Travelers build and ride canoe down Stikine

A pair of French travelers made their way down the Stikine River to Wrangell from Telegraph Creek using a homemade dugout.

Both in their early twenties, friends Theophile Bouton and Karl Panchout have spent the past year exploring the Northwest, and their 11-day trip down the transboundary river was just one of a series of adventures.

This part of the story begins in the Yukon, which Panchout hitch-hiked across Canada to reach from Quebec about 11 months ago. "I met a friend of my uncle there," he explained. Bouton joined him there two months later.

"We are both from the same part of France," said Panchout, friends from the Centre-Val de Loire region, about two hours' journey from Paris.

While in the Yukon the two met a fellow countryman in the province, who has lived in Canada eight years and now owns a place in Telegraph Creek. He needed help maintaining the property, so Bouton and Panchout came to assist.

"We stayed one month there," Panchout recalled. He and Bouton then headed to the Arctic for four months to experience life in a Native camp. Afterward they returned to Telegraph Creek, and got the idea to travel the Stikine River.

They wanted to build their own canoe or dugout for the trip, something neither had ever built or even used before. As their friend is a woodworker by profession, he was able to help with materials and expertise.

"I had the idea to do that and he said, 'Yes, why not?'" said Panchout. "He got a big spruce that was already on the ground. He worked the chainsaw, and we were the helpers."

The vessel took a week to prepare, ending up in a simple design that would fit the two French travelers and their gear. Bouton explained they did not have an itinerary in mind, or even a map. The two knew they would be following the river to its terminus, then would head from there to nearby Wrangell.

From Telegraph Creek, the Stikine courses its way about 160 miles to the Inner Channel waters. The river's high volume and various side-sloughs can make paddle travel difficult, even dangerous.

They set out, but soon found themselves in a bit of trouble. A crack in the front of the dugout was allowing water inside, which made the craft front-heavy.

"The first rapid we passed, the canoe flipped," Bouton said.

Fortunately for them, their friend had been following along in another boat to see whether the canoe was seaworthy. Travelers, gear and canoe were collected and moved to shore, and a patch of spruce tar applied to the crack.

"You mix spruce gum, ashes and grease," Panchout explained. "They used to use bear grease, but we didn't have any." Instead the two used cooking oil for the mixture. Applying it evenly to the crack and allowing it to set took time, so the second day was spent making repairs to their craft.

While they worked, Bouton said they also attached a plastic visor to the canoe's front to reduce water from splashing in.

"The boat is heavy," he said. "So the first wave is okay, but the second one comes under the waves."

The pair continued on their own from there, minding assorted obstacles and hazards along the way posed by woodpiles, rapids, branches and the like. The canoe was not especially maneuverable, so Bouton and Panchout would have to spot and react to these well in advance. After one day of particularly hard rain, the two had to navigate around a number of floating logs.

Still, they had no further trouble, making some new friends in the process. The pair came across the Alaska Department of Fish and Game tagging station at the border, and stayed there two days. They learned about the research team's work, and got some helpful directions as well. The ADFG researchers also loaned the travelers an emergency radio, which was returned to the local office when they eventually arrived.

"They are really nice, extremely nice people," Bouton said.

The two continued on to the tubs at Chief Shakes Hot Springs, and made their way bit by bit down river. They kept a leisurely pace; of the 11 days they spent on their journey, only seven were spent paddling.

Panchout said the crossing from the river's mouth over to Wrangell was uneventful, with the water only mildly choppy.

"We had a little bit of water inside, but we had enough time to go across," he said. The two pulled into Reliance Harbor the afternoon of May 25. Mission accomplished, Bouton and Panchout are next exploring ways to continue southward. They have a friend in Petersburg, and may head up that way this week.

As for their canoe, its future will take a different path.

"There's two solutions," said Panchout. "We are still open to exchange it, if somebody is interested," for materials or use for their future travels. "Or we have a place to leave it and our friend from Telegraph will come down and take it, and give it to the Tahltan community there."

The pair has miles more to go on their journey, hoping to spend the summer along the U.S. West Coast. They will make their way into Mexico, traveling through there to Central America. Ultimately they will be trying to meet up with a friend in Panama in December.

Bouton explained the meandering trip is more of an educational experience than a vacation. "We are here to travel, and to discover the culture and the life," he said.

"We are kind of students now. We are learning about everything, every time," said Panchout. "When you're doing hitch hiking, it's like university every day." Every interaction is a new lesson, another opportunity to learn a skill and exchange a story, he explained. "It's the perfect method for learning."