Day 37 - Sun, Heat and Still Water
Day 37
Sun, Heat and Still Water
She was hot one today. I woke up baking in the tent, not able to sleep any longer due to the oven like temps. I instinctively grabbed for my water bottle. Empty. With only enough clean water to get us through coffee and breakfast I knew it would be a waterless morning, despite having clear, calm skies and glaring sun on tap for the day.
Up a few hours before Jackson I got a fire rolling to burn our trash. We had quite the pile going as it had been since Tanana that we last camped at a spot with ample firewood.
Once Jack was up we both wallowed in the misery of the intense heat with no drinking water. It was almost as though the heat had put us in some sort of a stupor, dulling our wits and encouraging us to stay still and soak in the heat rather than move to get on the river. After two necessary swims in the river to lower the core temp we sluggishly loaded the canoe and pushed off. It was a beautiful day on the water. Maybe one of the best weather days we’ve had yet. Sunny (debatably too sunny, in fact), clear and dead calm. The paddling was easy and the living good.
Not too long after pushing off we found a roaring stream crashing over a small hill of rocks and into the Yukon. We pulled over and filled up our water reservoirs with the clean, clear and ice cold water from the stream. Immediately I chugged a liter. So good. So cold.
We continued on and throughout the day I took several swims off the side of the boat to cool off. I also paddled a good portion of today with no pants on. Living the life :)
Cruising on the glassy water, by evening we reached the village of Ruby, Alaska, home to about 180 people. Ruby sits in an amazingly beautiful location, nestled up in a small valley between two mountains on the banks of the Yukon. We passed Ruby riding the left bank of the river, the opposite bank that Ruby sat in. We did, however, pass a family out swimming and enjoying the evening. The smoke from a campfire hung above the river. As we passed one man shouted our way “Come join us!”. We pulled over and chatted for a bit. A snowmobile sat on the rivers shore, and apparently someone had driver it or “skipped it” across the river, on the water, which is roughly a mile wild. They also thought that it was funny that we had heard of their 4th of July party (a tip we picked up from a guide book), and cracked a few jokes about the slew of reality TV shows chronicling the “Alaskan Life”, such as the show “Yukon Man”.
After a quick chat we were on our way. A large flat but low elevation rock-flat will have to work for camp. We set the bug tent up, made spaghetti for dinner and called it an early night.
By far the hottest day of the trip yet. Sun and heat were scorching. Tired and pretty whipped. Another great day living my dream. Cheers to the Yukon, river life, and wild places. Happy to be in the groove of life on the river.