The 2017 Yukon River Quest
I was lucky enough to have the honor of paddling in the Yukon River Quest again this year. I say honor for good reason, it is more than just another race. The culmination of effort from so many passionate people volunteering their time, the amazing natural beauty of the place, the history of the first nations, gold rush and the ridiculous length of the race makes for a truly unique experience.
I knew what I was getting myself into having completed the race in 2016 in the inaugural group of stand up paddlers to complete the race. It was brutal last year and I had doubts about ever doing the race again. I mean really, I passed out less than 5 minutes after crossing the finish line and collapsed onto my girlfriend Carmen Merkel. Luckily I woke up woke up 30 seconds later to wave off first aid attendants who were calling the ambulance. I was also fortunate to have been spared from the crazy hallucinations that many of the paddlers such as Lina Augaitis experienced due to the sleep deprivation.
2016 just after passing out
Even with those doubts, there is something about the race that gets under your skin, for better or worse. It is a profound experience that IS addictive. You spend so many hours in a continuous state of flow, both literally and figuratively, it is somehow deeply satisfying. There is always the roller coaster of pain and motivation at the front of your mind. However, on a deeper level your body somehow becomes familiar with the constant travel and it settles into the flow. You find yourself hundreds of kilometers into the Yukon wilderness.
Carmen caught the bug supporting me last year and decided she wanted to enter the race for 2017. I could not have done it without her amazing support last year and this meant I wanted to support her on her race, but the river was calling me too. We reached out to our friends Sue and Jody who love the Yukon and were stoked when they jumped on board. We knew we were in amazing hands with them.
The weather was variable leading up to the race with some strong northerly headwinds blowing through Whitehorse the days before the event. As we got closer it shifted as per predictions and on the starting day it was overcast with some nice southerly tailwinds to help blow us down the river.
Unfortunately the night before the race I couldn't sleep. I took a melatonin, covered my eyes with a shirt, earplugs, nothing worked. Carmen had similar troubles.
Wed June 28 2017 12:00 pm Race Start
3-2-1... and we were off. Running with carmen to our boards where Sue and Jody were waiting with them in the river. And with one last squeeze of each other's hands before jumping on the boards, Carmen and I were off on our own adventures, not to see each other for another 715 km.
The River began slow and my side goal of keeping up with Bart de Zwart was quickly pushed aside at I saw him racing off. This year he wanted to complete the race without drafting. I decided that this year I would race my own race, not pushing to the point of blowing up as I had last year.
Drafting on the YRQ is allowed between classes if you ask and get permission and in class but you have to expect to trade off. It definiteley helps drafting across the lake but at the expense of eating and drinking. Missing even a couple paddle strokes means falling off, so you suffer if you decide to catch a ride. In the end, it's a trade off.
I eased into my pace and cheered the other racers as we passed. Stu Knack had a great start and when I eventually caught him he was well up in the crowd of paddlers just trailing Bart by a couple hundred meters.
We spilled from the river onto Lake Labarge and were met by a wonderful tailwind breeze. I paddled quickly, drafting when I could dipping my hat and splashing myself to keep cool in the warm overcast light. Numerous boats jockeyed about over the kilometer of my awareness, Occasionally I gained ground while holding onto a fast voyager, only to drop off when I stopped to drink or fell off due to the pace.
One Voyager I was lucky enough to paddle with catch a draft from was Stix Together who was paddling to raise money for cancer. We agreed on a draft for a donation basis :) I had paddled with them on the lake last year, I joked about how I couldn't believe I was back on the same crazy train as last year. Every time they switched paddle sides they would do 80 hard strokes -"Power 80"- which is absolutely brutal to keep up with on a SUP or a Solo Kayak, as fellow paddler Steve "Old Bullet" Morrison was finding out. Myself and Steve spent probably an hour trading drafts behind Stix Together and eventually we had both had enough of trying to keep up and watched that Voyager trail off into the distance, seeming to pick up speed as it went.
There was also team Whoa, who passed with awesome tunes going while party paddling along. On the front of their boat they had taped on a mascot that I think was either Alf or the Squirrel from the movie Ice Age and I was stoked to catch a draft for a bit with them.
