be able to
line up with the center of the right channel. Don't psyche yourself
out for it. Pack the weight low, get on your knees, and keep the boat
straight. You'll be through in a couple minutes. Best info I found
on Five Finger rapids was on the YukonQuest website:
http://www.yukonriverquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/fivefinger.pdf
Rink Rapids are a couple miles downstream. They can be completely
avoided by hugging the right shore. It doesn't look like you can avoid
them, but you'll see it's clear when you get all the way right just
above them.
We wore drysuits for the whole trip. It was rainy
and cold, so we didn't get hot. Especially with the kids, we didn't
like the thought of a capsize being a life-threatening event.
Fortunately, flipping is unlikely on this river and many neophytes do
this trip with no problems. But it is going to be a long hard swim in
cold fast water if you do flip. Eddies are few and the current is
often ripping along right up to shore.
Sweepers: There were no
particular problems with sweepers at the average June/July water levels
we did it at. There were sweepers along the banks after the White
River, but the river is so huge, they felt far away. You do need to be
careful choosing landing spots in this sections. There are logs to be
avoided on the shoals in the lower sections. Give them a wide berth
and remember that the current is going faster than you can
paddle---either use the current to help you move left to right (by
ferrying) or plan channels to take very early so you have lots of time
to move slowly across. Remember if you are trying to move rightward
downstream at an angle to the current, the current is pushing against
your boat at an angle and moving you leftward.
Safety stuff:
We took a Spot Beacon and sent in locations twice a day to friends.
We also had a satellite phone for emergency (rented from BlueCosmo in
Seattle). We also carried a GPS to know our location, though we used
it mainly to know how fast the current was going. There is no cell
coverage whatsoever. In some sections, you could hike to the Alaska
highway if needed. Below Minto, we saw a barge twice daily. This
trip is frequented by canoeists and you are likely to see parties
daily.
Dawson City: There are 2 campgrounds across the river from
town. There is a free ferry. The government campground doesn't have
showers or laundry. The hostel campground has a wood-fired bathhouse
(it's nice). Both have pit toilets. You can get showers, flush toilets
and laundry at the RV campground in town. In late-August, the RV
campground had drop-in space but it won't in high season. We tucked in
next to the RVs at the RV campground. Not scenic, but we wanted to be
in town and were too cheap for a hotel. Getting to the airport was
$15 per person and had to be arranged at the visitor center. If I had
known how expensive that would be, I'd have researched hotel/motels
with free shuttle service. Dawson City has loads to see. There are
great museums, guided tours of town, fun bars and restaurants, and nice
hikes. We had a day and a half and didn't have time to see it all.
ATM and 2 full groceries in town. The Trading Post (on Front Str) has
camping gear; pretty much everything. The Trading Post has white gas
(not sure sure about propane). The hostel also has propane and you can
ask the owner about white gas. Loads of hotels; most have internet. I
wasn't able to get my US cell phone to work, which was odd since it
normally does in Canada.
Carmacks: We stayed at Coal Mine
Campground which is river-right above the town. The owners were super
friendly and helpful in getting us a spare paddle (after K broke his).
Security was good (according to the owners). They had bikes to borrow
(for free) for the 15 min bike into town. The grocery store in town
has everything; it is not a dinky gas-station store but a regular
grocery store. You could definitely restock here if you wanted. The
Coal Mine campground has a good burger stand or there is a restaurant in
town. I don't recall seeing an ATM. There is a hotel in town with
internet.
Whitehorse: Big town/city of 25,000+. Has everything
you need: groceries, banks, Canadian Tire (for things like white gas,
hardware, tarps, etc), canoeing and outdoor stores. Hotels, rental
cars, etc. etc. There are a few places that rent canoes for long and
short river trips. These companies will shuttle you wherever. We used
Kanoe People, and half the parties we saw came from the them and the
other half came from Up North. But search online and compare rates.
Get Canadian dollars before you head out on the water. We had to use
some US dollars at one point and paid 75c to the $ (vs 90c to the $).
Mileage
per day: It seems like most non-racers do this in 10-16 days. YRQ
racers take 2 days, hmm. On the river, we did 30-35 miles per day easy
with with 1 adult paddling at an easy pace. Sometimes we stopped for
lunch for an hour or two and other days we rafted and ate on the water.
We stopped a lot to check things out. We pack light though, and we
seemed to be going as fast as other parties with 2 adults per canoe.
Packing List: Look on the right nav bar on the home page to see our Yukon River packing list.
This is a 5-7 day canoe route south of Anchorage, AK on the Kenai
peninsula. This was one of our most memorable trips. It was a real
adventure. It is not one I will repeat, yet I am so glad we did it. It
makes a big figure 8 through a series of small lakes (almost ponds) in a
large marshy and muskog area. It has the most amazing beavers, lots of
moose, and lots of bear (probably grizzly). However we didn't see any
moose or bear because we were traveling with 5 kids, and it is almost
impossible to see wildlife with kids because they chatter non-stop.
Note there are no views to speak of unless you get to Wonder Lake.
This
trip is in Wells Gray Prov. Park which is in British Columbia just west
of Jasper Provincial Park. The trip to the Azure Lake and Rainbow Falls
takes you 20km up Clearwater Lake, up the Clearwater River and into the
less visited and beautiful Azure Lake. Azure Lake is in the Cariboo
Mountains while Clearwater is more in the foothills. The mountains rise
dramatically out of Azure and many waterfalls drop right into the lake.
It reminded us of Isaac Lake on the Bowron Loop. The Rainbow Falls are
at the far east end of Azure Lake and the camp has a wonderful white
sand beach. This would be a nice place to spend an extra day if you have
time.