Tuesday, June 29, 2010
DAY 16, June 29,2010
Had a nice breakfast and then bought some bananas, cheese and tortillas for lunch on the road. We took our time and made several stops, including ice cream and cookies. The weather was perfect, except for a bit of head wind. The hills were more than I was anticipating, so we only made 38 miles before we called it quits at a nice Russian lodge with free tent camping. We are having an Alaskan beer and getting ready for some Russian dinner.
Monday, June 28, 2010
DAY 15, June 28,2010
We started off with a wonderful breakfast at the Red Eagle and then headed out in full rain gear for another 40% chance of rain day. It cleared up after the first hour and we put the rain gear away. After a couple hours it started with mist and soon changed to sprinkles. Cal suggested we stop and don the rain gear again. Good idea!!! Before we could get all the gear on it was pouring buckets. We rode for about 45 minutes when we saw a sign for a campground. Some of the campgrounds up here have kitchen shelters so we pulled in in search of someplace dry. The only dry place was the toilet -- where we spent the next hour and a half. When the rain let up a little we made a run for town (Glennallen). We stopped at the edge of town at the visitor's center and asked for a list of all the motels in town and found that it was a short list (1). So we are now warm and dry and the trikes are parked under the motel awning.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
DAY 14, June 27,2010
We got up early for breakfast -- they said they would open at 6:00 a.m. It was raining so we stood under the awning until they opened at 6:45. The omlet was worth the wait. We sat in the restaurant for a couple hours waiting for the rain to stop so we could take down the tent. The weather was nasty again today so we only did 45 miles to the beautiful Red Eagle Lodge. We highly recommend it for anyone coming this way. We got showered and did the laundry and now are catching up the blog again. We have the trikes covered and prepared for rain again tonight. Bed time -- good night.
DAY 13, June 26,2010
We left Tok and had a good 13 mile ride out of town before the hills and rains hit. I ended up using my hand warmers in my socks. Because of the rain and cold, we didn't get nearly as far as we had hoped, but ended up finding a free place to pitch the tent and have a good meal.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
DAY 12, June 25,2010
Left Lake View Campground early and headed west. The pump was still frozen by permafrost so we couldn't refill our water bottles. We stopped at the first little burg we came to but it wasn't open. Cal saw a couple campers nearby and asked them if we could have some water. Well, they said yes and how about some breakfast? They served us fried halibut and salmon and potatoes and beans -- a real feast. Thanks West Virginia campers. You saved us.
The road today was all hills until the last 13 miles, which was pretty much flat. A thunderstorm was chasing us all day and finally caught up with us at the campground here in Tok, another 57 miles today. We had an "all you can eat" salad bar and probably ate too much because neither of us could get to sleep.
Finally found a cell tower in Tok so we called home. Hopefully our Verizon service will be good for awhile now in Alaska.
Tomorrow we will post the blog and buy some groceries and see how far down the road we get -- another 70% chance of rain day, so we will take it one mile at a time.
The road today was all hills until the last 13 miles, which was pretty much flat. A thunderstorm was chasing us all day and finally caught up with us at the campground here in Tok, another 57 miles today. We had an "all you can eat" salad bar and probably ate too much because neither of us could get to sleep.
Finally found a cell tower in Tok so we called home. Hopefully our Verizon service will be good for awhile now in Alaska.
Tomorrow we will post the blog and buy some groceries and see how far down the road we get -- another 70% chance of rain day, so we will take it one mile at a time.
DAY 11, June 23,2010
The weather finally cleared so we pulled out of Beaver Creek after a big biking breakfast at Buckshot Betty's. On the way out of town the RCMP officer stopped us to update our bear news. He sent an officer out to the campground to trap the bear. The officer fell asleep in his truck while waiting for the bear to spring the trap. About 4:00 a.m. he awoke to shaking of his truck. The bear had crawled into the bed and was looking at him through the back window. He stepped out of the truck and the bear jumped out and headed toward him. The officer had to shoot the bear -- too bad, but necessary for the safety of the campground.
We had an easy ride today and stopped at a nice forest service lake view campground 57 miles down the road.
We had an easy ride today and stopped at a nice forest service lake view campground 57 miles down the road.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Day 10, June 23, 2010
Yesterday we told the RV manager about our bear encounter and she called the RCMP to report it -- I guess we were supposed to do that but didn't know. We were interviewed in the afternoon and the officer was headed to the campground to investigate and warn campers. He said the bear had probably gotten too familiar with people and needed to be moved a few hundred miles to the back country.
