I awoke to a partly cloudy sky. That's an improvement to what I've
been seeing. I leisurely packed camp and the bike.
As a side note, the shop towels that I bought are a very handy item
during the trip. I've used them to to clean my chain, wipe down the
bike, wipe the tent and groundcloth dry and Ruth used them for washing
her face. I've got to remember to put them on my camping list.
This was the last time I'll be using the ferry over the Yukon. It was
a good crossing.
Not really too much involved in the traveling today. I simply got on
the Klondike Hwy and headed south toward Whitehorse. I decided that
Whitehorse was the place to go because they have a Tim Horton's and I
liked their bagels.
The day was absolutely gorgeous. It was a bright blue sky with almost
no clouds. It was warm enough that I removed my jacket and rode with
just a t-shirt under the 'stich. I also made great time as the road
was fairly empty and good. The only issue was a bit of road
construction. At the only pilot car stop of the day, I was
chattingwith the flag lady and she said that they had noticed the
ravens being very noisy and when they went to investigate, they'd
found a roadkill moose. The moose had attracted a grizzly and the
ravens were following the bear. They moved her away from that spot
then.
At another construction site, I finally got to experience what Tim Yow
told me about; gravel berms. A truck will lay down fresh gravel and a
grader comes behind it to smooth it. When you come upon the grader,
its going slow so you're going to pass it but to cross lanes, you've
got a 2 foot wide PILE of gravel that is loose and treacherous. The
safest thing is swing wide right, get as close to 90 degrees as
possible, and go for it!
In Carmacks, I got off at the historic site to have an apple and while
I was there, two bald eagles flew over us.
As I got close to Whitehorse, I looked in the Milepost for a place to
stay. I found a hostel and decided to have my first hostel experience
solo. Unfortunately, they were full and suggested I go to the other
one in town. It was also full but they suggested a nearby campground.
It was on the river and near downtown and is called the Robert
Service campground. I knew of Robert Service already because he was
the poet they were reading at the Ester Gold Camp. The sites were
wooded and it was mostyly only foot traffic into the camp. They also
had a little store and showers so it was a great choice. The cost was
only $16. I set up camp and got directions to the library so I could
email Ruth. I even reached her on the pay phone. I then ate at a
Boston Pizza (nothing really Boston-like there; I couldn't even get
the Red Sox game on the TV) and then headed back to the camp. I got
to bed about 10:30 and yes, it was still light out.
--
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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach
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