Atlin – Whitehorse: Wild, Windy and Beautiful!

Two hundred and seventy kilometers down!!! Or 270 km for those numerically minded, I like writing it out, it feels like it more reflects what that distance actually felt like! Untamed wild, that’s what the lakes north of Whitehorse are! They are wild, windy, beautiful, rugged, fun and challenging all at the same time. I am not going to lie, this first section of the expedition really challenged me! As the first leg of the journey, I saw it as a ‘shake down’ start, before returning to Whitehorse. Basically, where you can test your setup, your gear, and everything along the way, but finish in a town where you can fix anything or get anything you need. Well.. the first leg definitely shook me down! It tested my resolve, my gear and my body, but it also gave me so much beauty and wonder! 

What Happened?

I arrived at the Warm Bay Recreation Area on Atlin lake at midday, and it was glassy! Seeing that beautiful calm water, I was keen to get started. So even though I had the opportunity to camp at the start point for a night, I got started and was on the water around 1.30pm. Well, about an hour later the wind started up, and soon enough I was paddling straight into about 15 knot winds. Which was not only challenging, but very wavy. I was immediately grateful for my dry top and skirt! I would later discover that these winds would be the defining feature of the next 10 days. My plan was to get to Lewellyn Glacier – the headwaters of the Yukon. To do that I would first paddle South down the lake towards the glacier for about 70 km, then turn around and head north to the Atlin River, along the Taku arm, into Tagish lake, Marsh Lake where I would meet the Yukon River and on to Whitehorse. 

In the end I made it within about 20km of the Glacier when a combination of relentless headwinds and a silly mistake made me turn around early and head back towards Atlin River. I was only making it about 10-20 km each day, much less than planned, and ultimately I believe in reading the signs and working with mother nature, so although I didn’t get to see the Glacier up close, I still saw it from a distance and I am happy with my decision. What’s the silly mistake you ask? I got up at 4 am to beat the headwinds and be on the water early (yes, it is already light at 4am). By 9 am I got to Bastion Island, where I faced a 4km channel crossing and about 20 km/hr head wind. So I decided to set up camp and wait it out. It was at that point I realised my tent pole was 20 km behind me.  WHAT A ROOKIE MISTAKE!!! At this point I had already been considering giving up battling the headwinds, and with a tent pole to go back and get, I decided to turn around. After making it back to camp and getting my pole, I continued North up the lake. I met Arlon and Cindy on the way who had also turned around and who I camped with at Janus Point. From here I had a 3km crossing to get to the Western side of the lake, a key challenge with all the wind. Luckily I was blessed with a calm morning (after getting up at 4am) and I was soon back on schedule and heading for the Atlin River. 

After hedging through strong tailwinds and big waves, I was really happy to get to the Atlin River. Usually this river has more flow, and some easily avoidable big rocks. However, water is low this year, so the Atlin River gave me shallow rapids to scout and run. I walked one, because I was worried about damaging my boat, but the rest were an easy ride after a little scout to pick the best route. It felt amazing to have a current pulling my boat in the right direction. Soon I was down the 3km stretch and popped out into Taku arm, where there is an old rail site that allowed me a nice lunch spot. I continued on towards Tagish Lake, but by 1pm the winds whipped up another headwind and I found myself hunkered down with some fellow paddlers in a doublel canoe. It was fun to share a campfire and stories from our paddle so far. We started on the same day (them in the morning, and me in the afternoon), from the Warm Bay Recreation Area. They had taken a different route, and made it to the glacier, but as experienced solo canoeists, agreed that it was already hairy in a double, with the winds. Getting there in a solo canoe would have been a different game. 

The next morning, feeling replenished by fellow paddler spirit and ready to take on Tagish Lake, I felt ready to get up and go! So up at 430am, but the morning started with my stove starting to play up. It’s a MSR Whisperlite and I forgot my stove lube. It wasn’t priming properly and I was guessing it needed a clean up. After a useless battle trying to get it to work, I gave up on my coffee. At this point my endo symptoms decided to kick in. My endometriosis is growing a lot on my bowels, so I am really affected by dietary changes, and switching to an all dehydrated food schedule is a BIG change. So what happens? Nausea and diarrhea… yay…so this hit just as I was giving up on my stove. Needless to say I was feeling low when I started on the water. Just as I was starting to cheer up after a successful 20km of mostly calm paddling, the cross wind kicked in, and to combat that, the endless paddling on one side. It sucked, but I dug deep and managed another 12km before making camp. 

Then began the Tagish challenge. I will admit that by this stage, I was starting to feel a bit worn down by my endo symptoms, the hardship of solo expedition where you do everything yourself, and the endless ever present wind. The next day I was up at 4am and managed to get 34 km in with a gentle morning. The day was also brightened by the beautiful Rancine Falls which made an awesome little break and lit up my face with a big smile. It was so beautiful and crisp. The afternoon blew up a cross tailwind again to finish the day and when I finished the day I felt proud, but I was starting to tire. 

I woke to the sound of the wind in the trees and the waves on the shore and even though it was at this stage a light wind, I knew it would continue to increase all day. So I did what any healthy, well balanced person does. I thought ‘I am getting off this big fu*#king lake as soon as I can’. I am done with swell. I am done with wind and I am out of here. So I ate breakfast even though I felt nauseous, had an uncomfortable toilet trip, fought my stove, and then settled into a determined 42km paddle off Tagish Lake. Was it the best choice? Maybe not… Did I cry at the end? Yes. Did I get off that lake??? YES I did! Into the Tagish River and the next day spat straight out on to Marsh Lake. Marsh lake continued the trend of waking up at 4am, off the water by 2pm because of 50 – 70 km winds. And although it had some beautiful birdlife, and moments that made me smile, leaving that lake gave me the most overwhelming feeling of relief and joy.

As soon as I hit the river I felt a relief wash over me. The birds came out, the otters appeared, beavers came to say hello, I saw fish swimming. It was like everything was hiding in there, and I was so happy to be there with them. Even when there was some wind, there were no waves or swell, or whitecaps breaking on my bow or stern. It was the break I needed. My stove was still playing up though. So I pushed on and did the last two days in one, arriving a day earlier than planned, so I could have a nice rest day here in Whitehorse. It’s given me time to fix my stove (working again – just needed a good clean), get my resupply of food sorted and make some small adjustments to my packing. 

What was beautiful?

The mountains, the glacier and the wildlife! Emusive … the elusive moose. I saw three, but none would pose for photos. The cutest thing I saw were three river otters playing in the sand… again disappeared before I had my camera out. The most surprising was a belted Kingfisher – very beautiful! 

What was challenging?

Well, the wind, waves and whitecaps that tossed me around, crashed around me and generally made the paddling challenging. But also adjusting to being solo. Setting up campo and getting sorted takes a lot longer when you have to do it all yourself. And really just keeping my head in the right space. I think I did pretty well, but for the next leg I am going to try and savour the experience more. Instead of feeling frustrated about camp setup, enjoy that I get to do it, that I am out here and see it as a treat not a chore. Let’s see how that goes.

What am I most looking forward to next?

The next leg from Whitehorse to Dawson is supposed to be the most beautiful and where the current is the strongest. So I am looking forward to some sections where I really get taken away by ther river to more beautiful and wonderful sights. 

And no, I haven’t seen any bears, but I am pretty sure I heard one walking around my tent at night. Let’s keep the distance for the next leg too!