Hart of the YUKON - 14 Days Solo Camping in the Yukon Wilderness - E.8 - Magical Fly Fishing Hole

Well, beautiful campsite here perched up on what the hell am I on that? I don't know but perched up high above the river here foggy and hazy, but also forest fire smoke all mixed together are giving us this really cool and chanting look this morning and Another great place to have a cup of coffee. That's for sure. I'm just charging up my blue wedding EB3a here. I have the solar panel laid Down this hill here and it's getting some good sunlight now that the haze is kind of cleared up enough It's working pretty well, which is good to see. This is what I keep all my camera batteries charged with So it's been constantly constantly running for over seven days now, and it's been giving me all the battery power I need charging my drone Etc, etc Using the solar panel takes a charge quickly as fast as any other Solar device really and the same thing if you plug it into the wall, it charges up very fast Of course, I don't have that option out here. Why did I bring my hair dryer? Just kidding It also has a place you can charge your smartphone on the top And when I'm out here, I actually use my smartphone as my backup GPS Download maps into it. So I've been using that as well pretty sweet Bloody EB3a if you can see some tape around here That's because I taped the input in and that way while I'm traveling The input doesn't pop out when I'm hitting rapids and stuff like that works pretty well pretty freakin impressive device So that's what's that's what's keeping things charged and it's a workhorse. It's doing the trick to the naked eye this doesn't really look like much but to me this looks like a Large old structure and I mean very old considering that that tree right there It's probably 80 to 100 years old and it's growing in what is now the middle of this structure So that's a right angle there and then there's another one on that side and it goes For almost 30 feet in this direction So very large rectangle here a fire came through here Maybe burnt whatever Remnants of the cabin were left whenever that tree burnt Judging by the fact on how decayed this is and that you can barely notice it, you know We're talking about something that could be a couple hundred years old if not more even just Judging the size of these trees growing out of it Here and here those are growing and what would have been the middle of this structure? Why wouldn't you build a cabin a little closer to the creek for water a little closer to the river I mean, it's a nice flat spot and it take time for this to erode away But yeah, you'd see this kind of almost rectangular hump right here and then this log running Right along here. You can see a little hump like that. I'm the right angle back this way You know, it could have been a cabin in the shed or a cabin in a cache Potentially some structure that was built by people a very long time ago Was built right here These could just be drainage ditches But in this kind of ground when you wear a trail it can last for a very long time So this potentially looks like it could be a bit of a trail heading right up to the site there Of what might have been a cabin anyways pretty interesting Beautiful place to build a cabin or to spend large portions of the time I know that there's definitely doll sheep trails in the mountains here, which the Gwich'in hunted and still do hunt and Probably caribou in the area as well it's an area where It's gonna be very hard if you're traveling upriver to get through that Canyon at certain water levels So it might be an area where a staging area Or just a good spot to call home and of course to this day I mean this is probably one of the best places to camp along the Heart River in its entirety and A lot of the time when you find a place that it's good to camp Well, it's been a good place to camp for many many many years and those are places where you can often find traces of people who'd passed this way many many centuries before or even you know a hundred years forty years and unfortunately Couple years couple days and that's garbage from modern-day travelers You know fire rings and stuff like that. One of the things I found here was a spike nail, too Which is a strange thing to find something that might have been used to set up a wall tent Looked like it's probably circa 1980 or something like that but you know one of the things I noticed to Traveling some of the Arctic rivers is that when my brother and I would find a really good fishing hole It would turn out just up the hill from the river. There'd be An Inuit campsite there and a bunch of stone tent rings and maybe a cache in the area where other people at camp So when you see a good site when you're traveling in these wild northern areas chances are first peoples many many years ago saw a good campsite there as well and To be putting your feet where those people's feet were is somehow Really amazing I think even just getting a tiny glimpse into what their lives were like kind of puts your mind back in time to when things were a little bit different to when people live differently and I Don't know just really enriches the whole experience out here Well, it's looking like I won't get to them today, but I do have some intense rapids Class-3 Canyon that ever has a place in the back of my mind as approaching And I'm probably gonna want the spray deck for that. So I don't need it today, but Tough decent spot to put it on and I might as well just slap it on get it over with Okay, I got one side lash down now do the same thing on the other side All right. There we go. Spray that gone and solar panel Rerigged up so I'm getting on the river probably about 1130 not ideal, but I don't have a super far to make it today So I should be okay. Anyways, here we go Looks like the river Got murkier overnight. There was some thunder and a little bit of drizzle last night. So my guess is it must have Rained up river and those tributaries got full of silt Which washed in here, but it's almost a brown color right now. Well yesterday it was a blue There's a ledge here There is a bald eagle perched on top of this pillar the bald eagle the gatekeeper of this rapid Must have a nest up there I'm gonna call this bald eagle rapid Hi eagle, it's looking right at me. You can probably pick out the hairs on my chinny chin chin Show me your dick paddling on for a bit I Get a funny feeling. I literally could just add that feeling that something was staring at me I look back and the eagle is clearly still staring at me Definitely not the most tricky paddling moments of the trip, but some of the biggest standing waves yet What a pretty place to Eddie out. This is a sideslaw. I see a