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Published: July 30th 2015
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Ride Day 10:
Left Haines Motel stopped to Gas up where a local told us that just seen a Grizzly feeding her cubs at a river 4miles out of town. Even though it was in the wrong direction we headed out to take a look. Unfortunately no bears but we saw Bald Eagles fishing Salmon out the river – so worth the trip. Back into town and onto the road heading for Kluane Lake via Haines Junction. To make a change it was cold raining & we were gaining altitude. We stopped at mile 33- coincidentally at the 33 roadhouse. A hearty breakfast & a couple of coffees warmed us up & we headed for the border crossing another 20kms further on. No control here for people leaving the USA but about 30kms in “no-man’s land” we reached the Canadian customs where the officers were friendly and smiling (unusual at most border crossings in my experience ) and with the minimum of formalities we crossed back into the Yukon.
Immediately on leaving the Border we started climbing eventually reaching 1054m. By now it was colder & wetter but the scenery, whilst quite bleak was spectacular. Our wet
gear all seemed to work well and we stayed mainly dry & not too cold. At the 250km mark we reached Haines Junction where we had descended to around 700m, it was sunny & we refuelled in a small Chinese run restaurant.
Leaving Haines Junction we travelled on a good sealed road for around 100kms to reach Lake Luane where we had a motel booked (Talbot Arm Motel at Destruction Bay - interesting photos of trophys at the motel attached) which was basic but suited our needs perfectly with a Laundry, a restaurant & a bar with a pool table!
During today we saw a lot of motorcyclists heading South- probably to return to the City after their “summer” holiday. Most were riding cruisers although we did talk to a few guys at gas stops on Adventure bikes.
We also realised that our tyres are not going to last the distance we had expected, so after some phone calls to source replacements, we have decided to delete Valdez and head straight to Anchorage after tomorrow night in Tok to give us time to organise & fit replacements & also to make the worn ones last. 383kms today.
Tomorrow Tok.
Ride Day 11:
Leaving Destruction Bay we headed North on the Alcan (Alaska Canadian Highway). Once again it rained & it was very cold. We once again decided that we would stop for breakfast after an hour or so but unfortunately the first place wasn’t until 181kms later. We thawed out & had a great lunch at Buckshot Betty’s Restaurant in Beaver Creek. To get here we crossed quite a few roadworks some that went for 10kms or more & some where we had to follow a pilot vehicle. All this was ok timewise but having to sit still in drizzle at around 5 – 6 degrees waiting for our turn to go through increased the discomfit a bit. However it’s an adventure! All this made BB’s all the more welcoming when we arrived. During this part of the trip we saw a Moose & her calf grazing at the roadside. We stopped to take photos but they scarpered into the bushes before we could get cameras out.
Leaving the lunch stop at BB’s we shortly came to the border crossing back into Alaska – USA. Weather improved gradually as we dropped altitude eventually
reaching our destination of Tok at 365kms for the day. We have done just over 4200kms. After checking into our motel where Bryan has volunteered to sleep on the floor due to only having 2 beds, we went a few kms up the road to a motorcycle camp ground we had contacted the night before about tyres. They only have a few but hoping to take one as a backup. We crossed the road to a recommended Mexican restaurant (apparently one of only 2 in the town) to arrive just after a group of 40 or so tourists on a bus tour arrived for their buffett meal. Due to the queue we decided to adjourn to the bar next to our motel for a drink whilst we waited for the tour group to disperse. This bar looked great from the outside, but was "Sadsville USA" on the inside. The stools at the bar were occupied by guys with jeans held up by braces, checked shirts & beards down to their waists, whilst the women were similar but probably without the beard! We sat near the window for fast exit in case a gun fight broke out. In the event the only activity was the women walking to the scratch & win desk to spend their easy come $.
After escaping here in one piece we tried the Mexican restaurant again to get a great meal & great service.
Tomorrow towards Anchorage..– 2 days there & hoping to fit new tyres.
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