DAWSON CITY – Members of Dawson’s volunteer search and rescue crew have been busy recently, according to spokesperson John Mitchell.

“We’ve had two back-to-back canoe instances,” he reported during a recent interview.

“In both cases, the individuals self-rescued and lost their canoes and some or all of their kit.” 

One of the paddlers later retrieved his canoe, which had been reported floating down under the Ogilvie Bridge across the Klondike.

This had sparked a bit of investigation by search and rescue personnel.

“He recovered it from a log jam below the bridge, and we did track him down to get the

story,” Mitchell said. “We do wish people reported stuff like this; it would save a bit of running around.”

A similar event happened with a second canoe, only it was farther up the river. It was located, but is still there. 

Mitchell wishes people would be more careful on the river, and would leave some kind of word when they were planning to attempt the trip.

“The Klondike can be a deceptively dangerous river with all the sweepers, and is not to be taken lightly,” he said. “We’re trying to raise awareness on this.” 

“The second canoer seemed to think he was some kind of an expert at the activity and wondered how to get his canoe retrieved, apparently thinking the search and rescue team would be involved.”

If the man had good working knowledge, Mitchell said, he had to wonder why they were having that conversation.

As for search and rescue assistance, he said, “Normally people are responsible for recovery of their own equipment.” 

He gave the canoer the name of someone who could be hired. 

Later in the day, the team members, all of whom have day jobs, “got pulled in to a search for an elder the next day,” Mitchell said.