DAY 36: 6/28/02 JUNCTION 37 to RANCHERIA / 62 mi / 3150't Elev gain / CG N60:5.1' W130:36.4'

We tapped on Tom and Adam's tent to say goodbye and be safe at 6:30. It was sunny and the road was quiet as we headed north on the Alaska Highway from Cassiar Junction. The roly-poly hills of the Yukon Plateau have been transformed into long sweeping grades on the upgraded Alaska Highway. On the tops of the hills we had huge views down on the canopy of the thick, scraggly forests. Big Creek Rest Area seemed to be the perfect spot for lunch and sunscreen. We just finished eating when a woman stepped out of the restroom wearing a "Bloomsday" shirt. We introduced ourselves to Dan and Joanne from Spokane. Joanne, a teacher, had the rig packed and ready to go the day after school got out. Dan was still looking for the best fly fishing in the Yukon and Paddy, the dog, was was trying to scratch his mosquito bites. Dan offered to tow us to the top of the next hill. We declined but accepted Joanne's offer of an apple and an orange. The energy we received from this chance meeting with home-folk felt like we were being towed up the hill. After following the Rancheria River and watching the northern Cassiar Mountains come back into view, we finally arrived at the campground. Rancheria???? Hey, we are in Canada - not Mexico. Rancheria was named by Mexican miners during the Cassiar gold rush in 1872. This site was was also the location of a workers camp during the construction of the Alaska Highway. The motel, gas station, cafe and campground that are here today have been owned and operated by a brassy, but loveable woman for the last 30 years.

DAY 37: 6/29/02 RANCHERIA to MORLEY RIVER / 66mi / 2150' Elev gain / N60:0.62' W132:9.7'

Neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night can stop us now. Hey, wait! We haven't seen dark of night for weeks. Even though the sun officially rises at 4:28 and sets at 11:15 the sky is still light when we go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Rita still can't tell what direction we are going or what time it is by looking at the sun. It felt cold in the tent when we woke up, so it was no surprise that the bikes were covered with frost when we stuck our noses out. We fumbled clumsily as we packed up our panniers with our gloves on. Bev's Restaurant was open 24 hours a day, so at 5:30 we were the first customers for breakfast. After loading up on sausage, eggs and hashbrowns we felt strong as we chugged up to the Continental Divide which divides the Yukon River and Mackenzie River watersheds. The Yukon River system runs 2300 miles to drain into the Bering Sea/Pacific Ocean and the Mackenzie River system runs 2650 miles to empty into the Beaufort Sea/Arctic Ocean.
It was another day of pretty scenery as we crossed the Cassiar Mountains one more time. Rita stopped to take picture of Pyramid Mountain above Swan Lake when Ken spied 5 moose far away on the other side of the Lake. Ken wanted to hang around until they wandered back in the bush, but instead we kept riding. At the end of Swan Lake we met a cycling couple from Germany. He said, "With this old rod, I caught a trout this big" as he stretched out his hands. In no time they charged past us on their bikes so they could find another fishing hole. Sure enough, about an hour later we found their bikes propped against a bridge abutment and they were downstream a hundred yards (meters up here) casting for another trout. The Weather, Wind & Hill Gods were all in our favor though most of the day. The 66 miles we were so apprehensive about this morning melted away by mid afternoon. The much anticipated Morley River Campground was a bit more "rustic" then we had expected, but the hot showers and pie ala mode after our usual rice/noodle dinner made it seem first class. We were sitting in the cafe sipping a cup of coffee and typing this journal, when the German couple walked in with a couple of Arctic Grayling they caught in the Morley River behind the campground. They're eating better than us tonight.

