Canada - Yukon

Sunday 2nd August
Beaver Creek to Haines Junction

We started early at 9.00am and as we were now on Canadian time 1 hour ahead we had lost an hours sleep. I joined the group going on the dirt trail, one of the guys (Kenny) had his top box come off and it skated down the road like a puck on ice, no damage even though it is plastic. The dirt trail was 20 miles long, and a lot tougher than the dirt roads we had been riding so far, some of the wet/water sections were very hairy, the bike sliding sideways, it caught out Ed who dropped it in one of the muddy dips. At the end of it was a river some of us also opted to go along a side trail to what we were told was an native Indian burial site, though it looked like an abandoned village, very run down. Along this side road I dropped the bike while riding in a very deep and muddy rut, no damage to me or the bike except my pride. The way back was the way we had come in, so another 20 miles of this trail and we were back on the road travelling the wilds of the Yukon in some fantastic scenery, the road sweeping through mountains and around lakes, though a thick haze from the forest fires in the north obscured the views somewhat. Mid morning saw us stopping at a café run by a couple in their late 70’s. A real set of characters, with a great banter between them, having spent some time listening to them we had to reluctantly move on.

Miles
Today : 219
Total : 2053
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Monday 3rd August
Haines Junction to Watson Lake (Nugget City)

This ride started once again in great scenery in the upper potion of the Yukon, wending our way through mountains, forests and around lakes. I deviated into the town of Whitehorse to try to buy a soldering iron, the video system had failed due to the usb/power connector breaking and falling inside the unit. As I rode on the scenery was still marred by the smoke from the many forest fires, though hints of high mountains were just visible, about 200 miles down the road, just before Teslin is the Tlingit heritage museum. This is a museum of native American art and culture displaying a wide variety of exhibits and includes an area where they hand carve canoes out of single tree trunks. Having reached the hotel, Nugget city and unloaded the bike, I then rode on to Watson lake where there is the signpost forest, a fantastic area of posts which many travellers have covered in a huge variety of signs some personal some funny some just road signs. Although I had heard of this place it needs to be visited to be appreciate it and I left my own sign (Beerbaron Transam 09) on a small piece of wood at the foot of the post as I did not have a nail and hammer, I hope it stays there!.

Miles
Today : 389
Total : 2442
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Tuesday 4th August
Watson Lake (Nugget City) to Bell II lodge

This has to be one of the best biking roads in the world, The Stewart Cassiar Highway, almost 300 miles some 30 on dirt, no turn off's, and lots of sweeping bends, the weather was good, cold in morning but warming up in the later afternoon. I stopped midday at a café/restaurant (with the others for food, had a very nice bowl of soup. I wonder how these small stop off towns survive with little traffic even in summer, as the dirt sections still put off the normal tourists.

Miles
Today : 298
Total : 2740
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Wednesday 5th August
Bell II Lodge to Stewart

Short run from Bell II lodge Bell to Stewart, started late by our standards, breakfast at 8.45, ready to roll about 10.am. The run was leisurely, behind Nick, a very disciplined rider. Some spectacular scenery had us stopping often to take photos as I thought we had seen the best of it. Each stop was more spectacular than the last, as we rode over the brow of a hill into another valley what awaited us was mid boggling, I think I said out loud “wow” as the road skirted a mountain and overlooked a brown muddy lake, but the back drop was incredible, a huge glacier white, blue, green hanging off the side of the mountain feeding this lake. A number of others on the expedition had stopped also for photos and we stopped to drink cups of tea and remark on the scenery. (Very English)
Miles
Today : 103
Total : 2843