Wilderness Adventures.CA / Sea to Sky Expeditions wildernessadventures.ca/YukonRiver.html?package=yukon-river-canoe-trips/ 1-866-383-9453 [email protected] YUKON RIVER CANOE TRIP: Minto – Dawson City (315 km) WHITEHORSE SEAtoSKY will pick up for all expeditions that originate in Whitehorse. Should any problems or miscommunication arise, check for or leave messages on the bulletin board at the Whitehorse Tourist Information Center. Please see the accompanying literature for accommodation options. GETTING TO WHITEHORSE Air Canada [www.aircanada.ca] has daily flights to Whitehorse. Air North [www.flyairnorth.com] has scheduled flights from Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Please check with your travel agent for details. PLACES TO STAY The following represent a cross section of available accommodation in Whitehorse. Former clients have stayed at these and have indicated a satisfaction with them. The asterisk [* ] means a budget and clean accommodation. The Yukon Inn has agreed to discount their rate for our clients. Indicate that you will be doing a trip with us and you should receive a preferred rate. EdgewaterHotel 1-877-484-3334 www.edgewaterhotel.yk.ca Best Western Gold Rush Inn 1-867-668-9432 www.goldrushinn.com High Country Inn 1-867-667-4471 www.highcountryinn.yk.ca Westmark Hotel 1-800-544-0970 www.westmarkhotels.com Yukon Inn 1-867-667-2527 www. yukoninn.com Birch Street B&B 1-867-633-5625 www.birchstreet.ca Midnight Sun B&B 1-866-284-4448 www.midnightsunbb.com [*] Beez Kneez Hostel 1-867-456-2333 www.bzkneez.com [*] Family Hotel 1-867-668-5558 stopinfamilyhotel.ca PREPARATION Prior canoeing experience is not necessary. Our guides will provide basic instruction in the strokes you will need, along with safety awareness. It is in your interest however to take a flatwater canoe course from a local canoe club/association, or rent videos and library books detailing basic canoe instruction. FOOD SEAtoSKY EXPEDITIONS looks after all meals while on the river. WEATHER Weather conditions in northern environments range widely between extremes. The only fact you can bet on with the weather is that it can change instantly. This means that although we may enjoy fine weather, we must also be prepared for changes. On any given day you may experience sunny, hot, dry weather that is interrupted by periods of rain or, on rare occasions - even snow. In general, the weather is moderate with average temperatures of 16oC (62F) in July, and 14oC (56F) in August. When packing, please be prepared for heat waves and cold spells. MOSQUITOES Mosquito populations vary according to temperature, rainfall, and wind. Be prepared with mosquito repellent and a head net if mosquitoes annoy you. YUKON RIVER: In 1896 the discovery of gold near Dawson City altered the history of the Yukon River forever. It became the main route for 30,000 goldrushers as they floated in an armada of over 6,000 boats to their dreams of adventure and wealth in the Klondike gold fields. Over the next fifty years towns and villages sprang up along its shore and paddlewheelers carried people and supplies up and down its waters. When modern highways were introduced into the region the river became redundant. Homes and entire villages moved to locations closer to the roads and the Yukon River was allowed to return to its natural state. You have entered into a group dynamic. Decisions taken by our leaders are directed to the welfare of the group. Although they will strive to meet individual needs, they may not be possible under given circumstances. ITINERARY Day 0: Arrival in Whitehorse. This denotes the day or days spent in Whitehorse before the listed start date of the trip. Day 1: After breakfast, we will be picked up by our driver and taken to our destination, Minto, about 3 hours from Whitehorse. Here we will load canoes, review paddling safety and technique, and begin our paddle to historic Dawson. Days 2-7: It is not practical to give a day by day itinerary. We will paddle approximately 50 km/31 mi per day , at any easy pace being carried downstream by the river. Our plan is establish camp on the many islands and sandbars which characterize this stretch of river. This will lessen the remote possibility of bear encounters as well as reduce our contact with those pesky mosquitoes. The following, highlight some of the more interesting features of this stretch of river: The sight of Fort Selkirk (125 km from