It was a rigorous day of paddling on Lake Laberge for some of the participants in the 2024 Yukon River Quest.
Thundershowers hammered some of the racers as they made their way across the vast expanse of the lake that’s infamous for making paddlers’ lives miserable.
It didn’t disappoint this year, as the wind came up and had the stragglers struggling to fight their way through the waves as they went past the unofficial Checkpoint 1 at the Cathers residence on the east side of Lake Laberge.
A number of wayward boats had to be steered back toward the east shore by Janine Cathers’ boat as they had wandered right down the middle of the lake. That made the long trek across the lake even longer, as they had to make their way around the yellow buoy by the Cathers’ residence that marks the way through.
As Brad Cathers explained, racers are supposed to stay on the east side of the lake. If they go down the middle and the wind picks up, they can end up in a heap of trouble from big waves hitting their craft.
The storm clouds eventually dissipated, bringing back the wonderful warm sunshine.
A couple of canoes stopped on the shore by the Cathers’ for a pit stop. One of them was team 34, Brainwave. Lauren Muir, who rode in the front, called the lake the “Northern roller coaster.”
Her paddling partner at the back, Fabienne Calvert Filteau, was really enjoying the beautiful day and cheerfully said she “just wanted to keep going.”
The racers left Rotary Peace Park in Whitehorse on Wednesday morning.
Worth mentioning is this reporter’s incredible good fortune. Being somewhat of a dunderhead, I barely missed the media boat, thinking we were meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday, when the actual meeting time was noon and the launch time was at 1 p.m.
I found myself in a bit of a pickle and prayed for providence. Lo and behold, five minutes later, it arrived.
I went to a nearby house to try to use a land line (no cell service there). To my delight, the man of the house, Randy, and his wife, Olga, were just about to take their boat to the Cathers’ residence across the lake.
So I was able to catch a ride with them out there and get some photos of the racers along the way.
I was also able to sit on shore and get some closeups of the racers as they went by the unofficial Checkpoint 1.
Afterward, Randy and Olga gave me a ride back to their house in their boat.
Another thing worth mentioning is Randy’s last name: Prokop, this author’s not-very-common last name. Talk about serendipity.
All in all, it turned out to be a very good day.
More to come later. Until then, safe paddling.
