Chapter 3

We parted ways with the Law's, both excited for the next chapters in our respective journeys. As we hit the river again we passed by these two Germans. We were pretty sure they had everything including the kitchen sink. With the Five Finger Rapids coming up we were pretty happy we had decided NOT to bring the everything we owned on the trip! I don't think the guy in the back could even see the guy up front. 

 Being on the slow program, trying to give Alli and Jeff some time to catch up, we spent our time lazily floating the river and playing many games of scrabble. We also travelled through the infamous Five Finger Rapids (however Schwatka called them the "rink rapids" a name that applies now to a set of rapids further along the river). With a river of over 600km, the ONE set of rapids that everyone talks about do begin to work the nerves a bit. Especially reading the guide book which we did every day, reading about the upcoming section of river. The name comes from the five channels formed from four Jurassic conglomerate columns. For these rapids, the author tells stories of the small police station beyond the rapids which set out a net that was stretched across the river so that all the people who drowned could be caught and their identity established. If gold miner manages to get safely passed this spot, each hasd to dig a grave and bury one corpse on a small hill near by. For this compulsory work, he would receive ten dollars.
Needless to say, it was somewhat intimidating the day we floated up to them having never really seen them before! However, all went well, adrenaline was high and we whooped and hollered as we passed through the end of them!

One of our many amazing camp spots!

On the first half of the trip we saw no bears, but after leaving Carmacks it was a bear bonanza!

After two days of waiting for Alli and Jeff we decided to plunk down for the whole day and really give them time to meet us. We found a spot by a great fishing hole and Andrew caught a couple of these big guys. At first we thought it was a whitefish, but a couple weeks later we asked a guy who fished a lot in the area and he said that to him it looked like and inconnu, translated its called the unknown fish of the north. Either way, it tasted amazing. 

After spending all day at our campsite we had nearly given up hope for Jeff and Alli. It was 6:30pm and still no sign. I caught site of a lone canoe far up the river. We had put up our orange tarp for them to see, so when the canoe reappeared from behind a large island on the far side of the river i was sure it wasn't them. All of a sudden we heard "ORANGE TARRRRP!" and the two canoeists started paddling like crazy towards us.
It was an incredible reunion to meet up like that especially as we had the freshly caught fish all ready to be cooked up over the fire and there was too much just for the two of us!

Alli and Jeff paddling towards the ol' orange tarp

 Reunited and loving life!

 We decided at one point that the river wasn't quite relaxing enough, and we had found these amazing camp chairs that someone had forgotten at one of the campsites so we set them up and travelled in style.

"Jeff, take me over to the thalweg!"

 We continued to see amazing wild life including lots of Dall Sheep.

Not to mention more bears. We did have an exciting night which deserves a story. We had seen 3 black bears on the river one day so we decided to find the perfect island as we figured that hopefully the likelyhood of a bear coming to check us out would be slimmer than on the mainland. The river was wide and fast at this point and we all thought that bears wouldn't have the need to swim such a big channel with so much vegetation on the mainland. At about 8pm Jeff pointed out something in the water. We all strain to see what it was, but it wasn't until he took a couple zoomed in pictures that we could really see the furry eared head sticking out of the water, making his way straight of our group of islands.
There wasn't much we could do, so we headed to went about our business and headed to bed as usual. I woke up to Jeff and Alli saying, "hey bear!... Go away bear!" and some splashing and rustling in the creek very near to our camp. I quickly woke up Andrew and we joined in the yelling. Andrew loaded up the bear gun and got out of the tent, ready to fire if the bear got too close. Luckily he was just curious, and didn't think it was worth investigating our camp more closely with four annoying humans yelling at him.
He took off, and we drifted back into uneasy sleeps for a few minutes before hearing another loud splash, again close to the tents. This time we all got out of the tents and listened as the beaver made its way down the river angrily slapping the water every few seconds.
As we all stood together, feeling comforted by each others company, we looked up into the sky and saw a pretty stunning display of the Northern Lights. It was if the animals were just telling us to wake up and pay attention to everything the North has to offer.

With the excitement over we continued down the river. A cabin up on the hill caught our attention. This was the incredible view from the cabin, unfortunately the cabin itself was pretty decrepit and not good for a camp.

One of the many brilliant sunsets and yet another great spot.

We caught up with some friends of Jeff's brother (what are the chances- 300kms from the nearest anything and only seeing 1 or two other canoes each day), and Jeff was ecstatic to discover that they were travelling with a guitar. He serenaded us as we floated peacefully downstream.

We dubbed this sand bar "Hawaii Island". The sand was incredibly fine and soft beneath our feet. We decided not to camp there, in part due to the large bear tracks as well as the potential for it to become a large mud puddle should it rain. Before we left, we had no choice but to build a sandcastle. Sandcastles in the Yukon, it's a crazy world.

Alli and Jeff playing cowboys and indians in their War Ship.

Gravel bars were a great way of keeping out of reach of pesky mosquitos and black flies. The 360 degree view was a cool contrast to the shelter of the boreal forest.

Enjoying the fire.

The intrepid travellers.

 Home sweet home.

I think this picture sums up our entire trip. Relaxed and loving life.

 We made it to Dawson in one piece, wondering whether we should simply float by and head all the way to the Bering sea. As we unloaded the canoes and picked up Kumu, we ran into the Law's who had survived and loved the Dempster Highway. We had a much needed shower, an incredible burger and then went to brave the famous "Sour Toe Cocktail." You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, either way your lips must touch the toe!
Once that was over we drove the vans onto the river banks and spent the night reminiscing the highlights of the last couple of weeks. Just when we thought life couldn't get any better we were awarded with some of the best Northern Lights I have ever seen. It was the perfect ending to a perfect journey!
From there it was time to head south, we were lucky enough to have about 12 days to slowly make our way home back to reality.