The Bard of the Yukon

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

My introduction to Lake Lebarge was through this spooky poem by Canadian poet Robert Service read to me by our safety boatman Mark. Scratch that - he didn't read it, he recited it from memory along with other ballads like "The Spell of the Yukon" and "The Call of the Wild." Mark doesn't like poetry but you wouldn't know it from the way he pours through repetition, verse form and rhyme.

All of Service's stuff is filled with sensory stimuli with twisty endings so it was fitting that Mark should open with The Cremation of Sam McGee. It got us all thinking about derelict boats like 'Alice May' that comb the shores of Laberge, a lake well over 500 feet deep.

But we weren't boating for Arctic Greyling, Pike or Lake Trout we needed to catch up with the fearless Yukon River Quest people for stories. We found them on the opposite end of the lake paddling like crazy and breathing hard.

Solo Texan favorite Brad Pennington was still in the top 5 spot shadowing a Voyageur canoe of 8 strong bears from Saskatchewan. He held his position neck-and-neck with Great Britain Shaun Thrower who humorously but apty named his kayak Numbnuts.

We said hello and cheered them on but all were so consumed with maintaining position they grunted past with not so much as a crooked grin.



Away we went to find the women and men competing for fun rather than fortunes. Our poet laureate Mark has a surprise in mind. We found a team of 9 thirsty gals huffing and puffing with a look of craving for coffee in their eyes. We pulled up alongside Team Whoa, 9 gals between the ages of 24 and 50.

Mark stretched out his arm and offered them a cup of fresh brewed Tim Horton's. They nearly fell out of their boat in gratitude. It was 7pm, only 7 hours into the race but caffeine gave them the boost they needed to carry on.