A lone canoe glided through the softly falling snow and the mist rising from the Yukon River. Men were seated in the bow and stern of the canoe, and another man was lying amidships covered in a sleeping bag, with only his head visible. The men paddling were hunched over and looking down, though they occasionally glanced to each side to avoid looking into the snow. Their paddle strokes were weak. Fortunately, the river current was sufficient to propel them along. The Yukon River was rapidly freezing around them, but the ambient air was even colder, which created the mist rising from the water. Although the shore was not visible, the men apparently could see Eagle Bluff because the canoe turned to port toward the proximal shore fifty feet below the cliff overhanging the river, just upriver from the bluff. Had they not turned, they would have passed right by the hamlet of Eagle, Alaska, the last point of civilization, such as it is, before the Arctic Circle.
Ten days earlier, Thomas Speight McClamrock had stood on the banks of the Yukon River, gazing at the broad expanse of water beyond three heavily loaded canoes. The canoes were pulled up on the embankment just below the Front Street levee in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada.
As he studied the width of the river and the swiftly flowing current, he almost said out-loud, “I wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew.” As an experienced physician, he had instinctively learned to apply his medical assessment skills to everything in life, much like the famous Napoleon’s Glance, the so-called coup d’oeil. For the first time, he realized that the Yukon was wider and swifter than the Mississippi at New Orleans. He rationalized that the Yukon was probably not as deep, and none of the whirlpools so typical of the Mississippi were visible. Nevertheless, he was concerned that he might have put his son Josh and himself in danger. It was too late to back out now, and he did not think his ego could bear the embarrassment of backing out anyway. Also, he genuinely wanted to make the trip with Josh, but he certainly did not want to endanger his son. So he tried to hide any concern by putting on an air of jocular bravado.
