Author Archives: Daisy

Three rest days – Haines, Juneau, and Skagway.

The tidepools outside of Haines, AK

A view of Haines and the magnificent backdrop of mountains

We have been tourists for a few days in this trio of small towns, eating from local bakeries, drinking locally made coffee and beer, and taking a spectacular boat trip along the Inside Passage. We stayed three nights with a few friends in Haines (thanks everyone!), and met a number of friendly folks.

A display at the Hammer museum in Haines

Haines is nestled at the base of big mountains at the tidewaters of the Chilkat River, way up the deep water fjord of Lynn Canal. We took a day trip to Chilkoot Lake (14 miles riding each way!) to see where the salmon run and the tourists play. While we stopped to read some information about the local bears a woman approached us and asked if we wanted some fish her husband had just caught and cleaned. Well, yes, of course! She gave us two bags of fresh, plump Dolly Varden, which we later baked to perfection with some cream cheese and dill. What a special treat for us!

The next day we took the fast boat to Juneau. This special tour was a gift from my parents for our wedding, and it included breakfast on the fast boat as we watched wildlife en route to Juneau, Alaska. We saw a giant colony of Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, humpback whales, and more bald eagles than we could count. It was raining for us, but the sealife didn’t mind a bit!

Stellar sea lions swimming past our boat

Look close! You’ll see humpback whale tails.

We spent a few hours in Juneau, which was fun because we got to go to the capitol building. Apparently, it was re-purposed when Alaska became a state and has been voted the least beautiful capitol building of all 50 states! We enjoyed our time in Juneau, but a few hours was enough to see the downtown sights.

Downtown Juneau, they get four cruise ships docked here a day!

The tour included a quick trip to the Mendenhall glacier too, and we took the time to hike up as near as they allowed.

The falls next to the glacier. Note raincoat… it was rainy!

The Mendenhall Glacier – a bit of a poster-glacier for climate change.

We fast-boated right back to Haines that evening, happy tourists!

A mostly abandoned and supposedly haunted lighthouse.

Taking the fast ferry from Haines to Skagway.

Finally, our last day of tourism was in Skagway, AK. This was another main stop on the gold trail of the Klondike Gold Rush. We enjoyed a ranger-led talk through downtown, where we learned about the colorful history of the con men, business men, and miners that passed through more than a hundred years ago. That night we stayed with a wonderful Warmshowers host who had ridden some of our proposed route in Mexico, and was happy to share advice on the road to come.

The Arctic Brotherhood headquarters – most photographed building in Alaska!

Finally, true Alaskan beer!

We decided to treat ourselves and get burgers and a beer sampler at the local brewery. It may have cost a full day’s budget, but it was a delicious meal.

The next day we relaxed in the morning, caffeinating sufficiently for the afternoon of riding, and then headed out for our next big stretch of road to Watson Lake. You will have to wait until tomorrow for our account of that stretch though! Thanks for reading!

Whitehorse to Haines – A study in beautiful scenery

There was so much adventure and fun (i.e. struggle!) during this 4-day stretch!

The storms threaten!

Whitehorse to Haines is about 250 miles, with one small town (no grocery store) and one stunning mountain pass. We left Whitehorse later in the day after being thoroughly spoiled by our friend Alice. In fact, we were so well fed that we didn’t even bother making dinner that first night, opting instead to eat left-over pancakes from the breakfast she had made us!

Dirt turned to mud…

We camped a mere 20 miles from Whitehorse, just a small bit off the road on a small patch of hard-packed dirt next to an abandoned truck trailer. It was a great, hidden spot… but then the rain came. That hard-packed dirt became cement-like mud and after packing up in the morning our shoes were piled high with the stuff. It was like walking on platform boots!

The riding is good.

The storm threatens!

The rain was to come and go for the next three days en route to Haines, but somehow it wasn’t too bad for us. We put our coats and pants on and off, on and off as the showers moved over us. One day, we put them on 7 times! Our second day out of Whitehorse we rolled into a campground just as a big storm reached us. We were so lucky that there was a 24-hour restaurant attached to the campground, where we got the $5 pie special and found a sheltered spot to cook. They offered us free showers, but since we had spent all day in ‘showers’, we didn’t even want them.

