In 2025 we – Kate and Steve Dawson – entered the Yukon 1000 for the third time. There’s a fairly extensive blog from 2024 that describes our approach to the race after withdrawing in 2023 and details our relatively conservative plan to finish in the … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 Index
Start Time: 17/07/2025 05:38:33 Location: 66°6’36.0720″N 148°38’49.9200″W Rest Time: 05:58:45 We were sitting in the boat, ready to go, when our timer ran down to 6 hours. It was one of the few times we’d adhered to the minimum 6-hour stoppage. Having spent the night … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 – Day 8 – Thursday
Start Time: 16/07/2025 05:42:14 Location: 66°35’42.6120″N 145°48’51.4800″W Rest Time: 06:43:43 We’d had a poor nights sleep between going to sleep shiveringly cold, having a puddle of water dribbling around the floor of the tent, and spending the night on a makeshift pillow fashioned from a … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 – Day 7 – Wednesday
Start Time: 15/07/2025 05:41:55 Location: 65°29’11.6160″N 143°40’38.1000″W Rest Time: 07:03:46 Twas a dark and stormy night… Well… not dark, because we were now well above the Arctic Circle, where the concept of night only exists if you are prepared to accept that for a new … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 – Day 6 – Tuesday
Start Time: 14/07/2025 04:59:00 Location: 64°38’17.9160″N 140°52’58.3320″W Rest Time: 06:39:40 The kayak record for the Yukon 1000 is 5 days 11 hours set by Daniel Staudigel, Jason Magness in 2022. Bob McLachlan and Gordon Townsend – Best Foot Forward NZ – were currently on track … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 – Day 5 – Monday
Start Time: 13/07/2025 05:11:24 Location: 63°28’7.6440″N 139°43’35.0760″W Rest Time: 07:11:40 I woke at midnight having somehow rolled on top of my wrist. I think I was already sleeping fitfully because of a constant splashing only a few metres from the tent. We’d later realize that … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 – Day 4 – Sunday
Start Time: 12/07/2025 04:40:58 Location: 62°37’45.1200″N 137°0’52.2000″W Rest Time: 06:39:44 – needed time for my wrist to come down Before turning in at the end of day 2, we’d laid our paddling gear out on the boat, hoping it would have a chance to dry … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 – Day 3 – Saturday
Start Time: 11/07/2025 04:39:17 Location: 61°45’52.4520″N 134°57’28.1160″W Rest Time: 06:04:27 There’s no room for social graces when it comes to exchanging warm dry clothes for wet paddling gear. The objective is to keep the dry gear – sleeping bags and thermals – dry despite the … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 – Day 2 – Friday
Start Time: 10/07/2025 07:25:00 Start Location: 60°43’1.4160″N 135°2’48.8040″W (Whitehorse, YT) Race Director Jon Frith lined the teams up across the parking area for his final words and the traditional blessing from Glenn Nolan. As the clock ticked towards 7:25, Jon’s voice rose “three, two, one, … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 – Day 1 – Thursday
“Why are you back?” We’re standing beside our boat, which is almost completely packed with gear. Race Director Jon Frith is holding a phone up and recording our answer for a social media post. Why are we standing on the start line of the Yukon 1000 in … Continue reading 2025 Yukon 1000 – Preamble
Rivers of Dust and Ash 