Week 1

We had a jam-packed first week getting out on the river. The ferry from Juneau to Skagway was an unexpectedly great start to the trip: we saw humpback whales, seals, many birds, and a pod of orcas.

Sarah and Aric were a huge help in getting us ready to finally launch. We took a test drive on the Taiya River, and spread out all our gear for packing. Then, we drove to the Yukon (seeing three black bears on the drive) and camped at Teslin Crossing. The next day, we practiced flipping the boats and getting back in. (The water was very, very cold.) After some champagne, we were ready to launch! Sarah, Aric, Orca, and Willow waved us off as we set out.

The Teslin was slow-moving for the first few days. (And until we came close to Dawson about 10 days later, we saw no other paddlers except for a lone canoeist on our second day.) The current began to pick up bit by bit, but the biggest excitement came at the confluence of the Yukon River and the Teslin. We camped at Hootalinqua that night, and ended up paddling through a forest fire the next day. (Stay tuned for more on that; Ben's upcoming dispatch in the ADN - should be June 21 - gives a good account of it. We were totally fine, but it was pretty amazing.)

After not quite a week, we made it to Carmacks, where we had lots of chores to do. We were happy to get a shower, too! The campground we stayed at had bikes we could borrow, and it was great to get out on the road and pedal. Your legs don't get to do a whole lot in a kayak 8 hours a day.

Photos forthcoming...