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.