READY TO ROCK? — A Fairbanks girl rests before embarking on another 25-mile stretch of Yukon River. (AP photo)

THE MIDDLE YUKON RIVER, ALASKA — Without much choice in the matter, a girl just under the age of four recently paddled from Eagle to Circle, Alaska. During the seven-day trip, she occasionally used her own small paddle, which sometimes pushed water downstream. Sources claim she had the time of her life, due in part to candy she stuffed in the cargo pockets of her father's pants during the Eagle Fourth of July Parade. She was rumored to withdraw bubblegum and SweetTarts to endure long days on the river.

 

She enjoyed viewing wildlife along the way.

 

The girl deemed the views from the tent acceptable . . .

 

And made sure her Mommy didn't skip any pages because she was tired.

 

She made friends with the locals . . . 

 

and was OK that some passed in the night.

 

She found the perfect-size cabin . . . 

 

and tripped over a loaf of rock while jogging.

 

Her camera malfunctioned at Slavens Roadhouse . . .

 

but her SteriPEN performed at Richard Smith's cabin, keeping the family relatively parasite-free.

 

The Yukon beaches couldn't be beat, she said . . .

 

OMG, they're made of sand!!!

 

When her dad became exhausted, she took over and reeled in a monster (and later ate it).

 

Packing for the Yukon is a breeze, she said. You need only a few items.

 

But, she warned, you will be very sad when you finish.

with me.

here

 

Details after they occur. Better pack the car. Chicken for dinner, Eagle by 10!

The Chena Dome trail is 30 miles of dome, dip, dome, dip until you've summited about 15 hills, the largest of which is 4,400 foot Chena Dome. Few people hike the entire loop, maybe because it's so tough to do, even in three days, and there's not much water. And, though Andy and I completed it with a dalmation once, it's pretty rough on dogs. Anyway, Andy proposed a hike without stopping, saying one day with no expectation of camping was easier and lighter than a two-day hike, and we didn't have time for three. The plan for a thru-hike was on.

 

 

A classic shot of the route, if I do say so. Trail is not pressed in much of the way. Just keep going up and climb the next dome.

 

Four ptarmigan chicks here (I only saw the fellow at right when taking the photo), relying on camo because there's no cover, not even a bush, where they were born. 

 

One of the engines of a B-24 Liberator that crashed on one of the domes in the 1950s, reason unknown. I've hiked to three prominent crashed planes in Alaska — above the Charley River (read Coming into the Country), on Great Sitkin Island in the Aleutians, and here. They are all B-24 bombers. 

 

Andy hikes to the summit of Chena Dome, about 1/3 into our long day. We didn't stop walking for about 17.5 hours. We never ran (Matias and Drew ran the trail in about 8 hours), and chatted almost the whole way, until we were cooked early in the morning.

 

Of course, you need sports radio on a grinder of a 30-mile hike. Dustin Pedroia's static-rich walkoff single put a spring in Andy's step.

 

Andy descending to the Trail Shelter, Mile 17. It was in good shape with dry wood and a rooftop water-collection system in place. Despite the foam pad rolled out on a bunk, we went on by.

 

Sunrise? Or was it sunset? Hard to tell, but it was 1:39 a.m. We were about five hours from finishing and still had a few snacks in the hopper. Happy solstice, t'was (and is, as I type this outside at 10:30 p.m.!)

Don't have to look any farther than the yard . . .