Carmacks) on a high bank remains one of the trip’s highlights. The Hudson’s Bay Company established it in 1848. Only accessible by water, Fort Selkirk includes a campsite with well water, tent sites, kitchen shelter with cook stove, bear-proof garbage containers, and a warming cabin. Our trip down the Yukon River normally includes an overnight and layover day at Fort Selkirk. Fort Selkirk has long been a gathering place for First Nation peoples. Stone tools discovered near this site have been dated to 10,000 years old. In 1848, John Campbell descended the Pelly River to establish a Hudson Bay Company trading post at the junction of the Yukon and Pelly River. In 1852 the coastal Chilkats, who had previously maintained a monopoly on trade with the local First Nation peoples, reacted to this challenge by looting and then burning the trading post. Campbell fled for his life and it was thirty years before white men returned to the region. In 1889, Arthur Harper re-established a trading post here, calling it Harper’s Landing. In 1894 Bishop Bompass erected a mission house and school. In 1899 the North West Mounted Police built a station here and a post office was opened. With the opening of the Klondike Highway, and the subsequent demise of riverboat traffic, Fort Selkirk was abandoned in the 1950. Today the Canadian Heritage Branch has restored the settlement with the Taylor & Drury store, Mounted Police building, Protestant and Catholic Churches, and schoolhouse among the more than 30 buildings that are open to the public. Once past Fort Selkirk, the surrounding country is at least as impressive as ever. Certainly there is no shortage of historic sites along the banks. The White River (120 km from Dawson) sees a dramatic difference in the color (and the sound) of the Yukon River. The colour is the result of a combination of glacial silt, and ash from a volcanic eruption about 1,250 years ago. The ash layer now makes a convenient dating tool for archaeologists at sites throughout most of the south and central Yukon. At Stewart City (100 km from Dawson) the river is slowly reclaiming the site. The Stewart River, which joins the Yukon near Stewart City, was one of the earliest of the Yukon’s placer mining areas. Prospectors were probably working on the river by 1880, and in 1885, several fairly rich bars were discovered. Arthur Harper soon set up a post at the mouth of the river to serve these miners. However, when much richer deposits of gold were discovered near Fortymile in 1886, everybody moved there. The Stewart didn’t attract much attention again until the Klondike rush; a fair-sized town was built, with a sternwheeler dock, a NWMP post, a large warehouse, two hotels, a large number of cabins, and an even larger number of tents. The population may have reached 1,000 over the winter of 1898-1899. Although the boom ended, the island maintained a population of between 25 and 50 into the late 1930s. Several buildings have been moved back from the river’s edge in recent years. As we get closer to Dawson, a number of old wood-camps and homesteads have been taken over by new owners and new cabins have been built to replace the old ones. The relatively fertile islands were particularly popular spots for combined wood-cutting/farming operations. Little or nothing remains at most of these sites. Some have been lost to river erosion, or were moved to new locations when the original site was no longer viable. The anticipation heightens with each bend in the river as we near Dawson City. This same thrill and anticipation must have been present with the Klondike gold-rushers after their long journey. Finally the Dome, Dawson’s well-known landmark, can be seen in the distance. One more bend and we have arrived. Days 8-9: We will arrive in Dawson City on Day 8 or early on day 9 dependent on our pace and stay at. We will stay at the Bunkhouse in Dawson City. It is a hostel like accommodation, very clean, hot showers, and located in the heart of Dawson. We have scheduled at least one complete day in Dawson to allow you time on your own to visit the sites that are of most interest to you. We will also drive to visit the original goldfileds and the lookout [Dome]. Day 10: We will leave Dawson after breakfast on the last day and return to Whitehorse, arriving late afternoon. Along the way we will stop at Braeburn Lodge, a.k.a. Cinnamon Bun Airstrip, for the largest, and best, cinnamon bun around. .