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!

1. 

   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!

In the Yukon

Liard Hotsprings

Sign Post Forest at Watson Lake. Last count, over  75000 signs.

6/15/2016.  Watson Lake to Rancherias Campground.  61 miles.  Weather changes here at a drop of a hat.  It can start out being sunny and a few hours later there is a downpour and thunder rumbling.  Mostly you can see the dark clouds coming and just luck if you miss a downpour.  However, it usually passes quickly and all is well.

6/16/2016.  Rancherias to Morley River.  62 miles.  Another day of primitive camping with 2 downpours with lots of sunshine inbetween.  You need to carry all your rain gear and whatever else you need for the changing weather.  Russ and I stopped at Rancherias Falls and also at the Tlingit Heritage center.

The Adventure Continues

6/12/2016.  Liard Hotsprings to past Fireside.  70 miles.  Because of the vehicle problem we decided to forgo the rest day and move on.  Since my rain gear and warn biking clothes were in Bud's car, which now is 2 days away, I rode in the RV all day.  We dry camped in a vista along the roadway and all was well.

6/13/2016. To Watson Lake, 59 miles.  I rode again in the RV and that became a good choice because it rained all night and into most of the day.  Everyone looked worn out when they got to town.  The RV Park didn't allow tents so we are in a motel across the street.  But the adventure continues, especially for Bud and Sandy, and their car.  Couldn't be fixed in Watson Lake so it had to go to Whitehorse, 5 hous away.  That is a story for another time.  So here we have a rest day and enjoying the sites of the town.

We are now in the Yucon and we have seen herds of Wood Bison.  Males can weigh 2000 pounds and be 6 feet tall at the shoulders.  They are huge when you see them and realize how small you are on your bike.  They seem to linger on the roadway or just past the shoulder, so we are really close to them.  Also, we are seeing more herds of Stone Sheep.  They seem to be licking the salt from the road shoulders.

Met a 25 pound cat walking on a leash with his owner.  They also had a second cat who weighed 15 pounds

Some of the hat collection at Toad River Lodge

Stone Sheep Ram watching its herd along the road

Things Get Interesting

A rider we met going Southbound who was from Columbia.  He started in April from Prudhoe Bay and riding to Florida

We are seeing lots of black bears while riding

We just finished Day 22 and are camping at Toad River.  The lodge/general store claim to fame is having over 10,000 hats handing from the ceiling.  They looked like they had been hanging there for many years, which they have, and it struck us that they could be a real fire hazard.

6/11/2016. Toad River to Liard Hot Springs.  71 miles.  This is where things got interesting.   First, Sue and Bob left the group (as planned) and had to head home.  Sue had biked past Toad River to see Muncho Lake and reported that the road was not as bad as we had heard about, however most of the group wanted a lift to the summit past the construction.  But Sandy, Jane and Rolf were biking so I decided to go along.  Russ ended up taking a lift to the top.  At the top, a sign indicated continued construction, dust and poor road conditions so everyone bailed except Russ.  Us bikers had a steep pass to climb but the scenery was spectacular and we stopped for lots of pictures along the way.  However, dust and large vehicles were a problem and even though we had Bud and Bill in a SAG vehicle, we managed throughout the day.  Finally we did hit the main construction area where they had the road surface torn up and used a pilot car to direct traffic for 7 km.  But the big problem was that Bud's car broke down in the construction area and Bill and I had to hitch a ride into camp.  The tow truck came to the campground after midnight and towed the car to Watcon Lake which was 130 miles away.   Liard Hotsprings was great for soaking sore muscles and tired bodies.  That was the first time we had been in a natural river hotspring.