Final Pictures

Steep Climb

Taking a Break

Andy's Shortcut

More Mountains

Glacier View

Scenery Never Ends

Anchorage Here We Come!

7/2/2016.   60 miles into Anchorage.  Jane's brother Andy met us about 20 miles into the ride and led us on the bike path into downtown Anchorage.  It was nice to be on the pathway and off the highway.  We saw 2 moose along the path and visited a fish hatchery with salmon.  Andy's neighbor threw a party for all of us that evening which was so much fun.  Jane, Russ, myself and David are staying at Andy's for a few days and then we all fly home.  Bikes are packed, looking for a big box to ship camping gear, and enjoying Anchorage  for a few days.  We are all happy for our accomplishments and glad for a few days of rest.  After waking up at 5:30 for the past month and a half, it is nice to sleep in (at least until 6 or so!).  As a final note:  Andy lives in a beautiful house outside Anchorage with a really steep road up to his house (it is over 1000' climb just on his road).  Well, I had myself all psyched about the hill at the end and just knew that I would be walking.  But I made it all the way up without stopping!  That was a big accomplishment for me.  We are all in a lot better shape than when we started on May 20th.  We have many fond memories, good friendships and many great biking days.

Anchorage

Glaciers

6//29/2016. From Glennallen, we biked 59 miles and camped in a gravel pit.  But this pullout had a spectacular view of snow capped mountains and seems to be a location for ATV's with trails throughout the area.  The bikers started in the rain but that stopped after a few hours.

6/30/2016.  Rode 60 miles to King Mountain State Park where it rained all night.  It is no fun taking down a wet tent and then jumping on your bike in the rain.  Lots of climbing today and some good downhills.  Saw many glaciers with the closest being the Matanuska Glacier.

7/1/2016.  35 miles to Palmer in the rain and little road shoulder but everyone made it without incident.  Now we are sitting at a rather dumpy RV Park, arriving by 10:30 AM.  Some of us have gotten hotel rooms down the road.  Yeah - no more pitching tents for us on this trip!

Mountain Peak

More Mountains

Tomorrow we finish the ride by going 50+ miles into Anchorage.  Jane's brother Andy is going to meet us on the road and show us the safe route into town.

Ray taking a photo at Grizzly Lake

Glaciers

6//29/2016. From Glennallen, we biked 59 miles and camped in a gravel pit.  But this pullout had a spectacular view of snow capped mountains and seems to be a location for ATV's with trails throughout the area.  The bikers started in the rain but that stopped after a few hours.

6/30/2016.  Rode 60 miles to King Mountain State Park where it rained all night.  It is no fun taking down a wet tent and then jumping on your bike in the rain.  Lots of climbing today and some good downhills.  Saw many glaciers with the closest being the Matanuska Glacier.

7/1/2016.  35 miles to Palmer in the rain and little road shoulder but everyone made it without incident.  Now we are sitting at a rather dumpy RV Park, arriving by 10:30 AM.  Some of us have gotten hotel rooms down the road.  Yeah - no more pitching tents for us on this trip!

Mountain Peak

More Mountains

Tomorrow we finish the ride by going 50+ miles into Anchorage.  Jane's brother Andy is going to meet us on the road and show us the safe route into town.

Ray taking a photo at Grizzly Lake

Four More Days

Mt Sanford at over 16,000 feet

David calling Scotland 

Cabin for the night

Great Pyrenesees at the campground

A well deserved rest day in Glennallen and with decent weather.  But now, on day 41, the day is damp and drizzle.  At least tents were down before the rain.  It's my luck that I was scheduled to drive this morning.  Looks like I have chosen wisely.  Tonight we are back to dry camping in a gravel pit (again) but our backup plan is an RV camp with cabins, a few more miles down the road if weather is bad.  The RV park won't allow tents and we happen to have 7 of them.  Now that we are near the end, things have settled down and into routine.  Isn't that usually the case, you get into the swing of things and then it is over.  That is all for now.

Four More Days

Mt Sanford at over 16,000 feet

David calling Scotland 

Cabin for the night

Great Pyrenesees at the campground

A well deserved rest day in Glennallen and with decent weather.  But now, on day 41, the day is damp and drizzle.  At least tents were down before the rain.  It's my luck that I was scheduled to drive this morning.  Looks like I have chosen wisely.  Tonight we are back to dry camping in a gravel pit (again) but our backup plan is an RV camp with cabins, a few more miles down the road if weather is bad.  The RV park won't allow tents and we happen to have 7 of them.  Now that we are near the end, things have settled down and into routine.  Isn't that usually the case, you get into the swing of things and then it is over.  That is all for now.

Approaching the End

Canada/USA Border

6/26/2016. Tok to Grizzly Bear Campground.  71 miles.   The day started overcast but soon turned to rain and head wind.  At 20 miles, most of us bailed.  Russ, Jane, Rolf and Sandy made it the whole way.  The rest of us were so cold and wet that we got a cabin at the campsite for the night.  Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

Part of a roadside memorial

6/27/2016. To Glennallen.  68 miles.  Biked in sunshine today. What a change from yesterday.  With no cloudcover, we now see the huge mountain range. The tallest mountain is over 16,000 feet (taller than Raineer) and the others are not far behind.  Rest day for us and then into Anchorage.  Hard to believe that we only have 4 more days!