DAY 38: 6/30/02 MORLEY RIVER to JOHNSON'S CROSSING / 56mi / 2630' Elev gain / N60:29' W133:18.5'

The first big challenge today was crossing the Nisutlin Bay Bridge, the longest water span on the Alaska Highway at 1,917 feet. The steel grate surface of this bridge is very precarious for bicycle tires. We prayed a giant truck would not bear down on us as we had white knuckles all the way across. We didn't dare look up, down or sideways and just focused on the keeping our eyes straight ahead. Once across the bridge we were in the town of Teslin situated on Teslin Lake, meaning long narrow water. The lake is 80 miles long. Teslin was established as a trading post in 1903 and many of Tlingit residents are still involved in the traditional livelihood of hunting, trapping and fishing. We knew the temperature would rise and a head wind would come up if we dallied, but we wanted to spend some time at the George Johnston Museum. Head wind or not, learning about George, a Tlingit Indian, was worth all 1800 miles of cycling. He lived from 1884 to 1972, had a keen interest in photography and with his camera captured the lives of the First Nations People of Teslin between 1910 and 1940. George also bought a new Chevy in 1928. It didn't seem to bother him that there was not even one road in Teslin. He brought the car from Whitehorse to Teslin up the lake by boat. Since the Alaska Highway was still 14 years off, he built a 3-mile road for his Teslin taxi. In the winter he chained up and drove on the frozen lake to go fishing.
We wanted to stop at Mukluk Annie's Salmon Bake for lunch, but there were 2 tour buses in the parking lot so we settled for cheese tortillas and kept on pedaling. We still had 35 miles to go. Continuing northward along the lake, we saw a cyclist dressed in a fluorescent orange shirt riding a recumbent bicycle heading south. We welcomed him as he came across the road to talk. Chuck has led many tours for Adventure Cycling (AC) with the North Star Route being his favorite. Rita had become familiar with Chuck when she read a book about the adventures of cycling to Alaska written by one of Chuck's clients. He had us laughing with tales of his adventures as a tour director and thankfully, he shared much valuable information since he was coming from where we were going. By now it was getting later and we still had 25 miles to go, so we pedaled like crazy and finally crossed the Teslin River at Johnson's Crossing on the 3rd longest span of the Alaska Highway. We were relieved to see that the bridge deck was concrete. We paid for our campsite, ordered 2 huge cinnamon buns, a liter of milk and settled in for the night.

DAY 39: 7/1/02 JOHNSON'S CROSSING to WHITEHORSE / 67mi / 2100' Elev gain / N60:35.8' W134:51.3'

By the time we ate our cinnamon buns, took showers, did laundry, and pitched the tent, last night it started to rain. We climbed inside to take a nap until the rain stopped and didn't wake up until 11:30. We got up to go to the bathroom and the sun was still shining. Needless to say we totally skipped the usual dinner and went back to sleep. Knowing that we had almost 70 miles to go to get to the south end of Whitehorse and eaten nothing but cinnamon buns for dinner we were a little concerned that we wouldn't have enough energy. We gulped down our breakfast and began the day's trip. The first 10 miles of climbing just about did us in, so when we arrived at Jake's Corner at 25 miles we were starving. There is some question as to which Jake the corner is named for. It could have been the Captain of the Army Corps of Engineers road building crew, a Teslin Indian who camped there, or Roman Chaykowsky who operated the Corner Service at this junction to Atlin, BC. Nevertheless the burger was filling and Ken just can't get enough of those cinnamon buns so he had another. We cruised along 20 mile long Marsh Lake and began to see expensive lake homes of Whitehorse residents. Today is Dominion Day in Canada and the end of a 3 day weekend, so the traffic was heavy along the lake. When we got to Lewes River Marsh at the end of the lake we took a traffic & butt break at the rest area to marvel at the source of the Yukon River. From Marsh Lake the Yukon flows 2000 miles to the Bering Sea. The road took us away from the river up the big white, clay cliffs and back to rolling hills in bumper to bumper traffic. Ken said he would never complain again if he can have a good shoulder, so he had to keep quiet about all the whoosh, whoosh noise of the traffic. While we were still 12 miles south of downtown Whitehorse, we were in the city limits when we arrived at the campground. We no sooner set up camp, when a German speaking man came by and offered us potatoes and onions. He was flying home tomorrow and needed to get rid of some food. The fried potatoes and a German sausage from the campground Canada Day Barbeque tasted terrific.
Now that we are traveling the Alaska Highway we have met more cycling tourists, although most are German or Japanese. During the entire stretch of the Cassiar we only met one cyclist. He was from Switzerland and headed south.
Tomorrow we will take the day off and explore the city of Whitehorse. A stop at the library will allow us to look at the latest photos Hank has posted on the website. Remember, we send our film home by snail mail.

