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Eagle - Circle

15.06.

At 10:00 we went to the restaurant for breakfast. We had eggs with bacon and potatoes, orange juice and coffee. Yummy...

After breakfast we went to the National Park Service. The people there were really, really nice. I got all the information I needed.
Right now I am sitting in the local library writing this text. I hope to be able to put it on the website immediately. I don't think it will work with the pictures because the internet here is very, very, very slow....
It took me 38 minutes to open my email...
Again, nothing with updating the website. I hope it doesn't go on like this....
We visited Mark. He offered to let me use his wood to rebuild the trimaran. This helps me a lot, especially as I can use all his tools. I'm going to cover the deck with another piece of wood to give me more space. It will also be possible to sleep on the boat.

Lech is off today, he is in a hurry as everyone is on their first trip on the Yukon.

In the evening I talked to some people from Eagle. There was one who had also rafted the Yukon to Emmonak. David, a former navy captain who now lives in Eagle. He had heard of me, the German who had rafted the Yukon a few times, and was very pleased to meet me. We talked shop for a couple of hours....

Yukon River Trimaran Expedition © Copyright by Ch. Breier

The internet is so slow at the library in Eagle. You can read the newspaper there ....

16.06.

I went to the restaurant around 9.30am. Sebastien stayed in the tent. He will continue his trip today.

After breakfast we went by boat to the landing place near the house of Mark.

Mark sold me a wooden plank. He cut it for me. Now ¾ of the deck was covered with wood.

We said goodbye to Mark and went back to the dock in front of Eagle.

Sebastien went back to Mark, he had forgotten his camera. When he returned, I helped him get started. Now I was alone again.

It's always strange to be alone...

Bushman Mark

17.06.

In the morning Chuck, the customs officer, invited me to his house for breakfast. He served Mexican food.
A Japanese man arrived in a Featherkraft folding kayak. It was Chin, I knew him from one of my expeditions. He will be paddling down the Yukon to Emmonak again, his second time....
I went to the lending library to check my mail, but unfortunately the library was closed until 5pm today.

Back at the store I met an archaeologist who invited me to his camp outside Calico Bluff.
I gratefully accepted. I also met Joan O'Neal, the principal of Eagle. She invited me to her house to check my mail. Unfortunately, her internet connection was also very slow. However, I was able to send an email to Mark in Kandik. He can't get his boat to the Yukon because the water in the Kandik is too shallow again. It's a bit of a curse. It's just not possible to get to the Kandik. There are several fires near Mark's Cabin. There are fires again in the Yukon/Charly Park. So far only small fires ...

Joan and her friend are starting a newspaper in Eagle. The first one there. I gave them permission to use my pictures from the website. I look forward to the first issue.

Around 17:00 I left for the Circle. Before Calico Bluff I visited the archeologist. He was at the camp with some women. We talked about his project. The sky was getting darker. The smoke from the fires was getting closer. I said goodbye and drove on.

It became very windy. After about 80 km I was looking for a camp. I saw Sebastien's boat. He was staying in a Cabin on the Nation River. I said hello and continued to a sand island. I had a lot of trouble setting up my tent, it was so windy. But the wind also had its good side, there were no mosquitoes any more, they were forbidden to take off in this wind.

My camp on a sand island after Nation River

18.06.

In the morning around 10:00 Chin paddled by. He was in a hurry, he wanted to get to Slaven's Cabin today.

Around 11:00 I left for Slaven. I could still see Sebastien's boat at the hut. He was still sleeping...

The weather was good. But the wind was very fresh. I let myself drift and enjoyed the scenery. Such a big boat really has its advantages. Lots of space and very stable on the water.

To the left I saw an old steam tractor on a hillside. I stopped and took a picture.

Arriving at the Kandik River, I tried to go up, but after about 2 km it was over. The water was too low to run the engine. I need about 30 centimetres of water to run the engine, but it was only about 20 centimetres deep, so you need a light jet boat or a Go-Devil engine. So I drove back and went into the cabin at the entrance to the Kandik to sign the guest book.

The sky was darkening. It was hard to tell if it was going to rain or if it was because of the fires. Around 9pm I set up camp on a sandy island.

Kandik River Cabin © Copyright by Ch. Breier

The Cabin at the mouth of the Kandik River

19.06.

The night was wonderfully calm again. In the afternoon I went on to Slaven Cabin. There I signed the guest book. I decided not to go and see the old Golddredge. I had photographed there years ago and wanted to spare myself the NUMBERS of mosquitoes this time.

(As Chin told me later, there were millions of the m again).

Chin and Lech had been here yesterday. They had signed the guest book.
I stopped by the Mc Gregor cabin and took some photos. Unfortunately all the cabins there had collapsed.
I passed Woodchopper Roadhouse and Devils Thumb, a bizarre rock on the right side of the river.

Before Takoma Bluff I met a couple from Whitehorse, they had just come from Old Crow on the Porcupine and were on their way back to Whitehorse.

At Takoma Bluff I took some pictures of the bizarre rocks. The weather was getting worse. It was very windy and it started to rain again.

About 10 km behind the bluff I camped on a sand island.

In the Slaven Cabin, " Luxury " in the Bush

20.06.

Around midday I continued towards Circle. It was still very windy. The sun was shining, but around me I saw lots of clouds and smoke from the fires. There seemed to be a lot of burning in the Yukon Charly Park again.
Before Circel I took the right channel this time and not the main arm. I arrived without getting stuck.

I saw two locals and talked to them. Suddenly one of them spoke German.

It was Olaf from Germany. I had met him twice on my previous trips. I just didn't recognise him. Olaf got some cold beers and we talked into the night.

Olaf from Germany and his first nation Buddy.
(Olaf lives now for some years in Fairbanks/Alaska!)

Continue with: Circle - Dalton Hwy

Only those who risk going too far, will discover how far they can go!

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