Last grunts...

October 24, 2015

Brain farts;
    The original concept for this trip came about while I was planning a trip to the Whitehorse Cemetery. My parents took residence there 7 years ago in Section "N".  I'm sure that they were tired of having bears as their only visitors. A human rendezvous was overdue. So I thought, why not turn a visit into a bike tour?...  I didn't have much choice in the timeline because of work but was reassured that early September was a good time to go... "D'OH!!"
    This tour was short on km's and long on days but I wanted a buffer in case of trouble and time to be a tourist. I had a rough itinerary to follow as a guide but I was forced to make adjustments along the way. No surprise there.
   I learned that being prepared is not enough when in the Yukon. You need to assume the unexpected. The locals assured me that the poor weather was abnormal for this time of year. I also learned that the people up here are not like the people in the lower mainland. (or anywhere else) These people are amazing. There was always a person willing to offer assistance, whether it was to portage past a grizzly, escape out of a National Park or offer hydration, food or mechanical repair on an otherwise deserted highway.
   When I look back at this trip, I think; "What a nightmare, What the hell was I thinking?!!. But as I recount the fine details and examine my notes, I see a better outcome.
    This trip had less to do with cycling and more to do with HUMANITY. Cheers to the good people of the Yukon and Alaska (and Wisconsin USA)!!
 

My original sketch. I planned on a clockwise route. My sister's husband suggested that I reverse the direction. I agreed.

First week timeline sample.

Good to be home. Happy Hallowe'en!!

Leaving here

Day 14, Tuesday Sept. 8, 2015
Bumming around town. Waiting for my flight outta Whitehorse...

Went to the Post Office to ship some "non plane" items back home. The clerk's list of restricted items had me pulling my unused bear spray and camp fuel canister out of the sealed box. I gave them back to Coast Mountain Sports as a gift. In hindsight, I should've left them in the box. Oh well. Anyway, the bears in North Vancouver would respond to hair spray or cologne, no need for bear spray.
    Bummed around town while I waited for my flight. I got some minutes on one of the library internet computers. Google stuff including printing out my boarding pass. It was a super nice day and I was feeling sad about leaving. This is funny because when I first arrived, I hated the town and couldn't wait to leave. Weather is a powerful influence.
    The flight was awesome as we had all 3 seats to ourselves. HWC could sprawl out. She was so happy.
 
 

Cadence Cycles. Was closed

HWC loves Gold Rush history

Poser

Ticket to ride

Bustling Whitehorse Airport. I left the box un-taped. They did the annoying search.

Joe for HWC

3 seats for us. HWC can sprawl out.

The Yukon

Back at YVR

Miles Canyon

DAY 13, Monday Sept, 7, 2015 (Labour Day)
Robert Service Campground - Miles Canyon - Back to Stratford Motel. 20km a bit hilly, 1:15

As I was slowly packing up to leave camp, staff came around to warn of a bear nearby. I didn't see the bear as I was leaving. The weather was pretty nice for my short ride to "Miles Canyon".
http://www.yukoninfo.com/whitehorse-yukon/whitehorse-info-miles-canyon/
    It was a couple ups and downs to the canyon, but was worth the trip. It was an awe inspiring sight. I was actually here several years ago, when I took part in the Yukon River Trail Marathon.
http://www.yukonmarathon.com/   It was a tough run as I had an infected ingrown toenail at the time.
Extremely painful. It was my first marathon length trail run, so I took it slow and cautious. I remember cramping up with about a km to go on a big downhill, ha ha....Anyway;
     We didn't stay long. Got set up back at the motel and rode to the "Superstore" for dinner. As I was locking up my bike outside the store, A large older native man approached me. .. "Hey, that's a nice bike, mine's in jail". He said.
He was bleeding from areas of his face and got pretty friendly with me. I went along with it and gave him the benefit of a doubt, although, I was reluctant to leave Shirley alone. The last thing one wants to hear is "That's a nice bike" before leaving it. And why was the guy bleeding? Anyway, standing in line at the checkout was a very painful experience. It was taking so bloody long and I couldn't stop worrying about my bike. Everything seemed to be moving slower than humanly possible. It was like an episode of Star Trek when one person is sent to a different space where time is much faster, through a singularity. (or something like that) AAARRRGGHHH!!
   I finally got  outta there to find Shirley waiting patiently... sigh.
I got some more local hops and boxed Shirley up for tomorrow's flight home. The process of packing the bike was more difficult this time. I went through a dictionary of swear words by the time I was done.

