The phone rang early yesterday, around 6:30 CST.

“Hey. We’ve been paddling all day and just stopped on Devlin Island about 20 miles from Beaver,” Mingo tells me. “It was a fairly nice day. Did you talk to Crys yesterday?”

“Yes, I did,” I tell him. “So you got un-lost?” I ask.

“Yeah. There’s not as many islands down here. You just get caught in a channel and you can’t figure out where you are,” he explains. “Navigating this river is tricky. The maps don’t do the area justice. Now we’re just kinda crusin’. It looks like it’s gonna rain again though. Did Crys tell you about the bears?” he asks me.

“Bears! Um, no,” I respond.

“Yeah, we had big bear prints all around camp last night,” he says excitedly. “Looked like big blackies. We got up and looked around but couldn’t find them. I slept with my shotgun. In the morning there were more prints a little farther out. Never saw them but I got some pictures of the prints.”

We talk a little more about how his shoulder is doing. He’s dealing with the pain and numbness and trying to figure out what he wants to do when he gets to the bridge in 2-3 days. He’s balancing his desire to continue with the pain and loss of mobility in his shoulder.

Just as we finish up talking about his options when he gets to the bridge, the sat connection drops. I try calling back and get him on the line for about 30 seconds more, then neither of us can reconnect.

It doesn’t worry me. He sounds like he’s doing well and Crys and I have a few research tasks to complete. Today we’re checking on options for him when he gets to the bridge. If he decides he is not going to continue because of his shoulder, we need to figure out a way to get him back to his truck (or have someone drive his truck up to pick him up). We’ll keep you posted on what we find out!

P.S. – If you have any ideas or leads that would help us arrange for a pickup, please email us at webmaster@mingomorvin.com. Thank you!!

Crystal (Mingo’s youngest daughter) was the lucky one to get a call from Mingo last night. Here is a quick update from an email she sent to me about how Mingo, Ulley and Marcus spent their Sunday on the Yukon.

“Here’s Mingo’s position: N 66 3202 / W 146 2038. I hope you know what those numbers mean. He said his shoulder is still hurting and his hand is numb.

Oh, and they are lost and are not sure where they are. There are lots of islands so the route gets very convoluted. They hope to be on track again tomorrow and they only made it about 20 miles today because they got lost. But some nice people they met gave them chocolate cake and ice cream (I know, very random!). Apparently people in Alaska are very nice. They hope to make it to Beaver tomorrow (Monday).

Um, I think that is all he said. He sounded good. Not stressed, but not happy either.”

Along with the pictures (see previous post), Mingo sent me pages from his expedition journal. Here are a few excerpts.

June 16
Left Vegas and Crystal’s house. Headin’ on 95 past relentless, boring, barren desert. I thought that this would be a whole 13 hour driving day. Instead, I found some unexpected beauty near Alamo, NV in lakes, animal life and very beautiful scenery.

June 15
Crossed into Canada and went through customs with no problems. Then started my trek through B.C. Pretty country but I just want to get this journey moving…. I am tired of driving 10 to 12 hour days. I want to kayak long days. It is 9:32 pm here and still daylight. You could easily hike now. I hate the cost of gas in Canada, over $4.50 a gallon. Causing havoc on my budget. Later-out.

Thurs, June 18
Completely insane day. Paid about $9.00 a gallon for gas. Got 2 flats repaired. Saw hundreds of miles of absolutely beautiful mountains. Northern Rockies are spectacular! God’s country but it takes driving like hell to get here. I went to sleep around 12:30 AM with the sun just setting. Up at 6 AM with the sun way up. This is so weird. Today will be another long day but hoping to make it to Tok, Alaska.

Fri, June 19
Yesterday I drove another 10 hour day and made it to Tok, Alaska. Nice to see cheap gas again, $3.20 a gallon! …At the Boundary gas station and restaurant, I met a couple – Mike and Tawnya. He offered his land for my packing lot. [My truck] is safe there and on one will use it. Cool folks…. So logistically this thing is coming together at a higher expense than I thought. I hope that many will help support this expedition. I am a bit stressed at this time. Money is a problem and I am also stressed by the waiting. Make me think way too much.

