2009 Yukon River & Bering Sea Expedition
"This odyssey will take me 2,000 miles through a pristine and remote watery wilderness. I'll be starting from Eagle, Alaska on the Canadian border and traveling down the Yukon River through the Bering Sea to end up in Nome, Alaska 55 days later."
~ Mingo Morvin, President
2009 Yukon River Trip Report
The Yukon, even 1500 miles upstream, is a huge river, being one half mile wide in spots. In normal flow years she is a dangerous and treacherous river. This year as I start my journey down this massive Alaskan river the conditions are more difficult. The May breakup floods, the worst in over 100 years, partially destroyed Eagle, with many complete homes, cars, boats, trucks, propane tanks and ten of thousands of trees swept into the river. Much of this debris became lodged on islands and shorelines, while other debris sank below the surface of the murky Yukon. These are the conditions that I would have to contend with when I entered this difficult world.
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Dreams on the Yukon
The folklore of the Yukon region and river is overflowing with stories of interesting people and adventures. I hope to add to this body of Yukon folklore as I ply the cold waters of the Yukon River and Bering Sea this summer. Starting in Eagle, Alaska I will hopefully end my journey 55 brutal days later in Nome, Alaska. The challenges will be interesting, difficult, dangerous and sometimes complex to survive.
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Your Expedition Questions - Answered!
I've gotten a lot of questions about this expedition. Most of you know I could talk all day about my reasons for doing this expedition in 2009. Instead I've come up with short answers to the questions you've asked most frequently. In general, I think of myself as an explorer, like Magellan. Did anyone benefit from Magellan’s travels? Of course!
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Sponsors & Supporters
I would like to send out a sincere THANK YOU to my sponsors for this expedition:
- Written Designs
- Crystal and Robert House
- Libby and Steve Craver
- Jason Matthews
- Geoffrey and Dawn Bain
- Jenny Wellinger
- Geff Cooper
- Larry Frei
- Doug Marshall
- John Miller
- Mike & Tawnia Cronk
- David, Heidi & the gang from Arctic Circle Baptist Church
- All the rangers and people in the towns Mingo has come through who have provided advice, supplies and power (to charge his sat phone)
Technical Support
I would like to THANK everyone who provided technical support including:
- Dan Gillikin, Fishery Biologist for USFWS-Yukon Delta NWR:Dan's information was invaluable to the safety and success of this mission. He has a great depth of knowledge of the natural systems, topo and cultural systems that I will work through.
- National Park Rangers of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
- 40 Mile Air: Provided reliable transportation of Mingo's truck from Tok to Eagle and back at reasonable rates.