Watson Lake to Whitehorse YT

This post is out of order.. should be before todays post.. I had it written in Word and then my time ran out of Wi-Fi before I could upload it.. sorry :)


Watson Lake to Whitehorse,YT, Haines Junction YT to Tok, Alaska
July 8 & 9 2010
We arose at 4:30 am again (42degrees) and after packing our tent and gear up, continued our trek up the Alaskan Hwy in hopes of seeing more animals and fantastic scenery. Well, if you call numerous black Ravens and 3 chipmunks crossing the road in front of you… then I guess we saw animals. This was somewhat of a disappointment as we were hoping for a day like the previous one when we traveled to Watson Lake but it was not to be ..We did have a good day of riding however, stopping at Johnson’s Crossing midmorning to warm up with a cup of coffee and one of their ‘world famous’ cinnamon rolls.
We found a nice campground at Haines Junction and ate leftover Dominoes pizza for dinner..heated up on a grate & fire. A couple showed up on their Harley pulling a large camper trailer behind them. They had stories to tell of the awful road up ahead on a 40 mile stretch between Destruction Bay and Beaver Creek. There are large frost heaves..huge holes in the road and these curved huge grooves. At the time of their travel a couple of days ago, these were not marked. He had gotten into a groove and it had thrown them both off the bike onto the roadway while their bike continued down the groove as if someone was riding it and went off on the other side of the road. RVer’s stopped to help them get the bike back up. She was terribly thankful that they had full riding gear and helmets on and were pretty much unhurt other than being so scared and shaken. Their bike survived with only scratches and a couple of dents. Gene said the main reason for their going down was due to the size and weight of their trailer. Once it got into one of those grooves, it took control and jerked them off thebike.
Gene and I showered and were off to bed at 8:30 shuddering inside thinking of what kinds of road hazards we’d have to deal with. We’d also talked to people who’d had their windshields broken by flying rocks from passing vehicles too impatient to take it slow.

Friday, July 9, 2010
We woke at 5:30 this morning to a very cold 32 degrees. Wearing our heated gear to stay warm we packed away our gear and were on the road by 6:30am. No wildlife again but after 1 ½ hours, we found a restaurant along the way where we stopped to warm up, have a cappuccino and a great omelet for ‘only’ $14 each!!. I tell you, things sure cost a lot more up here in the North Country. Seems most things are sometimes double. I guess the cost of getting them here might be one of the reasons…Our stop allowed the temp outside to rise a little where, at least, I was not miserable !!
We were rewarded with a most beautiful ride along the Kluane Lake (Klu-wa-ne) that ran for miles along the highway. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo as the best one happened to be with close vehicles behind us and no place to pull over. Other places did not have the Sunshine in the right place.
After gassing up in Destruction Bay, we rode on with trepidation for what lay ahead of us. We were fortunate that the lady had told us what to look for so were prepared somewhat unlike her own experience. Sure enough, the grooves were many and long and quite bumpy but Gene and I became adept at avoiding the worst and hitting the others as one might hit a railroad track. As traffic was light at that early hour, we could use both sides of the highway to avoid the frost heaves and maneuver our bikes in and around them . When we finally reached Beaver Creek, we both gave a sigh of relief and agreed that had been the most fun part of our trip to date!!!!!
We then crossed the border into America again and entered Alaska about 30 miles further up the road. We now have reached our goal of riding in all of the United States (but Hawaii) and most of the Canadian provinces. It was good to get back to mph and miles rather that kilometers. Plus, we gained another hour as we are now in Alaskan time Zone. We found a nice tree lined tent space at TOK RV Camp in TOK , Alaska.. Tomorrow , it is to Delta Junction (the official end of the Alaskan Highway and then we will be on the Richardson Highway towards Fairbanks. My brother, Nick Carter and his famlly lived on the Richardson Hwy and he worked at the Eielson Air Force Base their just south of North Pole,AK.
Enjoyed a free hour long show by a local Tok resident.. really good.. then to our campsite to upload this blog and good nite to all..We’ll let you know how the road to Fairbanks went..