It was a fabulous expedition until I rode the crest of the flooding into Carmacks. I was doing 50 miles/82km per day easily. The river rose every day after that and submerged the few available camps down river and making it impossible to reach streams with fresh water entering the river. The amount and size of debris was according to local residents, the worst they'd ever seen. Carmacks officials called it a 50+ year event.
I had the gear, supplies, and skills to navigate a flooded river, BUT local and regional authorities advised me from continuing on. This included the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the First Nations. I had to consider this because if I continued and something happened that it would come back to bite me and reflect poorly on my expedition, aka, the Kindness Expedition.
Karts paddling on Marsh Lake in early June 2022 With Donna Johns
The First Nations hold the river sacred, and see it as a connection to all life. To continue on would disrespect that belief and bring discredit to me and the expedition.
Right now I'm totally gutted. I had this, I was strong and healthy but a very quick spring thaw sent the feeder rivers into flood stages which poured into the Yukon River. I could have sat it out two or three more weeks until the flooding receded, but that would put me past my August 15th deadline to be back up river out of the Bering Sea. The weather there gets really bad after August 15th. Plus, there's very limited and costly extraction areas further into Alaska.
Everyone tells me that I made the right decision, but still. Ugh. This included my international counsel and my Native American liaison. Obviously, it's a costly decision to have to reboot the expedition next year. But, I can't forget the experiences I had with my First Nations' interactions and the many people I met and who I paddled with.
Karts paddling north of Whitehorse Yukon Territory with Coralee Johns