Wed June 28th 9:00pm Lower Lake Laberge 9hours
The Lake disappeared as I rounded the first turn into the evening on the river. The first 6 hours of the river had many rough sections with many boils and difficult water. It came as a surprise after so many hours of flat, but it confirmed to me that I wouldn't take a pure flatwater board on this race. I was so happy to be on my 26" ONE Evo for those sections as it handled them incredibly well with tons of stability to spare.
I was paddling on my own through the twilight night and got very tired feeling the lack of sleep from before the race. I sat down many times to eat drink and rest but found it very difficult to get back going. Last year I barely used any caffeine however this time I needed it. After a closing my eyes and nearly wobbling off the board a couple times I ate some caffeinated clif shots that brought me back into the game. It was like turning on a switch. As the sun began to rise on the river, I charged to make up for lost time.
About an hour out of Carmacks I heard some shouts from the far shore and realized that my amazing support Sue and Jody had driven down to the river's edge and were cheering me alone. It was amazing to see them and it gave me a huge boost of energy. Rounding the last couple of corners into Carmacks I was feeling good, and even passed a few canoes.
Thurs June 29th 12:25pm Into Carmacks: 24 hours 25 minutes (7 hour stop)
Even though the conditions had been significantly better this year, coming into Carmacks I had only shaved 25 minutes off of last years time. I had been very slow through the night and knew that I was going to have to get a decent sleep if I hoped to catch up at all.
I got off the water and was able to walk fairly well, I had been exercising my feet to keep the blood flowing and it had paid off. Fed showered and even a quick professional massage, then I was off to bed. Sue and Jody had everything covered, they were amazing. Except I couldn't sleep! I took some melatonin to help, nothing. more, nothing, more again, and finally I drifted off, wasting an hour restlessly thinking about sleep.
I awoke about 15 minutes before my alarm and was up and out to get ready. I had hoped that I would have been able to see Carmen at this point but she had such a good start to the race she was only 3 hours behind (we had expected around 6.5 hours) and had come in while I was sleeping. I was able to write her a note though, and was so so stoked she was having a good race.
Other boards were on the racks too, Pete, Joanne, and Chris were also asleep in their tents, and I saw Bart as he was getting ready to hit the water a second time about 20 minutes ahead of me.
Someone I was not expecting to find awake was Stu Knaack. He came and gave me a big hug and took a few photos. Turns out he had been paddling well across the lake but found he was losing energy, and eventually totally crashing. He bailed from the race and after getting re-hydrated by iv in the hospital for his heat stroke he had driven out to Carmacks with his brother Steve to support the other racers. I felt bad for him but at the same time it was so amazing to see him in Carmacks.
Thurs June 29th 7:25pm Carmacks out: 31 hours 25min
The 7 hours turned to minutes then seconds and I was off and into the flow again, feeling the cheers from shore just as much as hearing them as they faded away.
3 hours later I was sealing my gear away for the 5 finger rapids. I was confident that it would be a fairly simple paddle and once ready I charged for the right channel. 50 foot cliffs loomed on either side of the channel funnelling you through the gap, with a wave train forming on the right hand side. I powered hard from the center of the channel to the left, bouncing off of some smaller chop but missing the big waves. No problem.
Another 10 minutes later I decided to get my gear back out and importantly my map, in the time I spent messing with gear I didn't notice myself drifting into a wide section of whitewater with large waves and boils until it was too late. When I realized, I haphazardly closed my bag and paddled hard towards the flatter water but drifted sideways into the waves. Bracing and struggling I managed to keep the board from flipping and tossing myself into the water.
After passing through the worst section I realized the second issue, I was drifting to the wrong side of the nearest island falling off to the left when I wanted to be to the right. I paddled hard upriver and ferried through the rough water and into shallows at the head of the island narrowly missing my fin in the shallows before regaining the flow and calmer deep water in the main channel.
I chased a beautiful and seemingly endless sunset through the evening and into the night with it remaining colourful on the horizon even until 1:30am.
The second night was different than the first. The river has widened with the addition of other tributaries and turned into a vast body of water with many islands and passages. This makes travel feel slower, even though you are moving just as fast. The map also becomes more important and also more challenging to read. On top of this the lack of sleep was once again very challenging.
