The Yukon River

July 28th

Poor Mark had a rotten night, vomiting and stomach cramps. He and I slept in until about 9, this
morn, and he woke feeling markedly better, with no symptoms, except exhaustion. After
discussing what he was in need of and/or up for, realistically, he opted for continuing on towards
Whitehorse. I drove for most of the day, while he snoozed. We listened, engrossed (unless he
was asleep) to the book on tape, The Boys in the Boat, on the road.

 

At the halfway point, he wanted to take a walk at the viewpoint with a trail down to the Yukon
River. It was great stretching our legs, and I got some aerobics in, on the way up the 214 steps
after the trail, and Mark got to breathe in some oxygen into those tired lungs from last night's
exertion. It was 4:30 now, so we toured the nearby campground, then explored the road across
from it. At first, both of us felt a bit uneasy with a truckload of young men standing outside at the
entrance. When I realized they were young teen aged or so, and an older man was with them,
all native, it reassured me to think they may be a family.

 

About a mile into the tree-lined path, at the end, there were three black bear in the woods near
us, two cubs, one attempted to tree himself, but then mama probably called him to her. Our first
black bears since we left Canada, which are prolific there. The turnaround houses several
informal campsites, with firepits, and wooden low racks (maybe for hanging fish), and then three
plywood cabins boarded-up, for hunters I assume. The Yukon runs wide and fast beside us,
and we took time to enjoy the silence and new rain, until dinnertime.

As the evening progressed, we had several visitors to our space: a truck with two native men
and one woman, with a boat trailer, who drove in and out, and later, took off motoring in their
boat. There was another haole man in purple shirt, we sighted at the formal campground,
walking past "M", into the woods with his fishing pole. Then, a fun, huge green vehicle, loaded
with lots of gear on top, sitting high off the ground, with "Hippie Trailer" painted on its side,
making a loop at the end. I saw a young woman with an infant on her lap, in the passenger seat,
and kind of hoped they would accompany us next door. They turned around, and may be in one
of the first sites.

 

During our evening walk through the grounds, it is evident that this is a subsistence, possibly
First Nation complex, with drying racks, multiple make-shift tables amongst tree branches and
hips, crudely made outhouses, and what looks like a smoking frame, with a campfire pit in the
center. A creek also runs into the Yukon, and it is a tranquil, open aired walk through the gentle
woods to get there.

It is still quiet and lovely around.