RTTS June 11, 2011 View of the Mountains

Still traveling NorthWest.

The sun was up early.....like 4:15 am and it sets at 9:50 pm sot the days are very long here, something like 17 hours.

I got started a little late today as I was not going very far since I am trying to make my stops at population centers which allow me more options for food, lodging and fuel. Usually the prices are also more competitive.

The start to the day.
The ride from Fort St. John to Fort Nelson was my shortest day yet, at only 244 miles. I wanted a slow day to catch up on some tasks with regard to motorcycle maintenance and personal maintenance.

The ride was very pleasant with the road winding through more forests, valleys and river crossings. It is amazing to see trees for miles and miles and not pass another vehicle for quite a while either.

This is a lake just north of Fort St. John.....Charlie Lake.
In this area with all of the woodlands, I found that there is still a tremendous amount of gas drilling locations. Also the area is crisscrossed with gas pipelines and what I found out are seismic routes through the forest to locate the gas deposits. There is a lot of value underground here along with the renewable resources on top of the the ground.

The road through the woods.
I was talking to the desk clerk at the hotel and he said part of the construction explosion in this area is the expectation that a new hydro electric dam is in the process of final approvals and many businesses are ramping up for the influx of construction workers. Many in the area do not like the idea due to the loss of natural river access and uses plus the flooding of the land behind the dam. The usual controversy for this type of construction. Build the dam here and send the electricity to another area.

The road to Fort Nelson had very low traffic and in some areas, the road surface was in poor repair as it would be just gravel for a few hundred feet but the Road Department would did an excellent job of marking the places so I could slow down in time.

The long, lonesome, open highway. Notice the rain clouds.........hummmmm.
The fuel stops get further and further apart in this area. The "Towns" are no more than an area cleared our of the forest, gravel spread around for a parking lot and modular buildings brought in for the convenience store and some motel rooms. Not pretty, just efficient. Most of these are set up for gas field workers in that specific area.....and it is a long way to town, a real town anyway. Also something I learned is that the gas field workers do not use local time. The all work on Edmonton time, Mountain Time instead of Pacific time so they match the "Home Office" work schedule. It sure gets confusing up here....the time changes, money changes, mileage and volume changes. I stay confused about this stuff most of the time so it is good that I can ride and not have to deal too much with it....until I stop.

The local temperature when I started was 53 degrees and very sunny so it looked to be a good day. The ride was kinda short....only 244 miles but the temps did not get any warmer so it was a cool day of riding. There were also lots of rain clouds in the area and the road was wet several times today.

While riding, I found that the roads are littered with gravel or mud from all of the vehicles that get on the main highway from the side roads since the side roads are all gravel or mud. It makes for interesting riding.

A sign of warning for the winter season in this area.
Another warning of local wildlife. Moose on the loose.
I have seen very little game while driving and very little road kill. I think the most roadkill we saw was in North and South Dakota....lots of deer.

As I was riding up a long incline, I saw a black wet stripe in the middle of my lane. Not knowing what it was, I moved over to avoid riding it since I did not like the looks of it. Good thing I did that because just as I rounded the curve near the top of the incline, there on the side of the road were two RVs. The front one was a diesel pusher that had blown an engine as the stripe on the road lead right to the back of his vehicle. Not a good day for those folks. There was a second RV with them trying to give assistance.

Off to he west, I finally spied some mountain tops in the distance and I think they will become a bigger part of the trip shortly.
Later on, I passed a pair of fifth wheel RVs and once again there was a stripe on the road leading to the front pickup truck. This time I think it was the transmission. This seems to be a tough section of road for RVs.

I picked up a riding companion for the last 75 miles to Fort Nelson as a couple on an HD kept pace with me for the ride. The seemed to be enjoying themselves as the were waving and looking for most of the ride. Here is a picture of the HD riders.

I arrived in Fort Nelson, BC, and found the hotel quickly and settled in to get stuff done. Pay bills, clean clothes, wash bike and so on and do the blog.

Tomorrow up early for another good day of riding toward the Land of the Midnight Sun.

Done for today. More tomorrow.

Mike