Yukon summer adventure: Notes from Fort Selkirk
A few nights ago, I arrived in Fort Selkirk, a ghost town with an incredible history. I paddled all day in terrible winds and rain to get here. It was a total of 90 kilometres in one day. I was exhausted.
The rain has continued ever since. Robert Campbell, a Hudson’s Bay Company official, set up a trading post here in about 1850 where the Pelly River meets the Yukon River. Two years later, First Nations people burned the post and chased Campbell away. Then in the 1890s, before the Klondike gold rush, another trading post was established here. At one point, Fort Selkirk was considered by the Canadian government as a possible site of the capital city of the Yukon Territories. Now it’s just a ghost town.
During the gold rush, Fort Selkirk became an important trading government and communications post with 200 soldiers from the Yukon field force stationed here to enforce Canada’s sovereignty. Each day the soldiers would load their cannons and fire them across the river at the vertical cliff walls. You can still see several cave-like holes in the cliffs caused by the cannons.
Peregrine falcons now live in those cliffs. I’ve spent some time scanning the cliffs with my binoculars for those falcons. After several minutes of searching, I had just put down my binoculars when a peregrine falcon went rocketing by me about 200 metres away. Wow, what a sight! It was just fantastic!
I’m back on the River, hoping it doesn’t rain. So far on this trip, it has either rained or threatened to rain for 12 of the past 14 days. I’ve paddled so far about 440 kilometres, most of it in wind and rain, surrounded by dark clouds.
I’m an optimist, but I think this is a little ridiculous.
Allen Macartney is completing a solo trip on the Yukon River to retrace the route of prospectors in the days of the Klondike gold rush. Read more of his blog posts here and learn about his Royal Canadian Geographical Society-funded expedition here. This blog post was dictated over a satellite phone.
Comments (5)
One of my favourite memories of Fort Selkirk, from a Yukon River trip years ago, was the generosity of a crew working to restore the buildings at this heritage site. They had rigged up a makeshift shower. A large metal drum hung suspended over the coals of a sizeable campfire. They had filled the barrel with water hauled up the steep bank from the frigid Yukon River, and warmed it to perfection over the coals. A hose ran out of the barrel, to an enclosed platform part way down the hill. When we arrived, cold and tired, the crew offered us each the luxury of a two-inch shower. We could each use two inches of water from the barrel. Pure heaven!
Submitted by Denise on Friday, July 13, 2012
allen: you are an inspiration to us all. keep on paddling.i'm confident that you'll make it all the way. don
Submitted by don macartney on Monday, July 16, 2012
Allen I am just catching up with your blog now that I am back in Canada. I am so glad you are about half way now and still in one piece. I don't think I could even vision myself doing what you are doing and I truly admire your spirit and trust in God. I will now be keeping closer tabs on you both by reading your blogs and talking with Denise.
Submitted by OliveO on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
I'm in Dawson city now (still lots of rain) and will be taking part in a paleontology "dig" tomorrow. Today I visited a paddlewheeler graveyard. Fantastic! I'm back on the river on Thursday.
THANK YOU for being interested in this trek! -- Allen Macartney
Submitted by allen macartney on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Interested in your trek???? I'm living it along with you, vicariously, and from the warmth of the cottage with Mason and his parents. We are in the midst of a severe drought and you have too much rain....wish we could trade. Your knowledge about the history of the area you are canoeing through is educational for me. Keep it coming! May God guide each dip of your paddles and accompany you to a successful end!
Submitted by Joan Born Flett on Saturday, July 21, 2012
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