64 Hours In Whitehorse

 It was always the plan to spend a few days in Whitehorse after the 1600 mile/4 day ride from home.   This would be a welcome break from the road and a chance to address any bike maintenance issues that may have arisen on the way here.  I had put on a new chain a few weeks before leaving so I was expecting to have to adjust the tension but found that it was still well within spec when I measured it Monday morning.  I also had some concerns about coolant consumption having had to top up the tank but found it to well above the min level bar.  With maintenance issues all sorted spent some time in town doing some touristy bits and picking up a few odds and sods (bear spray mostly) that I had bothered bringing up from home.   

The second day was nice enough and with nothing else to do I decided a ride down to Alton BC was on order.  Now Atlin is one of those end of the road places in the world where it’s closet neighbour is not in the same geopolitical area code as it self.  In this case Atlin is in the province of British Columbia and to get there you have to go through the Yukon Territory.   For as long as I was aware that Atlin existed I have wanted to go there and today was that opportunity.  A great ride down through a mountain valley eventually to the town itself.  Not a lot going on on a Tuesday but the bakery was open and a coffee with an apple fritter was thoroughly enjoyed.   The whole town was a bit of a museum piece including this relic from 5e past just sitting there on the corner out in the open.

Originally I had considered exploring a little of some southern parts of The Yukon before heading up The Dempster but scanning all (and I so mean all) the weather forecasting resources there appeared a likely weather window opening up on the Wednesday so I made plans... and then the forecast changed dramatically.   I had made one rule for the ride up in The Dempster: don't ride it wet ( or at least not too wet for too far), and boy did it look like it was going to get wet and cold.  With the long range forecast looking promising the following week new plans were made - this one coming totally out of left field.  What does one do when the weather forecast is questionable pretty much everywhere?  Get on a ferry in Haines and take the long ways to Skagway (which is basically across the fjord from Haines) - via Juneau for a few days.

4 Days To Whitehorse

If nothing else this trip is really all about riding up The Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk and camp for a night on the shore of The Arctic Ocean.  This presents a logistical challenge in that the start of The Dempster Highway is in the Yukon Territory, Canada - approximately 1600-miles from my house in Bellingham Washington.  There are only two ways to get up into the Yukon (by road): from the East along the Alaska Highway or via the Western approach on BC Highway 37 (the Stewart - Cassiar Highway for those traditionalists amongst you).   While I have ridden up and down BC 37 several times I have only taken The Alcan once and that was riding South, so I had firmly entrenched the idea of a Northbound Alcan route to get my ass to the Yukon.   The next challenge was that NE BC/NW Alberta have been decimated with extended and catastrophic wild fire seasons these last few years and the reason for calling off one previous attempt.  Thankfully for whatever reason the fire forecast for that part of the world this year was for normal to below normal through July which then defined my window of opportunity - that and a dentist appointment.    

So with the calendar set and general route planted the details filled themselves in with the help of a little math: 1600÷4=400.  It was then a fairly straightforward matter of finding places to stay overnight that were about 400-miles apart.   And one of them had to be The Northern Rockies Lodge on Muncho Lake, because The Schnitzel.  Fortunately that is about 400-miles from Fort St. John and about 400-miles from Whitehorse YK.  And with Quesnel BC being about 400-miles from Fort St. John and about 400-miles from my house the route was decided and reservations made.

As the departure date approached I was all consumed with trip prep work.  It's been awhile since I went out on one of these self supported motorcycle rides and with camping likely the only lodging option available at times there was a lot of bits and pieces that needed the dust shaken off.  As it turned out most everything was functional and at most only some minor maintenance attention was required - that still required continually visiting the local REI store on a far to regular basis.

A brief future me aside here but one of those prep tasks was to transfer the pertinent information (fuel, food, lodging, viewpoints) from the infinitely helpful but unimaginably bulky annual Milepost magazine to 5"x8" index cards I could then fit into the window of my tank bag.   Initially this was to be honest just busy work to keep my mind in the game but I was mildly pleased with myself as to how useful they have been so far - especially on the Alaska Highway section.

