Alaska Trip - Day 21, 22 & 23 - Heading Home

We woke the morning of the 22nd of July and rechecked the weather news.  The weather to the North and East of us will be wet and rainy for the next 3-5 days.  The weather to the South (toward home) is clearing and in the 80's.  It's time to head home, we will do Banff and Jasper next year, probably in August.

We stayed in a hotel last night and it rained pretty hard on us.  However this morning it looks good for traveling south.  We were a bit worried by the fact that just 2 weeks ago Hwy 97 was closed due to slides and washed out bridges (did I mention that it had been raining for awhile??).

It didn't take long for us to get to the washed out parts, we had to stop for about 35 minutes for the construction crews to give us the go ahead to follow the pilot truck through the area.

Waiting for the pilot truck, friendly work crews!!

Hill Side Sliding onto the road

Road bed dropped 4+ feet here

Bridge washed away, drove down to creek level on the right.  Scary on the bike!!

We passed a lot more damaged road and lots of construction.  We made it to Prince George and continued on to a great RV/Campground alongside the Fraser River.  The Fraser was running very high and muddy.  The host of the campground were fantastic and maintains a beautiful campground.

Camping alongside the swollen Fraser River

This picture does not do the Fraser justice, there is a lot of water flowing by, the current is very rapid and the water is up to the top of the shoreline.

Swollen Fraser River at our campsite

We lucked out and it did not rain on us overnight.  We passed some beautiful mountains and were having a great time riding through the countryside without it raining on us!!

Amazing rock formations

We passed through the town of Quesnel (Hi Darryl and Corrine) and just as we were out the other side Terry's bike stopped running.  The alternator had given out and we were still 488 miles from their house where Terry keeps his spare.  We had very few options at this point, shipping the spare would take about 10 days to get it through customs, having his son come up and trailer the bike home would take 2 days to get to us, Honda dealers will not work on a bike older than 10 years so that option is out.

Luckily I had installed a spare battery in my trailer to act as a power source while camping.  We swapped the battery into his Goldwing 1500 and headed on down the road with his battery charging in the trailer.  It lasted about 1 1/2 hours so we swapped his battery back in.  That one lasted only 25 minutes or so.  We decided to swap out batteries between the bikes since mine was a new one and I could charge my spare in my bike while driving.  We did this all the way to our next camp site which was also alongside the Fraser River.

Swapping out the battery so we could get home!!

I did not get a picture of our next campsite but it seemed ideal at first.  Above the river in a quiet small high desert town.  Nice and dry...our tents dried out nicely.  After we went to bed the trains just kept coming through blowing their whistles and clanging and banging....not much sleep for any of us except Edie....she slept through it all!!

Before we went to bed Edie and I walked over to a pub nearby for a bite to eat.  Just as we were getting there a couple came in on their Harley looking for a gas station.  This small town does not have a gas station and they had been on reserve for the last 10 miles.  It was at this point I got my chance to pay back the last guy who stopped and helped me out.  I had 5 liters of gas in the front of the trailer and I put it in their tank.  That would get them the 25 miles to the next town where there is a gas station.  The only thing I asked of them was the same the guy who helped me asked of me.  If you see a motorcycle rider broke down on the road stop and help them out, that would be my repayment.  They left very happy.

We left the next morning to ride down through the Fraser River Canyon.  It is a beautiful ride and if you ever get a chance you should include it on your list of must do rides.

Fraser River Canyon

Train Tracks running through tunnels on the sides of the river

Hard to concentrate on the road when the scenery looks like this.

Further down the canyon and beautiful

Coming out of one of the many tunnels along the canyon.

Terry and Marilyn near the end of the Fraser River Canyon

Clouds near Sumas.

Border Crossing just ahead, almost home!!

It wasn't long after we exited the canyon that we headed for the US border at Sumas Washington.  It was warm, about 80 degrees as we neared the border. 

 

 As we pulled up to the line at the border crossing Terry shut off his bike to conserve the battery.  Marilyn jumped off and pushed him up to the border, we took a picture with her camera but she won't let us post it!!

We were treated to a great view of Mt Baker as we departed the border crossing, one of Washingtons tallest mountains (Volcanoes).

