| July 8, 2007 - Buckinghorse, BC to Watson Lake, YT |
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While eating at the Lodge's cafe (6 tables total) last night, several travelers approach me and said
if I was heading northbound to be warned there were two bears roadside up ahead, one about five miles
and one about ten away. They also said a moose had been hit just up the road and was laying
partly in the northbound lane. After packing up in the rain, I took off and wondered if perhaps
the animals I was warned about the night before would still be there. I passed the dead moose,
then a few miles later I saw something on the other side of the road that made my heart hurt: a
motorcycle with a flat tire. No rider in sight, just a full-loaded Harley with a blown rear
tire. Geez, does that suck... flat tire, raining like hell, you're in the middle of nowhere,
and in bear area!! It was a heart-wrenching sight!
I don't mind riding in rain but I don't prefer it, especially when I'm in a scenic area and desire
to stop and enjoy the area! The first 6 hours of my ride today was in rain. As my motorcycle
was paddling along, I was thinking how urban legend says Eskimos have countless words for “snow”, and if
I lived in this area I'd come up with at least that many for the word “rain”! Geez, I hit buckets
of rain, drizzling rain, drenching rain, misting rain, rain that was accompanied by hail, sunshine,
black clouds, and at times a combination of all:
Unfortunately, I can't share the sights of the many critters during the rain part of journey today
since stopping to get out a camera would have been, well, stupid, not just for my camera but for
my safety on the side of the road. The “shoulder” of the road is a mix of gravel, dust, and
mud. I'll have memories only of passing a black bear, a moose, a fox, and several
caribou. All the critters were off the side of the road enough to allow a very safe passing
yet afford an excellent view.... except the moose. I happened to be in an area that had a
plethora of loose gravel patches as well was quite twisty with blind corners. Given the rain
and conditions, I was moving along at a very prudent and cautious speed. As I rounded a corner
heading northbound, Mr. Bullwinkle was standing in the grass directly beside the edge of the southbound
lane. He might have even had a hoof on the pavement. Thankfully he too was facing northbound
so he did not see me. By the time I caught sight of him as I came around the corner there was no
way I could get the bike stopped. If I had tried I think the best I could have done was stopped
right beside him! Instead, I knew my only chance was to jump on my air horn, crack the throttle
open and hope like hell I made it past him without him recognizing and reacting to me. I guess
because my motorcycle is very quiet and that I was the only one on the road, he wasn't expecting to
hear this blaring air horn come up behind him. His scrawny stick legs shook like they'd been hit
with electricity and he bounded into the woods away from the road!
They are called “Stone Sheep”, and they are licking the roadside salt:
The ALCAN (“Alaska-Canada”) Highway, technically called BC-97, cuts through rural wilderness. No
WalMarts up here. No McDonalds. No conveniences normally available to the point to point
traveler. You'd better plan and pay attention up here or you'll be hungry, out of gas, or
both. There are no roadside billboards, likely because there are no businesses to advertise
along the way. I'd say I saw on average about a 8-12 vehicles an hour, most of which were RV's
or big trucks hauling oil. Here are a few pics of the desolate road, which is a good representation
of the scenery and view while riding this section of the ALCAN:
After taking this pic....
... I went over the hill and saw this warning sign:
About five miles later, I rolled up on this bad boy enjoying his lunch solo:
Another twenty miles later, it was a Buffalo party:
Just after passing a campground and place to get gas, several of us pulled out and continued
northbound. I had not yet had an opportunity to safely pass the vehicles yet, which
ended up being a good thing.....
I rarely saw more than 2 vehicles traveling together so I thought it was quite odd when a
line of 6 or 7 cars, trucks, and RV's passed by at one point. I assumed it meant
there was some type of delay along the way, like road construction, to have everyone
bunched together. It was a confusing sight since the reports were there were no
delays to Watson Lake until a cop (“RCMP”) passed me going at least 100mph running
lights and siren... in the rain. I was worried that whatever delay might be going
on would cause me to arrive Watson Lake much later than I felt comfortable given the
roadside critter factor. I knew there was gas and a lodge in Mucho Lake where
I could reassess the situation. When I arrived the Northern Rockies Lodge, the
RCMP that had passed me was there as were several others in the parking lot. When
I went inside to pay for my gas there was quite a bit of commotion going on and so I
simply paid and went back outside to move my bike so someone else could get gas. I
walked up the road a bit to take this photo:
I could see there was a wreck of some kind less than 200 yards away right beside the road,
but due to the slope of the road I couldn't see exactly what was going on. I assumed
that was probably the delay that held up the cars. I decided to keep going towards
Watson Lake and got back on the bike. As I approached the scene I was rather surprised
to see that it was a plane crash. It was so close to the road that I could have spit
from the bike and hit what was left of the plane. It felt disrespectful to take a photo
so I kept moving. Not that I needed it, but the scene of the crash screamed: “SEIZE THE
JOURNEY, THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH TIME!” The Northern Rockies Lodge specializes in fishing
adventures where they fly people into outpost wilderness areas. I assume that was one of
the planes that had crashed and the RCMP were at the lodge where the victims were probably
staying. When I arrived at the next stop for fuel I asked the gentleman at the counter
if he knew anything about the crash. He said 4 people were on board, 1 was killed and
3 survived, and that the owners of the lodge were on the plane.
My intended stop for the evening was Watson Lake, which meant that I would be crossing from
British Columbia into the Yukon Territories:
I was very surprised to see this sign at the border:
Radar detectors illegal? Is that a joke? Other then the RCMP running to the plane
crash in Muncho Lake, the only other cop I've seen since I was in BC was near Prince George,
some 800 miles away. What “traffic” there is on the road is getting fewer and fewer,
but for some reason I guess in the Yukon they don't like radar detectors. Seems odd,
but I disconnected mine nonetheless.
Another sign at the BC/Yukon border:
What started as one man's sign denoting his hometown has turned into over 50,000 signs 50
years later! Here are many photos of the signs (especially for a particular Matriarch):
More on the Sign Post Forest tomorrow!
I saw a grand total of 12 motorcycles during the course of my ride today; two were
riding solo, the rest were in pairs. Of the dozen, ten were heading
southbound. The place I'm staying tonight has 3 other riders, one which drove
his bike all the way from Philadelphia, Mississippi so he could get to Anchorage and
ride it around there.
End of day GPS...
... and here's a map of the day's journey:
Since leaving Phoenix, here's what the “AGirl route” looks like:
The point to point direct path of travel distance from Phoenix to Watson Lake is 2,650
miles. The “AGirl Route” has been 5,250 miles... almost double! YIPPEE!!
AGirl
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After I arrived last night in the thriving metropolis of Buckinghorse River, BC (good luck finding
it on any map or mapping software!), I asked the woman at the cash register about the weather
forecast. She said “I'm not really sure” then she walked over to the window, looked up at the
sky, and said “but it doesn't really look like it's going to rain.” I thought it was rather
odd she didn't know the forecast. I mean c'mon, she's working at the only establishment for
miles and miles (ok, kilometers and kilometers) on a road that is used by travelers, I would think
she is asked that question quite frequently; most places have actual printouts posted for the daily
and short-term weather. The sole reason for my question was so I could determine what time I
was going to leave this morning. I awoke this morning to the sound of thunder, then minutes later this:
Holy crap, that was close! This close encounter took place in the Stone Mountain Provincial
Park area. It's also the same area where I caught the first break from the rain today, which
provided my first critter photo opportunity of the day too:
After arriving Watson Lake I had enough time to run by the famous Sign Post Forest:
When I asked him why he didn't just ride his bike he said “I wuz too scared.”
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