About My Book
The story behind Two in a Red Canoe and a 2,000-mile, three-month journey down the Yukon River in Alaska.
Front book cover
In the summer of 2001, I did something so audacious - I still can’t believe I did it. I spent three months canoeing one of the longest rivers in the world - The mighty Yukon River in Alaska.
When I moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, I met and fell in love with a fellow Journalist, Matt Hage. Spoiler: things didn’t work out. We got a divorce months after the book was published. Yeah - I didn’t see it coming. All that to say - Matt really wanted to do a large format photography book on the Yukon. So at the ripe old age of 27 I told him boldly - well let’s go do it and get the photos. We can sell it. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. NONE.
The Yukon River is one of the longest and remote rivers in the world stretching from Canada to the Bering Sea in Alaska. It was a transportation Highway during the gold rush. It’s now the lifeblood of the rural communities along the river. In recent years reality television shows have featured Stan Zuray and his life on the River. Stan and his family are featured in our book - long before they ever became famous!
Me early in the trip. That smile would fade.
So, in the summer of 2001, in love with Matt, we embarked on an absolutely crazy adventure traveling the river in our canoe named Lucille (yes, also my middle name and Lucy’s name and the name of many stubborn women in my family. It fit.). Most days I was terrified I’d die in a multitude of horrible ways. Would I get eaten by a bear, drown in a small section of rapids or hit a sweeper and capsize? (Sweeper: when a tree falls riverside but is still attached to the shore - these trees pretty much stretch the entire length of the river) Turns out the greatest risk was facing a stiff wind which would create massive waves and rile up the river. This happened almost daily. At first, we would charge to shore certain of our impending death. Later we would strategically avoid windy days or stay close to shore in case we needed to get off the river quickly.
Sleeping at night was another ordeal. I didn’t sleep. I was constantly terrified a bear would kill me in my sleep. We had no gun and no mobile or satellite phone. In fact, when I wrote the Book our editor Trish called me one day and said “You gotta lighten up - put on your rose-colored glasses!” So, I did but to this day I only sleep in hotels when I travel.
Since that summer I have successfully traveled the Yukon a few times and it remains to me one of the most special places in the whole world. Where else can you do a shot with a human toe in it? No joke! I hope to return.
You can read my book if you can find it. There are barely any copies left on Amazon. It was never a bestseller. Shocking. Who knows maybe this will re-ignite interest. I guess what I want you to know is that despite Matt leaving me months after the book came out, that trip taught me one of the most important and pivotal lessons of my life. I can do anything. The only thing holding me back in life is fear. People say do the one thing that scares you and I say do all the things that scare you. Just jump, fly, canoe. Do it.
Me making spaghetti in front of the village children.
I look back on that trip and my relationship with Matt and I am nothing but grateful. It was so precious to do that with someone I loved and to experience such an epic adventure. To actually publish a book about it and have people ask you about it is a gift. Whenever I bring it up at work events - people are shocked and they love hearing the story.
It’s a reminder of how resilient I am. How brave I am. How adventurous I am. I have ZERO regrets.
My life also worked out for the better. I fell in love with Robbie and we had Lucy and now our daily adventure is Houston’s highways. Which by the way, are far more dangerous than the Yukon River. We sleep in really lovely hotels and travel to the beach, not remote rivers. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good camping trip, I just prefer to stay in a cabin with running water and an accessible bathroom. Typically, there has to be a spa as well. Sometimes I literally can’t believe I slept in an REI tent for three months with five items of clothing. Good Lord!!!
Life is full of seasons. Slow seasons, adventurous seasons, brutal seasons, family seasons, healing seasons. Enjoy them all. Learn from them. Someday you might publish a book about it!