Alaska to Alberta

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Day 104……14/07/2012

Well I did not wake up a genius after spending the night in the Fairbanks University halls of residence, the women’s halls I might add, but as Lynne was with me I cannot use the tale back at work that I spent the night in the girls dorm now can I. We decided to stay another night and take a look around the City. The first stop was to the local Harley Davidson dealership, which by the way is their farthest north shop in all the world, well so Lynne’s new T shirt says on the front. Next we visited the downtown area and waterfront, well that’s another hour taken care of which included coffee, it is a nice place there’s just not that much of it. We then rode the fourteen miles or so to North Pole, no really it’s where Santa lives, the streets have candy cane lamp posts, and the houses are decorated with lights all year round. Yeap really tacky, but we did buy some Christmas decks in the Santa’s shop. We finished off the day at a local Denny’s restaurant, and yes it also is the most northerly in the world.

Day 105……15/07/2012

Today we will start the ride that will take us over two thousand miles along the Alaskan highway and then into Canada through the Yukon and British Columbia, where it is also known as the Al-Can Highway. The first leg will take us to the town of Tok which is still in Alaska, and apparently the road surface is quite good, but after that the asphalt varies from season to season depending on the ice damage. The road out of Fairbanks was fairly uneventful being quite flat with not much to look at, but as we got within fifty mile or so of Tok the scenery changed dramatically and the mountains loomed. The weather could have been a little kinder but at least it was not raining. We found a motel in town, well when I say town it really only had one street, but this was good enough for us. We got talking to a couple of chaps who were riding the Alaska Highway like us and they told us of all the animals that they had seen on their route so far, including bear, moose and caribou, well we had to admit that the only wildlife we had caught sight of were squirrels darting here and there, what were we doing wrong.

Day 106……16/07/2012

The weather had not improved much this morning and the dark clouds were gathering in the direction we were heading. We would cross the border into Canada today which was around a hundred miles from here, and then continue onto Whitehorse the next town of any real size where we might get some sort of accommodation. There was however one small problem, Whitehorse was around 370 miles away and we would need to refuel before we got there, but as I had forgotten to get any Canadian currency we could not buy any, so we had to wait around until 1000 for a small bank to open. Well the light showers came and went, but the grey clouds really took the shine off of the scenery, and coupled with a road surface that left a lot to be desired, with large potholes and cracks running parallel with the road which on a bike were definitely to be avoided at all cost. There were also sections of the road that had sunk down making progress a little like a rollercoaster, but at least as the day went on it did get a little brighter which did help with the views. The days rides are becoming longer and longer to cover the distance in this vast part of the world, which has left us struggling to write down any sort of diary, we are both just plum tuckered at the end of the day, well that’s the term they use here, so please excuse if the blog gets a little lighter for a few days.

Day 107……17/07/2012

Today will be a short report for fear of repetition on the descriptive front. The ride took us further South from Haines Junction to Watson Lake which is still in the Yukon, passing more incredible mountains, and through deep cut valleys. Sorry that’s about it from us, anyway Lynne’s already asleep, these long days are definitely taking it out of us.

Day 108……18/07/2012

Today was a very special day for us because we got to see Lynne’s daughter’s graduation ceremony by computer link, and she is now a fully qualified teacher, whoo hoo. Its raining again this morning, but with no real choice but to move on that’s what we did. Well you assume that things can only get better but after about half an hour of riding in the wet, it got wetter, and the road got bumpier as we entered British Columbia. We were told that this road was very beautiful but we could see little more than twenty feet in front of us. After an hour or so just when we thought we would ride in this for 300 miles there was a distinct brightening in the sky, then a hint of blue and then rounding the corner on a downhill stretch into a deep valley there it was in all its glory the sunshine. The once drab mountain sides now transformed into full colour from black and white, a bit like in the Wizard of Oz film, and there I am with a Munchkin on the back so that was very apt. The roads dried, and around every corner evermore spectacular views of the snow capped mountains, and the deep green of the lush woodland that climbed up their slopes, the road surface improved no end and the bike purred, this is what we had come for, this was pure heaven. Later in the afternoon we came up behind the guy on his Harley who we had met at the motel two nights ago, and rode with him for a while. He had asked if we had seen any wildlife, and we had to admit that it was still Squirrel city for us, and joked that maybe having an expert guide in front would bring more luck on that front. Well how right we were, within 30 minutes he was pointing to the side of the road, and as we slowed up to where he had pointed, there was a Black bear just sitting eating his fill of whatever goodies it was that was there. He disappeared off very quickly so no time for a photo. Well Lynne shrieked and punched the air and was happy that we had broken the duck on the animal front. If that was not enough a while later he pulled to the side of the road, and said did you see it, see what I said, “looked like a Grizzly to me “ he said, well we turned in seconds and returned to the spot he had said, and sure enough just twenty or so feet away was the prize sighting doing the same as the Black Bear, feeding itself, it looked up a few times to see what we were doing, and I can tell you what we were doing, taking photo’s sitting on the bike with the ignition on that’s what, snapping away praying that Christine would not let me down should the need arise. Wow what a rush that was, and made all the previous failure disappear, and all thanks to our new friend the Bear whisperer. We rode on thrilled at our sighting, but were very aware that the miles were piling on but there was not much in the way of any accommodation, so after 500 miles we had to be content with a patch of grass at a mountain campground.

Day 109……19/07/2012

A nice campsite, but it was made very clear that the 500 miles yesterday was a little on the long side and to restrict it by a fair amount. So today we headed for the town of Prince George at just 300 miles which was slightly better and another ok campground. The bike however seemed a little off colour and was leaking a little fuel, a 10 pence o ring was to blame, but that would have to wait until the morning when a specialist would be open. Sorry I told you that some days would be a little light.

Day 110……20/07/2012

A lift into town this morning to pick up the o rings, a taxi ride back to the site, and within five minutes Christine was back to her old self again, phew that as lucky we could so easily have still been in the wilderness where there would have been no hope of repair, even one so small. The sun was shining brightly today and it was very warm, the mountains gave way to farmland as we made our way into the province of Alberta and then on towards Jasper which is situated in Banff National Park. The terrain changed and the mountains loomed again, the river that we seemed to have been following all day became larger as the melt waters from last winter’s excessive snowfall had pushed the level to its limits. The mountains here seemed more dramatic than ever, and we had not yet arrived at the Rockies. The town of Jasper was very pretty, and attracts many thousands of visitors each year, it also has some very interesting hotel tariffs, which were popular, but only with the hotel owners. We booked into one in the centre of town that would only involve a small second mortgage, and then took a walk out around the town. Every direction that you looked there were immense mountains, and tomorrow we will continue south through more of this stunning scenery.

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Photos

1200hrs
Midnight picture through a mosquito mesh

Alaska Highway
Entering Canada

Alaska Highway
You can never have enough layers

British Columbia
This was our new friend the "bear whisperer" in front