We swapped Terry's battery back into his bike just before they headed off to their house.  They had about 50 miles to go and since the battery had been charging for 2 days we thought they would make it.  The battery died in Dumas and with the assistance of a neighbor they were able to trailer the bike the rest of the way home.  

We made it home and parked the bike for the night.  We decided to wait until the next morning to unload everything.  It has been a wonderful trip even with the rain.  We met many amazing people and would do it again in a heartbeat!!    I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and our adventure.

Alaska Trip - Day 18, 19 & 20

We have made it to Dawson Creek, BC, the start or in our case the end of the Alaska Highway.

Dawson Creek is still 1400 miles from home.  We waited until we got here to decide whether to continue on to Banff/Jasper parks or head on home.  Well, the weather is not going to get any better for the next 4-5 days so we have decided to head home.

The last 3 days of driving have been dodging rain storms while being amazed at the countryside around us.  On the 18th day (July 19th) we left Whitehorse for Liard Hot Springs.  The drive was great and the rains held off pretty much.  With Terry in the lead we drove around a number of menacing storms and made it to Liard Hot Springs in time for Terry and Marilyn to take a dip in the springs before the gates closed.  When we went to climb into the tents there were thousands of gnats and mosquitos trying to get at us.  It felt like they were lining up in formation for their turn.  We were lucky during the day and missed out on most of the rain, however it rained on us overnight so we got to pack away wet tents and damp sleeping bags.

Great roads and views but the clouds were starting to build up.

Great drives but the clouds just kept getting heavier as we went along

On our 19th Day (July 20th) we left out a bit soggy and stopped in Fort Nelson to throw the sleeping bags in a dryer.  Many times it looked like we were heading directly for a downpour, but the road would turn and all we would get is a light sprinkling.  We drove through some absolutely gorgeous sections of the British Columbia Rockies alongside lakes and tumbling rivers.  We ran into some more road hazards, more Bears, Moose and Buffalo.

Thank goodness this guys was "busy" or he would have been in the road with us.

Clouds just kept getting heavier as we rode along the top of the Rockies.

Riding past Muncho Lake, a Jade Green Lake from the Glacial Silt in the water.

Great winding roads through the Canadian Rockies!!

Looking back at clouds coming in over the Rockies

Rain moving in toward us, time to get to the camp site!!

Camp set up at Bucking Horse Provincial Park

Mother Nature playing a trick on us by giving us a great sunset.

As the sun went down we had a bit of sunshine to give us hope for the next day.  Unfortunately that was just not in the cards for the 20th day (July 21st).  It rained hard over night, so hard the water ran off of the roadway and made a river under our tent.  Thank goodness for waterproof ground tarps and tents with waterproof floors.  Edie and I did get woken up about 1:30 in the morning to water dripping on Edie's face.  We had left the small end window in the tent down just a little to help prevent condensation and water started coming in around the ends of the window area.  After putting in back into the up position it did not leak any more, but the rain just poured like someone was using a water hose on us.

The rain paused long enough in the morning for us to pack up our soggy tents and head out for Dawson Creek.  The sky was so overcast you could not tell where the sun was. It was so dreary I did not even feel like taking pictures!!  We ran into quite a bit of road construction and lots of big rigs heading in and out of the oil and gas fields.  Our bikes are covered with mud thrown up by the other vehicles on the roads, even our clothes are splattered.  After eating lunch in Dawson Creek and checking the forecast for the next week we made the decision to head for home instead of the Banff/Jasper area.  The rain started pouring again while we were looking for a hotel.  We found one here in town and are taking showers and doing laundry.  This will also give us a chance to dry out the tents!!

We will head out in the morning for Prince George area.  The road to Prince George was washed out in multiple places 2 weeks ago but has been re-opened.  We will probably have some long construction delays getting through. Time for bed, a nice warm dry bed.

Alaska Trip - Day 12 through 17

We sit in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory trying to work out where we will go next.  It rained on us part of the way here from our last campground and it has poured down since we got here.  I am sitting under a tarp with the rain pouring off of it as I type this in.  The forecast for the next week anywhere along our path is for rain!!  Currently the consensus is to go ahead and drive to Dawson Creek and then make a decision on where to go after that.  We canceled out of Haines and Skagway due to the weather and just headed out for Whitehorse.