Day of rest today. It is raining buckets and we are sitting in the RV office keeping dry. We went to Buckshot Betty's for breakfast and ran into an 15 person archeology team digging about 10 miles north of here. They rushed out of their camp this morning when a black bear invaded and tore up a tent. A couple warning shots were fired, but the bear wasn't phased at all. I guess the RCMP will head out there to try to trap it and move it also.
The weather is supposed to clear tomorrow so we will head north to Alaska. If the rain lets up we will take a walk around this 100 person town and see if we can find a post office to mail a poster home.
We will probably be out of contact again until Tok, AK -- maybe 2 days. Cal had the brilliant idea that we would just stop at local libraries to post notes on the blog, but guess what, these little towns don't have libraries.
The RV parks usually have free WIFI, so that's where we post from.
Day of rest today. It is raining buckets and we are sitting in the RV office keeping dry. We went to Buckshot Betty's for breakfast and ran into an 15 person archeology team digging about 10 miles north of here. They rushed out of their camp this morning when a black bear invaded and tore up a tent. A couple warning shots were fired, but the bear wasn't phased at all. I guess the RCMP will head out there to try to trap it and move it also.
The weather is supposed to clear tomorrow so we will head north to Alaska. If the rain lets up we will take a walk around this 100 person town and see if we can find a post office to mail a poster home.
We will probably be out of contact again until Tok, AK -- maybe 2 days. Cal had the brilliant idea that we would just stop at local libraries to post notes on the blog, but guess what, these little towns don't have libraries.
The RV parks usually have free WIFI, so that's where we post from.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
DAY 9, June 22,2010
Cal woke up at 1:30 a.m. to the sound of something rattling the trash bins. I woke just as he was getting out of the tent and saying "there is a great big bear out there!!!" He grabbed the camera and I grabbed the bear spray and we both watched as the bear saw Cal and moved on. He was within 12 feet of us before he decided to try smelling the Australians' tent. I don't think they even woke up -- sure glad they took our advice and moved their food out of their tent. Needless to say, we were done sleeping for the night, so we slowly and cautiously packed up and finally rode out of camp at 3:30 a.m. Before 4:30 we saw another large grizzly eating flowers along side the road. We had a frigid 39 degree ride and never took the coats off till we arrived in Beaver Creek. We are now at the Beaver Creek RV Park with lots of people and noise around, so maybe no bears tonight. We need some sleep -- maybe a nap after we get this blog updated. We got here just before the 70% chance of rain hit. So I guess it was good that we left so early. We are doing laundry and showers and plan to hang out here again tomorrow so we can see the Rendezvous Dinner Theatre -- got reservations for tomorrow night. No sense in moving on yet -- forecast is for more rain tomorrow.
DAY 8, June 21,2010
We woke up to hard rain -- rained all night. We decided it was not a good idea to even try leaving our dry shelter, so we built a fire to stay warm and do lots of reading today. First, though, Connie and Christian offered to drive us back up the road a few miles to that French bakery for breakfast. Yum!! Connie spotted a bear just outside our campground and all day long I kept thinking I heard a bear huffing nearby, then decided my imagination was working overtime. There was no well water at the campground and we were nearly out of drinking water, so the rain came in handy. We collected plenty in our foldable camp sink. We showed some Australian campers now to store their food in the back of the trash bins -- sort of like a bear bin. Unfortunately, our trash bin had a gap in the back of it just large enough for a little squirrel to squeeze into and, of course, one got it and shredded one of our coolers and got all the way into our dried blueberries. Next time we will make sure there are no gaps. It finally quit raining around 5:00 p.m. so we will get a good night's rest and head out for Beaver Creek, Yukon first thing in the morning.
DAY 7, June 20,2010
Found a nice little French bakery along the road today and enjoyed some fresh soup and bread and carrot cake. We got to our campground at Lake Creek (67 miles again) just before it started raining. What timing! We took cover under the kitchen shelter and set up our tent there. Connie and Christian (that we met and camped with at Million Dollar Falls and Haines Junction) pulled into the campground just after us and caught us up on the race details. Then we cooked smores in the shelter stove and listened to the pouring rain.
