Yukon Bound Part 2 - July 6-10

July 6 (Fri):

We left at a more decent time Friday, not quick but roughly 8:30.  Quick detour up to Banff Springs Hotel to ogle for a few min and recall past stays there.  Our first stop was for gas at Lake Louise; had some coffee and a slice of banana bread under partly cloudy skies.  Spotted two black bears on the road up to Jasper, and a huge elk.  Required to pay $19 (combined) for park passage along the 93 (Icefields Parkway which runs along the Great Divide).  Up and down great ridges and passes, some traffic but not too bad.  Cool to see the Columbia Icefields again, my first time since 1992 or ’93.

A short stretch before Jasper is Athabasca Falls.  I’d recalled a trip here in ’86 and signaled to Bill to pull over and check it out (I wish we were using the bluetooth sets, sigh).  It was raining and would have been nicer had it not been, but you take what you get.  Walked around a bit and took some photos before getting back on the bikes to continue north.
We pulled into Jasper and found a gas station for a snack and fill-up; I also needed to re-orient myself on map and GPS as to where my old summer job from 1985 and 1986 was in relation to our present location.  So despite some rain and cool temps, I insisted on stopping in at JPL. Absolutely insane experience!  We were greeted with cautious but professional hesitance at the front lobby of the great hotel.  The bell staff loosened up after learning that I was once one of their number, and joined in a great chat about now and 30 years ago. So very cool to revisit those summers of ’85 and ’86.  One bellman quickly retrieved an old yearbook; holding it in photo below.  Walked around the property and took some photos before departing.

Our route then turned west on the 16 as we left the 93 behind.  While clearing past the far side of Jasper, a small fire was spotted at side of road - 5' flames in one small spot, likely a lightening strike. Crew of 4 guys standing by road about to take action, as we swiftly cleared out of there.
The day ended in Prince George under grey, cloudy skies.  Nice town, though somewhat industrial looking as we approached it seeing tall smokestacks here and there and logging industry operations.  Scored a room at a brand new Marriott for $119CA.  Walked around downtown for a few minutes; they were setting up for some sort of event, but it was very deserted and quiet.  Had a couple great beers at Crossroads Brewery (also new), and talked with Paul from Kamloops on rides to Inuvik.  He and a brother did the ride on BMW GS1200’s.  Hmmmmm.

July 7 (Sat):

Left PG early in darkening clouds but dry. Awesome riding for an hour. Then pouring rain and 48 degrees for the next 2 hours.  Tim Horton's was a VERY welcome sight in Chetwyn late that morning as we were brutally cold, shivering and wet by this time.  It felt great to warm up with a coffee.  Butt was dry until all the water from my jacket and pants pooled up on the seat and floor; we left the place a thoroughly soggy mess (us included) after a break that lasted for close to 2.5 hours! Decided to make it a short day at 445km and head for Ft St John – a very good plan.

Small elk (no antlers) at left of road started running beside us; kinda scary for a second as you don’t know if it’s a territorial thing or just wanting to hang out.  In FSJ, Bill went to Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire for a jacket and shoes after we checked into the room.  The Holiday Inn was new and cheap and had a hot tub and a water slide!  We both took a turn.  Boy, that was so welcome after our cold, wet day on the road.  Decent BBQ (not great) and beers at Montana's, and another decent night’s sleep.

July 8 (Sun):

Cold but sunny departure.  Our trip planning accommodated short and long days, mostly interspersed  or lined up such that extra miles covered on one day could be banked for a shorter day or just keep us a little ahead of schedule.  I hesitate to note that taking in the scenery was not made enough of the plan; we saw a few things here and there, but many days were spent putting miles under our wheels since we had so far to get (even just Albert and BC).  We knew from here that there would be two long days ahead to Whitehorse.  Mostly cloudy day with sunny patches and warming up moderately as the day progressed.  A few uneventful gas stops.  Dry for a nice change from previous day as well.

Our longest day at 920km today.  During the ride that day we saw over 30 bison, 20 mountain goats and 8 black bears.  At times (the bison) gathered in large groups, often just a few feet off the side of the highway.  It was clear and warm most of day, and we discovered just how much Bill did not like the grate bridges.  He slowed right down and practically duck-walked across.  I, on the other hand, felt comfortable at the hypnotizing tug of the grated surface on my tires which sets up a swaying motion.  We almost camped at Liard hot springs – in part as they got rave reviews and it would be nice to sit for a bit, and it was close to the end of the riding day.  Bill was not interested at all in camping and that was the only way we would be allowed to go since they had met the quota for the day already (we did not know at the time that this would be our last real opportunity to camp – or sit in a hot spring).  We instead continued on another 200km to Watson Lake. Roads were not busy; some RVs and trucks.  Decent asphalt.  Approaching Watson Lake we saw a huge ‘welcome to Yukon’ sign and stopped for the obligatory you-are-here photos.