beaver dam up there though but it's a sideslaw that a tributary Creek enters and Beavers are have it dammed up pretty substantially. I was gonna jump out and take a couple casts here See if we can get any fish the tributary that comes in just above that beaver dam I guess isn't bringing enough clear water in so Maybe it's just you know Too too cloudy. The water is not clear enough here for there to be fish and it seems like after the rain we got last night and just all the Tributaries bringing in loads of silt with them that we don't have a clear water river anymore So it's gonna be trickier to catch fish I'm gonna have to focus more on the clear water tributaries and you know, obviously try any back eddies and stuff It could just not be biting because it still looks like a decent spot, I don't know but we'll see there's that beaver dam, but Yeah, just a little trickles coming through it Looks like clear water, but not clear enough Grayling Yes Just in this little sideslaw Paddling at the face of these Jagged top studded with pillars at the top Would you look at what we have here a Mountain runoff tree. This river is just like Surreal, it's so awesome Well, this is just where One of the braids is re-entering the main river, but it looks clear Just where there's a back eddy little grayling too small to keep no point in Busting out the fly rod. I haven't been fly casting today mainly because of the wind It's really gusty and windy and you know I also just want to bust out my spinning rod because it's quicker Take a couple casts if I get a bite, then I'll go fly rod and spend a little more time But yeah, this spot isn't too promising. I took several casts and only caught one small one. Well, there's been a few Rapids today, which are just basically wave trains but Pretty smooth sailing for this last little part scenery is not quite as good as when I was in those canyons, but still amazing Yeah, I think I don't think I'm gonna push on and try to make it more than 25 K today So basically I'm gonna try to make it about another 7 K and look for a spot to camp Hopefully somewhere as usual with decent fishing but yeah, it's been a beautiful day on the water would be nice if I'd seen a little bit of wildlife, but Can't complain bald eagle Here's a little tributary could be some fish in this tributary here Not exactly rolling in with any momentum though Sometimes when they come in fast, they make a bit of an eddy, but it's clear dinner's about to be caught ladies and germs There is the tributary Yes Okay So far first cast was a nice grayling First cast Yes. Oh There's that bald eagle Yeah, I have its fishing hole. Maybe it's fished it out That one here There she is Yes, I gotta say this has got to be the best fishing hole the whole trip yet Maybe not as big average size as some of them upriver, but I just put away the fly rod and I said, okay I'll take a couple casts with this spinning rod before I push off and I've just been here catching and releasing fish after fish Literally on almost every cast watch this just quick cast out Boom fish and I'm fishing with only two hooks that are barbless on this as well Look Just endless amount of fish. That's a smaller one. I'm gonna push on but it's almost seven So between putting this spray deck on But I'll have done my 25k today. Look at that another one every cast. I'm telling you guys. This is magical This is a good one, too Look at that chunker noticeably larger I've already kept three. So that's probably enough for me to eat Goodbye enchanted fishing hole I love you Trying to get out my GoPro I Got swept into those boils So sketchy one of the most unpredictable things so they spun me around Next thing, you know, I'm paddling the rapid backwards Scariest part of the trip yet Yeah, just a really strong eddy line and just High volume boils coming up like that It's like if you put your hand under water and push like that and the water goes But your hand never breaks the surface of the water. That's what a boil is All you can do is make some sort of reactionary move You can't plan for it because there's no predicting them at all Well, I think I found what is going to be home for the night There's a tributary here, it's clear water not a very big one and a nice fishing eddy I bet you it's a good fishing hole and not too many big boulders, so I Don't know. I'm gonna jump out and check it out Yeah, I won't be a good fishing hole the tributary itself is darker it's like a brown color like a rust like Iron ore rich in iron ore for sure But it's darker than the main branch Too bad because I thought it'd be a good water source But so long as a river is not too cloudy or milky as it's often called They'll be fishing most good back eddies. It's just the clear ones Are where it's loaded clear tributaries or just crystal clear rivers. This one isn't Most aren't but the crystal clear parts See the the stain the orange stain That's from iron ore deposits Well, this looks okay. I guess looks kind of wet and not the best Yeah, I'm gonna bail on this spot too bad Tributaries got water in it. Just the water stain Fishing is not good. And more importantly, there's pretty much nowhere for a tent that doesn't suck Okay, this is gonna be the spot Looks a little rocky a little lumpy, but I might have to just bust out my inflatable Ground pad and deal with it. Other than that looks good. Looks like there's some wood here Not so windy beautiful surroundings. I'll take it. I'll take it. Gosh darn it Maybe I can move some of the bigger boulders But I gotta stop. I can't keep pushing on it's so late What a nice evening man compared to the weather is getting last year on the bonnet plume This is like I'd frost in July. I mean, I didn't mind I was prepared for it It's the northern Yukon, but there was cold rain never really got too warm. I'm paddling in a sweater One of my poles this little metallic color thing Which is key for that to slip on is gone. So I don't know if it came loose and it slid down inside One of the poles I looked in there. I can't see it. I don't know how it would have disappeared So I splinted it with some saplings far less than I dizzy. I'm dizzy always plenty of Your foot on these travel bars. I just have to go into the bushes over there find some that was kind of washed up against the bushes and drift piles from higher water times and Just at the foot of this beautiful mountain after coming through that Canyon today really really awesome hitting that epic fishing hole the bald eagle staring at me and That little that little kind of Cove I went into where I saw those bald eagle prints and the beaver dam and Just of course the scenery all around made it a pretty special day Fresh fish Nothing like it telling you