Motorcycle Trips 2005-2006: 6/12/05

Day 18 - Whitehorse, YT to Teslin, AK

Well it is Saturday. We didn't know that until somebody told us this evening. We've lost complete track of what day of the week is what.

It was a leisurely day though. We did a little sightseeing in Whitehorse.

We first went down to the river and looked over a big paddle riverboat. That was a major transportation route that was used until the 1940's or so. Next we went off to a museum of the Yukon. This was pretty nice. Had an exhibit of animals and lots of history about mining, Mounties, and stuff. They use real gold in the exhibits here. The girl at the front desk said this was one of the largest displays of gold nuggets in North America.

One interesting story about the gold rush and miners was about how they fought against scurvy. They needed vitamin C and iron. So to get that they boiled spruce boughs. The iron was added by throwing a handful of nails into it. It was so strong it disolved the nails! I guess they didn't take it full strength, must have diluted it some with water.

The ride was only 120 miles today with the usual 5 minutes worth of rain. The road conditions are very good and easy to ride. Just gentle curves through woodlands and lakes. The scenery is very pretty but nondescript enough so we didn't take any pictures.

At our motel the mosquitoes are out in force. We had to pull out the bug spray to keep them off of us.

Civilization

Walt and Don

Mounties Outpost

Klondike

Day 17 - Tok, AK to Whitehorse, YT

So, we're starting today in Beaver Creek because of yesterday's schedule change. It will be a pretty slow day. We're backtracking over the same roads we came into Alaska on for most of the day.

The road ahead is the same road that we had the bad highway construction on. There is some curiosity and tension (for me) about what shape the road will be in today. As it turns out the roads are harder packed now. Not really a riding problem at all so the risk of our bikes falling is not there. The problem this time is dust. We've heard some stories from drivers passing through about how much dust there is. At our first stop we see it and a big truck or RV can kick up LOTS!

Fortunately we get head of the line privilege and have it pretty good. The flagman/flagperson/flaglady (a girl) tells us of a story where a motorcyclist asked to be last in line. They tried to convince him he probably wanted to be in front but he insisted he'd prefer the rear. When he got to the end he was completely covered. She said the only thing not dusty was his smile!

From Haines Junction to Whitehorse is new road again so there is more new to look at.

The land changes a little here. It looks a little more ranchish. Still lots of trees but a little more grassland and we're moving away from big mountains.

We pass through an area called the Takhini Burn. There was a big forest fire here 1958. Lots of dead trees on the ground. But instead of the dead one still standing upright that we've been seeing most of the time these trees are almost all fallen down. They have been replaced with a lush green new forest of birch/aspen style trees. Not many pines at all. This shows the life cycle of forests pretty well. More info at http://www.taiga.net/yourYukon/col349.html.

Whitehorse is the biggest town in the entire Yukon but still has only 25,0000-30,000 people. They have big aspirations though. The city limits sign starts 10 miles before the city center. There are lots of billboards lining the roads. You probably know every business in town by the time you reach it.

There are busy streets and traffic signals here.

You can tell we are approaching civilization again. There is a Starbucks here! We go there immediately after checking in at the hotel. It is hot here so Walt and I have cold drinks. Don savors his favorite black coffee.

Back at the hotel there are a bunch of bikes now. There is a group of BMW bikes parked next to us. They are on a guided tour. Lots of time to talk about bikes and such with the owner of the tour business. Harley riders also show up and Don gets to talk to those riders too.

The Harley rider asked about the road conditions for us coming from Haines Junction. We hit road construction but it was hard packed and not a problem. He said we got lucky coming in later. He went through it earlier in the day when it had just been wetted down. It was very slippery and he said he nearly dropped his bike a couple times. I'm glad we missed that. I hope the worst of the road is behind us but we still have 700-800 miles or so of the Alaska Highway in front of us.

Lunch was an ice cream cone today!

Supersized Tonka toys!

Buckshot Betty's

Day 16 - Palmer, AK to Tok, AK

Greetings from the RV park office laundry room in Beaver Creek, Yukon!

There is limited internet availability and no cell phone coverage.

We got to Tok today and decided to keep riding. Tomorrow was planned to be about a 400 mile day and we knew we were going to head into road junk. So we decided to ride an extra hundred or so miles today so that tomorrow becomes a shorter day. We're still planning on ending up in Whitehorse tomorrow.

The day was pretty uneventful but with the extra miles it was a bit long. However, we're staying at the place we stayed coming in so the familiarity helps a bit.

The roads between Palmer and Glennallen remind me of California some. It was a lot of narrow two-lane highway that was somewhat curvy going through foothills and following a river.

