PP - what time of year did you go? The Yukon races are in June shortly after ice-out and also a couple of weeks later. Trust me, below the "Thirty Mile" at Hootalinqua, (80 miles from Whitehorse) at the Teslin confluence, the river suddenly turns a heavy dark gray-brown initially denoted by a distinct sharp line before completely mixing, then almost 200 miles later at the White River it literally turns milky white. Sandpaper sounds on the hull in deep water from Teslin and below. I can guarantee you are not drinking that, even after an overnight settling. There is no way one would ever drink that water and no amount of overnight settling without chemical assistance would clear it. If you do drink it, I am told it causes a rather nasty gastric distress, as is cautioned at our pre-race safety briefings. I do understand that later in the season, after spring glacial melt has passed through, and under winter ice, the river flows as clear as the beautiful blue that is seen when passing Whitehorse and into Lake Laberge and the 30-mile. For the relatively short time (~2.5 days) on the 440 mile YRQ race to Dawson, most racers will carry enough drinking water on board until resupply at the Carmacks mandatory rest-stop. However for the week+ 1000 mile race, you must treat and drink river water. Clear flowing tributaries are a tempting source, but you can't practically stop to check on them if you are in a race. The one I described that we did stop at at random was the one that produced the single gold flake in a nalgene bottle.
While waiting to see us to pass through at Minto, my wife chatted with a First Nation local man who said that if anyone falls into the river, their clothing and pockets fill up so much with heavy silt that they are often not able to get out and survive. Of course few who live remotely have the opportunity to learn to swim in cold water in the first place.
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