Grande Prairie to High Level

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Wednesday July 20, 2011
Feels Good to Move On

Traffic was heavy leaving Grande Prairie. A few small hills and the usual cross winds. North of Grande Prairie could easily be any part of Ontario, lots of fields with scattered wood lots.

Dunvegan is kind of a nice area deep in a valley where the Peace River flows through. Has a killer climb to get out of that valley though.

The weather mostly cooperated through out the day. A few ugly clouds here and there, sometimes the clouds spit on me and lots of wind. I spent the night in a campground in
Fairview. Put in a good day at 110 km’s with a late start.


Thursday July 21, 2011
A Fawn; A Rain Storm

It was very difficult to get going this morning. It was so nice to wake up in a tent and not in a house I just wanted to lie there and listen to the birds in the forest. But I did get up.

Just before I got on my bike to leave the campground I thought I would take a last tinkle. As I was finishing my business there was a noise/movement in the undergrowth. At first I thought it was a fox (based on the color of the animals head) trying to get a view above of the vegetation. When the movement stopped I realized that it was a deer’s head. What I couldn’t figure was how I could be looking at only a deer’s head in such low vegetation (with no body). As I stood motionless a young fawn with all it (body) pattern came out of the underbrush and into a clearing less than 15 ft. from me. It stood there completely oblivious to me for many minutes. Then in turned around and headed back into the bush. As I was about to move on the fawn turned around again, came back into the clearing and kept on going until it was a 5-6 ft. from me and walked right passed me without even giving me a second look.

I made good ground for most of the day. I took a slightly longer round about to get to The Mackenzie Hwy. which had very little traffic. The terrain was flat and no crosswinds for the better part of the day. I got stuck in a little rain early afternoon before Grimshaw. Late afternoon after I had left Grimshaw and was on The Mackenzie Hwy. the weather changed. I got stuck in a rain storm and decided to call it quits for the day in Dixonville. I am staying at the local campground. I am not sure if I will be able to leave tomorrow. They are calling for rain and I defiantly need to be able to dry out. My rain gear is soaked along with my riding pants. It was not my most enjoyable evening, trying to set up a tent in the rain and having to throw all your bags in the tent while they are also wet. I rode another 110 km’s today with an early quit time.


Friday July 22, 2011
Rain

The rain did stop and I woke up to overcast conditions. I was able to dry out my tent and gear; but it took some time and I got one of my latest starts yet (1pm). The weather held out until I reached Manning; and then I was stuck in light rain. Light rain is not too bad to handle until you have riding in it for four hours; by then you are pretty much wet.

I saw 3 bears today. The first one was running across the road. If I had any thoughts of out running a bear those dreams went into the clouds. Those animals can run! The second bear was attempting to cross the road until a car scared him back to the tree line. My concern is that the bear would regain his courage just as I was passing him. By the time I passed him some grass had preoccupied him instead. The third bear was with her cub and never even seen me drive by.

I pulled into Twin Lakes to camp. I was actually in the mood to keep riding but have learned that it is wise to take advantage of proper camp sites when it is raining and/or you are wet. It turned out to be a wise choice; I was able to camp near a covered picnic table area. Covered picnic table areas are all but unheard of in this province. While the rain did stop momentarily I did make very good use of my cover. I rode about 100 km’s today.


Saturday July 23, 2011
The Weather Clears

It rained fairly heavy last night. When I woke up the rain had stopped. Things were very overcast and cooler. I made good use of my covered picnic area and was able to once again dry my gear out. The weather did not look like it was going to cooperate today; I was fearing the worst. I did score by way of the campground keeper. He let me have my camp site for free last night.

By the time I got to and past Keg River the weather finally looked like it wanted to clear up. That being said looking out my rear view mirror I am sure glad I was north of Keg River. The road has been flat all day (and most of yesterday); just the odd dip here and there. Mostly the road is very straight; an odd zig or an odd zag. There are lots of trees on either side of the road and lots of ponds. There is some farming near (very) small communities. There is a healthy population of beaver in Northern Alberta. The road is getting a bit “long” but I suspected that looking at the map weeks ago. Not much to look at in Northern Alberta; on a positive side the further north I go the less traffic.

I have stopped in High Level tonight. High Level is the last or most northern community to have “all major services” in northern Alberta. Tomorrow when I head further north I have 191 km’s to the North West Territory border. I am a little excited to finally reach that border; it will be what seems like a long time coming; should be there sometime Monday. I rode 125 km’s today.

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Photos

The Mackenzie Highway
Grimshaw is Mile 0 for the Mackenzie Hwy.

I'm Getting There
From Grimshaw