Canadian Rockies in the Rear View Mirror

Today, as we close the books on June, we also close the books on our 9th week. We have seen so much and met so many wonderful  people. We knew this was going to be a trip of a lifetime but little did we know all that we would encounter.

We drove through the Canadian Rockies for the last time today. It was another incredible day. We left Watson Lake at 7:30 and drove 320 miles to Fort Nelson and checked in at 2:30. We would have arrived sooner but I spent a lot of time doing u-turns in order to photograph something we drove by. The Rockies did not disappoint at all in their scenic beauty.









We counted at least 15 bear sightings today.

I mean seriously, don't you just want to scratch behind this guy's ears?

And we ran into the same Bison herd that we saw on the way up. 

You ask how I know it's the same herd; I recognize this one.

He actually crossed right in front of the bike paying me no attention. This is a photo through my windshield. He's about 10 feet in front of us.

As I was taking his close up I saw another came from behind and boxed us in.

And until today, we have not noticed mosquitoes hardly at all. We had heard horror stories so we came prepared with bug spray. We shipped it home when we left Alaska.Today was a different story. Notice all of the dots in front of this bison. Mosquitoes, every one of those dots, just swarming! Rather thick don't you think?



And we saw more stone sheep along the road.



And I shall close with a photo of this good looking guy.

Canadian Rockies (and all of Canada), you have treated us to some spectacular sights that we will not forget. Why don't you throw yourself a party tomorrow to celebrate! For those who don't know, Canada celebrates 150 years tomorrow.

Till Tomorrow!

Yukon Do It!

Sorry about the title but this is our last night in the Yukon. I had to check the map to see where we are. This is the stretch of the Alaska Highway that enters and exits the Yukon and British Columbia. We are spending the night in Watson Lake. We left Haines Junction at 7:30 this morning and drove 360 miles for an 8 hour trip. It's not like we are driving slowly but we stop for gas every 80-100 miles and stretch our legs and visit with whomever wants to visit.

I have to give a shout out to the young, energetic couple we met today at Johnson Crossing. She is from Lithuania and he is from England. They are riding from Anchorage to Panama on bicycles. We have admired all of the bicyclists that we have passed on our trip. We watch them pedaling up steep grades and want to offer to tow them up but we know they don't want help; they want an accomplishment. What's not to admire?

While stretching our legs at the Continental Divide, we met Bruno, the Polish Guy, as he told us to refer to him. Bruno is a truck driver from Chicago and traveling with 2 other guys. Bruno told us he owns 6 motorcycles but brought his oldest with 282,000 miles. Bruno and his buddies are traveling up to Prudhoe Bay on the Dalton Highway. Bruno is the type of man that will not drive by someone stranded on the side of the road. He had just helped a man from Michigan on the side of the road with his 95 Goldwing and his grandson. Bruno, great attitude! May more people be like Bruno, and may their means of transportation make it as far as Bruno's BMW.

 

We met the friendliest flag person this morning. In the Yukon and in BC, when they work on the roads and stop traffic, they always wave the bikers to the front of the line. This is so once traffic can go again, bikers are not buried in dust and prevents gravel from kicking up onto us and our bikes. She visited with us while we waited for our turn and then sent us off with a beautiful smile!

We continue to enjoy the beautiful scenery all around us.

We took a break along a river and saw this branch buried in this shed. We were grateful we were not on the highway on this windy day.

One thing we were taken by both going to Alaska and now returning; there are miles and miles of rock graffiti on hills adjacent to the road. There are hundreds upon hundreds of such graffiti for hundreds of miles. It is about impossible to read any of them traveling at regular speed, so I don't know the reasoning for doing this. It has to take a significant amount time to do, yet we have yet to see someone doing this. It just seems a bit off the wall and weird enough that it got our attention. I guess if there has to be graffiti, I prefer this to the alternatives in the cities.

And one thing totally absent along the Alaska Highway is litter. It is wonderful to see just nature when you look out. Perhaps this simple sign is the answer?

And we enjoyed seeing this guy snacking on grasses along the road. Notice I am not in the proper lane while we slowed to get his picture.

Till Tomorrow!

Back on the Alcan

We left Glenallen and drove 430 miles back to Haines Junction. This is where we saw snow on our way up. This is our furthest we have driven on this trip so far. Once we drove 140 miles, we arrived back in Tok which is back on the Alaska Highway. We are now back tracking the way we came in. We will drive the remainder of the Alaska Highway to Dawson Creek, another 1000 miles, before we veer off to visit friends in Medicine Hat, Alberta Canada. Today was the best weather we have seen in sometime. We left at 7:45 with 49 degrees and it soon warmed up to the mid 60s.

Seeing this mountain early morning, we couldn't quite tell if it was strictly a cloud or a mountain. As we approached it, shrouded in the cloud, we realized it was indeed a mountain.

We thoroughly enjoyed watching this cow moose in the pond. (Do you know the plural of moose?) Moose eat plants and twigs. They have 4 stomachs like a cow. They regurgitate and chew their cud just like a cow. This beauty is eating plants on the bottom of the pond. She had her head under water so long, I had to honk my horn in order to get her to lift her head for a great photo.  The plural of moose is...moose.

We went through customs and re-entered the Yukon.

We passed by Destruction Bay on our way to Alaska, but we missed this message board, so here it is now.

Though we have previously passed this mountain and photographed it, the sun was helping to illuminate it so we couldn't resist.

Till Tomorrow!

Thrillin' to Chillin'!

We safely made it off of Kodiak and into Anchorage this morning. We met back up with the bike that we had in a storage bay. We went through all of our belongings and packed up a bunch of items we were done with and took them to UPS to ship home. This will not only lighten our load for heading back home but it also make it easier to maneuver things about in the bike and trailer.

When we arrived in Alaska, we went through Tok to Fairbanks to Anchorage. We will essentially be taking the hypotenuse of the triangle from Anchorage to Tok. This is not only about 100 fewer miles but it had some scenery we really wanted to see.

All of the rivers we passed were really flowing hard.

We were tempted to race to our destination for the evening but we knew better. We shall only pass this way but once. We still took our time and we were not disappointed. We loved this beautiful, serene reflecting lake.

It is a bit unnerving to have a sign indicating: “Landslide Area Do Not Stop”. I really had no intentions of stopping. Seeing where part of the hill has previously let loose and knowing it’s just a matter of time before this part lets go also. The sheer cliff on our side of the road didn’t help to calm our uneasiness. I have a plan if we encounter a bull moose in the road; I'm pretty sure we can safely pass under his legs; encountering a boulder rolling down a steep hillside...?

And then we round a curve and there it is: Matanuska Glacier, incredibly close to the highway standing loud and proud. With each new curve it got closer and closer.

 

I then followed a road sign down a dirt road in order to get closer yet. The dirt road ended up being 3 miles long and traversed 2 bridges over a raging river.

The view upon our arrival was incredible.

And then we headed out on a ¾ mile trek over a pathway.

Until we were standing on the glacier!

This glacier is huge. Notice the individual standing on the glacier. The glacier dwarfs them and I didn’t capture the whole glacier.

And yes, we had to touch it to verify it really is ice. It is!

And of course I had to lie down on the ice.

Notice mid photo off to the left; there is a group standing looking at the glacier. Even the dirt in the foreground is part of the glacier. Also, the glacier wraps around behind what you can see. The glacier is 26 miles long and 4 miles wide.

Indeed this was a very cool day. Did you hear me: We walked on a glacier!!!

Till Tomorrow!