As you can see, I had a busy day yesterday getting some of Mingo’s pictures and journal excerpts published on the blog and getting the sponsors section updated on his website. In the middle of all this excitement, Mingo called to check in and fill me in on his day kayaking the previous day (Saturday 6/27).

“Hey Lib. It rained like a big dog yesterday,” Mingo began. “Got hit by a microburst. We were paddling then all of a sudden the wind picked up to 40-50 miles an hour. Had to paddle like dogs to get back to shore,” Mingo tells me. “Then it rained hard for the next 2½ – 3 hours. It was a good day today because everyone was safe but it was sure wet and miserable.”

“But we got into Fort Yukon and were welcomed by everyone. They gave us chocolate and 2 5-gallon bottles of water and let me charge the phone up,” Mingo continued. “A big thank you goes out to David, Heidi and the gang from Arctic Circle Baptist Church. Gotta put that up on the website. We hung out talking to Philip by the fire until around midnight. Last night we were just trying to stay warm and dry out.”

I quickly ask how his shoulder is doing, especially after a rough day like today.

“I think I damaged something in the upper shoulder. I’m getting some numbness in my hands,” he tells me. “It’s another 5 days to the Bridge. Then I’ll figure out what I’m gonna do. I feel like the decision is already being made for me.”

He asks me to check on some flights between Fairbanks and a couple of small villages along the river so he has some options. I update him on some of the comments we’ve gotten through the blog and Facebook. He was very pleased to hear to hear from everyone.