Lovely cabin on route to Miles Canyon

Road to Miles Canyon (before hills)

Float plane central 

Above Miles Canyon

HWC ponders a better life...

HWC @ Miles Canyon

Crazy humans

Me and HWC on the footbridge

"Take as much as you can cut and carry"

DAY 12, Sept. 6, 2015
Dist. 3.17 km



     Got myself a mighty fine campsite at "Robert Service Campground" (The local private camp). It's walking distance from the town. It has to be one of the nicest private campgrounds I've ever been to. There are lots of trees and the sites are large and well kept. Also, it is quiet as the staff have no motorized vehicles. The clean up person walks while pulling a tandem wagon. There is a small cafe for coffee and baked snacks. COFFEE!! Beside the cafe is a firewood lot where full length strips of raw lumber are stacked. (Slabs that are rejected by mills I think.) Maybe 12 feet long.  A bow saw and two axes hang from a tree beside a notice explaining the firewood rules. The rule that mattered to me was "Take only as much as you can cut and carry" Ha ha
    Apparently there was a bear sighting that morning and again when I was packing up to leave next morning.  I really felt like going for a run, but wimped out and did the camera stroll thing. Had some fun cutting wood. It was a bit more effort than I thought it would be but I loved it. I also cut some wood for the staff. They have a patio area for hanging out. There is a fireplace which they keep going. Nice. Anyway, I had a great campfire that evening. HWC was on bear watch...

Hanging out area outside the cafe. Note the "Bike Parking"spot. 

The Office/Cafe

Wood cutting saw horses and hand saw (no noisy equipment here) I like it.

The wood lot. (there was a stack of lumber to the left, not shown.)

Sketch of wood cutting scenario

New home. I didn't need the tarp but I felt like dialling it up for fun. 

Firewood delivery. It took me several tries to get this pic. Ha ha Only 10 seconds on the timer, I almost fell on one try. I'm sure the bear was watching with a smile.

Shirley can take the load 

My dad's hunting knife finally succumbed to the abuse. (handle broke apart not long after this pic)

HWC inspects the fuel "Move this crap. I want on that newspaper"

Clean up wagon (no "Ranger Rick" driving round & round in a pickup truck here)

Some of my wood caught on fire. Dang it.
I should've reinstalled this fire ring. It was set in the ground too deep. The air "vent" was buried which made it tough to create fire.  

    

"Cheers Jack and Shirley!"

DAY 11, Sept. 5, 2015
15 km of city riding. Whitehorse YU


Well, with my bike trip done early (I gave myself a ton of time in case of issues) We find ourselves with a few days of hanging out in Whitehorse before our silver bird takes us south. So, we shall try to irritate the locals as much as possible before our return to the real home base. HWC likes this.
    We started the day with a fine breakfast at a neat little place down the street. Unfortunately the waitress turned her attention to a different table leaving me and Hwc. floating in the void between space and time. We left a 3 cent tip with a note explaining why. Oh well, anyway the day ahead was all about visiting local points of interest which was somewhat exciting.
    The weather was pretty good, so we rode up Whitehorse's mountain bike hot spot. Along the way up we stopped at the Cemetery. Part of the reason for this bike trip was inspired by this very visit.
 A few months ago, over a few Ales, HWC and I had a crazy idea...  "Hey, we should visit my  parents in Whitehorse. We'll bring Shirley along and do a tour." (Shirley is my touring bike)  Jack and Shirley (my parents) "reside" in the Grey Mountain Cemetery and probably haven't had a visitor (except bears) in 7 years. It was time. 
    I spent a while taking weird pics and "sharing a beer" (Labatt's Blue) with a gravestone. Weird? Ya, but was also a bit freeing. 
    "Cheers Jack and Shirley!"  I'm not sure if my Mom's spirit was present or not, but strangely enough, my bike (named after my mom) fell over twice. She was probably telling me to stop wasting my time and get a life. Ha ha. Spooky!  
    It started raining again. How fitting. Anyway, I headed down the hill and over to the local campground for a peek a boo. Looks cool. Next stop was my sister's old place up above the city. (I use the word "city" loosely). It was interesting to see the old neighbourhood. There were a few changes I think and it looked like the house was in full usage judging by the vehicles there. 
    I visited the Clan here a few times in the recent past, mostly for xmas. They are now a car or bike ride away from me. I miss those plane rides.
   Spent the rest of the day wandering around aimlessly. Was good to visit these two important personal historic sites.

