North America, First and Second.

The black art of moving from A to B on foreign soil
OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

Tuesday the 20th of August.
10am.
Dawson City, Yukon.
4 degrees C.
Packed and ready to go.
220 miles to Carmacks.

After a day off yesterday it was time to head back out in to the cold. The destination promised about as much as the weather forecast.
On the positive side the route was a doddle. 30 yards Turn right, 30 yards turn left, 220 miles....you’ve reached your destination.
We did pull off of the road a few times, twice for fuel, once for a hot drink purchased from possibility the most miserable person on the Klondike Highway....and not just today!
Still, she made us look full of the joys of spring.
The ride itself was easy and very pleasant. A couple of other roadside stops to break it up but not warm it up. The trees seem to agree with us that autumn is approaching up here.
15 or 20 miles of gravel road along the way and a suicidal squirrel are about all there is to report.

Now in a warm motel room, fed, 2 cups of tea done and the kettle boiling for the next one. Actually is one of those coffee machine things that taints the water with the taste of the drink that it’s been making it’s whole life. 2 or 3 flush throughs with water normally sorts it.
Now the day doesn’t seem so bad. We made it. Another day done. We’ve made a plan for the next few days riding which includes getting cold again and also hoping that the clouds stay as clouds. No rain please.
Tomorrow I need to try and remember to pull in to the Roadhouse at Johnson’s Crossing as I forgot to pay for the cinnamon bun we had on the way north a month or so back. The easiest way to remember is to plan a cinnamon bun stop I suppose....very good value last time ;)

Two happy people, two happy bikes.
OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

SS Keno in Dawson City.
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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

A couple of the interesting buildings from Dawson...oh look, 800GS’s!! Who’da thought it??
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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

What a difference a day makes......and a few degrees C help too.

Wrapped up in just about every layer of clothing we have and Sarah trying to turn the ‘volume’ knob on the heated vest just a little bit further, we headed out of Carmacks and carried on south down the Klondike Highway.
The sky was a pale blue, the scenery was as we’ve gotten used to in The Yukon and the bikes purred along quite happily.
At around the 50 mile mark we pulled in for a cup of tea. Quell surprise it was the place that George and Shirley had told us about that we had given up hope of finding that sell cinnamon buns.
Not just your normal common or garden cinnamon bun. No, these are famous cinnamon buns. Famous cinnamon buns that are nearly the size of your head.
We weren’t hungry as the Raisin Bran breakfast hadn’t yet been digested....never mind, we can take with us what we don’t eat.
That brightened the day up even further, although to be honest the best bit about the famous as big as your head cinnamon bun was the fact that is was the size of your head. Taste wise wise it was a bit lacking. However, they sell 70 to 100 of them EVERY day so we are obviously in a minority when it come to appreciating the flavour.

Next stop saw us filling up with fuel just outside Whitehorse. The Klondike Highway behind us, our old friend the Alaska Highway in front of us.
A cheery 1200GSA rider from Utah also heading south told us of recent snowfalls down near Watson Lake. Bugger!
The lady taking payment for the fuel confirmed cheery mans story. It was her that had told him. Bugger!

Watson Lake wasn’t on the agenda until the next day so we trundled on, remembering to stop at probably my favourite Roadhouse on the Alcan. Johnson’s Crossing. A late lunch was in order and I confessed to having not paid for a cinnamon bun on our north bound stop there. I’m spotting a bit of a cinnamon bun theme here.....
Frank and Sandy work hard to keep their business going and things look much tidier than when I was there a few years ago.
So with debts paid we headed for Teslin just another 30 miles down the road, fuelled up, checked in and went in to warm up. Another day done, another in front of us.

Two happy people, two happy bikes.
OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

Today, 9.45 am and we were off again. The weather forecast wasn’t great with the temps set to be around 7 or 8 and rain promised for later in the day towards our destination.
As the first few miles went by and the heated grips came up to full effect I was feeling quite toasty and snug.
At 50 miles we had a brief stop, again at 100 miles. Sarah was getting a bit cold so we didn’t stop for long.
The surrounding mountains had a good dusting of snow. It is August after all. The amount of snow that has no bearing up here but would bring sunny sunny Whitstable to a halt.
At 150 miles we stopped just before the Cassiar Highway Junction at Nugget City for fuel and lunch. Nugget City isn’t a City but an RV Park with Cafe and Fuel.

