Alaska 2011: Into the Yukon

We know, we know...it's taking AGES to get this blog updated! Slow but sure, here's the next stage of the journey...

This next leg (in blue) took us to the end of British Columbia...

And into the Yukon....

Blue triangles mark our camping spots.

Day 5: Salmon Glacier to Dease Lake

Saturday, July 9
How do you top camping next to a glacier? How about a visit to the Grand Canyon of British Columbia (or at least the Stikine Valley)? But first, we had to get there…

We awoke to fog...spooky.

The ride back from the glacier, though uneventful, brought on the first of Bella's mechanical challenges: the ABS switch quit working. This means that there's no way to disable the ABS brakes...not a big deal unless you get into tricky gravel. Without a way to fix it, we had to just ride on.

Back at the Cassier-Stewart Highway, we turned left and headed to Dease Lake. It was a long, tiring, cold ride that included a half-hour wait for a 32-kilometre, pilot-guided (and therefore speed-controlled) section of road construction. We spotted a few bears, but otherwise no real highlights. We didn’t even pull the camera out for this ride.

We arrived at Dease Lake ready for a hot shower, only to find the only motel in town fully booked. That’s okay…we’re hardy adventure riders! We settled for a gravel patch in the local RV park. Scenic it was not, but it hit the spot…we got hot showers, laundry, WiFi, and space to jury-rig Bella's ABS brake switch.

Day 6: Dease Lake to Telegraph Creek to Jade City

Sunday, July 10
From what we’d heard, the road to Telegraph Creek (aka the local Grand Canyon) is 150 miles of narrow, twisting, and steep dirt that is heavenly for bikes on a fine day. On a wet day, it is a slimefest that challenges even the toughest 4x4. Locals reported that the day before it had rained solidly. We prayed for clear skies…and once again our lucky weather streak continued. The road was a bit squishy with leftover mud, but the huge vistas quickly made us forget about that.

After a few hours of stunning riding, we arrived hungry and happy at the local restaurant, which served up yummy homemade fare (including pie!) in the original Hudson’s Bay Trading Co. building.

Mike also got a chance to explore some relics...

Then it was time to head back before the weather gods changed their minds. We arrived back in Dease Lake at 6:15pm. Oops, the gas station closed at 6pm. The conversation in Telegraph Creek had gone something like this:
Mike: “Should we fill up here before we head back?”
The rest of us: “Nah, we’ve got heaps of gas to get us back to Dease Lake.”
Mike: “Uh, I really think we should fill up.”
The rest of us: “You’re such a worrier. It’ll be fine!”

Yes Mike…you were right!

Despite dire warnings of limited fuel availability and mileage calculations that didn’t work in our favour no matter how much we tried, we decided to push on. After a few “closed” signs, we finally coasted into Jade City on fumes. Although we’d been promised fuel here, everything was closed up—once again the long hours of daylight caught us out (it was after 10pm). Jade City did, however, have free camping. It was home to some of the friendliest people we met on the trip, which helped to make up for the mozzie deluge that saw us eating crackers and cheese for dinner in the tent.

It was also the only place on the whole trip where we had to pack up our tent in the rain the next morning.

Day 6: Jade City to Ross River (Lapie Territorial Campground)
Monday, July 11

We made it to the Yukon!

The final leg of the Cassier-Stewart Highway brought wildlife…

Stunning scenery...

Eerie evidence of a forest fire from a few years back…

And a feeling of real adventure as we crossed into Yukon Territory, the real north.

Here we had a choice: left to Whitehorse and the Klondike Highway, or right to Watson Lake and the Campbell Highway. The former is paved and popular, the latter unpaved and quiet. No competition.

The Campbell Highway was in great condition and we had a fast and fun ride to Ross River. We saw our first moose (and calf!) and took in more beautiful views.

The Lapie Territorial Campground was our kind of place, with free firewood and a pretty river.

It was another late stop…we put the tents up and served dinner at 11:15pm in broad daylight.

Next up...the Top of the World Highway and into Alaska (for real this time)...