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   Do you recognize these old poles with insulators.
   

   

Pictures

Reflection

Same lake, another view

One is a grizzly footprint and the other is a black bear.
Can you guess which is which?

It just gets prettier

Crossing into Alaska

6/23/2016. To Beaver Creek. 50 miles then we had to shuttle 60 miles of construction on the highway which took us another 3 hours by car.  But that did gain us a day.

6/24/2016. Beaver Creek to Northway Junction. 63 miles.  Another beautiful day of biking but we leave so early in the morning that we arrive in camp many days before noon.  That leaves a lot of free time.  It so happened that the campground was a real dive but we stayed there anyway because there were no other options.  We did manage to meet some locals to chat with and that was how we passed the afternoon.  The big news is that we crossed into Alaska today.  Locals tell us that this is the real Alaska here.  Very primitive, seen old log cabins and not much else.  Everyone in the group have seen grizzlies except for Russ and I.  We have been on the lookout but really haven't seen any wildlife for 4 days or more now.  Just the luck of the draw.

Beautiful scenery

Alaska at last.

Roadside attraction 

6/25/2016. Northway Junction to Tok.  50 miles.  Again we arrived by noon but this time the campground is nice and this is the last town of any size before we hit Anchorage.

Leaving the Yukon

Kluane National Park

6/22/2016. Haines Junction to Cottenwood Campground on Lake Kluane.  50 miles.   We

Jumping for Joy:  it's a beautiful day!

Kluane Lake

Jane taking a dip

are at our prettiest campground yet, right on the bank of Lake Kluane.  We are surrounded by the National Park and the views are spectacular!  For me, Haines Junction provided the best scenery by far.  The town lies in a valley surrounded by snow peaked mountains.  Picture don't do it justice so you just have to enjoy the moment.  While biking, Russ and I were saying how lucky we are to be biking this beautiful area.  You go slow enough to just stare off into the peaks and take it all in.  You don't get that in a car.  A sign says here that we are in the highest concentration of grizzly bears in North Amaerica.  The park ranger said today that she saw 4 just a few days ago. Jane thinks she saw one today running along the road.  We started the day with clouds and overcast but it has ended up being sunny and warm.

Camping at Haines Junction

Camping in a Gravel Pit

6/20/2016. Whitehorse, 60 miles and camping in a gravel pit off the Alaska Highway.  I can do without dry camping.  At least the RV has a bathroom and we are able to cook and have a generator for electricity.  Drizzle and overcast all day long.

Quansit Hut Church in Haines Junction

On the Road Again

Spectacular mountains surrounding Haines Junction

Drum circle

6/21/2016.  Short day into Haines Junction.  Only a 35 mile ride and we arrived by 10:00.  Seems like we had just taken down our tents (which we had a few hours ago) and up they went again.  This time in a field.  Actually, it claimed to be an RV park but really is a gas station with hookups.  But thankful for a shower and toilets close by.      We have spent the day walking around town, exploring a really nice cultural,National Park center, gallery, potters studio (in a straw bale house) and talking with locals.  The mountains around Haines Junction are spectacular.  The population is only 850 but I can see why folks settle here.

On the road to Haines Junction

Whitehorse

Rolf, David and Russ taking cover in a picnic shelter during a downpour.

You have to just enjoy the moment because pictures just don't capture the beauty.

6/17/2016. Morley River to Squanga Lake Campground. 68 miles.  This was the area that we saw the eagles.  It was pretty impressive so see such a big bird up close.  Less traffic the further north we get but still many big trucks and RV's. It is somewhat discerning when they pass us in construction zones kicking up dust and gravel.  Drivers are less considerate around here and we have all had a few close encounters. One advantage of hitting the road by 6:30 is that you have an hour or more with no traffic.  The mountains are beautiful but not much out here.

6/18/2016. Into Whitehorse.  60+ miles.  Most of the population in the Yukon live in Whitehorse.  Here we have a rest day and spent time in town seeing the sites and doing our final big grocery purchase.  A lot of young people in this town and I would guess the average age is 30 or so.  Fun town, lots going on.  Last night a few of us went to the Whitehorse Nuit Blanche which is an all night contemporary art festival.  It was interesting to see.  Bud and Sandy are back with us after getting a new radiator put in their car.  So glad to have the SAG back.  We are down to our final 2 weeks.  Another 5 days of primitive camping in the Yukon and then a week or so in Alaska.  Last 2 days we have had sunshine and no rain.  Sun doesn't set until 11:30 pm or later.  We hit the road again in the morning.  More to come!

Pictures

Eagle at campground

The largest eagle that we have ever seen.

Morley Falls

Nisutlin Bay Bridge, the longest water span on the Alaska Hwy.  Look closely and you will see Russ entering the bridge.

A happy moment.  He can jump and ride a bike too!