RTTMS June 12, 2011 The "Best" Day

First, I am sorry for the delay in getting these last couple of post out to the blog but I put in a couple of long riding days and it was time to sleep.

Anyway, on with the adventure.

While I was in Ft. Nelson, BC, I was getting fuel while out for dinner and at the gas station, there were 4 Adventure Motorcycle riders (Dirt oriented riders) talking about the rides they have had. While talking to these fellas, one of the riders happened to be from Jacksonville, Florida and mentioned that he was going to Alaska and Prudhoe Bay. We seemed to hit it off and so Jeff Lipps and I decided to continue the rest of the trip together to share expenses and have someone to ride with.

Jeff is a retired Navy guy and since I am also ex-navy (not retired) and he and his wife live near Jacksonville.
He is riding a 2009 Suzuki Vstrom 1000.

Now for the ride.....
We left Ft. Nelson, BC, heading toward Watson Lake and on to Whitehorse, YT. When we first let town the scenery changed quickly. The foothills and mountains quickly came into view. Also, this portion of the Alaska Highway reaches its highest point.

The road quickly changed from long straight sections to much more curvy and undulating. Not so much flat and much more interesting!!! Finally some fun roads.
Road follow through valleys along rivers and so there were several river crossings...yes we used the bridges. The road was in very good condition and the traffic is very light. We passed a few motor homes and pickup trucks but not very much else.
The we quickly saw what was ahead of us with the mountains coming quickly into view and my excitement rose with the twisty roads and the increase in elevation.
The rivers we passed had a very blue/green color to the and the were flowing very swiftly. We could see areas where in the spring, the fast flowing high water levels eroded the banks and the bends in the rivers.
Also, there is very little civilization in this area. These folks have to be very self sustaining as there is not Walmart and so on to run to to get some eggs or a shirt. Also fuel is not on every intersection.

When I went through Dawson Creek earlier in the week, I picked up a listing of services on the Alaska Highway from the Visitors Centre (it is not bad spelling, that is how it is spelled in Canada). The listing show where to get fuel, food, camping and so on and what mile post they can be found. The list it pretty handy but we found that sometimes the business is closed or they are out of fuel. By the way, fuel can get quite pricey at over $1.56 per liter Canadian. That is over $6.00 a gallon in US money. You do not want to run out of fuel or have a mechanical problem here either because there is not cell phone service or AAA.

The temperature dropped as we when higher. It was about 52 degrees when we left Ft. Nelson and but the time we reached the 4200 foot highest point on the Alaska Highway, the temperature was down to 43 degrees. The temp quickly rose after we crossed the summit to the mid 50's and then up to about 61 for the rest of the ride for the day.
We stopped for fuel and breakfast at Toad River, BC., after riding about 111 miles. Toad River is more of a wide spot in the road with fuel and a campground. Now that we had made the crossing to the mountains, the terrain smoothed out somewhat but it was still awesome views of mountains, rivers and forests.
Notice the hats hanging from the ceiling.......like there are 4000 in the place.

Also on this part of the trip was the first real wildlife I have seen. I saw brown bear, porcupine, elk, moose and mountain sheep. Some I was able to get some pictures of but most are in my head as they disappear quickly when you come up on the at the roadside.

There is a moose in the picture....
Some of the bridges are pretty new and are concrete, however many are steel grate bridges. These types of bridges are very unnerving to cross as the grating caused the motorcycle to weave from side to side. Just part of the ride so you just ride across and start breathing on the other side.

We stopped in Coal River for fuel and the continued on. Coal River is another wide spot as are many of these little places on the Alaska Highway. These people are living in a beautiful area but I the do not have a lot of services. Hunting, fishing and ...........not sure what else. Not for me.

We passed the Liard River Hot Springs but did not stop as we were trying to avoid the rain that was trying to get us. Just as we crossed the Liard River, we saw several Bison grazing on the side of the road. Once again, getting a picture didn't work to well.
We then stopped at Watson Lake, BC., to refuel and get the required picture at the Sign Forest.
The next leg of the trip was going to be a stretch as we wanted to get to Teslin, YT. It was kind of interesting in that the highway weaved in and out between the Yukon Territory and British Columbia. The signs on the side of the road left something to be desired as far as getting the required picture.

The terrain seemed to smooth out and the views were of large forests and rivers. When we finally crossed into Yukon Territory, the road turned to a gravel road for the first mile. It was a dusty, bumpy and exciting greeting to the Yukon. This road was an indication of what was to come for riding in the Yukon Territory. The roads in British Columbia have been excellent with few exceptions but now that has changed.

As we neared Teslin, the long narrow blue lake was the first thing we could see. It was very inviting but we also knew that it would be COLD. We had been driving for quite a long time and I knew that Jeff was running low on fuel. He was carrying an extra gallon of gas with him so we knew we could make it but we did now want to have to make the stop to add it so we pressed on.

Also as we saw Teslin, we saw the bridge that we had to cross and this brought back the steel grate bridge fear as this is a l-o-n-g bridge. All we needed is Jeff to run out of fuel on the bridge, the steel grate bridge.
Thankfully, we made it across and quickly refueled right away on the other side. Glad to have that done. We took some pictures, had a snack and pressed on toward Whitehorse, YT.

We ran through several areas of road construction since getting into the Yukon. The us the "Chip/Seal" process where they spread tar onto the road and spread shipped road/gravel on it. The try to compact is but the the vehicles traveling over it really do the packing down but then there is a lot of loose gravel on the road surface. We had to do a lot of slow downs and pick our line through the loose gravel. It was also dusty and a little bumpy.
Some of the road repairs are quite long in distance and when you meet an oncoming vehicle or have to follow another, the dust is horrible not to mention seeing is difficult. More motorcycle riding fun. We now have very dirty bikes .

Another thing about riding here is the insects.........Gazillions and Gazillions and they all end up on your windshield and motorcycle. Gotta do some serious cleaning of my bike.

After Teslin, other than the roadwork, the ride was nice and we ended up at Whitehorse, YT., at about 1905 Pacific Daylight time. The time zone and the long days, really is confusing at times.

We rode 956 km today (592 miles) and a little tired but glad we made the trip safely. Found a hotel, ate in the sports bar in the hotel and went to sleep.

This has been the best day of riding for scenery, wildlife and fun.

Done for the day.

More later.

Mike