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.

Mingo, Ulley and Marcus had an exhausting and dangerous day on the Yukon yesterday. It seems they are kayaking when they can - day or night. Sharron received a call late last night from Mingo (since it was already past midnight CST here).

She said they are doing well but exhausted and soaked to the bone. They had to escape some microbursts today which on a river that is now about two miles wide is not a quick and easy feat. They did make it to shore in somewhere in Fort Yukon and were in the process of making their way through the Refuge.

Mingo’s shoulder is still aching and he’s now having some numbness in his hand. The group should be reaching the Yukon River Bridge on the Dalton Highway sometime late Sunday or early Monday.

Sharron said Mingo sounded tired. And as they were hanging up, she heard one of the guys in the background say, “We’re gonna do what the locals do. We’re gonna drink beer tonight!” Indeed, after a day like today, a little celebrating sounds like it’s in order.

“Ok I’m at 66 degrees 1784 North 144 degrees 4487 West,” Mingo tells me as soon as I pick up the phone this afternoon. “Yesterday was a long ass day,” he continues. “Got caught in these islands and that slowed us down. Right now we’re on this little island we nicknamed Baby Bigfoot Island,” he chuckles. “It’s about 2 acres, 2 feet above sea levels. But its sand and gravel but dry.”

“Don’t know what the actual name of the island is,” he continues. “We named it Baby Bigfoot ’cause there’s this log that looks like a bigfoot. We dressed it up and took pictures.” He’s chuckling again. He sounds tired but not exhausted. “The last two days have been great weather-wise. No rain. The weather is hard to figure out. It looks like it’s gonna rain again soon,” he tells me.

I ask about how his shoulder is doing. “It’s sore. I worked it hard yesterday.” He pauses a moment. “We saw some great wildlife. Took some pictures of the beaver. They were pretty pissed we were there. Also got some pictures of a lynx. That’s a BIG kitty.”

“Did you take pictures from the boat?” I ask.

“We did an 8 mile hike yesterday since the wind was so bad. Just pulled up and hung out. Then put in the water at around 9:30 and kayaked until 3am. It’s weird the sun goes down then two hours later it comes back up in exactly the same spot.”

“It’s absolutely gorgeous out here, but rugged. Definitely wilderness. People kept telling me that I’d see people along the way. Yeah, right. There is nothing out here. If you happen to see someone, you’re lucky. There’s not a great deal of civilization.” Mingo takes a deep breath. We have an absolutely fantastic sat phone connecting today which is a nice break from the norm.

“This is a different river. It’s like 2 or 3 rivers in one. Sometimes it’s calm and flat, very nice. In places the river is 2-3 miles wide. It looks more like a lake than a river. Then you get into areas where the current is moving at 8-9 knots. I got caught in a whirlpool yesterday. Sucked the boat back and bounced me around. Had some trouble gettin’ out of it. As long as you stay in the boat, the river is pretty safe. If you go in, you’re in trouble.”

I quickly ask him about the Swedish guy Sharron mentioned this morning.

“Yeah, Marcus. He joined up with us yesterday. Makes the trip much more pleasant. Got people to talk to , joke with. Plus it increases the safety for all of us. Especially when you’re tired, you don’t always know what you’re up against out here.”

As we finish up the conversation, Mingo tells me he’s continuing to watch and asses his shoulder. They are planning on hanging out at the island for a little longer, hoping for the wind to die down a bit more.

“We’re gonna push to Fort Yukon tonight where I can hopefully recharge everything there. It’s been a fun trip so far. Never a dull moment.”

“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.