The Full Yukon River Quest - Day 10 - Coal Mine Camp to Fort Selkirk

This is one of 14 Wikiloc Trails in a series that recounts an 855 kilometer (531 statute mile, 461 nautical mile) journey by kayak from Bennett, British Columbia to Dawson City, Yukon Territories from June 30 to July 13, 2018.

A team of four Canadian kayakers from British Columbia completed this paddle in celebration of and homage to the roughly 100,000 gold prospectors who sought their fortune by attempting this route during the Yukon Gold Rush of 1897 to 1899. Fewer than a third actually completed the route, which began with a 53 kilometer hike and climb over Chilkoot Pass from the Southeastern Alaska panhandle coast at Dyea to a high mountain lake at Bennett, British Columbia. One member of the kayak expedition had completed this four-day hike and climb several years earlier with his two sons. This journey by boat would complement and complete that first stage in the re-enactment of this historic journey: traveling from the Pacific Ocean to the Yukon Gold Fields.

The big excitement on this day was two Class 2 rapids, the only real technical challenges on the enter trip. We were of course paddling standard 5-6 meter/16-18-foot ocean kayaks, so maneuverability would not be one of our strengths. We knew of course that both rapids had well-established routes through them that would avoid the chance of rock strikes, overfalls, whirlpools, or others river hydraulics that could easily flip us and/or damage our boats. In fact, both rapids were barely more than faster Class 1 water, with only a few standing waves of under a half meter/one foot high as potential obstacles. A fast paddler could even miss those and cross an eddy line with ripples just a few centimeters high. The Five Fingers Rapids are by far the more challenging, and you must follow the river right approach and then veer left to the center of the river line that will minimize any experience of rough water. The second rapids, Rink Rapids, looks fearsome as one approaches, but a strict river right line avoids all of the white water, and is in fact no different in difficulty than any other part of the river.

Our longest day by far, aided by the slightly faster water, we completed 102 kilometers/64 statute miles/55 nautical miles. We very much wanted to spend the night and a good part of the next day at this historic, almost capital of the Yukon. The place where Fort Selkirk is, at the confluence of the Pelly and Yukon Rivers was a vital trading center for the interior and coastal First Nations. The Chilkats and Selkirk nations had among the longest and ongest-standing trade connections. Tradeable goods travelled 550 kilometers over rough terrain.

When Whitehorse was ultimately selected to become the capital of the Yukon Territories and no road was built to Fort Selkirk, it was largely abandoned. Now it remains only as an historic site, with several members of the Selkirk First Nations providing interpretation on site.