Well, it’s finally here. Our big adventure is out of the planning stage after a year and we’re now officially on our way!!
Straws were drawn and I (Rina) was assigned to write the first blog post of our trip, leaving Nathan to the first driving shift and Megs and Finn to keep an eye out for any wildlife they can spot.
The weeks preceding the trip were somewhat stressful for us all, especially for Finn. A jawbone infection took Finn out of the field for the latter half of his Haida Gwaii guiding season and left, at the very least, the start date of our river trip up in the air. Thankfully, through the help of some wonderful friends, employers, and medical professionals, he got the help he needed and got to keep all of his jaw in addition to being cleared to go into the wilderness for 3 weeks.
The bright side of that little health scare meant that Finn was home and we’d all be in the same place to start the trip. Not having to detour to pick Finn up from Prince Rupert cut down on a day of total travel time and left us with an extra day to budget for the river, as well as 4 drivers for the entirety of our trip.
**If you want to check out our original plan for the trip, check here!!
Our journey so far has consisted almost entirely of driving, stopping for snacks and gas, switching drivers, and driving some more.
Here’s a small breakdown of our first 5 days and 4977 kilometres!
Day 1: Vancouver to 108 Mile Ranch- 600km
Our trip began with meeting at Nathan’s family’s house in North Vancouver. We emptied all of trip gear out onto the sidewalk, took inventory, condensed it into as few barrels and bags as we could manage, and loaded it all back into the cars again. Very thrilling. Very necessary.
With our gear loaded, canoes strapped to the roofs of the cars, our spirits high, and our bellies full of butter chicken, we began what would end up being a 5 day journey to set up shuttles.
We planned to stop for the night around Lillooet, but a wildfire burning between Lytton and Cache Creek made us push our mileage a bit to get away from the black skies and smoke. After 9 hours of travel since leaving Vancouver at 3:00pm, we pulled up to the 108 Mile Ranch rest stop, set our tents up around midnight, and were lulled to sleep by the ever calming sounds of giant semi rigs driving by every 5 minutes.
Day 2: 108 Mile Ranch to Bell II- 1036km
A 6:00am wake up, a hearty bowl of shreddies, and a handful of cherries set the morning mood for day number 2. The next 1000km were broken up by a few stops for gas, coffee, and a brief visit to the world’s largest fly fishing rod in Houston, BC.
At around 9:00pm we pulled off the road into a beautiful field of fireweed, cooked dinner, and set up our tents. With a few hours of sunlight left and nothing to do but chill, all was going well and according to plan… Until a rustling in the bushes turned out to be a beautiful, overly comfortable, extremely habituated black bear. He wandered in to our campsite and watched, unbothered, as we did our first field test of our bear bangers, formed a drum line with various pieces of our camp kitchen, and otherwise did our best to follow best practice of “scare, don’t stare”. Even though our cinnamon coloured friend showed no signs of aggression, he was still far too comfortable around humans for our liking and we made the decision to be proactive, pack up our tents, and find a new campsite. We drove a ways down the road and set up camp for the second time that night, where our only other animal encounter was a small western toad with a lot to say.
Day 3: Bell II to Johnson’s Crossing to Kluane Lake- 1148km
Exciting day!! We crossed provincial lines! After taking some photos with the Yukon sign, we made our way to Johnson’s Crossing to drop off our canoes and most of our gear at Johnson’s Crossing Lodge, which we will be returning to to launch our trip after setting up shuttles in Alaska.
With much lighter cars and a second wind, we set off in the direction of the Alaska border, stopping for the night to camp on the gorgeous banks of Kluane Lake
We’d like to give a big thank you to the lovely folks at Johnson’s Crossing Lodge! They were super accommodating and kind and a massive help in figuring out a storage solution for all the gear we were leaving at the put in!! I super highly recommend staying if you ever find yourself on the Alaska Highway!
Day 4: Kluane Lake to Yukon Crossing- 905km
We woke up and enjoyed a somewhat slow morning, taking in the views of Kluane Lake and the surrounding mountains as we ate breakfast and talked about the game plan for the day. Our checklist was as follows: check (for the fortieth time) that all of us had our passports, cross the Alcan border, stop in Fairbanks, and figure out where to camp for the night.
At around 5:00pm Alaska time we pulled into the Costco parking lot in Fairbanks, stretched our legs, enacted a food shop, and revised the last point on our checklist. At this point all four of us were pretty tired of sitting in a car - all keen to get it over with and get back to Johnson’s Crossing as soon as possible. After some deliberation, we went back to our junior high roots and decided on a good old fashioned all-nighter.
We fuelled up and continued north, reaching Yukon Crossing, Alaska 3ish hours later.
Day 4/5: Yukon crossing to Johnson’s crossing 1288km
Reaching the end of our journey before we’ve properly started it was somewhat surreal. Driving the length of the river made us all realize just how big of a trip we’re in for. The river flowing in front of us is no longer a concept, the reality of “it’s fast and it’s huge and it’s going to be our home for the next 20 days” was starting to sink in. With one car left in Alaska and all of us piled in the other, our all-nighter was successful (and included several moose, bear, porcupine, and fox sightings!!!) and leg one of our trip was quickly coming to a close.
We took a quick pit stop to take a photo with our trip’s namesake on the way back to Johnson’s Crossing, if you’re interested in buying a silly little sticker to support this trip check them out here!!
Anticipation and excitement continues to grow as we do a final shakedown and practice pack of our gear back in Johnson’s Crossing; all of us ready to take on this challenge and embark on the adventure of a lifetime. To follow along, check out our live tracker here.
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