And we passed! The past four days have truly been a challenge. The weather changed quite dramatically, we headed farther north, and we climbed substantially in elevation. Also, the road became very hilly and eventually turned to dirt and gravel. As you can imagine from these facts, we have been living adventurously these past days! Because you are reading this, you know we made it unscathed, and are now safe, happy, and warm in Dawson City.

Leaving Tok was a blast, literally, as we were blasted down the highway by a strong tailwind. It was a wondrous feeling to float practically effortlessly down the Alaska Highway. That all changed when we turned onto the Taylor Highway, where we immediately slowed to a crawl. The road dove up and down for the next 35 miles with lovely views of forests in various stages of recovery from forest fires. After lunch, eaten huddled below a turnout sheltered from the wind, we got very cold and had to run around in circles stomping our feet and clapping our hands. We likely looked just as crazy as we felt.

Eventually we reached the days highpoint, and then descended into camp on the banks of the West Fork of the 40 mile river (yes, that is actually the river’s name). We had enough water for dinner, but the campground had no extra for us. Then, there was a disastrous mishap during dish washing (oops), and we spilled it all. The river was far away, so we ended up filtering from a large puddle near our site. We were worried because the water was brown, even after a filter and a UV treatment, but we drank it anyways. It turns out that all the water in this area is brown!

The only other camper there came to chat with us and warn us of the conditions on the Top of the World highway. We nodded… but of course we knew we would carry on regardless!

We rode up and down hills into the teeny tiny ‘town’ of Chicken, Alaska. In truth, it is a post office that is open 2 days a week, and three businesses that each claim to be the ‘true’ Chicken. In the end, we went to Beautiful Downtown Chicken, which wasn’t actually open yet, but luckily the cook there was willing to make us burgers on wheat bread and serve up some chicken soup. This place was a riot, and it was a blast to hear the characters coming through there.

 

For example, the cook was talking to a miner passing through and told the story of the last time he used a satellite phone, when it cost $7 per minute. He was on an isolated lake on a hunting trip and ran out of alcohol. He called his buddy, instructed him to go to his house and pick up a plastic bottle full of vodka, then tie something red on it and fly over the lake to drop it in the water. Apparently, hunting is impossible without vodka!

The Post Office in Chicken: Open 2 days a week.

After Chicken it was all dirt road but in excellent condition, at least until the next day when we began to climb into the hills towards the US-Canada border.

We camped just about 20 miles from Chicken.  The next day we would start the loooong climb to the US-Canada border, and from there embark on Top of the World to Dawson City.  That, however, is a post for tomorrow!

Pavement ended. Climbing out of Chicken.

 

Glennallen, AK to Tok, AK – 141 miles over three days.

This relatively short stretch of highway had some wonderfully varied terrain, some lovely weather, and a really great lodge where we spent a night.  Oh, it was also relatively flat, which made it quite pleasant!

 

At first, it was flat and mostly through stunted black spruce trees.  For miles and miles.  A particularly amusing moment happened near a road junction where a few folks live.  There were two dogs that ran out and chased us down the road a bit, and one was a giant brown shaggy beast.  We joked that we had been chased by a bear, then a mere moment later, some guy in a pickup truck drove by, rolled down his window, and yelled ‘I bet y’all thought you were getting chased by a bear!” I think we all had a good laugh over it.

The riding was pleasant, but I (Daisy) have come down with a head cold so there was lots of sneezing and blowing of the nose.  The weather was hot too – 70 degrees!  I guess this is a heat wave for Alaska, and it certainly felt hot to us too.

We stayed at the Red Eagle Lodge, our favorite place so far by far.  The owners bought a little group of historical cabins 6 years ago and have been restoring them ever since.  It was only $23 to camp, shower, and both eat a delicious breakfast with them.  They were a couple of characters full of stories, both from their own travelers, and from the travelers they’ve hosted.  They said there is an English couple riding bicycles to Alaska that are only about 2 days in front of us!  I hope we meet up with them soon.