DAY 6, June 19, 2010
We enjoyed the relay race start and headed west out of Haines Junction about 9:30. The first 12 miles were gradual uphill and then just rolling hills and valleys. This had to be the best riding day we have ever had. It was fantastic scenery, light winds, great temperature, sunny sky and beautiful Lake Kluane to ride around. We met a large silver wolf on the road but no bears. By the time hunger set in we found a roadside shack selling "to die for" buffalo burgers. We set up camp along the road near a rest area and hit the sack early after 67 miles today.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
DAY 5, June 18, 2010
We have now had two nights rest here in Haines Junction. Did a little shopping for food for the road. Now we are off to watch the start of the relay race. Should be interesting seeing 1200 cyclists heading up the hill from this little village. Then we will head northwest on the Alcan towards Tok. There is not much between here and there except mountains and little camps, so we may not be able to update the blog again for quite some time. No cell service in the Yukon either, so don't worry if we are incomunicado for a few days.
DAY 5, June 18, 2010
Our new friend from Taiwan being given directions by Connie, our campground friendFriday, June 18, 2010
DAY 4, June 17, 2010
Last night we met Connie and Christian from Florida at out campground. They informed us that the campgrounds and motels in Haines Junction will be full this weekend because of the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay. They are racing and have already reserved a campsite. They offered to let us camp with them on their site in Haines Junction. Thanks to them we will have a place to sleep tonight.
We spent several hours boiling river water so that we could refill our water bottles. We then rode mostly downhill into town in great weather (approximately 56 miles). Connie and Christian cooked a wonderful meal and we used all our mosquito protection to spend a few hours visiting outside with them. A young man from Taiwan rode up on his bike and Connie fed him too. We talked with him and advised that he buy bear spray and keep his food out of his tent. Tomorrow will be a day off to shower, do laundry and post all these blog messages.
We spent several hours boiling river water so that we could refill our water bottles. We then rode mostly downhill into town in great weather (approximately 56 miles). Connie and Christian cooked a wonderful meal and we used all our mosquito protection to spend a few hours visiting outside with them. A young man from Taiwan rode up on his bike and Connie fed him too. We talked with him and advised that he buy bear spray and keep his food out of his tent. Tomorrow will be a day off to shower, do laundry and post all these blog messages.
DAY 3, June 16, 2010
Woke up to pouring rain and decided to build a fire in the little shack. I thought it was a good idea to burn a little dry wood from inside the cabin and dry some of the wet wood from outside by placing it on top of the stove. Pretty soon Cal smelled smoke and we realized the drying wood had caught fire. We managed to move it into the stove without burning down the shack. We played numerous games of cribbage and dominoes (provided by previous travelers in the cabin). The rain finally let up about noon and we packed up for a short ride down the hill to the next campground -- Million Dollar Falls. Rode an easy 33 miles in light rain today.
DAY 2, June 15, 2010
Climbed over 2200 feet today in 20 miles to the welcome sight of a survival shack. It was furnished with cots and stove and table and chairs. It was dry and that was important because it rained all night.
DAY 2, June 15, 2010
Our second camp was in this survival shack near the summit of the Haines Highway
DAY 1, June 14, 2010
While we were on the ferry ride from Bellingham to Haines, we ran into an old friend, Megan, from Colorado. She plays an important role today as I will explain later.
We got off the ferry in Hanies, Alaska about 11:oo a.m. and headed north towards Canada. We stopped at 33 mile house for lunch and decided to head uphill till our legs gave out. Megan was driving her RV north and saw our trikes at the 33 mile house so she stopped to say one last goodbye. A couple miles later we saw Megan driving back toward us. She had been stopped at the border and had too much wine in her possession. She asked us to each carry a couple bottles across the border for her. We strapped them on and headed north again. Megan met up with us out of sight of the border guards and we turned over the shipment to her.
By this time the trip was really uphill and we gave up for the evening just 9 miles past the border. We found a small level place just off the road and made it home for the night. Total trip today was 49 miles in beautiful weather.
We got off the ferry in Hanies, Alaska about 11:oo a.m. and headed north towards Canada. We stopped at 33 mile house for lunch and decided to head uphill till our legs gave out. Megan was driving her RV north and saw our trikes at the 33 mile house so she stopped to say one last goodbye. A couple miles later we saw Megan driving back toward us. She had been stopped at the border and had too much wine in her possession. She asked us to each carry a couple bottles across the border for her. We strapped them on and headed north again. Megan met up with us out of sight of the border guards and we turned over the shipment to her.
By this time the trip was really uphill and we gave up for the evening just 9 miles past the border. We found a small level place just off the road and made it home for the night. Total trip today was 49 miles in beautiful weather.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
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