Sunday July 3 - Burwash Landing, Kluane Lake to the Continental Divde

Sandy told me that his wife, his parents, and some other people are now following my blog. So welcome to our adventure!

It was my plan all along to ride solo until I got to the upper reaches of the Alaska Highway where it got remote, then I would hook up with someone or a group and just ride along with them for a while just as a little extra security.

Sandy and I met and then passed each other several times and stayed at the same campgrounds a few times. We both said we preferred to travel alone and that's what we did for several days. After we got on the Alaska Highway we seemed to get along ok so we decided to just travel together. The thing I liked right away was that he stayed a quarter or a half a mile back of me, just far enough that I could see his headlight on a long straightaway.

It turns out that we are perfectly compatible travelers. I couldn't have been luckier to find someone to ride with. He is super friendly and talks to everyone he meets - just like me. Very easy to get along with and is a competent and experienced rider. I did a lot more studying and preparation than he did (he just didn't have time) but what I have for equipment and backups and maintenance parts and tools that he doesn't have he makes up for in his knowledge and experience. And I intuitively know that as a farmer he is resourceful and a problem solver. Perfect combination!

With all the pictures I have taken I still have not taken one of him or us both together. I will have to make that a task to get done soon. We will probably part ways in the next day or two and he heads back towards home and I will head to Vancouver (BC and Washington).

So on with the day...

Burwash Landing, Kluane Lake - I woke up about 6 am pretty chilled and pulled my fleece throw back on me (keeps falling off as I turn). Next thing I knew I woke up and looked at my cell phone and it was 8:30! Sandy got up as usual about 6:30 and didn't hear me so he just went into the restaurant and drank coffee and looked at maps. I slept really hard but probably needed it. I can't stay up until 1 am doing these blog updates!

I got some coffee and then we loaded up and headed out about 9:30 or 10 am. It was another cold ride in the morning with temps from 50 to 52 degrees for several hours. I stopped about every hour just to let my hands warm up. Sandy is cold too but he has heated grips on his GSA.

Here is a map of our ride today:

To give you a better idea of where this is here is a big picture view of the route. This is what 370 miles looks like:

The Kluane Lake is huge and goes on for something like 20 miles. There are beautiful mountains beside it with lots of snow still in the tops (this is JULY!!). I don't know if this is normal or not for them but we are still pretty far north. We had to ride another hundred miles or more before we got to the BC border (and BC is HUGE!). 

Here are some pics from Kluane Lake

We stopped in Whitehorse (capitol city of the Yukon). Sandy wanted to get some fruit at Walmart, I needed gas, and a snack.

Funny thing is we haven't seen any critters for several days. In fact, nothing since that moose just a little north of Homer and that sheep south of Anchorage. That is about 2 whole days and we haven't seen a thing.

We decided to stop about 7:30 pm at the Continental Divide RV park near or on the BC border. I needed gas and we were hungry and tired (370 miles today). A tent site was $15 which we split but the restaurant closed as we arrived. So after we got our tents set up I started a fire in the firepit (tons of free firewood - nice!). We got cleaned up and started doing some laundry and I fixed up a delicious gourmet meal of beef strouganof for Sandy and chicken breast and mashed potatos for me (courtesy of Mountain House freeze dried products!). Sandy complimented me on my culinary skills and effort.

Campsite for the night. It is fairly late now, probably after 9 pm and note how high the sun is.

Interesting note. Yesterday when we stopped for dinner on the Glenn Highway, and at the RV park, and at the little coffee shop, and at the cafe where we ate for breakfast - I noticed at each of these place that while it was 50 to 55 degrees out their main doors were open and all they had was a screen door. It made me think that these 'warm' temps were fairly recent for them as they had just survived another long cold dark winter, so they were enjoying the 50's by using screen doors!

Another interesting thing. The waitress at breakfast mentioned something about a generator. I asked about it and she said they were running a large diesel generator to power the restaurant and their place because it was cheaper than the power from the electric company!

Another observation. I don't think I have mentioned it before but besides building nice shoulders along the highways they cut the forest back from 50 to sometimes 100 feet back away from the pavement. This is to provide visibility for critters like bears and moose so you can see them. I wonder if that also serves some side purpose as a firebreak in case of a forest fire. You can see sometimes where there was a fire in the past as the trees are still blackened even though most have sprouted green again.

A guy on a Goldwing told us that we will see the recent forest fire along the Cassiar Highway tomorrow. I remember seeing in the news a few months ago that the highway was closed for about a week due to the large forest fires in the area. I will get some pictures. He said it looked pretty bad.

I get such better mileage at 60 to 65 mph that I am staying at that speed most of the time. That sounds trivial but with the distances between gas stations and the cost of gas up here extra distance could be important, and extra mpg means more miles per dollar. The highways are mostly in excellent shape and the bike wants to run faster, and I don't think I have seen a law enforcement officer in Canada yet. So it would be easy to run at 70 or faster, it just doesn't make common sense.

These are some of the random thoughts and observations I think about going down the road for hours and hours. I think of so much and then can't remember when I get on the computer.

Well enuff for now. I am tired of writing and you are tired of reading. I hope it all makes sense. It is hard to think coherently at the end of the day and I have no time to proofread. I just want to capture as much as I can - both for you all to have an idea of what it is like doing this crazy adventure, and for me to remember it all when I get back. It is all blurring together. I can't remember where we were 2 days ago, and it seems a loooooong time ago since Sandy and I first met. Good night!

Jerry motoring down the highway.