I paddled most of the way on my own, with a Voyager team Wadaka eventually catching and passing me on a break (if only someone else could paddle while I took a break!)
Caffiene led to my own song/dance playlist in my head (I didn't bring music) which kept me company into the early hours of the morning and on my way into coffee creek.
June 30th 2017, 12:03pm Coffee Creek In : 48 hours 3 minutes.
Stepping off my board I remembered how terrible I had felt at this point last year. All in all, I felt pretty good. Bart was already here and asleep under the big tent with many other paddlers. I said hi to a few other folks and ate the sandwich and cookie that was provided. It was buggy and hot. I decided to set up my tent over in some shade because last year I had barely slept at this stop, every time I was almost asleep a bug would climb onto my face. 5 minutes later I was climbing in the tent and it felt amazing, I used the tent fly as a blanket and drifted into a deep sleep.
The wake up call pulled me out of the depths of sleep and I emerged to the hot sun beaming through the mesh roof of the tent. The shade was gone and I was roasting but had slept and that was a huge win. I stumbled out and packed up my tent and gear.
On my way back to my board it felt like a zombie world, people stumbling and shuffling about. I ran into Pete Allen who had just arrived and gave him a huge hug. He looked dazed with the 1000 mile stare. He rambled off in his thick Irish accent that the map had been wrong, or his writing on the map, or maybe he had read it wrong but either way he thought Coffee Creek was supposed to be much sooner than it was. I was very impressed by his time and re-assured him that he was doing great and to get some water and sleep everything would make more sense after a nap.
I wondered what I had been like last year when I was so much worse than this year, and much worse than Pete. My pacing had been working this year, and even though I felt rough I was doing well. I thought a lot about Carmen and wondered how she was doing and the other paddlers. The race gets harder the longer you are on the water, the fast paddlers have the easier race in that regard.
Another friend I ran into was Marieke Kietselaer who was similarly feeling a bit on the rough side, but seemed fully lucid in her irritation.
Coffee Creek is either your best or worst place on the race, but generally if you can make it that far you will finish. It also helps that it's uncomfortable, buggy and in the middle of nowhere, making staying probably the least good option. Thanks so much to the volunteers to stick it out there.
June 30 2017, 3:03 pm, Coffee Creek out: 51 hours 3 minutes
I loaded up my board as I ran out of time and with only a minute left walked it down to the water with the help of a volunteer. I had just enough time to tell the volunteers to give my love to Carmen when they saw a girl with dreadlocks on a green board paddle up. Thanks guys!
The Yukon River spread wider and braided into many channels between islands as i paddled into the evening. Eventually the White River joins the yukon sending clouds of white silt billowing and churning through the yukon's waters. This is where, if you are very tired, you may see hands or faces looking back at you through the white and grey shifting waters.
Compared the last year, was flowing much stronger. The speed jumped from a paddling 14kmh to 18kmh with the occasional 20kmh sections. The sand bars we had been funnelled down last year were all but completely submerged with only a few log piles to mark their locations.
The voyager Wadaka and I were playing a game of leapfrog. I played the fast water and navigation carefully and was able to overtake them a couple of times (and once when they stopped to read Robert Service,) but eventually their superior speed had them pulling away while I just tried to keep them in sight.
The Cliffs on the Yukon have so many faces and shapes they are absolutely amazing entertainment. Another long unending sunset guided me into the night toward Dawson as the map pages slowly flipped and the kilometers ticked.
Rounding the last big corner about 15km from Dawson I was looking for the Voyager Wadaka, I had taken what I thought was a shortcut but couldn't yet see if it had paid off. They had been a couple hundred meters ahead for the last few hours but I couldn't see them. As I passed the end of the island I finally caught sight of them just off to my left on the other side of the island. Game On!
I picked up the pace as they saw me and realized what had happened. I charged over towards the fast flow I could see near the next island. I remembered this section from last year but was not sure that I could keep ahead of them for the whole 15km, I would have to get lucky with the currents.
Sure enough, they took chase and began closing the gap quickly. As they caught me next to the island we were all smiling, this was a fun way to finish off this race. They pulled alongside and congratulated me on the race and offered to give me a draft behind their boat. I gave them a big congratulations too but said that I couldn't draft, as I would feel guilty when I beat them. It felt hilarious throwing down trash talk at 2am in the morning after just racing 700km. They seemed to get a kick out of it too and laughed as they began pulling away.
