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.”

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.

“Hey, we’re in Circle 151 miles in,” Mingo tells me. “We have a problem. I pulled a shoulder.” There is crackling on the line and his voice digitizes for a second the comes back. “I started taking Salicilate (??) but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything. I’ve gotta take it easy. I don’t want to rip a bicep.”

The phone cuts out again then comes back. When I get the connection back, he’s still talking: “I met the German guys. I have a partner, Ulley. He’s a police officer from Munich. We’re gonna make paddle down to Bridge.”

The phone cuts out again and the connection drops. I have a ton of questions about how he’s doing, what he thinks happened, what is going on with the shoulder. I wait a few minutes then try to call back – no luck. (This rarely works, but I figured I’d try.) I wait. And wait some more. I give Sharron and Crystal a quick call then post a quick blurb on the blog, Twitter and Facebook. Still he hasn’t called back. I know time is short with the sat so maybe he figured since I know he’s OK, then I’ll just talk to him tomorrow.

A little while later the phone rings again – it’s Mingo. The connection is one of the best we’ve had yet, thank goodness.

“Can you still paddle? Do you know what happened?” I quickly ask.

“I’ve got no power on the left. I can’t extend the shoulder and lock it like I need to. It sure does hurt,” he explains. “I paddled hard for the first three hours. I think what happened is a sweeper came up. I fought it. I wasn’t going to lose my paddle,” he chuckles. “I don’t think I tore it. Something’s going on in there though. I can hear it clicking. I can still paddle but not hard. Mostly I just floated.”

I asked him to tell me a little more about meeting up with the German kayakers. He explains he met them the day before (day 2) and they all ended up in Circle this evening (day 3). There were three guys altogether, 2 of which left today. Mingo asked Ulley if he wanted to continue and he agreed. So now they’re on the river together – Mingo in his kayak and Ulley in a canoe (I think).

“We’re gonna padding another 300 miles to Bridge. Then I’ll reassess my shoulder and figure out if I can continue. Or figure out how to get back to my truck.”

At this point I’m thinking “What is Bridge? It’s not a town I’ve seen on Google maps.” Later I do a quick Google search and discover Bridge is actually the Yukon River Bridge on the Dalton Highway just outside of Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. It is one of only four bridges that cross the Yukon River.

“Oh man, today was a good day to kayak,” Mingo says bringing me back to the present. “It was sunny. Warm. Not a bit of rain.” I can hear how pleased he was with the weather today. “This is an interesting river. The hydraulics are pretty serious. It can bounce my boat three or four feet to one side and all of a sudden I’m sideways in the water,” he tells me. “It’s a physically demanding river. You’re kayaking into a 20-25 mile an hour headwind every day. It’s not an easy river but not as dangerous as others. But if you go down in the middle, you’re a gonner. The ranger was telling me about this guy who drowned. His body was found 100 miles downriver from where he fell in.” Mingo’s quiet for a moment.

“But this is a trip of a lifetime,” he says. I can hear the exhilaration in his voice. Even hurt, he’s stoked to be up there, kayaking the river and seeing the beautiful Alaskan interior.

While, I’d love to continue talking my head keeps screaming at me to hurry up the call. We’ve talked much longer than our allotted five minutes today. “So you’re in Circle right now. Is Circle a big town?” I ask.

He kind of chuckles. “It’s really more of a collection of buildings. No asphalt in the entire town. But I’m able to get a full charge on everything tonight,” he tells me. Relief washes through me. We’ve been really worried about how the sat phone would do and how long it would actually last in the back country. So far, even though we don’t always get good connections, he’s been finding regular places to charge it. That’s good news.

“Tomorrow we’re going to be heading back into the backcountry. Should take us about two, two and a half days to get through Yukon Flats,” he continues. We say our goodbyes and hang up for the evening. A million things are running through my head. I’m glad he’s not hurt too bad, but worried about the extent of the injury. Yet, I keep going back to his earlier comment – “A trip of a lifetime.” He’s completely enjoying himself up there.

“Hey, we’re in Circle 151 miles in,” Mingo tells me. “We have a problem. I pulled a shoulder.”

The connection was bad and we got cut off before he had time to give me any real details about his shoulder. All I really know is he can still move it but there’s no power behind it. Oh, and he caught up with the German kayakers – three of them one of whom is named Ulley, a police officer from Munich.

Still hoping he will call back tonight. Damn sat phone. Will let everyone know when I get an update.