The Yukon River is one of the most sought destinations among source-to-sea adventurers. It has been motored, canoed, kayaked, SUPed, and swum. Most of these journeys start in the town of Whitehorse. Some start farther upstream on Atlin Lake. A few go to the Llewellyn Glacier, the ultimate source. I chose the Willison Glacier, adjacent to the Llewellyn. This was a new put-in, and judging from satellite imagery, a bigger stream than the Llewellyn. Was this the true source?

No, it wasn’t. Glacial landscapes are exceptionally dynamic. The Willison Creek I studied on a 2022 Google Earth image was significantly larger than the one I found two years later—about 500 cubic feet per second compared to Llewellyns 1,000 cfs. Still, there was plenty of water to float my packraft.

The report from pilots in the area was that Willison was “unpaddleable.” That tease nearly had me pushing into the gorge. A difficult to scout must-run at the gorge entrance dissuaded me. I portaged up and around. You gotta love the versatility of packrafts!

Floating the last few kilometers of Willison Creek was pure joy—drifting beneath snowy peaks with the Yukon source stream nearly behind me. A helicopter swooped past, checking me out. I gave a holler. I doubt they heard me.

Now, only 1,980 miles to go, and all of it downhill.