..."and to your right it's Meals on Wheels"

DAY 9, Sept 3, 2015
Skagway AK - Carcross YU, Route 2, Klondike Hwy over White Pass
Dist. 104 km, Ride Time: 6:42,  15.6k. Avg. Total inc. pics &  breaks 7:45

    Headed out at around 8:30am knowing that much of our day would be a slow grind over White Pass. It was chilly, but sunny, so I took it slow to keep the sweat down. Today's goal was to climb out of Alaska and into BC  and then into Yukon where I hope to find home in Carcross. http://www.yukoninfo.com/region/carcross/
    My final interaction with a Skagway resident came from an old man in a pickup truck. While crossing the bridge that carries travellers out of town, this old man stopped his truck on the bridge in the opposite direction and waited for me. He yelled; "Get off the bridge, use the new pedestrian crossing!" I channeled my anger into the task at hand. "Get a life crazy coot!" (edited version)
    Anyway, the climb started pretty much right away. I shared the road with multiple tour buses and bicycle tour groups. These were vans full of tourists that pulled trailers full of bikes. They would drive to the summit where the customers would get out and mount the bikes for a gravity assist ride down. Occasionally I would get a nod of approval or a shout out: "Fully loaded grind. Nice!!" from the group leader as they flew by.
    The road up to the White Pass Summit was in great condition. It took around 2.5 hours to do that 14.3 mile stretch. When I began climbing, I thought it was 14 km. Silly me, it was 23. "D'oh!" Once I crested the hill, I entered a strange unworldly plateau. The vegetation was kind of stunted and there were odd rock formations. This area must be under 10 m. of snow in the winter. I stopped at a look out just as a tour bus let out it's contents. One guy bee-lined it straight to me. He was interested in my ride and said that he was once a competitive cyclist. He said that the tour bus driver had been calling me "Meals on Wheels". ..."and just ahead, beyond the waterfall to your right, you'll get a glimpse of the rare Meals on Wheels Creature"....  Nice to be part of the tourist experience. Anyway, he took my pic with his and my camera. Cool.
      As the landscape began to transform into a more identifiable forest setting, I rolled up to Canada Customs. The young female border guard looked like a punk rock army soldier. Piercings/crew cut. After the standard questions, she asked a bit about the trip. I said most of it was horrible and I needed help in the Kluane region. She said that she helped cyclists out during the same time by letting them inside to warm a bit. She, along with others I talked to said that this crappy weather was a month early. My legs were starting to cramp up at this point so I asked if she could refill my water bottle. She probably broke protocol, but did it. Another god damn friendly person (with a sidearm). Yay!
    I arrived at Carcross relieved. There was a crappy RV camp beside a gas station/restaurant. Montana Services. Perfect. Basically a large unkept clearing with large parking spots. I occupied about 5% of one. Ha ha. Not only could I get dinner and breakfast, but beer too. Awesome. After food , shower and beers, it was nap time. Around 3 am it got damn cold and I had to go tinkle. Grrr. I tried to exit my tiny tent in a manner that would not induce a leg cramp. It took a while but I dragged myself out using my elbows while lying on my back. Pathetic sight for sure. Once out of the tent, I stopped and stared at the sky in amazement. Aurora Borealis was on channel Yukon. Despite being freezing cold and having to pee like a race horse and also trying to fight off leg cramps at 3am, I paused to marvel at this northern spectacle...  

Are we there yet? .... 5 miles into climb outta Scagway...

Morning light on the cat

Tour companies bring customers to the summit for the gravity assist ride down.

Very near the White Pass Summit

Just us

Looking back from whence we came.

White Pass selfie.

1000 m., not a huge climb, but @ 23km with a heavy load and a whining cat, it's leg cramp material.

A tour bus rider took this pic. He said that the tour bus driver called me "Meals on Wheels" Ha ha,  I guess I was an attraction for the tourists even though I was a tourist.

 This race took place here last week while I was struggling in the Kluane region.

Yes I know that the road keeps climbing behind me

Desolation road...

Run for the border

Cool world

Canada Customs

Hwc admires the scenery...

Tutshi Lake BC

Rough road. Grrr. Yukon!

Nice sign. Fix yer damn roads!

Carcross!

My crappy yet perfect site...

"Air horn? ...You Canadian?"

DAY 8, Wed. Sept. 2, 2015
Stay in Skagway. Short side trip to Dyea 35km gravel road
Zombie Walk...

