07/19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24th, 2019 A Catch-up Post

With the lack of internet services over the past few days I couldn‘t post regularly, and got way behind. I now have a good connection (probably should not get too over excited, it might not last). Plan is to try to remember what happened on what days and which picture goes with the thought. Now if I could even remember what I had for breakfast…

July 19th – We (Rob, Matt, Jim, and myself took off from Tok, Alaska going to Haines Junction, Yukon. We took a beer break at Destruction Bay’s only gas, food, and motel. Decided we should make room reservations in Haines Junction, hahaha. Nothing available; however, the Destruction Ritz had rooms, and we all agreed the smart thing to do was stop here for the night. They do have food, beds, and beer. So, we did.

Destruction Bay is right on the edge of Lake Kluane. This is one big lake. It’s even bigger than Lake Livingston. Here’s a shot, but not from the motel.

July 20th – Got ready to go to breakfast, and Matt and Rob were waiting by the bikes. They were going to skip breakfast and get an early start going east. They planned to go back the route The Colonel and I took coming to Alaska; north from Calgery through Banff and Jasper National Parks. The Colonel and I were not going to miss a meal, and we had plans to go to Haines, Alaska. to see if we might get to watch the bears fishing for salmon.

We made it to Haines, but the bears were not hungry.

Our trip was not wasted because we got to meet some really nice folks in Haines. We met eight bicycle rides at dinner (We both had grilled salmon at the Lighthouse Restaurant – yum). The interesting thing about this cycling club is the youngest rider was 72, the oldest 86. They were from Vancouver, BC and touring the Yukon and southern edge of Alaska. Riding a motorcycle from Texas to Alaska isn’t very impressive when compared to the accomplishments of these folks.

July 21st – This morning we took the ferry from Haines to Skagway. It’s only an hour trip, but we had to get up at 4:30 AM to make a 7:00 AM launch. We met our bicycling friends while waiting for the ferry, and all agreed to meet for breakfast in Skagway.

Here’s a picture of the ferry. I couldn’t get the whole boat/ship, only the front.

Here’s a picture of the cyclist.

From Skagway, Alaska we rode to Watson Lake, yukon. We saw a few bears, but did not get any pictures. We stayed at the Big Horn Motel again.

I guess this is the turning-around point of our trip to Alaska. Tomorrow we start heading south.

This is a blog about motorcycle travel to Alaska, and I’ve spent much more time posting about wildlife and people we met along the way than motorcycles. Traveling on a motorcycle attracts people with questions and conversations. I really enjoy that aspect. On the other hand, motorcycles tend to scare away wildlife. Wish I had more photos to share.

Now about the motorcycle I am riding. 2017 Honda Africa Twin. Started with 2500 miles on the odometer. At 6000 miles the left front fork seal started to leak. At 7500 miles the right fork started leaking. Other than that the bike is running great, handles great, has a very hard seat, and gets about 45 miles to the gallon. I’m not much on MPGs on motorcycles, but it is important to keep track of when you only get 200 miles to the tankful, and gas stops can be 100 miles apart. You can’t miss a fuel stop. I’ll have the forks looked at when we get to the states.

July 22nd – Watson Lake to Stewart, BC. When we left Watson Lake we didn’t plan to go to Stewart. We were going to Meziadin Junction. Showed on Google Maps to be 320 miles. Well, it isn’t. It’s almost 400 miles, and the trip was cold, wet, and tiring. It rained for 144 miles. The high temperature during this part of the ride was 54. We saw one animal, a fox that looked as wet and cold as we were. Got to Dease Lake, the rain stopped. We changed socks and dried as much as we could. I had an elk burger; pretty tasty.

When we got to the Junction the rooms that were available we at a work camp and the rooms were converted shipping containers – 2 rooms with shared bath. We asked the lady at the desk if there was anything else nearby and she suggested the King Edward Hotel in Stewart. So, off we went for Stewart. The 40 miles was beautiful and dry.

Got checked in to The King Edward Hotel, went across the street for dinner. About the time they served our supper a thunderstorm came through and the electricity went off. Of course in this part of the world it’s daylight till, will all night. So, we didn’t have to eat in the dark. But, when we got to our room to post in this blog – no electricity and no internet. So, the updates would have to wait.

Slept like a baby, was only up 3 times.

July 23rd – Stewart to Prince George, BC. Still no electricity, but the Chinese restaurant was open for business. Running on their generator. We had breakfast, suited up and took off for Prince George. This would be another 400+ mile day. Let’s go.

About 6 miles out of town is a waterfall that must be a 1000 feet fall. The picture does not do it justice. It’s really an awesome view

Didn’t have much of a place to park and take the picture, so a quick snap and onward.

20 miles from Stewart is a huge glacier. Absolutely breathing. The clouds were low and added to the effects of seeing something so massive from the side of the road.

It’s about ½ mile across the lake to the glacier. Best guess is the ice is 150 to 200 feet thick, and no telling how old the ice is. Pretty COOL!

The rest of the ride to Prince George was uneventful. Saw maybe the largest grizzly and her cub next to the road, but I‘m not big on messing with a bear and her cub. Bet my daughters would be just as mean if you messed with their cubs.

July 24th – Prince George to Williams Lake, BC. Nothing exciting to report. Started the day changing the oil in both my bike and The Colonel’s. A local NAPA store said they would be glad to let us use their parking lock to perform the service. Got er done, and road on to Williams Lake. It was only 150 miles (okay, everything in Canada is metric, so the distance was 243 kilometers) and laundry was on the schedule when we got checked into the hotel/motel. Dinner was a yummy salmon sandwich with Loon chowder. My wife should be impressed; it came with beet root. Loon Chowder does not have duck in it. It’s the restaurants’ name for their ’seafood’ chowder.

Wow! I think I’m caught up. Since we are on our way home there probably won’t be a lot of exciting things to post, but I’ll do my best to make this blog informative and interesting. Stay tuned.

Okay, one more view from the side of the road.  You would never see a anything like this from a car.

Later, Bud…