Day 7 Yukon River — Buffalo Roamer

Another great day on the Yukon

It’s hard to believe that we have already spent 1 week living with the river. It feels like just yesterday that we put in.

After waking up on a small gravel bar we fell into our typical routine- wake up around 9am, enjoy hash browns, oatmeal and two cups of coffee, pack up and hit the water around noon. Both jack and I take significant pleasure in enjoying a leisurely morning. Thank God. 70 days spent with a wake up and go personality could be tough.

The morning was met with clouds and wind. Lying in my tent, half awake, I worried that we may not be able to paddle due to the wind blowing waves about the river. Thankfully, I was wrong.

Following our second cup of Joe, we hit the water just as the clouds broke, making way for a clear and hot day. It turned out to be our warmest day yet. Summer has finally arrived.

The first part of the day was spent paddling hard, working to make miles as the rivers current flowed beneath the boat. Once content with our effort we kicked up our feet and reclined back as far as one could before being supported by the heaps of gear piled behind the canoe seat. As we drifted away I took a moment to recognize how happy I am to be here. What an amazing place. We are here. Doing it.

By late afternoon we reached Fort Kelkirk, an old outpost on the banks of the Yukon. A crew of workers spent the summer restoring many of the historic cabins and buildings that were originally constructed in the late 1800s. The Hudson Bay Company once operated a fur trading outpost here, and in it’s heyday Fort Selkirk was a bustling river community of gold rushers, mountain men, misfits and vagabonds looking to start anew. Now completely empty other than seasonal caretakers that stay on property, Fort Selkirk was once considered the capitol of Canada’s Yukon Territory.

By late evening we left Fort Selkirk and faded away into the midnight sun. Twenty-four hour sunlight is the real deal. We found camp in the shelter of a wooded island. To our dismay, the island was infested with mosquitos. For the first time this trip we set up the Bug Tarp, a self standing, netted tarp structure that allows us to get out of the skeeters to cook, eat and relax in peace. It worked great. Although the shelter takes up a fair amount of space in the boat, I have a feeling that this thing will be worth its weight in gold by the end of the journey.

Setting up my tent I noticed a crack in one of my tent poles. I suppose I should expect some sort of wear and tear after well over 100 days of use and abuse in the last year from the Mississippi River and more. I tested a splint on the fracture and it seems to be holding OK for the moment. Hope it stays that way.

Great day, one of the best yet. It feels damn good to be here.

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Day 7 of a 70 day expedition canoeing the length of the Yukon River, Source to Sea, Summer of 2018 #buffaloroamer

The “bug tarp”. This shelter would allow us to cook and relax in peace during peak mosquito season in the bush of Alaska and the Yukon Territory,