Outside of Anchorage is a glacier that you can go to if you want to be up close and personal with a glacier. We took a picture of it from the highway. (to be posted when we get better access)

We did hit a spot of rain today. Only a few minutes worth but it was dumping quite a lot. Don kept riding through it. His riding gear is all-in-one and rainproof. Walt and I stopped to get rain gear on. Rain gear does not go on nicely when you are already wet! Everything sticks and I was in a hurry so I didn't get all of the snaps, covers, and such in right! We had just enough rain to wash the bugs from the windshield and face screen on the helmet. I took it all off about 30 minutes later.

We stopped leaving Alaska to get a picture of "You are now entering Alaska". We didn't get it going in!

Each place we stop we seem to talk to people who have been driving in rain for the last 7 days. Our weather seems to be the best we could hope for.

Tomorrow is road construction and on to Whitehorse. Hope it is no worse then when we came in!

Show girl at Beaver Creek (and Don)

Welcome to Alaska

Scenic view

Matanuska Glacier

Day 15 - Healy, AK to Palmer, AK

Half way! We've completed day 15 of our 30 day trip! We've been safe and had no problems at all.

Today was a day in search of views of Mt. McKinley from outside the park. We heard while preparing for the trip that the best views of the mountain are from Denali State Park and Talkeetna. That is true and today was the bluest sky and warmest day we've had so far. Hope you enjoy the pictures below.

We stopped to see the Alaska Veterans Memorial. It is a very nice stop with exhibits about the history of the military in Alaska.

Talkeetna is a little tourist town that reminds us some of Jamestown and Columbia in the gold country of California with a hint of 1960 attitude thrown in. I browsed some gift shops and Don cooled down with some ice cream.

The ride was enjoyable until we left the state park. From there we re-entered cities. This is hard. We've gotten so used to towns of a few hundred or less that traffic and highways are just ugly.

It is getting down right hot here. I see a thermometer that says 75 and I think it was nearly 80 in Talkeetna. It really is a bit uncomfortable here in Palmer. Night time never comes. It doesn't cool off much. The hotel has no air conditioning. We're on what seems like a main street in town. Lots of traffic and bikes/cars that appear to be cruising. Maybe Alaskans just have to be busy 24 hours a day during the summer to make up for the inactivity of the winter months.

I'm going to turn a fan on, put in my ear plugs, open a window, and try to read/watch TV/fall asleep.

More Talkeetna

Talkeetna

They're here but we can't find 'em

A great view

Alaska Veterans Memorial

Mt. McKinley

In search of Mt. McKinley views from the south

Day 14 - Healy, AK (Denali)

We had to decide this morning if we were going to go into Denali to find something to eat for breakfast or search a litle in Healy. We got a recommendation to eat at Rose's Cafe. It was a good recommendation. Small and friendly. We'll probably head back for dinner there. The dinner menu looks pretty simple with burgers and such. They have a wall with pictures of people who have ordered their Grizzly burger. It is a burger with a one pound patty. Looks like it will definitely fill you up and will probably cause some pain too. (It comes with fries!)

We get to the bus tour with plenty of time. Our bus driver is the chatty type. She tells lots of stories and we know all about her, her family, friends, Alaska lore, and more then a couple tall tales.

The first stop is a viewing of Mt. McKinley. The clouds have chopped off the peaks but it is mostly clear. We figure we've seen more than a lot of people get to see and hope for a better view in the afternoon return trip.

The bus trip is a mostly a trip to see who can spot what kind of wildlife. The bus driver will stop on the road for anything worth viewing.

The first thing we see is a little marmot by the side of the road.

Later we see a couple Dall sheep. Hmmmm... They are probably half a mile or more away. They just look like moving white spots.

Towards the farthest point in we'll go we begin to see some caribou. At the final stop there is a pair of caribou only a couple of yards away. Up on a hill there is a herd of Dall sheep that can be seen pretty well with binoculars. The ranger have a telescopic view set up and focused on them. That brings then in really well.

There is a van with a mini nature display. Some antlers, a wolf hide, and a sampling of several types of scat! OK. I hope we get to see something more exiciting than scat!

Time to start the return bus trip now. In bus tour terms we do pretty well. A wolf is on the road. It is only 10 yards or so from us and quite interested in looking us over, standing still, and posing. Walt is able to grab many pictures. (They'll be posted as soon as we can get to a place where we can upload pictures!)

On the return trip home Mt. McKinley is now clear. Walt takes some pictures and the bus tour is done.

We've stopped for coffee here in the tourist jungle to check email, search a little on the internet, and hopefully wait out a little thunderstorm that seems to be on the way back to the Lodge.

That's probably it for today. I'll let you know if any one of us is crazy enough to try a grizzly burger.

P.S. I checked on the distance from here to home on the GPS. It says it is 3,174 miles home from here.

UPDATE: We talked with the waitress at Rose's. The Grizzly also comes with 4 slices of cheese and a fried egg on it. None of us ordered it. A guy at the table next to us did order it. He got his picture added to the wall. Some photos of photos of people who ordered this are below. Notice that some people ordered it with extra patties!