“I’m in Prince George, BC and I’m gonna keep going. This is where I wanted to get to today,” Mingo told me on the phone this evening (through Verizon - yea!). “I’ve been driving since 4:30 this morning and I’m not tired yet, so I’m gonna keep at it a few more hours.”

“I should be back in the States tomorrow - the land of cheap gas. I did find gas today for $1.07 a liter,” Mingo tells me. We chat a little more then he tells me about what a great picture day he had yesterday. “I probably shot 600-700 frames of animals yesterday. Saw all kinds of critters!”

We talk a little more about his shoulder. He still has no feeling in his hand but he says that at least the shooting pain has subsided some. Now it’s just numbness. “I definitely did something in there. I haven’t been using it at all and there’s still no feeling coming back.” It sounds like he’ll wait to see a doctor until he gets back to AZ.

For now, he’s enjoying the drive back and stopping to take lots of pictures. He is in awe of how beautiful Canada is and even more amazed at how vast. “This is a big territory!”

I just talked to Mingo (for literally 2 minutes before the sat phone connection dropped). He’s about an hour and a half outside of Fort Nelson at a campground for the night. He “just kinda cruising” as he puts it. He expects to be in Prince George by tomorrow then back in the States on Thursday.

And that’s as far as the conversation went! Darn sat phone. It will be nice when he’s back in the US and we can go back to using Verizon.

Mingo’s back in Canada and heading towards the States. When I talked to him last night he was in Watson Lake fighting off the mosquitoes as he wandered around a campground. Apparently, the mosquitoes are huge and everywhere up there!

He sounds like he is doing well - still managing the pain in his shoulder, yet enjoying the drive. He said he got some fantastic photography yesterday - bears and some beautiful landscapes. I’m really looking forward to seeing everything!

Mingo made it to the Dalton Highway Bridge yesterday after a relatively “easy paddle.” Mingo, Ulley and Marcus found someplace to set up camp, then promptly went to take advantage of the shower facilities at the bridge.

“It’s a ten-dollar shower, but it does come with a towel,” Mingo told me yesterday on the phone. “You better believe I’m going to take advantage of that. It was the best ten-dollar shower I’ve ever had. I don’t even feel ripped off,” he laughed.

Later in the day he called to tell me they were “just cruising.” He was working with his hand to try to get some of the feeling back into it, but as of yesterday he was unsuccessful.

Today, he told me that he’s got feeling in his arm, but his fingers are still numb. He has some movement, but there is little power behind that movement. As hard of a decision as it was to stop, he said that he is glad he did so he can go home and get his shoulder looked at.

Currently, Mingo is hanging out waiting to catch a shuttle van back to Fairbanks this evening. By tomorrow afternoon, he’ll be back in Tok with his truck then begin planning the journey home (and hopefully to the hospital!).

“We’re in Steven’s Village,” Mingo tells me as I answer the phone. “But we’re passing by. The whole town was basically wiped out. There’s nothing. The store is gone. There’s no beach. We’re gonna find some place to camp lower down,” he says.

I ask how today went. He sounds tired.

“It’s was a good day but a lot of paddling. We’ve been at it 10 hours. There is very little current so it’s a very slow river,” he replies. “We did go past a big whirlpool today. It was probably 30-40 feet in diameter. I’ve never seen one so big, other than in the movies.” He chuckles then continues, “I got stuck in one the other day, but it wasn’t that big. One minute you’re fine then the next minute the kayak is doing something weird. Other than that, it was a pretty boring day.”

I quickly tell him that things are confirmed for his trip back to Fairbanks then back to Tok. We keep it short as he’s says he’s not sure when he’ll get to charge the sat phone next. As we hang up he tells me they should be at the bridge tomorrow (Thursday) and he’ll give me call.

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