A full day in Whitehorse for final preparations with the group. We use this time to check personal and group kit, sort packing systems, organise food and expedition equipment, and make sure everything is ready before heading to the river. It also gives everyone time to settle after travel and begin shifting into expedition mode.

We start the day with a 2 hour journey to Carmacks. The expedition begins in Carmacks, once a sternwheeler stop and supply point, named after George Carmack whose gold discovery at Bonanza Creek triggered the Klondike rush. The canoes are loaded, and the first strokes downstream quickly reveal the pull of the current. The Yukon moves broad and steady, carrying the group past spruce forest, cutbanks, and islands. It takes little time to find rhythm and to feel the immensity of travelling this waterway. Camp is made a few hours downstream on a gravel bar, the river’s song filling the night.
Distance: 40

By the second day the river feels familiar, bends sweeping in great arcs, wooded islands splitting the current into multiple channels. Wildlife is a constant companion — bald eagles, beavers slipping under the water, the possibility of moose along quiet backwaters. The sense of history is also close: in 1898 stampeders floated down this same section on rafts, often ill-prepared, their journey precarious. The day ends with camp among the trees, routines of tent life and cooking already becoming second nature.
Distance: 60

This is one of the most iconic stretches of the whole Yukon. The river narrows and accelerates toward the granite pillars of the Five Finger Rapids. For stampeders, this was one of the great hazards; many boats were lost here. Today, the right-hand channel is run with care, the thrill still palpable. Not far beyond lie Rink Rapids, another lively stretch. Between these rapids and the miles of forest, the day carries the canoes deep into the character of the river. Camp is found downstream, often on a long gravel island.
Distance: 60

The canoes sweep on into a broadening valley until the cabins of Fort Selkirk come into view. Once a Hudson’s Bay Company post and later a telegraph station, the fort was abandoned in the 1950s but is now carefully maintained by the Selkirk First Nation. Wandering among the log buildings, it is easy to picture traders, missionaries, and families who lived here. The site tells stories of commerce, culture, and change along the river. After time to explore, camp is made nearby, with the evening often spent discussing the layers of human history in a landscape that otherwise feels so untouched.
Distance: 60

Below Fort Selkirk the Yukon opens out again and begins to feel even bigger. Islands divide the water into multiple channels, and the group must stay attentive to follow the strongest current and make good choices through the braided sections. This is a day of steady travel, good boat handling and strong expedition routine rather than any single dramatic feature. Forest stretches away on either side, the sky feels larger, and the river’s scale becomes more and more apparent. By the time camp is made, the team is usually moving more efficiently and with much more confidence than in the early days of the trip.

Distance: 60

The middle river is big country. Below Fort Selkirk, the Yukon broadens further, and islands split the flow into shifting channels. The current adds speed, distance is covered steadily, and the sense of being committed to a long river journey deepens. Eagles are common, often perched on driftwood snags, and the occasional abandoned cabin appears as a reminder of earlier settlement attempts. Camp is usually made on a sandbar with wide views of the sky, where the late-summer evening can feel vast and quiet.

Distance: 60

The confluence with the Pelly River is one of the most dramatic points of the expedition. A surge of new water joins from the east, almost doubling the size of the Yukon. The sense of wilderness deepens here — the river broad, powerful and seemingly endless, with high sand and gravel banks rising above the canoes. From time to time the line of the old telegraph trail can still be glimpsed through the trees, one of the few reminders of human presence. Later in the day the river carries the group steadily north-west, and camp is made on a final wild island or bank before the last push towards Dawson.

Distance: 60

The final day brings a mix of anticipation and reflection. The river bends west, the current remains strong, and before long the outlines of Dawson City begin to come into view. This was the epicentre of the Klondike gold rush, and today its boardwalks, false-fronted buildings and saloons still hold that history close. The canoes glide towards the confluence with the Klondike River, marking the end point of the journey. Gear is unloaded and stowed, and there is time to take in the town, walk the streets and mark the end of the expedition together. This is still a planned camping night but we can choose to upgrade to hotel (at your cost) if people choose to.

Distance: 15

An early transfer back to Whitehorse. After days on the river, the road journey back gives time to reflect, sort kit and begin the shift out of expedition life. Overnight in Whitehorse.

Depart Whitehorse at 05:00 for the return journey home.

Arrive back in Edinburgh at 07:20.