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Day 6 - 6/26
Weather finally turned for the good, but god this place is cold! Even the locals say it's a late summer. Temps in the 30's and 40's keep us bundled up like eskimos. Well, it is the Yukon after all. I bet we'll be wishing for these temps by the time we reach Missouri.
The ride was a good 108 miles to Dawson Peak Campground. This was the best place to stay so far, beautiful setting overlooking a bay on Teslin Lake. Dave and Carolyn were our hosts and for the first time since NJ we decided to eat out instead of the usual RV fare (more on that from Marjie later). Carolyn's dinner was excellent and the place was full, so it probably wasn't a fluke. The best part was the rhubarb pie with ice cream. Better than my mother used to make...sorry mom. We talked about bicycle riders that he had seen come through, some coming from as far as Terra del Feugo at the southern tip of South America. I guess in the pantheon of crazy cyclists I wouldn't get a footnote. As we were talking a biker came in for supper and a place to stay. Dave says you can tell the ones who have been out a long time alone by the glazed-eye deer in the head lights look.. |
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Day 6
We met and gabbed with two nice young ladies from the US, Liz (Hamilton College) and Shyre (Wellesley). who were on their way to Alaska, the only state they hadn't seen. They are both H.S. teachers, which gives one hope for the next generation of rug rats. What are all these brains doing so far north? They also had a great video of a moose browsing on the vegetation of a shallow lake. As Shyre said, "I didn't know they could hold their breath so long." Sort of like a leggy manatee.
Finally we spoke with a bunch of people from FL, IN, and BC who were interested in colon cancer screening and one guy promised to get his scope done after his Alaska trip. He had a pick up pulling a trailer. In the bed of the pick-up was a large white box. "that's my freezer for all the fish I'm going to catch."
Very prepared! |
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Days 7 & 8
When I first wrote about my thoughts on a bicycle, I was a little too sarcastic. In reality I do look and marvel at the beauty of the North Country especially the mountains and rivers. The rivers are large and incredibly fast. They look like a canoe or kayak paradise. Some times the scenery is so repetitious that it is mind numbing. |
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Days 7 & 8
I was thinking of all the changes in the Alaska Highway since my family camped up and back in the late 50’s. The road is much better, the towns are larger, and the # of tourists are greater, but the land is still pretty empty. I remember the frequent rest stops along the way with picnic tables, scenic views, rudimentary toilets with lots of graffiti and witty bathroom humor that I shared with my sisters, much to my mother’s dismay. Also there were plenty of overflowing garbage cans for the bears. It’s pretty much the same except for the garbage cans which are now bear-proof (see photo). There is a little latch to open - the bear can’t get it’s big paw into it. |
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Days 7 & 8
Another big change is the style of travel. In the 50’s it was cars with camp gear on the top and pickups with home made plywood campers in the pickup bed. Still have campers in back of pickups, but much fancier. Also many large bus type RVs, trailers and 5th wheels (Large trailers attached to the bed of big old Ford F-450’s. The buses usually pull a small car called a toad (towed... get it.) so the RVers can take shot trips without moving the bus. |
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Days 7 & 8
Day 8 ride featured beautiful rivers, lots of steep hills (9 or 10% grade), mostly sun but twice torrential rain and hail. Marjie was kind enough to let me sit out the worst in the RV. Sure is nice to see her up ahead waiting to see if I’m OK. Best of all TAILWINDS- the biker’s best friend.
We stopped at the Continental Divide and bought out the store of knick-knacks.
Seems like a long blog... don’t get used to it!
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Days 9 & 10
These two days have been the hilliest. We climbed to Summit Lake, the highest point at 4500 feet and had two 5 mile climbs at 8% grade. The downhills were delicious. The weather has been spectacular but still cold.
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Days 9 & 10
We have seen moose, bears, mountain goats, bison, beavers. I never thought I would have to watch the road to avoid bison poop. Tons of goats and tons of bison. I was only chased once - by a wild RV.
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Days 9 & 10
As you can guess there is lots of real estate up here. The picture shows a nice estate for sale: close to transportation, great schools, separate guest quarters and lots of room to grow, owner anxious to sell. He will throw in a motel, great business potential.
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Days 9 & 10
A quick note from Marjie:
I am going crazy in the RV driving for 6-7 hours 10-30 miles/hour to spot a "boy" who LOVES to ride a bike. I am bleary eyed, have listened to 4 books on tape and when my tom tom GPS gets confused and tells me periodically to turn left in 400 ft over large cliffs or into a mountain - I am tempted. I do brush my teeth in the morning, but confess to wearing pajamas and sweatshirt without shame during my day's trek. John finishes the day all invigorated and has used up approximately 6000 calories, can proceed to eat sticky buns, beef jerky, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and is looking slimmer. This, needless to say, is not true for me. I end the day with a butt cramp and some degree of reflux, and I think a little nauseous from the altitude. Anyway........more notes from inside the RV when I am in a better frame of mind. This helped though.
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