After Red Eagle, the highway began to gently climb inland, away from the massive Wrangell mountains and into greener mountains.  Near the top of the pass, the land leveled out into a wide floodplain full of moose (we saw 6) and waterfowl.  It actually smelled like the beach, minus the salt.  We stopped at a lodge at the pass and bought a family size bag of Doritos and a Dr. Pepper. As we ate the much-needed calories, we read the news articles provided by the lodge about the 2002 earthquake that rattled the area.  It was HUGE – 7.9, and apparently even changed the frequency of geyser eruptions in Yellowstone.  Wow.  As we rode down the other side of the pass, we could see the spot on the highway where the entire road cracked open and split apart.

 

We pushed down the pass and kept pedaling all the way to a state-run campground, for a total of 78 miles that day.  It was a long day for sure.  At camp we met two guys and chatted with them for a bit; one had driven there from Maine, which also sounds like quite a trek.  They gave us some water, which was good because the campground pump was broken.  If only we had known before we paid…

Now we are in Tok, AK.  It is a little town located where two highways meet.  We are taking 1.5 rest days here to recover from this dang cold, work on the dissertation, and do some chores.  Next we are heading up the Top of the World Highway to Dawson City, Yukon.  I am so so so excited!  The weather is about to turn cold, with highs in the 40s, but we are ready for it, and grateful that it won’t be raining the whole time.  Next update from Dawson!

 

May 13: King Mountain to Sheep Mountain – 38 miles

Climbing up, up, up! Mountain peaks and glaciers, all day long.  This highway is phenomenal, and I can highly recommend it, at least when the weather is this perfect.  Despite another cold morning, it warmed up by the afternoon.  We rode through the small town of Chicaloon, which was all but abandoned since both stores closed down in 2012.  No espresso for Daisy today!

After climbing all morning we had lunch and a nap on a turnout next to the road, then descended down to the river again.  We thought the climb deserved a summit sign, but no luck.  We did, however see four more moose!   The Matanuska glacier could be seen across the valley, and it was beautiful.  We stopped at the glacier viewing spot and took a little hike around to read about the area.  I love the informational signs… We learned that there is a giant piece of glacier ice that has been abandoned to the side of the active glacier, and it just sits there slowly melting.  It melts so slowly that earth and trees start to grow on it!  When it melts, the trees begin to tilt and eventually fall.

We made it past Sheep Mountain with much more climbing, saw ten Dall sheep, and found a lodge that looked closed.  We found a person there to ask about where we could camp, and it turned out we could camp there!  For $20, of course, but we were happy because there was fresh water, electricity to charge our various devices, and showers(!!).  We had more dehydrated beans for dinner, and washed off three days worth of dirt.

Just as we crawled into the tent at 8:30 it started to rain.  A storm had been gathering all evening, and it finally reached us.  We were so happy to be warm, clean, and dry!  It was a restful, and cold, night.

May 14: Sheep Mountain to Glennallen – 76 miles

A stunning day to ride over the highest point on the Glenn Highway!  We awoke to ice (it really was cold) and crisp clear skies.  With many layers on, we ate a warm breakfast and got on the road.  The first 15 miles were mostly uphill to the pass, and at the top we could see in all directions.  We could particularly see a restaurant with coffee, burgers, and french fries.

The folks in the restaurant had all passed us on the road in the past day or so, and were so friendly!  We have been hesitating to tell the folks we meet about our entire route, sometimes telling them that we are going to Mexico instead of Argentina, just because the folks in Pennsylvania that we met were so boggled by the idea.  The folks here just take it in stride though, so we decided to tell them the whole story from here on out.  Except if we get a bad vibe, in which case we tell them we are visiting our friends in the next town!

After our delicious first lunch, we started down the pass.  It quickly moved away from the mountains and into a never-ending forest of stunted spruce trees.  Actually, it was visually striking if somewhat monotonous.  The four giant mountains in the Wrangell range slowly came into view as our day got longer and longer.