I think that solo expeditions are many times harder than team expeditions. It is hard to remain unfluttered by all that needs to be done. The next two days will be difficult psychologically. This runup time is tough. Once on the river with my emotions in check I think I will settle down into my job. But now I am stressed and not pleased being stuck in town. Emotionally it is also difficult in that I miss my friends and family.

Mingo, Ulley and Marcus had an exhausting and dangerous day on the Yukon yesterday. It seems they are kayaking when they can – day or night. Sharron received a call late last night from Mingo (since it was already past midnight CST here).

She said they are doing well but exhausted and soaked to the bone. They had to escape some microbursts today which on a river that is now about two miles wide is not a quick and easy feat. They did make it to shore in somewhere in Fort Yukon and were in the process of making their way through the Refuge.

Mingo’s shoulder is still aching and he’s now having some numbness in his hand. The group should be reaching the Yukon River Bridge on the Dalton Highway sometime late Sunday or early Monday.

Sharron said Mingo sounded tired. And as they were hanging up, she heard one of the guys in the background say, “We’re gonna do what the locals do. We’re gonna drink beer tonight!” Indeed, after a day like today, a little celebrating sounds like it’s in order.

“Ok I’m at 66 degrees 1784 North 144 degrees 4487 West,” Mingo tells me as soon as I pick up the phone this afternoon. “Yesterday was a long ass day,” he continues. “Got caught in these islands and that slowed us down. Right now we’re on this little island we nicknamed Baby Bigfoot Island,” he chuckles. “It’s about 2 acres, 2 feet above sea levels. But its sand and gravel but dry.”

“Don’t know what the actual name of the island is,” he continues. “We named it Baby Bigfoot ’cause there’s this log that looks like a bigfoot. We dressed it up and took pictures.” He’s chuckling again. He sounds tired but not exhausted. “The last two days have been great weather-wise. No rain. The weather is hard to figure out. It looks like it’s gonna rain again soon,” he tells me.

I ask about how his shoulder is doing. “It’s sore. I worked it hard yesterday.” He pauses a moment. “We saw some great wildlife. Took some pictures of the beaver. They were pretty pissed we were there. Also got some pictures of a lynx. That’s a BIG kitty.”

“Did you take pictures from the boat?” I ask.

“We did an 8 mile hike yesterday since the wind was so bad. Just pulled up and hung out. Then put in the water at around 9:30 and kayaked until 3am. It’s weird the sun goes down then two hours later it comes back up in exactly the same spot.”

“It’s absolutely gorgeous out here, but rugged. Definitely wilderness. People kept telling me that I’d see people along the way. Yeah, right. There is nothing out here. If you happen to see someone, you’re lucky. There’s not a great deal of civilization.” Mingo takes a deep breath. We have an absolutely fantastic sat phone connecting today which is a nice break from the norm.

“This is a different river. It’s like 2 or 3 rivers in one. Sometimes it’s calm and flat, very nice. In places the river is 2-3 miles wide. It looks more like a lake than a river. Then you get into areas where the current is moving at 8-9 knots. I got caught in a whirlpool yesterday. Sucked the boat back and bounced me around. Had some trouble gettin’ out of it. As long as you stay in the boat, the river is pretty safe. If you go in, you’re in trouble.”

I quickly ask him about the Swedish guy Sharron mentioned this morning.

“Yeah, Marcus. He joined up with us yesterday. Makes the trip much more pleasant. Got people to talk to , joke with. Plus it increases the safety for all of us. Especially when you’re tired, you don’t always know what you’re up against out here.”

As we finish up the conversation, Mingo tells me he’s continuing to watch and asses his shoulder. They are planning on hanging out at the island for a little longer, hoping for the wind to die down a bit more.

“We’re gonna push to Fort Yukon tonight where I can hopefully recharge everything there. It’s been a fun trip so far. Never a dull moment.”

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