Our long but calm and beautiful riding day ended in Watson Lake only to growing panic as we tried to secure a room for the night.  Fourth (or fifth) call (of only four places in town) found Mike on the phone with the last available room at the Airforce Lodge. 

Met six AZ Harley guys (one Ken on a Gold Wing) at Airforce Lodge – we all ate at same place (Kathy’s Kitchen) but not together.  We were definitely getting tired at this point and looking for some down-time and some mental separation too; I was able to read a few chapters of a book before turning in around 11pm (we noted that the sun stayed out later and later as we progressed north, making it harder to keep track of diurnal cycles).

July 9 (Mon):

Sunny start to a Monday. Travis Pastrana made all 3 jumps! Bill needs an oil change and we have to arrange accommodation in Whitehorse and Dawson.  We quickly found that the more north we got, the smaller the town, the fewer hotel meant fewer options given whatever volume of travelling public.  This meant changing our prior approach somewhat to pre-plan stops, unlike earlier in trip. Lots of searching found 5th try in Whitehorse (still surprisingly, to me, hard to get accommodation there for the largest city in Yukon and no central event going on). Dawson was also booked for Tues to ensure we didn’t end up in a tent off an alley of main street – not as hard however.
Every day on the road calls for at least a bit of attention to routine bike maintenance.  Tire pressure still 36.5 in front. Chain slack good, and lube holding up.  Brakes and forks good (unlike a week from this moment back at the same spot with leaking fork seals and nothing I could do about it).
Car wash closed in WH, so no clean for me. Bill got oil at local Yukon Honda dealer. Tried to find bike shorts at Wal-Mart & Canadian Tire, but no good, oh well.  Felt a little weird yet normal after a week to wander around a large store.
Harley guys we saw at Airforce Lodge were in our same hotel (Stratford), and had a series of rooms right next door. Ken (only Honda rider) had his bike in at same shop as Bill earlier (starter issue). These guys told us where they were eating in town, at the Dirty Northern (=Miner’s Daughter). We decided to go there too and found them having saved us each a seat!  It was a great evening over dinner and beers dishing with them and learning how they met up and came to plan long motorcycle trips this time each year.  They’re headed for Alaska via the main highway so we will not likely cross paths again this trip.  Jan Marshall lives in Prescott, so got his info.  Chuck in Phoenix.

Stratford motel is ok. Smells, but clean and central.  Bill lost two 8mm bolts from tail subframe. We bolted new ones on.  To bed at 11 - slept well to 6. Then another hour more before packing up.  Repeat of last five days watching Bill pack for 30 min before I even bothered to put my clothes on.

 July 10 (Tues):

At Whitehorse in the am - heard from Emily and Jesse. Meeting in Carmacks at 11:30 for lunch. Did not need to leave quickly as this was under 2 hrs ride. Bank stop and gas on the way out. Good ride. Cool and cloudy but nice. Great meet up with them. Heard about mining job, etc.  Had decent lunch (poutine) and got some photos.   Cleaned chain at gas stop.

3 more hours to Dawson along decent, but occasionally broken pavement; some gravel sections and some work sections.  A few bridges. Got rain off and on but mid 60s most of the time. Stopped at Dempster Crossing for pictures of the iconic sign in the rain. Met four gents from New Jersey in a camper heading up the road.
Checked into Bunk House – Room #13. Most buildings in Dawson are 120 yo from gold rush in 1898. Real deal frontier stuff! Server at Jack London's said town had 30K at its peak (every server here has a strong accent from Germany, Ireland, France, Finland or somewhere else in Europe).

The Bunk House in Dawson City

In Jack London’s restaurant, had a decent beer by Yukon Brewing (ice fog IPA). Beef skewers were actually very good; tzatziki had way too much garlic, however.  Walking from the dining side of the hotel, we ended back at the saloon and found a seat on the upper level.  Unintentionally sat immediately beside Captain Terry (complete with white captain’s hat) with the mummified toe; we didn’t realize just yet that he was about to set up for that evening’s ‘sour toe’ experience.  We had a beer or two and the server eventually came around asking everyone what sort of shot they wanted and I wondered why until a large line began forming in front of Captain Terry.  He proceeded to recite a long, over-rehearsed presentation to each person with $5 and a shot of spirits, as they gazed at the mummified toe sitting atop a pile of coarse white salt.  The toe is then dropped in the challenger’s glass and the shot downed.  This experience comes fully backed by a hand-written certificate and the chalkboard count on the back wall goes up by one.  We quickly vacated our seats and did NOT stay for the next guy in line.  Walked around town - $15 to get into Diamond Tooth Gertie’s (we both kinda wanted to, but uh, no, a bit of a scam).  So over to the local dive bar at the Westminster (according to both a gal on the street and subsequently our own eyes).  Pretty cool place, actually, complete with frontier paraphernalia and sloping floor.  Good sleep, despite how light it was outside. Woke b4 7, ready to go (geez, wish Bill was!   Errrr – sorry!).