Our big accomplishment so far: 1000 miles since Anchorage!! We were about 10 miles from Haines Junction, and we stopped to celebrate.

1000 miles!

We bought day-old cheese stick bread in Haines Junction, and headed out on Haines Highway. The rain continued to come and go, but it didn’t matter to us because the scenery was still stunning. Our longest day (79 miles) yet ended at Million Dollar Falls campground – we had ridden an extra 20 miles for the promise of a picnic shelter. We were not disappointed, the shelter was excellent and we ignored the ‘no tents’ sign and slept out of the continuing rain.

Hot dogs… bike-touring in the Yukon style.

Now, finally, here is the amazing story of the post:

After we made breakfast at Million Dollar CG, we went to retrieve our ‘smelly things’, which we had stored in the back of the bear-proof garbage bags right next to the shelter… and they were GONE. It seems that the park employee had changed the trash bags, and assumed our little bag was trash. We were at first numb, then we started to list all the things that we would need to get anew – Jason’s hand medicines, our spare prescription glasses (!!), our toothbrushes, creams, floss, etc. It was awful. Daisy had a meltdown when she thought the leatherman was lost too, but then we found it in a bear canister. So, finally, we got our stuff packed and limped out of the campground.

At the entrance to the highway we flagged down a Yukon Government Road Maintenance truck, hoping he would have a radio to call the park guy on. No luck, but he said that he knew the guy and a few of his hangout spots, and would check for us. Then if he did find the bag, he would bring it to the ‘Green Shack’ the next day. He also warned us that he believed it was a lost cause…

We continued on, trying to find some silver linings like: ‘Well, the bags are a lot lighter now!’, ‘I guess we didn’t really need that anti-itch cream.’, and ‘At least everything smelly fits in the bear canisters now!’. It took a long time to get cheered up, especially as we climbed higher up and toward the pass with the rains continuing to come and go. On the bright side – the scenery was stunning!

More scenery.

As we neared the summit, we saw the ‘Green Shack’ that we have heard so much about. It looked like nothing special from the outside, but on the inside we would find it to be a warm, cozy oasis. We turned off the road to leave a note for the road worker, and just as we did we saw his truck turn in behind us. Could it be true?! His passenger hopped out of the truck holding our bag full of items! He had found it, and driven all the way up to nearly the summit to get it to us! We were in so much shock, awe, and happiness that we didn’t even get the whole story from him before he got back in the truck and drove off the way he came.

The miracle workers in the Yukon truck.

The rest of the trip into Haines was actually great. The sun came out, the border was no problem, and the scenery continued to be stunning. As we neared town we met some rafting guys who live with our host in town (Thanks Andrew!). Haines is a great, great town, we have met and chatted with many folks and are happy to spend a few days here seeing the sights. Next stops – Juneau, Skagway, and then back to the Yukon!

Here are some more pictures of our descent into Haines. It was so lovely. I highly recommend this road to everyone!

Fish Wheels.

Scenery rolling into Haines – notice rockslide on the left.

Litter and it will hurt.

A long travel between towns – Dawson City to Whitehorse.

There are 333 miles between Dawson City and Whitehorse, which translates to five and a half days of riding through isolated, forested terrain. It was beautiful, and long, and almost always daylight. We saw ground squirrels, a fox, and a grizzly bear. We spent three nights camping next to the road, hidden in little pockets out of the view of drivers, and two nights in lovely Yukon government campgrounds. Now we are resting for a few days in Whitehorse, and staying with a friend I (Daisy) made on my last trip through the area nearly four years ago.

The 5-Finger rapids on the Yukon River.

This part of our trip is challenging: we must plan for long stretches between grocery stores, and spend many hours pedaling through scenery that is vast and very slowly changing. At times, it is psychologically tiring, particularly when the road is straight for miles at a time with strong headwinds! I will give you the highlights in this post.