And just like that it was June 18 and off I went, riding the motorcycle down my driveway then "turning left"; heading North to the Arctic Ocean. The first day through the Fraser Canyon to Quesnel was warmer than the weather forecast promised but easily managed.   A routine was quickly established that was to be followed for most of the next 4-days.  The day was broken into 80 to 100 mile sections where at the end of each section I was at a gas station fueling the bike or at a rest area taking a break, having a snack and/or addressing any bodily functions of concern or arrived at the day’s destination.   In Quesnel a pleasant evening was had with dinner at the Barkerville Brewery followed up with a Dairy Queen Blizzard in the town square/parking lot, listening to the tortured renditions of everyones' favorite elevator music songs performed by a bunch of local kids lead by a far too enthusiastic middle aged adult who you would think would know better.  Full points to the kids though for getting on stage.

The destination on the second day was Fort St. John with a planned divergence through Dawson Creek and the Mile 0 sign just to make the whole Alaska Highway thing official.  A day of no consequence other than the utterly useless service provided by the Pine Centre Mall  Starbucks, a 1-star review was duly posted.  With the menacing clouds reinforcing the weather forecast rain gear was adorned about 80 to 100 miles North of Prince George.   Other than a few drips and drizzles this bark was worse than it's bite    At Chetwynd I made an executive decision and opted for the more scenic route through Hudson's Hope over the Instagrammabke moment in Dawson Creek.   I hade made this same ride 10-years ago almost to the day, and all along were signs posted as to how high the future Site C dam reservoir was too reach.  And from memory with the reservoir now flooded it sure looks like they achieved those goals 

The third day was up and over to The Northern Rockies Lodge and The Schnitzel.   It was also going to be a chance for me to try out some new extra gas containers I brought with and to confirm just how far I could go between fueling stops.   This was going to be extremely relevant on The Dempster Highway where that distance exceeds 230-Miles (400 km?).   The plan was to ride 50-miles, empty the first extra gallon into the inline auxiliary tank then ride another 50-miles and empty the second extra gallon.   With Fort Nelson 240-miles (400 km?) away from Fort St John I figured that if I ran out of gas before then I would have to recalculate my approach for riding The Dempster.   The good news is that I had plenty to spare at the end of the test; with some back of the hand figuring indicating I should expect at least 300-miles (500 km?) when all fueled up.  The bad news is that it was a miserably cold, windy and rainy day that had finding dry enough windows of opportunity to transfer fuel between open tanks on the side of the surprisingly busy highway a challenge.  But I managed.   The guy from Quebec on the red Honda however, who I had being playing hopscotch with on the highway all day had had enough upon arrival in Fort Nelson and headed straight to the office of the hotel/gas station to get a room for the night.  But I had a date with The Schnitzel so off I went towards Muncho Lake, and quickly reconsidered the wiseness of my decision as the weather got far worse.  However it all cleared up on the other side of Steamboat Summit (as I kinda of suspected it would) and made it to dinner in time not withstanding the construction work delays through the Provincial Park.

The fourth day was an absolutely glorious run along the BC-Yukon border into Whitehorse.  Final roadside wildlife tally was a few bison and a handful of bears - one grizzly and the rest blackies.  Regretfully this bike that I'm on this trip has been woefully underused these last few years.  So much so that for the majority of the 4-days my buttocks have been trying mightly to reassert dominance over the "comfort" gel pad installed in my seat.  As the ride progressed towards Teslin I was happy to find that my buttocks had indeed been victorious and my comfort should be ensured for the remainder of the trip.  Even more comfortong news found my glamping tent at the Whitehorse Motorcycle Park upgraded to fully powered but at the unpowered tent rate I had booked it at.   

Tap Tap Tap - Is This Thing Still On?

Getting all one’s ducks in row is a lot more work when you are retired… especially if it’s been awhile since you’ve had to get all your ducks lined up.  Anyways, I’ve been in trip prep mode for the last few weeks and making sure all the tech still works is next on the list.  So ya, this is a test.