Rounding Cape Horn and the Yukon Quest

Further down Thirty Mile River the skies darkened and a storm broke just ahead of us. It was travelling slowly north and we could see rain and hail peppering the surface of the water but we were dry for a while. We eventually caught up with it and got wet so we pulled in at Seventeen Mile Woodcamp, one of many wood cutters camps set up along the river to sell wood to the sternwheelers in their hey days from the first sternwheeler operating immediately after the gold rush in 1898 until the completion of the road in 1950's made them all redundant. There were a few derelict buildings and the ground was covered with hail.

A little later we passed Cape Horn, a little easier to negotiate than its namesake in south America and landed at a camp site. This site had plenty of flat ground for pitches, outhouses, shade trees and ready cut wood for fires.

There was just one group which was made up of three generations of the same family who were manning an optional check point as volunteers for the Yukon Quest, a race with 59 boats entered in various categories such as single or double kayakers, canoes and voyager canoes. I was taking three weeks to paddle the nearly 800kms from Whitehorse to Dawson in the footsteps of the early Klondikers hoping to strike it rich in the goldfields. Last years fastest time was 45 hours including two compulsory lay overs.

We set up camp over looking the river. The fishermen had been lucky and between them had caught seven fish so Benny started cooking the fish in tin foil over the fire.

 The first Yukon Questors came through just after 10pm having set off twelve hours earlier. We cheered them all as they passed, most not opting to stop whilst some kayakers stopped to change into warmer clothing for the night time paddle.

When we got up the next morning there were a few more capers than the night before. One was a kayaker who had capsized and lost some gear so he was out of the race. Another double team of kayakers had pulled out when one of them feel ill ustream and had stopped at the check point.

With so much activity around bears would have kept clear but its always useful to be prepared with a stock;ess shotgun that can hold three types of rounds, a flash to scare a bear away, buck shot to deter it and lastly a slug to kill it if it is persistent. When you see the mist rising beyond the camp you never know what may be lurking out there.

Every morning once we were packed and ready to go we would do some warming up exercises which must have been funny to watch. In the second photo below, one person is doing it right but Bob looks like he's just leaning against the tree.