That's our current status, now let me fill you in on our trip after we got to Anchorage.

We spent 2 days in Anchorage waiting for the weather to clear up some.  On the 13th day of the trip we headed down the Kenai Peninsula toward Homer.  It was raining when we started out as you can see from the pictures of the Turnagain Arm (bay) and the Turnagain Pass.

 

Rainy Turnagain Arm between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula

Rainy Turnagain Pass on the Kenai Peninsula

As we went further down the Kenai the weather cleared up and we has some spectacular views of the Volcanoes on the other side of Cook Inlet.  Both Mt Redoubt and Mt Illiama were very clear from the peninsula.

Mt Redoubt

Mt Illiama

I had always been told the view of the mountains across the bay from Homer was spectacular.  It is.  I put together a small panorama of the view and still did not get all of it in.

Homer Panorama

Our Bikes with the view of the mountains behind homer in the background.

After spending a bit of time exploring the Homer Spit and being pummeled by the wind we headed for a campsite for the night.  We arrived at Anchor River State Campground and had it all to ourselves.  As we were setting up the tents we were visited by Eagles searching for Salmon in the stream, and a Moose with her two calves.  They stuck around for almost an hour eating and playing before heading back into the forest.  They were just across the stream from us and paid no attention to us at all.  Just to be sure we did not get any visits by bears we hung our food in the trees for the night.

Cow Moose and Calves about 150 feet away across the stream from our tents!!

The morning of the 14th day of our trip (July 15th) we headed out for Seward on the upper east side of the Kenai Peninsula.  The weather held out for us and we enjoyed a great ride back up the peninsula.  We stopped at Exit Glacier to look around before going on into Seward.

The end of Exit Glacier, it starts about 3 miles up the hill.

We went on into Seward and the views again are breathtaking.  I put together another small panorama of the Mountains you see when in Seward.

Seward Panorama

We noticed a lot of boats coming into the campground and talked with a young couple from Homer.  They had come up to Seward because the Silver Salmon were starting their runs and people were limiting out in just a few hours.

As we left the morning of our 15th Day of the trip it was like there was a mass exodus of people from Anchorage area going into Seward.  Anything and everything that could pull a boat was on the road, it appeared to us that Anchorage should be a ghost town with all the traffic headed into Seward. 

We went back through Anchorage and Wasilla and then turned up the Tok Cutoff road.  The further we got the more the weather started to change.  We started running into rain showers again, but we were still treated to some great views.

Along the Tok Cutoff Road

The end of a long glacier along the Tok Cutoff Road.

Looking to the south of the Glacier the rain was starting to come our way.

We made our way to the Tolsona Wilderness Campground and were fortunate to spend a dry night alongside a gurgling creek.  The Mosquito's on the otherhand were flying in formation just waiting their turn at us.

Tolsona Wilderness Campground

Alongside the Creek at Tolsona

On our 16th day we got up fairly early and headed out for the Yukon hoping the rain would stay away.  We spent the day dodging rain, potholes and frost heaves.  By the time we go to the Yukon we were pretty tired and Marilyn spotted a campground called White River Campground.  It turned out to be one of the best places we have stayed at on the entire trip.  The hosts are great congenial people who were very pleasant to talk with.  Bob the owner even fired up his old US Army 6 wheel drive dodge truck and took quite a few of the guests out into the forest looking for bears.  They build a fire in a large above ground fire ring for everyone to set around at night.  We really enjoyed our stay there, and I will be back again in the future.

White River Campground

Our luck held for one more night and we packed up the morning of our 17th day and headed out for Whitehorse.  The road in the Northern Yukon is being worked on for most of the way between where we camped and Destruction Bay along Lake Kluane.  I thought we were going to drop the bikes along one stretch as the dirt was very soft and the tail ends of the bikes were sliding sideways.  I'm not sure even of the drycleaners will be able to get the stains out of my undies!!

