Paddling the Yukon River - Whitehorse to Carmacks

Yukon River
Whitehorse to Carmacks by canoe
320 km - 6 days

Packing the canoe on the banks of the Yukon in Whitehorse

Whitehorse is the perfect staging area for a number of canoe trips through the Yukon Territory. Logistically, the easiest thing to do is to rent a canoe from one of the outfitters in town and put your boat right in the water to start your trip down the Yukon river! We rented a 20 foot (3 seater) canoe from Kanoe People in Whitehorse and only had to walk 20 meters to the bank of the river to get started. It doesn't get much easier than that! We booked the canoe a few weeks in advance and they were super friendly and flexible as we kept changing the number of days and number of canoes. We booked a shuttle through the same company so that we could get picked up at our end-point of Carmacks. We were able to time the pick up so that we shared the shuttle with another group which saved us 25% on the price. This gave us the most time on the river and saved us the headache of organizing our own drop offs and pick ups.

Full boat

David and Tyler arrived in Whitehorse late Friday night for a seven day trip. We woke early Saturday morning to organize our gear and pack food. I had been frantically running all over Whitehorse that week, picking up groceries and borrowing equipment from friends so that we would be able to leave on Saturday. Based on our research, the trip we had planned could take us anywhere from 5-10 days and we kept getting mixed messages about the actual time you needed. Locals kept telling us 5 days was plenty, while the internet disagreed. Yukon River Quest winners paddle double the length of our planned trip, 700 km to Dawson, in 50-60 hours! Who should we believe? We had deadlines to meet too. David and Tyler were flying to Vancouver the following Friday and I had to be packed up, moved out of Whitehorse and in Hinton by Sunday night (a 1900 km drive). About a week pefore the trip, I decided that 6 days would be good. This would give us a buffer day if something went horribly wrong. 

Somehow we got our gear condensed into a bunch of dry bags and river barrels, but it still looked like way to much stuff packed into the back of my car. Fortunately, it all fit snugly in our massive canoe! Canoes are built for lots of storage space.

On the river

We set off from Whitehorse just before noon in glorious weather. We would be paddling about 50 km down river to Hugh's house on Lake Laberge. This was a special trip for David, who had heard many stories of Yukon River canoe trips from his Aunt. She spent years living in the Yukon and David was excited to retrace some of her steps (or paddle strokes!).

Great weather to start the trip

We got off to a smooth start, cruising down the swift moving river towards the lake. We munched on sandwiches as we drifted with the current that was carrying us north at a speed of about 8 km/hr.

Trying a few casts from the sand bar

Checking out narrow channels and islands

Float plane coming in for a landing

Porcupine up in a tree

Approaching the marge of Lake Laberge

We arrived at the southern shore of Lake Laberge (made famous by the poem The Cremation of Sam McGee) after a few hours of paddling. The lake is 56 km long and about 5 km wide. It is notorious for high winds that can make paddling treacherous and slow. When we were planning how long the trip would take, we were told to factor in 2 full days to cross the lake. It can be done in one day if you get good weather, but when the wind picks up, sometimes the safest thing to do is pull over and wait it out. We got a small taste of the wind as we made our way up the western shore towards Jackfish bay and wondered what all the fuss was about. The breeze was at our backs which made the going easier, but without the quick current of the river to pull us along, we did need to pick up the pace with paddling to make it across the open water.

Through the shallows and out into the open waters of Lake Laberge

We arrived at Hugh's dock and were greeted by his adorable dogs. He spoilt us with wine and a delicious dinner while telling tales of life in the Yukon. We were captivated as he described emergency ski plane landings on the highway and flying by line of sight over the forests and lakes of the north in less than ideal weather.

Hugh's beautiful cabin on Jackfish Bay

The pampering continued as we were put up in Hugh's guest house for the night. We were able to sleep in soft beds and take hot showers, a luxury we wouldn't have for another 5 days.

Sunset on our first night of the trip

We didn't rush to start the day and took the time to make a hot breakfast at Hugh's before getting back on the water. By 9 am, we were off down the lake, following the western shore. The river mapbook we brought with us recommends taking the eastern shore as it saves you from crossing the lake to reach the river outlet at the northern end. It is also more direct, but has less protected bays to hide out in during bad weather. We considered crossing the lake at a the narrowest part, but it was still a few kilometers to the opposite shore so we ended up just sticking to the west side. As the day went on, the wind did pick up. It was blowing from the southeast up the lake. This was fortunate as the wind was mostly at our backs, but was still tricky to hold the canoe on course. We paddled hard for most of the day, fighting with waves and wind gusts. I have done a few canoe trips in the past and Tyler had paddled with scouts in the past. This was David's first big canoe trip. We rotated through the seats every time we stopped so that we all had a turn steering and before long, everyone felt pretty comfortable with navigating the wind and waves.