Tailings cover the entire valley as you leave Dawson City.

Outside of Dawson City we rode through miles and miles of ‘tailings’, the giant piles of rock that were left over after the massive dredges finished digging up the rivers in search of gold. It is absolutely remarkable how we humans have changed the landscape, even in these remote areas. The first day of riding south was good to us – there was a strong enough tailwind that we didn’t even mind the rain that blew over us. We rode through miles of forests, and spent our fist night camping near a gravel pile. It was actually very nice!

Gravel pile campsite. Not bad!

Daisy and the largest mosquito we’ve ever seen!

We kept riding and riding, and finally found a little outpost of humanity in the quirky Moose Creek Lodge, where we also had our first experience with a tour bus full of folks. It was a big group from New Zealand milling around this funny little spot full of moose antlers, funny sculptures, and baked snacks. We ate some, filled up water, and kept riding until we found another hidden spot to sleep near the road.

The weather really began to get warm our third day out of Dawson, and we rode in short sleeves and shorts. The bugs are out too, and we started to get many many mosquito bites. I even got bites on my rear while sitting in a camp chair. Those little things are vicious. Just as we were getting ready to find camp this third day we head a crash in the woods next to us and both looked in time to see the back end of a grizzly bear, running quickly away from us. Of course, we decided to ride a little farther before making camp! Don’t worry, we take basic bear precautions and always cook far far from camp (like 10 miles), and store our food away from where we sleep too. I always cuddle the bear spray.

Our first glimpse of people and services again was in Carmacks on our fourth day out, where there was a wonderful grocery store with divine Nanaimo bars. We also met a fellow who had ridden from there to Guatemala and back. We spent far too long eating snacks and chips and cookies outside the grocery store, before carrying on to Twin Lakes: a lovely campground on the shore of a clear lake. We even waded in and splashed water on our tired, dirty arms and legs. What a treat!

Twin Lakes – just beautiful.

The scenery began to get fantastic the last two days before Whitehorse, and we had the sense that we were experiencing bike touring at its best. The valleys, rivers, and lakes next to us seemed almost prehistoric in their beauty, and I half expected to see Jurrasic animals loping across them. We made good time and loved watching the hills and mountains pass by us. We also loved stopping at a lodge for a meal-sized cinnamon bun. Yum! We actually didn’t even need lunch that day.

Fox Lake with a partial ice cover. It was noticeably chilly near the water.

Fox Lake with partial ice cover. It was noticeably more chilly near the water.

We spent our last pre-Whitehorse night on Lake Laberge, a stunning lake formed by the Yukon River. It was peaceful. When we awoke the next morning, however, the still air was gone and there was a roaring headwind all the way to Whitehorse. The highlight of that windy ride was a bold little fox, who didn’t mind our gawking at all.

The happy couple at Lake Laberge.

Now we are resting, and feeling very pampered. We are staying with a fantastic cook who has been feeding us non-stop. She has a lovely condo overlooking the Yukon River, and directly adjacent to a trail leading downtown. We will finish these updates and go to town to be tourists!

After our time here, we will go back to Alaska and visit Haines, Juneau, and Skagway. The stories up here of the gold rush era are intoxicating, and I can’t wait to go find a few books on local history at the bookstore!

We made it to Whitehorse!

Top of the World and Taylor Highways: We have been tested…

Woohoo! Dawson City!

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.

Spring is around here somewhere…

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!

Views from the Top of the World Highway.

Views from the Taylor Highway.

Taylor Highway – downhill ahead!

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!

Beautiful Downtown Chicken – about the size of a postage stamp.

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.

Chicken Poop. Hee Hee!

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.

The Philtrons Pedal North

Cycling the Americas

Author Archives: Daisy

Three rest days – Haines, Juneau, and Skagway.

Whitehorse to Haines – A study in beautiful scenery

A long travel between towns – Dawson City to Whitehorse.

Top of the World and Taylor Highways: We have been tested…