This is when I pulled the last card I had up my sleeve. I remembered that there was a fast flow 200 meters over to the right hand side of the river. I stopped paddling and right after they passed ahead of me I cut hard right behind them and made for the far right side of the river. Minutes went by and they were pulling away as my hard angle took away my speed, but eventually I caught it. My speed rose from 13kmh back up to around 17kmh and I quickly pulled into the lead, gaining roughly 100m before the flow died out.
They were paddling hard to make up the ground and as I cut back left to the last island and the final corner into Dawson the gap was quickly closing.
We passed the island and could now see Dawson, the Moose-Hide Slide and soon the finish. We heard cheering erupt from the shore and echo up the valley. A well of emotion came flowing over me as I truly realized this was the finish.
Wadaka had closed the Gap and were coming up on my right side. This was the last stretch and both of us were paddling hard. In the last 100 meters I had my final stroke of luck. Both of us were paddling hard but Wadaka had drifted too far right into the slower water. This leveled the playing field for me and I was able to keep pace. They realized and nudged a bit left near the end. I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep up this pace, having memories of passing out at the finish line last year and not wanting to go through that again.
The last 50 meters was an all out sprint. I saw the canoe surge in the water and I put everything I had down, digging deep and pulling hard through the photo finish.
Sat July 1st (Canada Day) 3:12AM
Jason Bennett 53:12:54 (or 63 with the 10 hours of break)
Wadaka 53:12:55
I had gotten them by 1 second! Actually probably much less but I guess seconds are small enough in a race that spans days.
Passing the dock I saw Sue and Jody, Stu, Steve, Bart (who had finished with a new SUP course record at 52:16:06) and a bunch of cheering drunks who had probably just stumbled out of the bar.
Getting off the water Stu Knaack had a beer in my hand before I knew it. That made me very happy, such an awesome guy.
It was light out and getting to shore and seeing everyone felt so amazing. So many hugs and man, just being finished, such an unreal feeling. Bart was right there and we were both so stoked for each other. We had each had great races and crushed last year's times. I ended up almost 2 hours faster than last year and Bart was almost 3 hours faster.
All I really wanted however was to know how Carmen was doing. I found out that she had slowed down a little bit since the first day but was still making great time. I was unbelieveably proud and excited for her, I had been thinking about her almost the whole way.
I hugged and congratulated all the awesome paddlers from Wadaka and they were stoked and excited. Paddling with them had really made the race feel amazing.
Another surprise to see on the shore was Chris Christie, turns out his legs had had it and unfortunately had to pull out at Minto more than 48 hours into the race. Man that would be hard but he was stoic about it and it was really amazing to see him.
Sue and Jody were incredible. Getting me off the water and back to the hotel for a hot shower which was the best thing in the world. They had barely slept the last few days supporting us and were still stoked when the alarm went off for us to get up and go see Pete in a couple hours later.
Pete finished strong at 57:06 Coming in as the 3rd SUP. Such a huge accomplishment and I was so stoked for him. He had put tons of training in, cutting out beer and working really hard. It all paid off!
I finally decided that I needed a bit more sleep and unfortunately had to miss Joanna coming in while Sue and Jody still got up to cheer her on. Turns out she broke a world record for distance on the last couple days of her race.
I had the opportunity to get on the computer and track Carmen for the end of her race. It was really amazing seeing her progress every 10 minutes, watching the icon move on the river, and knowing exactly where she was.
We hopped in the car from the hotel to go and cheer Carmen in and as we were driving the 3 blocks into town all of Dawson was out in full swing. The streets were even blocked for a parade of fire trucks and ambulances going down the street to celebrate. I walked to the farthest point I could to catch the first glimpse of Carmen rounding that last corner and waited what felt like forever.
Then I saw her, the tiny stick figure on the flow of the Yukon. I let out the loudest cheer that my sore and aching body could and all of the tourists around me stopped and started looking. Then some of the other people saw her too. Soon the others started cheering too. Sue and Jody and the other paddlers on the dock, even the tourists and locals started cheering and asking questions.
