We dragged the canoe up the bank, looked back at the river and realised that it was really all over. No more paddling, no more exploring, no more being alone in the vast wilderness. We walked away from the river carrying our canoe to our camp, both of us silent and reflective.
On those last few metres we walked the planks and boards into Frederick’s back garden, stirring the mosquitoes from the long grass. Again we couldn’t believe that we were camped in such an awful place after all those beautiful river beaches that we had been on.
Frederick was there with his small barbeque ready to be fired up. He had tons of meat
that he was going to prepare, certainly too much for us to eat, but he did say he was going to save some for the following day. We both took a shower before tea and relaxed for a few minutes.
Though we were very grateful and appreciative of Frederick’s hospitality, we were a little concerned with the state of his dishes that we were about to eat off. All his dishes were stacked high in
the sink with mould taking a hold on some of them. By the look of it he hadn’t washed up since his wife had gone off to visit her mother in another village. He rinsed a couple of plates under the tap and loaded a massive amount of meat and vegetables onto them. We tried to find knives and forks from under the pile of dirty dishes. Just the thought of eating with them, even after we had cleaned them had our stomachs churning a little. We sat in his small kitchen and started eating with the mess
in front of us wondering how we were going to enjoy such a big feed.
The meal over, we sat down with bloated stomachs from the huge amount eaten and from the effects of reintroducing meat into our diets. When we had finished, the dishes were stacked up on the rest of the pile. It was just too big a task to offer to wash them all! We sat down with Frederick and talked and watched TV. I
was surprised about his strong anti-Iraq opinions. Being an Alaskan native I didn’t expect him to be so patriotic, but even way out here the TV has a great influence on people’s lives and thinking. Frederick’s house was small and despite having four children it only had one bedroom. There was certainly no privacy. It was so refreshing to retire to my tent to sleep.
Monday
26th July. Day 41
The following day we tried finding the school teacher to see if the school would like our canoe and other gear that we couldn’t take home, but he was on holiday. In the end we gave it to Frederick, who didn’t canoe but I’m sure he could sell it for a few dollars. We walked around the muddy gravel streets of the small town of Emmonak for a while, finding
little to attract us to stay another day. In the afternoon we took a taxi to the local airport and waited in the small airport for our flight to Anchorage.
As we took off I peered out of the small plane’s window desperately wanting to capture my last glimpses of the Yukon River before we disappeared into the clouds. Directly below our path were dozens of lakes that were dotted beyond
the Yukon’s river banks. I was absolutely riveted, the stunning view from the sky gave me an insight of the land, inland of the river, which we hadn’t been able to see from the canoe. I was just experiencing a special moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life, when suddenly as we ascended higher, the scene was completely wiped out by the clouds. The view was lost and a part of me went with it. Our journey down the Yukon was over. It was truly a sad moment.
The plane flew above the clouds much of our flight but when it eventually came across a cloudless sky we could see mountains, rivers and absolute wilderness. I was soon in higher spirits and I couldn’t help but think about my next big adventure. I accepted that good things have to come to an end but there are always others ready to take their place. I couldn’t wait.
We stayed in a motel in Anchorage for 2 nights before Ed decided to fly home early via Hong Kong. He wanted to spend a few more days there. I however took a bus to Seaward and went sea kayaking amongst the glaciers and magnificent bays for 4 days before flying back to Vancouver and then home. It was a perfect end to yet another incredible journey.