Catching waves down the lake

Afternoon squall

Exploring the shoreline of Lake Laberge

Looking down the long lake. We still have a long way to go!

By mid afternoon, we had covered about 2/3rds of the lake and we were exhausted from the constant battle against the waves. We pulled up at a nice pebble beach and decided to camp there for the night. The wind died down and we enjoyed a beautiful evening on the lakeshore. Campsites on the Yukon river are "established" but not official. You can camp anywhere but some spots that are more equipped than others. We used the river map book I bought in Whitehorse to help us navigate the route and it had most of the riverside campsites marked, as well as sites of interest. This helped us plan our stops for the day. Some sites had fire pits, while others had outhouses and picnic tables. The descriptions in the book (excellent camp, good camp etc) were not the most accurate but it was helpful to know what was up ahead.

Excellent camp for our first real night out

Evening relaxation

Campfire dessert crisp

Beach bonfire

Late night sunset

The lake got glassy calm and we joked about packing up and continuing on, but decided instead to relax and enjoy the evening. Shortly after we got into our tents however, the wind picked up to the point of spraying our tents with water blown up off the lake. I kept waking to my tent wall flattening into my face from the wind gusts. Eventually I had enough. I picked up my tent, careful not to let it fly away in a big gust, and marched it deep into the forest where I could be away from the wind. The next morning, David and Tyler were pretty surprised to see my tent missing and me emerging from the bushes way up the beach!

We won't be crossing the lake with those whitecaps!

We had a leisurely breakfast as we waited to see what the weather would do. By 11 am, the winds had only gotten stronger so we decided to just go for it. We pushed off from the beach and out into the lake. As soon as we came out from around a small point, we were hit by the full force of the wind that had been funneled and building all the way down the lake. Hats blew off and it became a struggle to keep the canoe on course and upright. We did an about-turn and retreated back to shore, scooping up Tyler's hat on the way. Wanting to make some distance that day, we decided to do a short portage across a sandbar so we could paddle down a calmer part of the lake that was protected by a large point. With the wind at our backs, we zipped down the lake. It was exhausting to keep the canoe running with the waves and we had an exciting moment where we surfed a big swell and almost swamped. We pulled over to shore soon after that to hunker down and wait the weather out.

It doesn't look so bad, but paddling in the swells and whitecaps was really tough

Too windy for paddling

Pulling over for a break

Waiting out the weather away from the windy shore

A few hours and many snacks later, the wind in the trees seemed to die down. We emerged from the forest to scope out the lake. It was still windy, but much more manageable. We set off for the end of the lake! A few hours of hard paddling later we were at the Yukon River again. As predicted, it had taken us a full 2 days to cross the lake. We had been paddling for 3 days already and only traveled 100 km of the 320 km trip! With three days left, the pressure was on to make up some ground.

Back on the lake and through the worst of the wind

We stopped at the start of a section called Thirty Mile River which is part of the Canadian Heritage River System. Along this section are numerous miner, wood and fish camps as this was the main transportation corridor during the Klondike Gold Rush. Hopeful miners who crossed the Chilkoot Pass to Whitehorse would travel by river to Dawson City 700km north, hoping to strike it rich. We had considered doing the full trip to Dawson but with only one week we just didn't have the time so our destination was the village of Carmacks, about half way to Dawson.

Celebratory beers at the beginning of  30 mile

Old miner cabin

Relics from the past

Back in the river current, the paddling felt wonderfully easy after the struggles of the lake. We sped down the windy river, around tight S bends and hairpins before stopping at a small island to camp. The river moves quickly but there are no rapids in the section from Whitehorse to Carmacks, making it a very good trip for beginner paddlers. Most of the time you just need to steer and navigate around islands and avoid eddies. With a bit of practice, we were able to pick the fast lines around corners and float through fun little "riffles" created by the current.

Island campsite

Canoe tripping is luxurious. We brought two full river barrels of snacks, treats and non-perishable food items. As a result, our meals were gourmet. One thing that I didn't anticipate was how much fuel you use when you are making elaborate meals. By our second day, we were almost half way through the fuel. We quickly switched to conservation mode and started cooking almost exclusively over the campfire. I had borrowed some canoe trip essentials including an axe, a grate for the fire and had brought along a large cast iron skillet which made campfire cooking a breeze. We also had beer, chilled in the river, mulled wine and fresh baked tasty treats like cinnamon buns! Yummy!

