Sunday, August 5
Fort Nelson, BC to Watson Lake, YT
316 miles, overcast then sun, temps 55 to 80
Today we rode westward across the northern Rocky Mountains and pulled over at this rest area for a break. I was astonished to learn that this area (the size of Ireland) of northern BC is the largest un-roaded, complete ecosystem in North America, second only to the Serengeti on the entire planet. Riding in the pristine and largely undeveloped north makes it painfully clear by comparison how much impact humans have had on the earth and its ecosystems, and in terms of the health of the planet we must admit our impact has been mostly negative. How much longer can earth sustain human activity?
And who should pull into the rest stop but Drew and Jim from Washington State. We had met them yesterday at our lunch stop at Toad River – nice guys with a good sense of humor, riding KTMs. So here they are again. One of the really interesting things about riding the Alaska Highway is that since everyone on it is going at about the same pace you tend to see the same people over again during the 4-5 days you are on the road. It’s like a little rolling community, and fun!
Not long after we left the rest stop we stopped again to take pictures and Jim and Drew passed us by. Fun!
I had totally forgotten how beautiful the scenery was along this portion of the Alaska Highway. Stops to take photos and just take in the natural beauty are a big part of the experience for me.
In some places the mountains became more rugged and the road more twisty, hugging the canyon walls, like what you would expect to find in Colorado.
This is just another shot of the road we rode all day today – through the mountains and foot hills with spectacular views.
We encountered a herd of bison walking along the road, but they didn’t seem to interested in us.
And a little later on we spotted this young bear, again not too interested in us gawkers. I hope to see more wildlife, particularly black and grizzly bears, on the road down to Haines, Alaska. This was another good day of riding in a beautiful, pristine, remote part of the continent.
Monday, August 6
Watson Lake, YT to Whitehorse, YT
270 miles, overcast and clouds, temps 55 to 70
The coffee at breakfast was not good. So we took an early rest stop today for better coffee, and it was indeed better. This place generated their own electricity and their phone used satellite service. I over heard the proprietor tell a Mountie about a bear that had been run over on the highway recently.
The accommodations last night were fairly primitive – no AC and veeery slow internet. Watson Lake and Fort Nelson are both small villages (800 and 4000 population respectively), and each is about 300 miles from a town of any size, so you get the feel you are really in a remote area. The accommodations – motels and restaurants – are pretty rustic, and you meet some very interesting people living here and/or traveling the highway. We are impressed with how many of the staff in the hospitality industry in northern Canada are foreign born – many Asians, some from down under, and even Columbia.
The ride today took us through more of the Northern Rockies, and like yesterday the riding was spectacular. I like when it is overcast – the colors are more saturated, the air is cooler, for some reason I just feel a little more a part of things.
Guess who we met again at lunch today at Teslin? Jim and Drew. Drew had taken photos of us yesterday when they were stopped and we passed by, and he emailed them to me. Very cool! This is me….
…and this is Paul.
Not far from Whitehorse now, but the beautiful vistas just go on and on.
Well… today we had an incident that is forcing us to change our plans. After lunch at Teslin as Paul was getting on his bike it fell over on him and he injured his back. He was having a lot of pain and some restriction of motion, but we righted his bike and rode the remaining 110 miles to Whitehorse, our planned destination. But as the afternoon and evening wore on we decided it would be wise to go to the ER and get him checked out. Sure enough, he had three broken ribs – good thing we had him checked out. They gave him a shot for pain and a prescription for pills, and he was actually fairly comfortable by the time we got back to the room. The folks at Whitehorse General were top notch – competent, responsive, and just really nice people.
Tuesday and Wednesday, August 7 and 8
Layover days in Whitehorse
We had planned a layover day in Whitehorse to rest up and to install dirt oriented tires on my bike, but instead of that we focused on what to do at this point. Paul obviously could not complete the ride, so one of the questions was how to get him and his bike home.
And then what was I going to do? Should I finish the trip, particularly the Dempster Highway and the newly completed gravel road up to Tuk, by myself? If not now, when?
First things first – how to get Paul and his bike back to Maine.
- We could not find a shipping crate here required by the local shipper to take the bike to Edmonton where it could be shipped to Maine.
- We could not find a U-Haul truck here that Paul could use to haul the bike to Edmonton or elsewhere for shipping to Maine.
- We considered trying to find someone who would like to fly up here and ride the bike back, and even made a few inquiries, but no one materialized and how long would we wait to see if we could find someone.;
- We could not sell the bike here because it is titled in the U.S.
- We finally decided that I would ride the bike up to the BMW dealer in Fairbanks (600 miles away) who will crate it and ship it back to Maine, and then I will fly back to Whitehorse.
- Paul will fly back to Maine on Sunday.
As for me, it will take me two days to ride up to Fairbanks and then I’ll fly back to Whitehorse on Saturday taking three flights – to Seattle, Vancouver, and then Whitehorse. It will take me nearly 12 hours to get back.
I’ve decided not ride the 500 mile Dempster and Tuk Highways by myself but wait a couple of years until Elaine and I can drive up here and tow my sidecar rig along, and I or both of us will ride to Tuk then. For now I’ll head down to Haines, AK, and from there on down to Seattle to visit my son and his family before heading back to Cleveland.
This whole experience has impressed on us how remote we are here. The closest city of any size is Fairbanks, AK, over 600 miles away and reachable only by car or convoluted flight connections. Dawson Creek, BC is about 700 miles south, and Edmonton, AB about 1200 miles south, but both can be reached directly by air and domestic shippers. It’s easy to run out of options for getting things done when you are in a city of 25,000 and everything else is over 600 miles away.
On the way back from breakfast at Tim Horton’s Monday morning we passed this plaque memorializing Pierre Berton, author of Klondike, one of the books I read in preparation for this trip. I had forgotten already that he had lived in both Whitehorse and Dawson.