We finally made it to Whitehorse and that is when out luck went south.  It has rained hard here for quite awhile today and it looks like it will not let up for a few days.  We will be heading out tomorrow for Dawson City (won't get there for a couple of days) and may have to hotel it if the weather does not cooperate.

Alaska Trip - Just a quick update

The WiFi here in the campground is a bit slow so I'll post pictures later.  We stayed in Anchorage for 2 days waiting for the weather to change.  It looked like it was going to clear up so we headed out from Anchorage toward Homer on the Kenai Peninsula.

When we left Anchorage on the 14th it was raining on and off, but the further down the peninsula we got the better the weather got.  By the time we arrived in Homer it was clear and sunny!! The view going into Homer is spectacular.  It was very windy down on the Spit so we decided to find a more secluded campground. We spent the night just north of Homer in a campground alongside a large creek.  While setting up the tents we received a visit from a cow Moose and her twins.  They stayed on the other side of the creek eating and enjoying the sunshine.  When they were done they wandered back into the forest.  Several times before we went to bed Eagles flew about 20 feet over our heads up and down the creek looking for Salmon.  We took no chances with bears that night, we hung our food up in the trees.

The morning of the 15th was clear and sunny and the trip from Homer to Seward was filled with eye candy.  The mountains and glaciers are very distracting for someone on a motorcycle.  We visited the Exit Glacier and spent some time in downtown Seward looking around.  Most of the campgrounds in Seward were filled up, the Silver Salmon are starting their runs and fishing season has opened up for them.  We camped in a campground just west of Seward and spent the evening talking with a couple that had come up from Homer to go fishing.

We awoke to another pretty good morning and packed up to head out to go back toward the Alaska Highway.  We passed boat after boat headed for Seward, I thought Anchorage would be empty when we went back through but the traffic was still pretty heavy going through there.  By the time we got to Wasilla and turned east to head back up to the Alaska Highway the weather was changing and it looked like rain was going to be in our future.  It did sprinkle on us a bit and rained all around us.  We escaped the downpours and arrived at a great campground just west of Glenallen where I am posting this update.

Tomorrow we will be heading off toward Haines/Skagway, hopefully the weather will hold but so far it looks like rain!!

Alaska Trip - Day 9, 10 & 11

When we left Fairbanks after drying out, our hopes were for a bit of clearing so we could see Denali park and Mt McKinley.  I've flown over it multiple times on my way to Prudhoe Bay to work and Edie and I had been here 10 years ago.  Each time it has been clouded over, my luck held this time and we did not get to see the mountain.  The weather on the drive to the park was mostly overcast but nice.

The buses for the park are booked at least a day ahead and the weather for July 11th was "Rain".  We decided to just enjoy the 15 miles you could drive into the park, spend the night and head for Anchorage.  We drove almost all the way in the rain.

We still managed to get a few nice shots though.

A moose and twin calves between Fairbanks and Denali

We set up camp in a campground just south of Denali overlooking a river about 500 feet below us.  It was nice and quiet but became very windy and quite wet overnight.

The pad under our tents was gravel...ouch!

We had stopped at the Visitors Center before we set up camp.  We decided to drive the 15 miles they allow you into the park.  What we saw was beautiful, I really want to go back some time when I can see the mountain!!

Caribou enjoying a break in the weather.

Behind the clouds is Mt. McKinley

The view as you are headed back out of the park.

Terry and Marilyn enjoying the ride before we headed back to camp.

Gas prices at the only station close to Denali Park to the south.

This isn't the highest price we paid for fuel on our trip but it was the highest in Alaska so far.  The owners of this station know they are the only place to get gas south of the park for quite a few miles.  Most of the stations in Alaska we have fueled up at are below $4 per gallon.  In the Yukon we paid as high as $5.66 CDN per gallon.

Our trip to Anchorage from the park was very wet.  It rained most of the way.  We decided to stay in Anchorage an additional day to let things dry out and to wait for a break in the weather before we headed to the Kenai Peninsula.  This next picture is the last one I took just before the clouds started pouring on us.

Rain, Rain go away, come again some other day!!  Didn't work as a kid, still doesn't.