DAY 40: 7/2/02 rest day in WHITEHORSE / 25mi / 800' Elev gain

When Rita returned from the washroom this morning there were 2 steaming cups of coffee on the picnic table. Virgi, from the motorhome next to our tent, had brewed up a pot and set some out to share. While we broke camp, ate breakfast and drank the coffee, Tom and Virgi, from Texas, shared tales of their travels through Alaska. We always listen carefully to these stories, while trying to transpose their motor miles into pedal miles. After two more cups of coffee and several trips to the bathroom we were finally off to downtown Whitehorse. We coasted down Robert Service Way to the SS Klondike old sternwheeler on the Yukon River. We paid for the five dollar tour and Heidi, the tour guide had to pull Ken's head out the boiler. Rita had to drag him away from the pair of 550 horsepower steam engines. It is a good thing he didn't have a wrench or he might have tried to fix them. Then we were off to the library where we met interesting Anna. She is a local artist, who is trying to reinvent herself now that she has an empty nest. She thought she might like to try bicycle touring and had a ton of questions for us. After a stop at the 3 Bean Health Food Store to get TVP (textured vegetable protein) and other bulk items, we walked across the street to LePage Park where local musicians play lunchtime concerts. When the concert was over McBride Museum was next on our list. The grizzly bear exhibit, the geological room, the Klondike Gold Rush room, the First Nations Room, Robert Service/Cremation of Sam McGee Cabin - we felt rushed as we tried to see it all when one could easily spend days trying to absorb everything there is to know about Whitehorse and the Yukon. It was 5:30 when we left the Museum and we still had to climb the dreaded 2 Mile Hill to get to the grocery and north end campground. Then the WalMart came into view. We weaved our bikes through the multi-acre parking lot/RV camp to get some film. As we walked out the door with our film an older lady came running after us shouting, "Come back, Come back, You set off the security alarm. I need to check your bags." She was quiet adamant about making sure our film would make it through the door. We offered to show her our receipt, but she scanned and rescanned, running back and forth through the door again and again. Finally she was satisfied, but only after she gave the poor checkout girl a demerit. Two mile hill turned out to be a breeze on the bike trail. We grabbed a few more items at the store, headed to the campground for a fabulous teriyaki stirfry.
 

DAY 41: 7/3/02 WHITEHORSE to TWIN LAKES CAMPGROUND / 72mi / 2200' Elev gain / N61:39.3' W135:54.5'