Cinnamon buns!

Despite feeling the pressure to make up some ground on day 4, we still slept in and lazed around camp until mid-morning. Since the river flows at about 8 km/hr, paddling doesn't actually help you go that much faster, at least the way we were paddling. Drifting and steering through the corners allows you to cover quite a bit of ground with very little effort. We enjoyed the morning drifting through the beautiful thirty mile river and admiring the scenery.

Day 4! Definitely not an alpine start!

Just go with the flow

River life

Old wood camp

We passed the first group of canoes we had seen since leaving Whitehorse. It was a big family from Germany who had traveled all the way to paddle the Yukon River (kids, parents and grandparents!). They had taken a shuttle to the end of Lake Lebarge to skip the lake and were shocked to hear that we were planning to be in Carmacks in 3 days time. They had 6 days planned to get there, which would be a much more relaxing trip I suppose. We passed them and waved our goodbyes as we continued down the river.

The first people we have seen in days

Beautiful scenery through 30 mile

Taking a break out of the boat

Thirty mile comes to an end where the Teslin River joins the Yukon River. The green Yukon River mixes with the Teslin to become a more grey/blue colour. Here the river widens and although it still flows along at the same speed, if not faster, it feels like you are traveling slower because the shore is farther away. We stopped to check out an old abandoned first nations village (Hootalinqua) before carrying on downstream. This turned out to be a mistake because about 5 minutes later, we passed an island that had a huge wrecked paddlewheeler on it that you can explore! By the time we realized this, we were already past the island and were not in the mood to turn back.

No bites today

We spent most of the day in the boat, with the person in the middle handing out snacks and purifying water while the other two paddled. We would stop at interesting spots along the way but didn't linger. We had a long way to go yet. Up until this point, the weather had been great, with a few showers in the night. This was about to change though. Big clouds were gathering ahead and soon we were digging in the packs for our rain gear as the temperature plummeted and it started to pour!

Stormy skies ahead

Wildlife spotting from the canoe

Caught in the hailstorm

Old burn

Big tracks! Moose?

Once the rain started, we were instantly soaked. We put our heads down and paddled to stay warm as well as get out of the rainstorm. We stopped for a hot dinner on the bank of the river to warm up, but continued paddling for a few more hours that evening. Being so far north means late sunsets and we had lots of daylight to work with. Even when the sun goes down, twilight seems to stretch on forever. It barely gets dark enough to see stars. The sky turns to dark blue and before long, it starts to brighten on the horizon again for a new day!

Dinner at the edge of the Yukon

Sunset paddling

Yukon sunset

Twilight campfire

We had covered over 100 km on day 4, through some of the most scenic parts of the river. This had only taken us 8 hours of paddling, so despite the late start, we arrived at our campsite with enough light to set up. We stayed up around the campfire drinking mulled wine and chatting. It rained in the night again, but by the time we awoke, the rain had stopped. Dry wood was a bit tricky to find, but with only one more night to go, we felt like we could start using our stove again. 

Riverside campsite

Day 5 was another big day, but we took our time to drift along and do some fishing. Unfortunately, we didn't catch anything! Everyone else we spoke to seemed to have caught tonnes of fish but we got skunked except for one small grayling that wasn't big enough to keep. Good thing we didn't plan on fish for dinner! We paddled through short squalls and got wet again, but the sun came back out to dry us. With about 100 km to our take out point the next day, we opted to put in a bit more time in exchange for a very chill final day. By the time we started looking for campsites however, the river had become quite busy and all the sites seemed to be taken. Finally, we found a perfect spot that was only about 15 km from the take out.

Day 5 - Leisurely floating as the river gets wider

"We have definitely seen more eagles than people"

"Lets take the shortcut!"

Campfire stirfry

Yukon sunset

Drying all the gear!

Day 6 was very chill. We slept in, had a lazy breakfast and slowly drifted down the river to Carmacks. No fish were caught that day either! We had some lunch at the campground as we waited for the shuttle to take us back to Whitehorse at 2 pm. The drive is only 2 hours back to Whitehorse which seems crazy after spending 6 days paddling to get to Carmacks. This trip was a really fun change of pace. I feel like it really forced me to slow down and just enjoy the company and scenery! Cheers to David and Tyler for being stoked, showing up and going with the flow!

Made it to Carmacks!

Shuttle back to Whitehorse