Stunning pictures and a great adventure as always!
Thanks. Glad you're following along.
I enjoyed the Inland Passage ferry,slept on deck,what a view.
On the way up from Seattle I thought the ferry prices were a rip off,on the way down I thought what a deal.
I like that eagle picture,I was fishing and some tourists let their Dachshund out of their car.The eagle looked just like that focused on the dog,some locals told them that bird will take your dog,they ignored the advice for awhile,but the intensity of the eagle convinced them.If that dog would have been just a few feet away from the group he would have been lunch.
Looking forward to the next update.
I wasn't sure I'd like it but glad I did it. Great way to just kick back, relax, do some reading, meet some great people. I'd highly recommend it at least once. Was wondering why the prices would be different dependent upon which way the ferry was headed? I thought the prices for all the food and drink on the boat were quite reasonable. I heard of a story once where a lady let a little Yorkie out of her car in Homer Alaska and an eagle took it. I saw some in Haines that could have easily taken a small dog.
Great pics and great story. Thanks for sharing. Whats the date of the pics with the colors turning?
Thanks for following along. The colors really started coming full on around the 10th of Sept. I was told by some locals that it usually occurs a little later but a cold snap had brought it on a little earlier this year. It's quite a sight in places.
I kept putting in the miles and crossed back over the border into the Yukon Territory headed south. Border agent told me he hadn't seen many bikers since last week as most have already come through this time of the year headed south. Told him I only had a few hundred more miles to go as I was headed to Haines, Alaska to catch the ferry. Made it as far as Beaver Creek before calling it a night. Had planned to get some more miles but just south of Beaver Creek I ran into a major construction zone t and was told it was muddy and tore up for the next 40 miles so it'd be slow going. Not sure what lay south and I didn't want to bush camp in the area so I turned around and rode about 3 miles back into Beaver Creek. Ended up camping here in a non-descript territorial campground. Had hoped to get a little further south but was told that after Beaver Creek they weren't allowing any tent camping in the provincial park campgrounds until Kluane Lake due to bear activity. Not sure they really enforce this but I did see some signage during the trip stating that no tent camping was allowed. I didn't want to get caught down there after dark and not able to find a place. Some of these really small towns with only one lodging facility charge unbelievable prices for a basic room. I stopped at a couple where they wanted $150 and the place was falling apart. They've got you by the balls if you aren't able to camp. Even if you were to come up here and plan to stay in lodging I would still recommend to bring camping gear. You could be screwed if you didn't have it.
Had to do a little side road exploration though en-route.
Old church in Beaver Creek. Supposedly it's haunted as back in the 60's some guy killed a girl and brought her to the alter of the church and left her. Lady in town told me about and that I should stop by. Said it's usually open but if locked she told me where to find the key. Of course I had to go now. Found the key and went in but I didn't feel the presence of any spirits.
Next morning the weather was cold but nice and sunny. Plan was to make Haines Junction in the Yukon and if either stay there or cross back into Alaska and make Haines.
Kluane Lake area.
Tooling along enjoying the view and I came up on this young lady. She was looking at her bike so I pulled over to see if she was alright. Everything was fine and we started talking about her ride. Come to find out she's on a three year journey around the world totally self powered. I stated well you have to fly to each continent and she responds....... know I've already rowed across the Pacific Ocean and will row across the Atlantic this summer. ******? She had also just kayaked the Aleutian Islands and was now biking down to the east coast where she was going to row again. Has one of those special row boats that you can seal up when the seas get big. 29 years old! She's got a blog site if you want to check it out. She was the real deal. You think you've been on some adventures in your lifetime until you run across someone like this. I am a total wuss compared to her. Said the only thing that had really scared her so far was the camping in Grizzly country.
Only problem with this stop was that we sat around and shot the breeze for about 30 minutes and like an idiot I left my heated liner on full power sitting there all warm and happy. Time to leave and no joy. Now I'm out here in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery. She offered to stay with me and give me a hand but I told her nothing she could really do so she took off as she was trying to make a campground which was about another 25 miles. I had passed a gravel road a ways back that looked like it had seen some traffic so I humped down there to see if I could find anyone. Walk up on this clapped out shack and start thinking about the scene from Deliverance and one of the characters is going to step out and start shooting. A woman lives here by herself and she was scary to say the least. I wanted to take here picture but didn't dare. She had these coveralls on that hadn't seen a washing machine in a long time. She had a few old trucks and junk cars laying around but she said all of them were broke down with no batteries. I asked her if I could just borrow the cables and take them back on the road in hopes of flagging someone down. I'd bring them back when I was back on the road. Her response was....don't make me come looking for you. Trust me, I'll be coming back with them you can rest assured. Walked back to the bike and got a jump in about 20 minutes. Place was a nightmare. I asked her if she lived out there during the winter months. She stares at me and says..... duh, where else would I live. I dropped off those cables and hauled *** out of there. Took a pic of her place while she was inside rummaging around for the cables but feared for my life if she were to catch me.
Some more shots of the area....
Got into Haines Junction, ate a quick burger and headed toward Haines. A guy at the burger stand told me about a side road I should check out so about 30 minutes outside of Haines Junction. I found it and did some exploring. It's in the Kluane-Wrangell Wilderness area but due to ground clearance and street tires on the Strom I couldn't go very far in on it. Would love to get back here with a more dirt worthy bike. Everything you could ask for....rough, remote, water crossings, beautiful, no people and the possibility of getting eaten. Dualsporting utopia!
Saw plenty of this on the road going in.....
The drive from Haines Junction in the Yukon to Haines, Alaska was probably the highlight of the trip. It is a beautiful ride in. I could have easily taken a few days to do it as I'm sure there are lots of side roads one could poke around on but I needed to get into Haines a couple of days early to ensure I didn't miss the boat. Was the next to last boat heading south for the summer season and I didn't want to miss it.
Some more shots of the ride....
