Ride on, Highway Cat !!: ..."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.