OPPOSITE (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): THE AUTHOR’S DUCT-TAPED HANDS; A YOUNG FAN CHEERS ON A CONQUERING TEAM; TEAM PURE INSANITY FACES FIVE FINGER RAPIDS; GEAR EXPLOSION AT REST STOP IN CARMACKS.
THIS PAGE (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): THE YRQ INSPIRES A FEVEROUS DEVOTION; SENIOR’S TEAM, EIGHT OF HEARTS, ARRIVES IN DAWSON AT 2:47 A.M. WITH 69-YEAR- OLD ISABELLE HAMM IN THE BOW; TEAM CANOEROOTS ALL SMILES AT THE FINISH LINE; MAP, SPRAY DECK AND PAINTERS ARE JUST A FEW OF THE DOZENS OF MANDATORY GEAR ITEMS EACH TEAM IS REQUIRED TO CARRY.
change in the faces of competitors we met just three days prior—everyone’s aged. Eyes sunk, cheekbones protrude and fine lines amass. Everyone sleeps. At the banquet the following day we discover
a race beyond our own limited perspective. A tandem kayak won in 44 hours and 51 minutes; a tandem canoe hot on their stern finished just 42 minutes later. How did teams speed to Dawson a full 25 hours
before us? There’s a mix of strategies we learn, including the high-tech, such as GPS units used to find the fastest current, and the dedicated—some wore condom catheters. Then there was common sense. “You don’t get out of your boat, except for Carmacks and Kirkman Creek,” advises Gaetan Plourde, one half of the winning tandem canoe team. Marathon canoeing experience helps. When I ask who plans to return next year I get
a variety of responses. Some can’t wait, others tell me the race was psychological torture, and swear never to come back.
“No one else will understand what we went
through unless they’ve also done it,” kayaker Patrick Novak tells me. We’re standing in the Downtown Hotel bar, watching our comrades shoot back Dawson’s infamous Sour Toe Cocktail—a shot of liquor with a preserved human toe added as garnish. I agree. The emotional roller coaster the race provides is
fascinating and devastating. In the past 72 hours, we’ve all glimpsed ourselves at our strongest and weakest—it’s not an experience anyone forgets. And it might be a little addicting. “Let’s do it again next year,” Geoff suggests as we
walk back to our cabin under a sleepless sun. “Or how about with a voyageur team—wouldn’t
that be fun?” I ask. Though we’re in enthusiastic agreement, it’ll be another four days before the tingling in my hands goes away and Geoff can raise his arms above his head. Why do it? The same reason people have always
gone to Dawson—the promise of adventure, glory and gold. Kaydi Pyette is the editor of Canoeroots.
www.canoerootsmag.com | 41
PHOTO: ELISE GIORDANO
PHOTO: KAYDI PYETTE
PHOTO: HARRY KERN
PHOTO: JOEL KRAHN
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