Three miles out of Whitehorse we made a right turn on highway 2, the Klondike Loop. We passed the turn off to Tahkini Hot Springs, a site that has been used by First Nations People, early trappers and now by tourists. Rita wanted to get a good look at Lake Laberge, the site of Sam McGee's fateful end, but by the time we saw it the good view was gone. Ken saw the 1/2 mile to Mom's Bakery, sign but the 1/2 mile came and went and Mom wasn't there so we were both out of luck. While we don't know anything about the geological formation, the Miner's Range had much the same appearance as the hills near Lewiston ID. The land was drier than we had seen, the rocks were volcanic and the steep hills were quite bare. Long narrow Fox Lake was a beautiful spot for a restful lunch. The sun was warm and breeze kept the mosquitoes and black flies at bay. Then we entered a burn area. A major forest fire in 1998 burned both sides of the road and Fox Lake. Ken managed to remain patient while Rita made several photo stops to capture the prettiest fireweed. While it is getting late in the season for the biggest blooms of fireweed, nature's regeneration was well underway. Braeburn Lodge came into view.
They advertise that one of their cinnamon buns will feed four people, but hey, they don't know Ken. After 55 miles, we planned on pitching the tent in Braeburn's parking lot next to the motorhomes. Then we learned about the dogs. "The dogs" are Braeburn's sled dogs, who have been known to chew tents to shreds, so we opted to ride an additional 17 miles to Twin Lakes campground. An excellent choice! It was the sweetest 17 miles of the entire trip. We felt as fast as Lance Armstrong. With the tail wind we made it in less than an hour. There is nothing like a good tailwind to boost our egos.
We met three cyclists today - each one unique and riding alone. Klause approached from the north wearing nothing but a pair of sandals and shiny black lycra bike shorts. We thought we were doing pretty good at having completed 2100 miles, but Klaus has ridden more than 5000 miles in the same time frame. He said he was riding an old French racing bike and it likes to go fast. Bruce, from San Francisco, flew to Inuvik, Northwest Territories and was going to ride down the 500 mile gravel Dempster Highway, then continue south to Skagway. This was Bruce's first big tour. First he had mechanical trouble, hitchhiked to Dawson to get his bike fixed and then hitchhiked back to the Dempster. Then Bruce got caught in a rain/snow storm. After holing up in his tent for 48 hours, he hitched another ride out to the Klondike Highway. Bruce didn't seem too much worse for wear, but he was definitely not in the same caliber as Klaus. Finally, while we were eating the cinnamon bun in Braeburn's, Hans from Denmark quietly got in line behind a bus load of tourist passengers to order a coke. Then he sat down at our table. Hans has been cycling northward since he left the southern tip of South America 16 months ago. He is a soft spoken geographer/anthropologist. He had many thought provoking social perspectives that he hopes to publish when he finishes his ride to the north.

DAY 42: 7/4/02 TWIN LAKES to TATCHUN CREEK / 47mi / 2100' Elev gain / N62:16.9' W136:18.4'

It started to sprinkle as we were eating breakfast to the music of the loons on Twin Lakes. We quickly took down the tent before it got wet and headed for the kitchen shelter. Since it was just a sprinkle we decided to don our rain jackets and head out. By the time we reached the remains of historic Montague House ten miles down the road, were were fully engulfed in a downpour. Rita was frantically trying to get a picture of the ruins and put on her boots, and rain pants all at the same time. Montague House was a roadhouse on the stagecoach route between Whitehorse and Dawson City. It was advertised to have good accommodations for travelers. The accommodations were still good as the cabin out back still had a roof. We took refuge in there while pulling on our rain pants. 20 rainsoaked miles later we arrived in Carmacks, a village of 500 people. We headed for the restaurant, ordered a bowl of soup and cup of coffee to warm up and set about the business of loitering. By 2 o'clock the housekeepers from the hotel were finished using the laundromat, so it was open to the public. We did laundry and took a shower. At last we felt warm and dry. While we were loitering in the laundromat a geologist and helicopter pilot came in. Using GPS and computer software they were mapping out what kind of rocks and layers of volcanic ash were where. This was basically a fact finding and documentation mission for the government. Of course we had read information signs about agate deposits, White River volcanic ash, and Conglomerate Mountain. Our geologist friend was also knowledgeable about the great Missoula ice age floods and Mt St Helen's eruption. The helicopter pilot said they were grounded because of the rain, so it was a good day for them to do laundry too. By 6 o'clock it finally quit raining, so we hopped on our bikes to add 17 more miles to our day. As we crested our last hill, the evening sun was shining divinely on the Yukon River. Here were the Five Finger Rapids, an important historic and geologic site. A viewing platform with 219 steps led to a trail for a closer look at the rapids. There are 5 channels formed by conglomerate rock pillars. These pillars created dangerous navigational hazards for the sternwheelers transporting supplies and gold between Whitehorse and Dawson City. Tatchun Creek Campground, our destination for tonight was just another kilometer down the hill. When the campground is near a creek, that means we will be greeted with a steep climb in the morning and Ken loves to go uphill.