Quebec man wraps up 3,200 km swim down Yukon River
On the last leg of his 3,200-kilometre voyage down the Yukon River on a riverboard, Denis Morin was moved to tears.
On the last leg of his 3,200-kilometre voyage down the Yukon River on a riverboard, Denis Morin was moved to tears.
He had stopped for a day to rest in Mountain Village, Alaska, a reservation of less than 1,000 people. He connected with the people there, he said, and when he left, a group of villagers bid him farewell on the beach.
The Quebec man said traditionally, that鈥檚 something they do for loved ones who are leaving by boat.
鈥淚 saw a group of people coming to the beach, just to see me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檒l bring that with me for a long time.鈥�
Morin, 54, wasn鈥檛 leaving by boat. By that point, he鈥檇 travelled thousands of kilometres over several weeks by riverboard 鈥� something like a paddle board with raised edges.
Riverboarding is a whitewater sport, Morin said. Riverboarders wear helmets and flippers, and when the river flow isn鈥檛 strong enough to carry them, they swim. He was on the trek for 75 days 鈥� including 10 days of rest 鈥� from late May to early August.
He鈥檇 usually be in the water six hours a day, Morin said. Although sometimes when it was stormy, he鈥檇 cut his day short and set up camp.
Early on in his trip, when he got to Lake Laberge, it was snowing and hailing, he said.
鈥淚n my mind, I thought, 鈥榃hat kind of adventure am I getting myself into?鈥欌�� he said. But he kept going.
The longest he spent in the water was 11 hours, when he reached the Arctic Circle, Morin said. It was summer, so the sun shone for most of the day.
鈥淚t was a wonderful day,鈥� he said.
This wasn鈥檛 Morin鈥檚 first long-haul trip 鈥� he鈥檇 riverboarded in northern Quebec before. But this trip was different. It was his first trip after retiring from a career in information technology, and he said he figured it would be a good transition to his 鈥渘ew lifestyle.鈥�
And his new lifestyle doesn鈥檛 include much stuff 鈥� he sold everything he owned, and all he brought with him on the trip were two inflatable bags that floated behind him in the river.
They contained camping materials, like a tent, some clothes, a first aid kit and three months worth of food 鈥� mostly dehydrated 鈥渁stronaut鈥� food.
But he said he would sometimes stop in villages adjacent to the river to pick up 鈥渃omfort food鈥� like cookies.
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of a cookie monster,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I couldn鈥檛 bring cookies for three months.鈥�
By Nicole Thompson The Canadian Press
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