Watson Lake and South into BC

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Tuesday August 16, 2011
Watson Lake

A mostly uneventful day. I spent the better part of the day updating the blog. I woke up to rain and it rained on and off today. I was in no rush to leave my tent after such a long day yesterday. The campground is basically the only place in town that has free WI-FI. The Information Center does not because it is government run unlike most Information Centers; the library has free internet but not WI-FI. Anywhere else there is WI-FI they charge for it. So I updated my blog in the laundry room of the campground. They have no lounge and the tent is a little cramped. It is very cool today as it has been all week.


Wednesday August 17, 2011
Trapped In Watson Lake

I woke to up to rain. I won’t breakdown camp in the rain. Must stuff gets wet and then is wet when it is unpacked later that night and then everything is wet and that starts a cycle of misery.

That being said I feel trapped in Watson Lake. I feel trapped because of all this cold weather and being so far up north. I know it gets cooler sooner in the year than in the south but we are still in August. I am still waiting for summer to start. Because I am so far north I feel anxious to be on the move. This does not help the overall experience of the ride. The ride is about being in the present and not trying to rush the future. I guess I am worried that I will be too late in the year to properly check out the Queen Charlotte Islands and will be forced to move through too quickly due to cooling weather. There is a stop I really want to do just before the Queen Charlottes but I fear with this weather it just won’t happen.

Biking is a funny thing. You need to take a day off here and there to update blogs, get supplies, and do a laundry, whatever. But all the extra things you want to do such as make phone call, write a letter, read a book etc. etc. you feel too rushed to do and you have this inner urge to keep moving. It is like the daily momentum of riding does not let you take a day for the extras and when you do get a day like today you feel more stuck than anything else and your day does not move very efficiently and you still don’t get to those little important things that you had always planned to give yourself the time for before you started the bike trip. Perhaps a little practice is needed. The only thing is I practice better in warm weather.

I think the weather will clear up for tomorrow. It had better.


Thursday August 18, 2011
Getting Out of Watson

I woke up to very cloudy conditions; but it did not rain last night and my tent was dry. Time to get out of Watson Lake before I get trapped by the weather again. I fought a bit of wind and there was a bit climbing throughout the day. The sun showed itself occasionally. It is real nice to be moving south. I am riding the Cassiar Highway or Highway #37 south into BC.

I rode 110 km’s to Boya Lake Park. I ended up riding 2-3 km’s down into a valley to get to the lake. I probably should have just camped in the wilderness for what it was worth. I am paying for a campsite with no showers and climb first thing tomorrow morning.


Friday August 19, 2011
A Nice Camp Site and Even Nicer Bikes

I am stuck/trapped in my tent due to rain. May I ask how it is even possible that since Lake Louise in southern Alberta the rain can follow me all the way into northern Alberta, then follow me into the NWT, then follow me west across the NWT into BC and then follow me into the Yukon and then follow me south into BC? Is that even possible?

I read and watched a movie on the laptop most of the day. All of a sudden at 2 pm the rain stopped. As wet as everything was I made a mad dash and packed everything up. For the first time I packed my tent fly in a garbage bag as to not get the rest of the tent wet. I was on the highway at 3:30 pm; my latest start yet. Twenty kilometers into my ride it started to lightly rain and continued most of day. I rode 50 km’s to a lake with a beach and set up camp there near the lake shore.

As I was finishing dinner 3 cyclist also found this glorious camping spot on the lake. Two of them were young guys from Germany and the 3rd was a guy from San Diego that had hooked up with the Germans in Whitehorse. This was the first time I had run into cyclists going (partly) my way.

The Germans were riding the Cadillac of expedition/touring bikes. They rode identical bikes costing $5000 apiece. I can only say that they were very very nice bikes to be riding. They were good company for the night.


Saturday August 20, 2011
Riding With Other Cyclists and The Angriest Man in Canada

It rained throughout the night, but stopped long enough to pack up camp. This would be the second day that I packed my tent fly in a garbage bag. The weather actually looked like it wanted to clear up.

This would be the first day/time I would ride with other cyclists. I had wanted to experience this to compare riding solo vs. a companion(s). I rode with and kept up with them for the first 40 km’s. We made good time riding about 20 km’s an hour. This was a little quicker than my 10-15 km’s per hour. After the first 40 km’s I would only catch up with them when they took a break. I pretty much figured this how the rest of the day would go. Speed has never been my thing.

We rode 105 km’s to Dease Lake through rain and a lot of wind and a lot of climbing. It was a tough day for all riders. We saw 1 bear.

Regarding the comparison of solo vs. companions I was glad for the experience and to change it up a bit but I am even gladder to be a solo rider. I found when riding with others the focus was on speed and keeping up; when riding solo the ride was about the ride and the surrounding landscape. Riding solo is definitely my style. Which is/was pretty much a given but until it is compared and experienced you don’t know for sure.
But I was glad to be following the others as it pushed me today which is what I want. At this point I just want to get south past this weather.

At Dease Lake I separated from the other riders as they were catching a ride for a separate side trip to Telegraph Creek. I went to the RV Park in town. Little did I know that would be a very different experience as well.

The RV Park owner was probably the angriest man I had met in for almost ever. I asked about setting up a tent. He told me this was an RV Park not a campground and he could not understand why people came to him about setting up tents. He said there were campgrounds on either side of town (out of town). I tried to explain I was on a bike and camping out of town at this (late) hour was not very practical and I needed the convenience of getting supplies close to camp. Who complains about making money? It is not like he had to do anything for me in return for the money? He told me to set my tent under the gazebo where I would find another cyclist camped for the night. Boy was he angry.

I found a large gazebo out back where a cyclist from Austria was already camped. He was a good guy and I enjoyed his company. The shower was glorious that night. I had almost waited for morning for my shower due to the late hour. I am sure glad I did not.

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Photos

Entering the Yukon
I was so tired coming into the Yukon I could barely stand my bike let alone pose.

Sign Post Forest
The story behind Sign Post Forest is that it was started in 1942 by a homesick US Army GI; Carl K. Lindley of Danville, Il; Company D, 341 Engineers. While working on the Alaskan Highway, he erected a sign here pointing the way and stating the mileage to his hometown. Others followed his lead and are still doing so today.

Sign Post Forest
I think I saw a sign in the Information Center that said that they had over 72,000 signs to date.

Leaving the Yukon
The sign was on an embankment that I could not drag my bike up.

Entering BC
I had to improvise this shot because of the position of the sun.

Cassiar Cemetery
A nice enough place to have lunch; I guess.

Camp Site on a Lake
This is what wilderness camping is all about.

The Cadillac of Expedition Bikes
Only $5,000 for the bike.