Wednesday, June 26, 2919
We debated how seriously we were going to take the warnings about this lake. It’s thirty miles long and we have to cross it. Dark clouds with rain shadows cap the hills in the distance. Wind conditions and directions change constantly. The map book stinks. We want to enjoy the beauty without worry.
We find that there are frequent sandy or rocky stretches to pull into and we need the breaks. So it turns into a pleasant day with incredible scenery and several stops.
We had white caps and one to two foot chop but no standing waves. However we kept a wary eye on the left shore. In the late afternoon dark skies and thunder led us to a beach. There was a couple from Sept-lles Quebec. The woman was Canadian but the man was originally from France. We watched the weather and talked. When the thunder stopped the four of us made an attempt to paddle farther. The water and waves got bigger and we quickly landed again and set up camp.
The Yukon River Quest had started at noon. This race includes canoes, kayaks and stand up paddle boards. They race the 460 miles from Whitehorse to Dawson. They have one mandatory seven hour break at the halfway point in Carmacks. Other than that, they paddle continuously. The winners do it in about 44 hours the last paddlers come in at about 58 hours.
We were heating our dinners when we spotted a boat on the horizon. With binoculars we could make out two power boats and the first canoe. At 6:30 our food was almost ready and the forerunners, two men in a canoe, flew by. Their cadence, form and precision was amazing. We were eating by the time the second canoe passed. The show continued until 10:00. The final three were paddle boarders. One of them had a prosthetic leg. It was really fun to watch. And the end to a super day.
Chilkoot hike and Yukon paddle 