HWC visits the SS Klondike

Long overdue

CHEERS Darragh Clan!

Bottom's up

My bike as a tripod

Looking at Whitehorse

Back down the hill

My sister's old stomping ground

The old Bishop House. Looks different in the winter

Trail to the communities up there

Cool metal art looking down at Whitehorse

Herb central. A witch lurks nearby...

The neighbourhood. Complete with shenanigans.

    

Doggy dinner bell

DAY 10,  Friday, September 4, 2015
Carcross - Whitehorse YU, Klondike Hwy 2, Alaska Hwy 1
Dist. 72 km. 21.7k. Avg. Ride time: 3:18, Total Time: 3:44 (some tailwind, easy topography)

The start of the day began with a quick ride into town for a few pics. My camp was about 1 km. outside the town on the hwy. Carcross looks more like a movie set than an actual town, although, some people live there. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcross
    Once I got out onto the highway and recited the 4 sacred words of Highwaycat; "On. The. Road. Again". I got a message from my camera about not reading the new memory card. So, now I was worried that all my pics since Skagway weren't being stored and all the following pics as well.. Also, the weather was starting to turn a bit and I was having some painful skin problems. (I'll spare the details) The only good thing was that I had a bit of a tailwind. The Gods of Hell were looking favourably upon my evil soul.
    It didn't take long before I came upon the "Carcross Desert" This was a truely unique experience for me and hwc. We stayed for a pic, but that's all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcross_Desert
    After a bit of riding on this crappy road (rough and pitted old asphalt), An SUV had passed me and after a few minutes, I could see him in the distance parked on the shoulder. As I approached him, I noticed that he was knelt down and had a large camera lens pointed at me. He was snapping pics right up until I filled his view finder. I felt like a pro athlete, ha ha. Perhaps a local media photographer. I had other moments of encouragement also. A guy drove by cheering "You got this!" or a wave from motorcyclists and tour bus drivers. I consume those nice moments and turn them into fuel.
   Even when things are going well and there are rainbows and donuts circling my cranium, one needs to stay alert and focused on the task at hand. This brings me to the dog...
     As I got closer to Whitehorse, the presence of human habitation began to emerge. There was a fenced off property that had wooden shacks, barn and several dog houses lined up in a row. As I slowly cycled by, the dogs heard me and came out to look. Like a Heavy Metal band, they broke into a violent frenzied wall of sound, in this case barking, not Marshall stacked guitars. They were tethered. While watching them to my left, I said to myself: "So long suckers!".  Just then I heard much louder barking coming from my right. I turned to see another dog that was approaching at a high rate of speed. Big dark angry looking untethered beast was closing the gap. I pushed hard, but was losing the race. Lucky for me a car came up from behind and scared him off.  My bear bell had turned against me, time to bury it. No more doggy dinner bell. Hwc will miss the dingaling-a-ling.
   I said bye bye to the Klondike Hwy. and made a left on the Alaska Hwy. for a final push into Whitehorse. I headed straight for the Stratford Motel to see about a vacancy even though I had a reservation back at the River View where I began my trip. I didn't want to stay there again but will need to retrieve my bike box for the flight home. The Stratford is Smaller but much nicer for only $10 more.
   This arrival completes my little circle route of Yukon, BC and Ak. Low in kilometers but high in human & animal relations. Lesson learned. Two more days in Whitehorse to be sure that I had annoyed every resident sufficiently, then it's 737 time. For now, it's local beer time. 

Here are a couple pics of Carcross...

Old train station

Can't you read?

HWC approved creepy church

Trendy tourist shack

Native art

Sign of the times

The Klondike Hwy.

Smallest desert or gigant sandbox

Sketch: When it's time to lose the bear bell...

Alaska Hwy.

Completion of the circle route

Home base

Local hydration