border crossing day 5

only one gate, one inspector and numerous motor homes.

To my Holly

Happy birthday Holly sorry I missed your special day. We are in Tok,Alaska going to Fairbanks tomorrow. Mom says she's taking you to diner tomorrow to celebrate your big day WOW 25 that's a quart of a century or half as old as dad. Love you and see yeah in a couple of weeks.

Dad

Day 5 Whitehorse YT to Tok, AK

Well loaded up our bikes this morning and headed out in the rain. The traffic leaving Whitehorse was heavy and because of the rain it was a little slower than normal. We line up behind 3 or 4 cars and right after we reached the top of a small hill all I saw was brake lights and Big Dave heading left around a car. I went right and watch as a mounted wheel when shouting across the road and through the grass and weeds to my right. My first thought was what kind of accident did we have in front of us. Then when we continue to travel I was looking for a vehicle with on three wheels and sparks flying from under it, but no I didn't see anything no car or truck pulling over just normal traffic moving. I have no idea where the wheel came from and when I asked Dave he didn't know it was a wheel.
We continued on our way and in about a half hour I realized that I had made a poor choice of gloves and if I had water proofed them I did a poor job. Having heated grips helped keep me on the road another hour but then I had to stop at a rest area for a nature break and change gloves, make sure my jacket was drawn up properly. I put on my heated gloves and they two lasted about an hour before they were soaked to through, but the gloves were heated so I was at least comfortable. We drove on until we reached Destruction Bay for fuel and rain continued. Besides having to deal with the rain the temp was hovering around 46, the wind was blowing 15 to 25 miles and hour and the road had several areas of gravel. About a half hour out of Destruction Bay the weather lifted and the temp climbed 55 degrees. This was only short lived and it started raining again. Destruction Bay was the end of the good road. We started running into longer patches of gravel the road was in terrible shape due to damage from frost heave's. The worst patches on the road were the troughs left that by the cracks. Finally the rain let up and the skies started to clear. We reached our stopping spot for night at Beaver Creek. Our room was ready so we went to Buckshot Betty for lunch. Unfortunately Betty wasn't there but the bread she had baked was. Big Dave had a Large Club made with 3/4 thick homemade bread and I had a hamburger on a homemade bun. It was well worth the stop. After our meal we head back to the motel and checked in it was around 4:00pm. Our room was in old barracks and after one look at the room we opted to ride to Tok which was only 110 miles. Beaver Creek is about 20 miles from the US/Canadian Border but the border stations are about 15 miles apart. The wait at the border was about 35 minutes and then there was a long section of gravel road that we had a pilot truck for. The weather stayed good and we reached Took around 7:00pm found a place to rest and spit a couple of beers.
Day 5 turned out to be the worst yet. We had 5 hours of rain and terrible roadsand I am glad it is over with.
Total mileage for today was 377 miles in 9 hours.

Day 5 Raining in Whithorse

Woke up this morning to pouring rain outside. I could have swore that the weather had said only a chance of showers. This must be where the Portland area weatherman get their training.
Sitting in the Hotel cafe waiting for breakfast, first real breakfast I have had since before starting this trip. I am not looking forward to starting the day in rain although with my waterproof boots I purchased from Columbia HD MC and my other rain gear I don't fear getting wet. My foul weather gear as worked great so far, but today will be the first day I plug in. The nice thing about staying in a larger Hotel downtown is that our bikes have been under a cover all night and loading them up will be a dry one.
So since I put a plug in for Harley Motor clothes purchased at Columbia maybe I can Jason to sponsor my trip for a day??? I doubt but I will say I have been very please with the boots I got from Joni they are comfortable, warm and dry.

ARCTIC CHAR AFTER SHOT

What I left.

KLONDIKE BBQ & SALOON YUKON TR

This a photo of my Dinner plate it is Arctic Char with fruit salsa served with a home made biscuit. This is by far the best meal I have had so far. Dave and I opted not to try the Caribou Stew or Musk Ox Stroganoff, but if the Arctic Char was a sample of their fare I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHIRLEY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHIRLEY, I HOPE EVERYTHING AS GOING WELL AS IT CAN FOR YOU OVER THERE. I WOULD IMAGINE THAT YOUR MARINES WOULD BE TAKEN GOOD CARE OF THEIR CORPSMAN.
LOVE YOU SHIRLEY
DAD

