16 June: Days-9, Total 10; Miles-52, Total-304
- Chuck
Fortunately, I was feeling better this morning. Since I was awake half
of the night, I slept later than usual. It was nearly 7am; I quickly
struck the tent and packed my gear. Bill gave me a mug of coffee, I
used it to wash down one of the blueberry bagels he gave me yesterday
and we got underway.
I had intended to write yesterday's journal this morning over a few
cups of coffee. Instead, I worked on it as we floated down the river.
Bill kept paddling, so I would drift and write, then paddle hard to
catch up. This went on much of the morning and the miles slipped by
quickly.
We stopped to look at Minto Station, another old way station for the
stagecoach line. About all that is left is a large flat cleared area
where a small community once toiled to make a living in this remote
land. The road to Dawson was built by the White Pass Line Company to
carry the mail under a government contract. In the 1930's it became
cheaper to deliver mail to Dawson by air and way stations fell by the
wayside. Then in 1955 the new Klondike highway was built to Dawson using
a more direct route. Many little communities were on portions of the
old stage road that was not part of the new highway, most of them are
now ghost towns. Minto is one such town.
We overtook a group of seven Germans canoeing from Whitehorse to Dawson.
Elizabeth Wiengard is leading the group. I chatted briefly with her
when we caught up to them, then again when we stopped to see old Fort
Selkirk. Elizabeth and her husband canoed to the Bering Sea in 1991.
I had lots of questions for her.
Fort Selkirk is very interesting. It was an old Northwest Mounted
Police outpost and it has been maintained wonderfully. Houses, cabins,
out buildings, trading post, school house, a church, etc. (all log construction)
are still functional, but only used as a museum. A First Nation historical
preservation group maintains it. The fort was operational until about
1935. We had planned to camp at the fort but the German group planned
to stay there so we moved on down river about five miles.
Earlier today the Pelly River joined the Yukon. That great river brought
with it more glacial silt making the silt concentration in the Yukon
even higher. For miles, the right bank of the Yukon has been lined with
huge, steep volcanic/basalt cliffs; just beautiful.
My dinner was exceptional: raw carrots for an appetizer (shared with
Bill), a lettuce and tomato salad, a spanish rice & pasta main course
and for dessert, a dollop of banana nut bread/dough that Bill whipped
up. Pretty high living for the outback!