Snake River Canoe Trip - Yukon - Summer 2024

Follow along as we paddle ~320kms over 14 days down the Yukon’s remote Snake River, from its alpine headwaters to its confluence with the mighty Peel River, just south of the Arctic Circle.
Our trip started in Toronto, where we boarded a commercial flight to Whitehorse with all our gear in portage packs & food barrels. Once in the Yukon we rendezvoused with our Outfitter and drove 6hrs north up the Klondike Highway to the small town of Mayo, where Alkan Air operates a float plane base. After a short wait for the plane to arrive, the 6 of us paddlers and 3 canoes loaded into a 1950’s era (Serial #10) DHC-3 Turbo Otter for the 1hr flight to “Duo Lake” - a small alpine lake in the mountains where we’d begin our voyage. After unloading everything and watching the plane fly off into the mountains we set up camp and spent the next 2 days fishing, hiking and eventually portaging our gear 2kms to the River. Unfortunately, the weather during our time at Duo Lake was a mixed bag of rain and fog, but we enjoyed a few bits of sun before starting our paddle on the Snake. Although the main purpose of our trip was to canoe the River, Duo Lake was definitely one of my favorite parts - it’s the type of place you could spend weeks exploring and never grow bored.
Once on the River we were greeted immediately by fast, technical white-water that required constant attention & vigilance from the whole group. The first day was especially challenging, as we navigated tight canyons and tricky water, dotted with submerged boulders, narrow braided channels and many sharp turns into abrupt rock walls. While the River would eventually get wider as we progressed downstream, the fast-paced tempo would persist for basically the entire trip - I ended with very few photos while paddling, simply because the River demanded constant attention all day, every day.
Along the way we enjoyed gorgeous mountain scenery, World-class campsites, excellent fishing, hiking and abundant wildlife including Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, a white Wolf, Elk, Caribou (dead & alive), Bald Eagles, Arctic Grayling, Dolly Varden, Beavers, Martin and more.
Over the next 11 days we worked our way downstream before finally arriving at the confluence with the Peel River, where we planned to spend a night camped at “Taco Bar” - a large gravel beach used by Alkan to pick up groups coming off the River. The following morning, we packed up our gear one last time and waited for the Turbo-Otter to shuttle us all back to Mayo, and the start of our journeys home. Always a sad day.
Less than 100 people paddle the Snake every year, but those who aspire to make the journey are rewarded with a magical experience in the heart of the Wilderness that they’ll not soon forget. If your skills are up for it, and you ever get the opportunity, I’d highly recommend finding a way to make it happen.

[@CaitlinEaster]

Wow. That was amazing to see, you inspire. Thanks for sharing, Paul.

[@hughburton9021]

Brings back memories! Thanks for this

[@lindakemp2806]

Amazing journey - thank you for sharing.

[@UdoKellner]

Great adventure, would be something for me too! I was on the Nahanni this year (video on my channel). Thanks for the great video! Grüße Udo

[@ride-paddle-repeat]

Captured a lot in the short runtime of this video. Great scenery, technical whitewater, looks like an awesome trip.

[@donmcvie8605]

This is a great video tale...and I enjoyed the photography and the music. Did you take your own drone? It certainly added to the overall effect of the shoot. Like everyone else, I just came away filled with admiration and respect for the adventure you guys made and shared with us. BRAVO.

[@paulhoy]

Opens up your heart, then it breaks it. : ) Great trip. Great video.

[@terapr0]

Thanks Paul! So glad we were finally able to get out on a trip together. Looking forward to more adventures in the future 🙌

[@johnptodd03]

Helluva trip. Looks like great weather and little-to-no smoke. Thanks for posting this one.

[@terapr0]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Had a bit of rain, but generally the weather was quite agreeable, and basically no smoke the whole time.