Watson Lake

Watson Lake Sign Village

yukon countryside

Alaskan Highway

Day 4 Watson Lake to Whitehorse YT

Day 4 was a short one we only traveled 274 miles. We had planned to make Whitehorse a down day in order to due laundry and take a little break. The Alaskan Highway from Watson Lake to Whitehorse is pretty nice highway. The countryside is wide with rolling hills and at least 50 feet of clearing on either side of the road. The temp was 66 degrees when we left Watson Lake but quickly dropped to 55 degrees, and after about and hour Big Dave pulled over to put on his Bike Muffs. We hadn't gone more than 20 miles and it started raining and I when the rain started bouncing off my jacket and faceshield I looked down and the temp was 46 degrees. Lucky for us the sleet/rain lasted about 10 miles and as the road dried out the temp climbed up to 51 degrees. For those of you who are not comfortable crossing the Bridge of the Gods you do not want to cross the Nisutlin River at Teslin YT. The steel grating is twice as long and very rough and uneven so the bike likes to travel all over the bridge. To make matters worse the bridge was narrow so you didn't want a truck or motor home coming the other direction. Repairs to the highway are slow in coming and if you see an orange cone on the side of the road slow down because the road rough. Rough is a light way of saying bad. Some of the cracks or pot holes we saw the would seriously damage a bike and in fact Big Dave talked with a guy who lost a shock on Yamaha bagger the Cassiar Highway the day before.
Today was the first day that we did not see any bears or deer. Neither Big Dave or I killed any birds although Big Dave had several very close calls. Big Dave did have a close call with either a ground hog or marmot that ran crossed the road inb front of him. We did see two bald eagles perched up in a tree has we came into Whitehorse.

Me on the street in Whitehorse, YT

WHITEHORSE YT hitting the streets

DAY 3 CASSIAR HIGHWAY

I got early on day 3 to do some repacking, New Hazelton had a bakery right next to the motel but they didn't open until after 9:00 am and Big Dave and I planned on being well on our way by that time. So we pulled a snack out of bag and were on the road by 7:30 a.m. We headed west on 16 until Kitwanga and then took 37 northwest. I had filled up the bike at Hazelton and when we reach the Stewart turn off I had a choice either run out of gas going to Bell II which was 92 miles away or drive 37 miles to Stewart for fuel. So we headed off to Stewart which would put us almost 2 hours behind but for me the drive to Stewart was well worth the trip. The canyon that we traveled through was like driving through the Yosemite Vally it was really a good ride.
Once fueled up we were headed back up 37 and reached Bell II around 12:30 just in time for lunch and fuel. We made both just ahead of everyone wanting fuel and when we got ready to leave I saw the tour bus folks starting to head to the cashier so I got Dave's and my bill and we paid up head of them. Oh Bell II had the best meal I had eaten so far this trip I had ordered Shepherds pie and it was very good. The 37 from 16 to Bell II had been a really nice road. Very little traffic in very good shape with sweeping curves
a good reason for my bike only getting 35 miles to the gallon. I realized today that by keeping the rpm's down under 4000 I could get 40 miles per gallon.
The road north of Bell II started changing the minute we crossed the Bell-Irving River. We hadn't gone 10 miles when we came to a bridge that had gravel on either side of it. After hitting several torn up spots on the road we slowed our pace down. The thought of heading gravel at 70 mph per hour did not give me a warm and fussy feeling. We stopped at Dease Lake which is the next gas station after Bell II which is about 140 miles north. There we met a gal driving a old Mercedes we had passed her 3 or 4 times on the highway and found out she left from Columbia 4 months ago and was planning on driving all the way to Deadhorse then on to Boston. After a brief chat we said our goodbyes and were on the road again. Highway 37 continued to get rougher as we headed north and we hit numerous sections of gravel road 100 to 300 feet long and a couple that were over a one mile. We reached Good Hope which had one store and no lodging and kept right on going to Watson Lake. We made it to the Yukon Territory and the Alaskan Highway 1 headed east to Watson Lake and pulled into the motel by 6:15 pm. We logged almost 600 miles in a little less than 12 hours, we had been in an out of rain showers all day and even when the temp read 66 degrees it even though we had several sun breaks during the day it still felt quite cool.
Day 4 we plan on riding to Whitehorse and find a motel early do laundry and find the Harley and BMW Shops.

Rapids

Check out the house above the rapids

day two shot

Photo of me an my bike shot by Big Dave

day two photo

shot of Fred while waiting at a traffic stop on highway 16

day two add-on

Forgot to mention that we started the day out really nice but 40 miles before Prince George it started raining very lightly and we stayed in our rain gear the rest of the day.
Today we head up the Cassair Highway which will take us passed Stewart BC. Big Dave thinks we should be able to reach Good Hope, but I am not so sure I saw a lot of cautions about single lane wooden bridges in the milepost

