After the never-ending hills and difficult trail conditions, I was very much looking forward to the next section: the Yukon river. I was greeted by terrible winds. Thankfully not directly into my face. I wasn’t going to be able to hammer out the 52mi to Galena in one shot because I didn’t get enough rest in Ruby. My plan was to bivy and get sleep as soon as I could find a good spot. That turned out to be rather impossible on the exposed Yukon. You can’t just walk to the shore and find shelter in the trees. As soon as you take a step off the trail, you’ll generally find yourself in deep and soft snow that makes moving quite impossible. And even if you’d make it to the shore, it would probably be impossible to climb the often massive river banks.
It is hard to describe the Yukon with words and to capture its scale with pictures. It’s massive and endless. And that’s a total understatement. It can be brutally cold on it and it’s almost always brutally windy. I spent the next 3 days getting to know it better. As you can imagine, I was looking forward to getting off the river as much as I was to getting on it initially. Such is life.
I desperately tried to find a bivy spot that was somewhat protected from the terrible wind. Just as I was about to give up hope, I found a decently sheltered spot behind a big island in the middle of the river. I was in my cozy -40F sleeping bag just in time to watch the sunset. The next thing I remember is waking up at 1am with my sunglasses still on. I watched several mushers silently float by under the northern lights. Pure magic. More sleep ensued. I ended up sleeping for a total of 7h. Apparently, I was tired. When I got up my thermometer indicated -31F (-35C). You don’t dally when it’s that cold. Every second counts. The sooner you can move and generate heat, the better.
I felt well-rested and was in good spirits. Onward!
Staying warm and avoiding frostbite on your face is a constant struggle in these conditions. And when you are wrapped up like that, drinking and eating enough poses an additional challenge.
Only 52 miles to Galena…
t was a little windy for the next 3 days.
It often feels like you are on a big lake. Going around a bend on the Yukon can literally take you hours.
A typical view of the Yukon. It’s easy to feel small here.
My bivy spot on the Yukon. When I got up after 7h of sleep, my thermometer indicated -31F (-35C).
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