Some of you may have heard of the Yukon Quest, the annual 1,000 mile dogsled race held annually between Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska. Did you know there is also a Yukon River Quest, 'the Race to the Midnight Sun', an annual paddling marathon on the Yukon River between Whitehorse and Dawson City, Yukon? At 715 km., it's the longest annual canoe race in the world. Although it's been run for the last eighteen years, we hadn't heard of it either. The race is open to solo and tandem canoes and kayaks, and voyageur canoes. This year's event, 2016, also had Stand Up Paddle (SUP) boards as an experimental class. By coincidence, the race was leaving Whitehorse on June 29, one day after we were leaving on our own transit of the same course. They were going to be racing 24/7 and we were doing a leisurely cruise, so, we expected them to breeze right past us on Lake Laberge which they did. We camped early and had a perfect vantage point to watch as they all came through. It was quite the sight!
The 1st place finisher (tandem kayak) finished in forty-four hours and 51 minutes. Wow! We took fourteen days on the same course. The participants were forced to do a seven hour layover in Carmacks and three hours at Coffee Creek, but, other than that, they were expected to paddle 24/7, unimaginable. 2nd place was a tandem canoe, 3rd another tandem kayak and 4th went to a voyageur canoe. Many people had doubts about the paddleboarders, but, nine of the eleven finished and will probably be in as a class for future years. One of the boards dumped in Five Finger Rapids, but, was able to recover and carry on. The racers may have enjoyed the challenge of the race, but, we also enjoyed being able to travel at our own pace, very slowly and savour the details along the way.
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