“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!

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.

“I’m just coming up on Clinton in British Columbia. Boy is this a big providence,” Mingo told me on a quick satellite call this evening. “I still have quite a bit of driving for today. I want to make it to Prince George for the night.” All in all it sounds like today’s drive was relatively uneventful. He sounds exciting about crossing over into Alaska on Wednesday and even more anxious to get on the water in Eagle.

The satellite phone seems to be holding up well and the call quality was clear and crisp - a good sign for when he’s out in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. The only downfall to the sat phone is that satellites come in and out of range, so service could be down for a few minutes as a new satellite comes up on the horizon. Our call tonight was quick. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow evening,” he told me. “I have to stop when I use this thing because the signal fluctuates so much when I’m driving. It kills the battery.” Hopefully, reached Prince George early this evening and found a nice, comfy hotel bed to crash on tonight.

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