We had second lunch at a rest area with a single, sad picnic table.  The road rose and fell for many many miles through the spruce forest, until we stopped for dinner on the side of the road about 15 miles from Glennallen.  We decided to eat dinner, and then ride to town and find a spot to camp.  There are campgrounds here, but they don’t open until tomorrow!  

Luckily, we saw the library…  three ladies were sitting in a truck in front of it, and we stopped to ask about camping. We asked if anyone would mind if we camped behind the library and they said ‘This is Alaska!’ Apparently, we can pretty much camp wherever we want!  They were very nice, and even told us about the WiFi here.  Wow.  Tomorrow we will ride through town first thing, and hopefully find some espresso for me…  and of course re-stock some food supplies too!

Right now, it is the end of our fourth full day in Alaska.  We are camped behind the Glennallen town library, which miraculously has WiFi accessible from the tent.  It has been a phenomenal ride along the Glenn Highway from Anchorage.  The weather has been stunning, with clear skies to see the sweeping panoramas of mountains, glaciers, and rivers.

Because there is so much to say, I’m going to split the last four days into two posts.

May 11: Anchorage to Eagle River – 23.5 Miles

Small mileage day – but big on errands.  We finally got everything we needed (Jason needed new shoes!), and packed it up outside the REI.  It looked like an REI sidewalk sale, but it was just us! Some guy stood and chatted with us almost the entire time, which hurried us along sufficiently.   We also bought food and started out of town on the bike paths.  These bike paths were great, but contributed to our two mishaps of the day.  You see, Jason had strapped our newly-bought oatmeal to the back of his bike… and then hit a big bump that dislodged it.  Crash!  Oatmeal everywhere, but luckily there was enough remaining for one breakfast worth.

Later, the bike paths kept splitting and curving and we got pretty confused.  Jason hit one of those poles that exist in bike paths to keep cars out, which was mishap #2.  Don’t worry, he was fine.  Oops!  We are still getting used to how wide our bikes are.

 

Outside of town the bike path continued alongside the busy highway, and it was remarkable just how many people were actively using it.  At one point, Jason saw a moose crossing sign, and then immediately realized he actually saw a moose!  The first wildlife sighting of the trip.

We got in to camp quite early and had a relaxing evening in a lovely riverside campsite.  Dinner was quite good; thanks for the dehydrated beans Mom!  They are actually delicious.  It was more than passing strange to go to bed at 9:30 with the sun still bright in the sky.  Actually, as I write this, it is nearly 10pm and full daylight.  Crazy!

May 12: Eagle River to King Mountain – 70 miles

Finally, the scenery arrived in full force today.  Now, we felt like we were riding through Alaska.  The morning was cold and foggy, but the sky was clear by the time we left behind the more populated areas.  On the way out of town, I (Daisy) got a double shot of espresso and was immediately very  excited about everything.  In particular, about the amazing bike path next to the road.  There was a complete tunnel / curly-cue just to get us up a hill!  It was wild.  Eventually we did have to ride on the shoulder of the main highway, but it was wide and free of debris.

We took a quieter road to Palmer, which is actually Alaska’s only town that was founded as an agricultural community.  Apparently they are famous for giant vegetables, including a record 100+ pound cabbage.  We stopped for lunch on the incredibly wide river delta with the mountains looming down on us.  Across the river we could see horseback riders, folks in giant RV buses, and a  backpacker all running around on the silty sand.

In Palmer we were tired.  Really really tired, and we debated calling it a day.  Then we had ice cream cones, and started up the hill towards the mountains!  The scenery just got better and better, and there was only one slight mishap of a dropped glove that was quickly recovered.

 

We camped in the distinctive shadow of King Mountain, pumping water from an old-fashioned well and sterilizing it with our fancy UV pen.  It was so cool to finally use our gear!  We also decided to prep for the morning – by preparing a fire in the kitchen shelter next to our site.  The piles of moose poop all over the campground inspired us, and we used about twenty moose-turds as starter.  In the morning it was so easy to light and have instant warmth.