Checked out of "Mountain view" and headed to "Sgt. Preston's Lodge." I was too early, so I scored a giant breakfast at the pub below "Morning Wood Motel."  (Heart stopper 2000 with optional cardiac reboot kit) Now that I was fuelled up, I headed to "Sockeye Cycles" to spend US funds. Found a groovy jersey, water bottle and socks. Nice little shop. They have a smaller satellite location back in Haines also. Tours are the big thing with these guys. However, they also sell bikes etc.  
http://www.cyclealaska.com/
Rode out to the old abandoned gold rush town of Dyea. It's an annoying 16 km ride on a windy gravel potholed narrow road. There is a minimal campground with no water that is mostly used by people hiking the Chilcoot Trail. (Which I would love to hike someday)I didn't get many pics as my bloody memory card maxed out and I didn't bring a spare. Idiot! I was so pissed off that I turned back.
I didn't even see the old site or the cemetery. http://www.nps.gov/klgo/learn/historyculture/dyea.htm
    Back in the big city, I picked up a new SD card at Radio Shack (so surprised to see this store) Also went to the Hardware Store and got an air horn. I like to draw attention to myself, I thought that this would help. Actually I got it to warn bears and Christians. At the hardware store, I held up the canister to the 20 something yr. old sales clerk and said: "For bears, what do you think?" He said, "I wouldn't trust it" (Laughingly) Then I said, "Well, what alternatives do I have?" He said, (matter of factly) "Well, I carry a gun"(Smirk) ...USA, USA!...
Maybe he thought I wanted to shoot bears with air. It was for conflict avoidance, not defence. A gun would have been nice though, ha ha.
    Did more zombie walking. Where the Hell does one go for a snack without spending $25.00?... I digress. Met a cool guy that owns an outdoor store specializing in "Fat bikes" We talked about biking and the challenges that can be found in cold climates. Alcan Outfitters is the business and the fine owner is Matt. http://www.alcanoutfitters.com/
Drop by his nice little shop for a chat and rent a fat bike! Do it now!!! (Arnold Schwarzenegger accent)
    Anyway, beer and pizza back at home base in preparation for the big push outta town the next morning. Ya. Beer is a good pre - mountain ride. Ha ha.

Leaving Mountain View, "I really gotta make this call"

New home base

Our patio

Joe to go. I didn't know that Sasquatch travelled this far north. Ultramarathoner.

Boat people. aka, "Walkers"

Thatta way!

Main Street

Back and forth. Back and forth. Down on Main Street. At times the street was blanketed with Walkers.

Crazy people

A rare South Asian Spirit Mongoose.

Bikes and swag

New jersey

Matt. Alcan Outfitters. Knows his stuff. Get Fat Biking!

Snow Killer. Or Mister Plow.

Surly Shirley finds a Surly at the Alaskan Liquor Store. How perfect

Sanity control

The engine that could and does!

Road to Dyea

"Lets go hiking!" Would have loved to go.

Signage

In Dyea area. Love that bike sign

There were lots of horse riders and a bike tour group. I think that this was my last photo on this memory card.

Crude sketch. Skagway Hardware Store

Bearanoia.

The Walking Dead of Skagway Alaska

DAY 7, Tuesday Sept. 1, 2015
Haines Alaska - Skagway Alaska. Short ride to the fast ferry, short ride to Skagway Mountainview RV Park

The weather turned nice, finally. Warm and sunny. I strolled a block or 2 down to the greasy spoon for some morning sludge. Great little place. Bamboo something or other. I asked the waitress about the fast ferry. Glad I did. She said that it was just down the hill while I was prepared to head 4 miles outta town! Good Grief.  I've bin more social than normal on this trip and it seems to be helping. Not just cat chat. Ha ha. After a big heart stopper breakfast, I headed out and bummed around Haines. Out of curiosity, I checked out the bicycle campsite area down by the water. Maybe 5 km down the beach road. There was one guy and his dog there. He was playing guitar. (the guy). It would have been cool to stay there, but I was on a lazy streak. I checked out the Hammer Museum for hammers and the Library for Googles. Both buildings were amazing. I guess residents need something to do when the 20 feet of snow arrive. Was nice to re-connect with all my fans and check the forecast and local news.  Anyway, nice little quiet town but it was time to hit the fast ferry...
    The ferry was similar in size to the "Seabus" in Vancouver but without pontoons. Also, at $31.00/person plus $13.00 for Shirley, it's piracy. About an hour later we landed in Skagway and it was off to " Mountainview RV Park." What a dump. There was a couple sites for tenting and the rest was RV, but it looked more like a trailer park. I think I saw "Bubbles". Anyway, at least there were trees in the tenting area. We got set up and headed back into the "walker zone"...
    I did the tourist thing for a bit. It was a bizarre sight. Thousands of people walking around aimlessly like the "Walking Dead." Cruise ships deposit walkers throughout the day like a human vending machine. It's a cool place from a visual standpoint but has no real substance. It's like an episode of "old school Star Trek".They kept a lot of the old buildings from the Gold Rush Era and have maintained them well. The sidewalks are wooden and the colours are bright. Everything is expensive and only a few brand name stores to be found. Starbucks(of coarse) and Radio Shack, and maybe 1 or 2 others. I wanted to stay another day here so I got a reservation at "Sgt. Preston's Lodge" for tomorrow.
    I was getting fed up with the Walkers, so I dialled in some fine brew and headed "Home" Got some firewood, drank a boatload and had a giant fire. 
Everything is better in the dark.     

Bike camping. Option 2

Haines Shore

Yoga studio

Heritage homes, land boat

Gun control

Hammer control

Hammers for all!

There were other rooms also with hammers.

Postcard fun

Ferry to Skagway

Weary travelers

Land Ho!

I tried walking. Too many zombies, we rode instead.

MY site at Mountainview. Happy to set up the expensive silicone tarp although it wasn't needed.

There was another camper near me. A man and his wife. He was just as thrilled as me. Love the strong American accent.

Small cat in a strange world. "I can't take this crap much longer..."

Again with the Hammer.