She paddled towards the finish line, stopping to give fist pumps to the air and even jumped with joy at one point tipping and nearly going for a swim.
Seeing Carmen and the other paddlers cross the finish line was even better and more emotional than crossing it myself.
Dawson is the best place to finish. No other race in the world is it a tradition after finishing to go have a shot with a severed toe in it. Yep, the perfect type 2 finish to a type 2 race, they even give you a certificate.
Gear, what worked and what didn't:
Board:
This year I used the ONE Evo 14' x 26" PVC race board and was super stoked on its performance. Last year I had used a 24" wide Starboard Elite Race which was an awesome board but it left my feet wet for the majority of the race, and I felt it was a little bit too much weight for it. Stepping up to 26" meant that I had lots of stability and carry capacity at just over 300 liters. I really liked the boards profile, with not too much rocker it moved really good in the flats and yet still didn't catch badly on the boils or rougher water. The handle points on the front meant that I had bomber attachments for my gear and only had to add 2 on the rear as I like to have a dry bag to sit on. I was worried that the PVC construction would be to heavy but wanted to test it in the race. in reality I was very happy with it. boards in its size generally land in the 25-28lb mark for carbon construction and it weighed in at 29lb in PVC. So for a lower price you get a much more durable board with only a small weight penalty. I think this is an amazing all around touring board.
Paddle:
Same as last year I used my Blackfish Race 500 Paddle. I love this baby. It's my go-too for just about everything. I was testing out the Andaman on the trial paddle the day before but decided with the added height of the board and my shoes (more on those later) I wanted the immediate catch of the race blade so that I didn't have to dig to deep and minimize bending, the shape can make it feel like a longer paddle even though mine are exactly the same length.
Clothing:
I wore Vaikobi V Cold gear for the majority of the race, with the Ocean gear pants during the day. This kept me in the perfect comfort zone 95% of the time. It was only when the temperatures soared that I once took off the Cold gear shirt in favor of no shirt at all. Truly awesome paddle clothing.
A large sun hat was awesome when the sun came out and I also wore a set of Mustang Survival gloves to keep the sun off my hands. Normally I don't wear gloves but these things were so damn comfy I loved them.
When it got very cold at night at one point I threw on some synthtic cycling pants and a fleece over the Vaikobi for added warmth.
Footware is the hardest part of this race, last year my feet lost feeling badly and it took about 6 months for it to come back. This year that was a big focus of my planning leading up to the race. I opted for what some would say is the unfashionable but very comfortable option of Crocs and Dry-socks. The race begins with a run through water and so I opted to put the Dry-socks on after the lake. All in, Dry warm feet the whole way. With lots of wiggling I even managed to keep almost all the feeling in my toes by the end of the race, and a week later they are back to 100%. Definitely stoked on the setup. The only downside is that you are a bit higher on the board and that does effect your paddling.
PFD:
I used the Kokatat Aries as I did in 2016 with the Tributary pack to hold my water bladder and required safety gear. The Aries was the perfect blend of light weight, comfortable and durable. It still looks brand new even after tons of paddling. Also approved in Canada which is required for the race if you are Canadian.
Food:
I used Hammer Perpetuem and Spiz and liquid nutrition on the race finding that both were awesome. Having a mix of Carbs and Protein plus real food is very important on this race. I put this in a bladder in my PFD so that I always had calories that were easy to get at. It would easily hold roughly 2200 calories of the mix in the 1.5L bag and it was important to drink water with it.
Cookies, bars, clif shots, jerky, eggs, bacon, chips and even a burger were also in my bag.
I had caffeinated clif shots which were amazing when I needed them giving 100mg per pack.
Last year between the start and Carmacks I ate roughly 4200 calories. This year I am estimating I ate closer to 7000 calories which accounted for me feeling a lot better later in the race.
Bag:
For my bag I used the same one as last year which was the MEC Scully Duffel with a few modifications. My favorite part is having velcro on top to attach the map GPS and Spot.
If you have any interest in paddling the Yukon River Quest- definitely give it a go. It's not something to take lightly and I can’t say the weather will be as good as it has been the last couple years, but if you can put in the time to train and prepare, it is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have.