We found one of the obvious question crowd in the cafe.
“Is it cold riding in these temperatures on those motorcycles?”
My reply of “well it’s not hot” seemed to go down OK ish.
When he looked at Sarah she just said “it’s Effing freezing”......ever the diplomat.

South on the Cassiar. Narrower, twister, more undulating, less used and probably better scenery. No, not better, smaller. The trees are closer to the road so it all seems smaller.
It wasn’t much warmer although we did see 12 degrees in the end but by then the cold had set in to us. 290 miles to Dease Lake. That was the total ride today. It was actually a super day. A really nice ride. Overall a good day to be on a bike.....it never did rain which certainly helped. So as usual I’m very happy to sign off by saying....

Two happy people, two happy bikes.
OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

Not many photos from today, just Highway, mountains and snow.
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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

As this seems to have turned in to a running commentary on the weather up here I thought I would update things with today’s experiences.

Cold, wet, cloudy, windy in one valley, snow on the mountains.

A 240 mile ride of which 220 were completed in the rain. 3 hours from Dease Lake got us to Bell 2 Lodge where according to Tracy the burgers are good.
We stopped there, filled the bikes with fuel, ordered hot tea and two burgers with fries.
It’s fair to say that the burgers were quite good. The water for the tea could have been hotter but hey....we were inside getting warm. After 3 hours riding in temperatures ranging from 5 up to a balmy 8 degrees we were a bit chilly.
Luckily traffic was light so spray from other vehicles wasn’t an issue and the only hairpin bend on the route was rounded without hiderance of another road user throwing up muck as it was under construction. Potholes, mud and gravel. Not a problem for two seasoned travellers on rufty tufty Adventure Bikes though!
Both the metal gridded and wooden bridge types were all “Adventured” without issue too.

We saw 6 bears along the way today. The first one was sitting in water....so much for the cold. Most wander off as you get closer to them but one large specimen stood on the verge and watched us pass. I waved, it didn’t wave back.
We spotted them all within a few miles, just before the “Bears for 40km” sign. After the sign....no more bears.

After a decent amount of time warming up over and after lunch, we headed out once more for another 2 hours in the rain.
By the time we got to Stewart the rain was still falling, in fact it had increased in strength a bit, but the temperature was more than double what we had had set off in. See, positive thinking, not all moaning and doom. 11 degrees was much nicer although heated vest and grips were still set to maximum.

We didn’t stop to look at the roadside glacier, hopefully it’ll be better viewing weather when we leave here in a couple of days. Waterfalls, low clouds on the steep mountain sides and the rapidly flowing river made for another stunning setting to be riding through though.

Despite being cold and Sarah having one slightly damp foot by the end of the day, we both enjoyed it. The Cassiar Highway is definitely a bit of a Wow! and the Glacier Highway in to Stewart cannot fail to impress. It’s another example of First and Second for us. My bike broke down here last time and needed a temporary fix.
He is now showing 120,000 miles so fingers crossed I’ll be riding away on Sunday without a car battery strapped to the pillion seat like last time.

No photos from today again, sorry. To wet and cold to want to take a glove off. But still...

Two happy people, two happy bikes.
OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

A leisurely start and a short ride....in the rain. Yep, the weather here in Stewart is wet. I guess that’s why the area is rainforest.

The plan for today was to hang about and have a bit of a rest and then head across the border back in to the little bit of the US which is Hyder Alaska. No, we weren’t just wanting to cross the border a couple more times just for fun, we wanted to go to Fish Creek and the wildlife viewing platform.
The salmon run is on and we were hoping that bears and bald eagles would be feasting on the tired returning salmon.
The Salmon were there in number, the only other wildlife present were squabbling seagulls. No bears, no eagles. $5 each to stand on some decking in the rain watching fish mate....and die.

Cynicism aside, it is actually quite a thing to see even if the lead actors didn’t turn up to put in a performance.

The small town of Hyder also sounds well for the next part of our journey as we now turn east.
Hyder to Halifax.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast, sorry to keep on, is for a 60% chance of rain in Stewart but sunshine and cloud at our planned destination. And 18 degrees....oh yes please.

Two happy people, two happy bikes.
OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

I braved the wet, took a glove off and took a few pics.
There are a lot of salmon in the water, honest.
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