bike at rest out side of Hope BC

DAY 2

I seem to be having a problem loading photos. I don't know if it is the size of the file or just the internet connection.
Anyway we launched out of Williams Lake around 7:30am. We were looking to reach Haselton BC and according to the Garmins we should make it by 3:30 pm that was with no stops inbetween. Big Dave immediately started having with his Garmin and it tried to keep him heading west when we reached the turn off to Prince George and highway 97. As we left town I checked my fuel miles remaining and it was saying 120 miles but no sooner had we got out cruising up the road than it showed 68 miles remains. I felt bad having to stop earlier than plan but this time I ended up taking the bike ab out 10 miles passed the zeros miles remaining. 18.4 liters or over 5 gallons later we were back on the road again. upon leaving Williams Lake Dave and I had to slow down for a very large buck in velet crossing the road, but we saw him well in advance. Shortly after leaving Quesnel though Big Dave is hitting his brakes and pointing to the right as I cruise passed him to see a very large black bear off the side of the road. We turned around to take photos but this guy was too camera shy and was heading to the woods by the time I got my camera out. So off we headed back up the road and we hadn't travel more than a /4 mile when there was another smaller bear on the side of the road. We slowed and turned around and after dodging traffic I was able get my camera out but the only photo I got was of him off into the bushes.
Heading out of Prince George we headed west on 16. 16 has a lot more traffic on it mainly because itot. is the main and only road to Prince Rupert. Passing through Frasier lake we came across the world's largest fly rod but I failed to stop and coming through Tekwa we saw some rapids that we get a photo of. We arrived safely in New Hazelton aroung 4:30pm and Big Dave and I called it a day. Fred opted to continue on up the road and look for a camp ground. He wanted to get an early start Monday because he wanted to stop at Hyder Alaska. We said out good byes and hopefully we will see him on the road again.

Stopped outside of Hope BC for Road Work

here are some pics while I waited for the road to open

BIKE LOADED AND WAITING TO GO

Day One The Departure

My Alarm sounded at 4:30 this morning and being a Saturday that was just way to early. I only slapped the snooze once so I was up and out of the bed by 4:40 a.m. So the normal routine kicked in with start the coffee and let the dogs out. The bike was fully loaded so all I had to do was roll it outside. Dawna got up and dressed and we were outside taken photos by 5:30 a.m. After a few photos we headed over to the Shell station to meet up with Dave and Fred.
Everyone showed up at the Shell station and after fueling and being directed to gather the bikes for photos and getting last minute orders from the two wives I couldn't help thinking just how lucky Fred was to have said good by to Nicki at his house.
We finally got all the photos done and mounted up and were heading north on 205 by 6:15. The weather was overcast and the temperature on my instrument cluster was reading 54 degrees but with the moisture in the air it sure made me wish that I had worn my touring pants rather than my blue jeans. Traffic was light and we cruised right on up the highway. After about 85 miles we stopped in Centrailia for a quick snack at where America Eats McDonalds and to top off the fuel.
Travel through Tacoma and Seattle was uneventful although Seattle did get quite congested for a Saturday. By the time we got to the Sumas exit at Belling ham my instrument cluster was telling me that had only 14 miles of fuel left. She only took 4.3 gallons so if the owners manual is correct I should have had about a gallon of fuel left.
The info sign on the freeway had said to expect about a 5 minute way at the Sumas border crossing and when we got there the sign was correct. The only thing the sign didn't say was that Sumas was having a Parade today and there was a 20 minute wait to get through town to the border. I was really disappointed that no one was standing on the corner waving at me because the were celebrating my birthday.
Through the border and on to route 1 we headed to Hope for lunch and a quick stop at the bank. Then it was back on Rouote 1 and north to Cache Creek. The road up through the Frazier River Canyon was in great condition with very little traffic and only a couple of minor delays for road construction. The sun had come out and the temperature was soaring into the 80's. Several miles out of Cache Creek my instrument Cluster once again told me that I was low on fuel and only had 42 miles remaining. I quickly punched Cache Creek on my GPS and it read 41 miles. So I watched to the miles to Cache Creek click away and range remaining click away while scanning the road ahead for any signs of a fueling station. None to be had. Finally Cache Creek came in to view and I pulled into a gas station with 3 miles remaining. This time the tank took 17.872 liters. By this time is was just at 4:00 pm and Dave and I decided to travel one more hour before calling it a day. We got up to 100 Mile House and the one place we stopped did not provide room for three, so we decided to try the next big town William Lake our orginal goal for the first day. I check hotels and motels on my Garmin and while down the road I called two of them to check accommodation. The Supper 8 just as you entered Williams Lake had a large suite like room that offered two queen size beds and a pullout sofa bed.
Short Review of Day one. after a little less than 12 hours on the road we had traveled a little over 575 miles and crossed one border. The weather started out on the cool side warmed up and by 4:00pm it was cooling back off. Traffic was light, my butt is sore, I over packed as is usual but it was just a great day of riding. Even when the Buck came bounding out into the road just out side of Williams Lake forcing me to apply the brakes, I don't think it could have been better riding.

TEST POST

I wanted to check out how the site works so I made this short post