New Meadows, Idaho to Boise, Idaho: Home Sweet Home

After a relaxing morning in New Meadows and a great breakfast made by Bisbee and Dave, our neighbors down the road, we headed down Highway 55 to home. The DR 650 never gave up, and delivered me to my driveway without any fuss. After a bath and a new chain and sprocket, she'll be ready for more high adventure.

I have always been told by many folks, "Oooh, start planning your next trip before you end your current trip!" Mark, lamentably, has another credo--"Oooh, shop on Craig's List and buy your next motorcycle before you get home". He is now the proud owner of his dream machine, a KTM 950 Adventure, vintage 2005.


We were greeted by wagging tails and lots of kisses from our pups!

Odometer: 10,000 and change

Cold Spring CG, BC to New Meadows, Idaho: HUGE day!

Woke up and felt like I had been beaten up! The little DR 650 had been handily pummeled as well. Her chain and sprocket were cashed in, and really, it was about time, as I had been riding the original set. I now had about 14,000 miles on the bike. We tightened the chain and headed off east toward the BC wine country on Hwy 3. This is a beautiful area, filled with orchards and vineyards. Both of us were ready to turn south, so we took a little road to the Nighthawk, WA border crossing. Not a lot goin' on there, which is really nice if you want a quick and easy border crossing session!



We headed to Oroville, WA to fuel up and purchased a map of Washington State to figure out our options for our trip south, as there were many. Wanting to stay as far away from big towns as possible, we chose to take Hwy 20 from Tonasket over Sherman Pass to Kettle Falls. As it turned out, this was a dream motorcycle road! It twisted and turned, climbing through ponderosa forests initially and then descending into the Columbia River valley. We then turned south on Hwy 25. There was NO traffic on this road, which was great. It follows the Columbia a fair bit of the way, and we discovered that the "free ferry" phenomenon is not limited to parts Canadian--there is one that crosses the river in Gifford, WA! Aside from the mandatory torrential downpour, which has been the signature weather of our trip, it was a fabulous ride.



In Davenport, we took Hwy 28 to Hwy 23--again, absolutely NO traffic--this is a great way to go, and we enjoyed the rolling terrain of the Palouse and headed down on into Lewiston, Idaho. We had already had a pretty huge day, but we were so close to New Meadows, we decided to go for it. At about 10 p.m., we rolled into Whitney Ranch.
View 8/13/09 in a larger map'>http://
View 8/13/09 in a larger map



Odometer:

Birken, BC to Cold Spring CG in Manning Provincial Park: a visit to the 4x4 graveyard

Why do things the easy way, I say? Why ride a twin cylinder, super-comfy motorcycle on a 10,000 mile trip when you can ride a thumper? Why take the beautiful Sea to Sky Highway 99 through Whistler, BC to Vancouver when you can take a little-talked-about dirt road to parts south?

The day began innocently enough with a great cappuccino and a hearty breakfast compliments of our hosts, Susanna and Tom. I had been eyeing a dirt road on the map for about 6 months during our trip planning that connected Hwy 99 around Pemberton to the south along Lillooet Lake, the Lillooet River and Harrison Lake. It seemed like a more interesting way to get to where we wanted to go than taking the tarmac. I had looked online and asked around about it, but couldn't really get any answers. Part of the road had a "4x4 road" designation. I've been on lots of pretty bad dirt roads in Idaho and Mark, I am convinced, can ride any terrain, so we decided to go on one last adventure.


The road was fine initially, for about 60 miles, just pretty bad washboard and potholes. Then we got to a spot where the road seemed to end. Upon closer inspection, there was a sign for a road, over which was placed a "closed as of 2008" sign. There was a bit of a clearing in the trees by the sign, and, our brains probably damaged from too much DEET use over the last 6 weeks, we, for some reason, decided to press on. Turn back and ride 60 miles of washboard? No way! Things were a little bit rough at first, but the road gradually became steeper and then the gnar began. And, of course, it started raining. This was, without question, the most challenging riding I have ever done. The steep road was a mix of mud, water ruts, step-ups and rocks the size of shoeboxes. Along the way were carcasses of four-wheel-drive vehicles that had sipped their last drop of unleaded here. I figured that we'd be lucky if we made it out with a femur fracture or two, if we made it out at all, and we just fully thrashed on our loaded motorcycles. This was a route for a light trail bike and a day tripper--not appropriate for a loaded bike and a tired girl nearing the end of a 10,000 mile journey. At one point, I seriously considered ditching my bike and walking out!


Here is a view. I didn't take many pictures. I was too busy trying to fight off the urge to throw up because I was so gripped...Mark was really great, and without him to give me a little encouragement, I think I would have joined the totalled 4x4's and chosen this as my final resting place. We counted a total of eight abandoned vehicles along this stretch of road.

We DID make it through 20 hard miles, and the road then returned to a more tolerable washboard/pothole sampler. I went right to bed without dinner once we reached camp, after a very tough day. Quite a little adventure. Next time, I'm gonna take the easy way!

Odometer: 9227 miles

Beaumont Provincial Park to Birken, BC near Pemberton

BIG day today! We rode with Matthew and Peter in the morning and then headed south at Prince George, while they continued east.

Last winter, we met a couple at Baldface Lodge in Nelson, BC, Tom and Susanna. In addition to being phenomenal snowboarders, they give excellent travel recommendations. I was talking to Susanna about our trip plan, and she suggested taking Highway 99 to Pemberton. Mark and I both agreed that this was one of the best roads of our entire trip.

We were greeted at their place by their doggie, Peanut...

and their miniature lion, Bagel!

We enjoyed an excellent dinner and a comfy bed.

These guys have a great setup in Birken--they get to enjoy fabulous views, world-class backcountry skiing, and their work space is right on their property!

Tom and Susanna in their workspace. Together they own a design firm called FYi. Among many other accomplishments, they are responsible for creating the phenomenal [ak] line for Burton.

Susanna at work!!

Odometer: 9013

Stewart, BC to Beaumont Provincial Park, just beyond Fraser Lake

Had some rain on our way out of Stewart this morning...they get a lot of rain here when it is warm, and tons of snow in the winter. A couple of years ago, they got 37 feet in town! There was a little low lying cloud cover as we went back up the canyon, and the waterfalls were going off!

After riding south on 37 to the Skeena River, we turned east on 16. Along this road we saw lots of farms, ranches, and the world's largest fly rod. We also ran into a father-and-son team (Peter and Matthew) from Montreal, who we'd first met back in Dawson City. They were both riding XR 650's. Some men bond over a common football team or a love of fishing. Mark and Peter bonded over their shared history of having had their driver's licenses revoked as teenagers for going too fast on motorcycles!


We shared a campsite, beer and lots of laughs!

Odometer: 8529 miles

Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK

I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to head back over to Fish Creek to see if I could see a bear. Fortunately, one decided that she needed a snack! She put on quite a show, eating lots of salmon, chasing them down the river and then walking right underneath where I was standing on the observation deck to a pond, where she took a swim and had some berries for dessert.
Some people with whom I chatted, who come here almost every year, told me that the fish counts and the bear counts were down this year.

I took Mark back with me in the evening, but we didn't see any more grizzlies. We did see a large black bear in the middle of the road on our way back into Hyder. He had just jumped out of the river and caused Mark to come to a sliding stop in the mud.

Hyder, pictured above, is a unique town! We had dinner at the Glacier Inn, but did not take part in the tradition of drinking their rot-gut moonshine which has caused many a visitor to quickly part with his or her just-consumed dinner.

Hyder, AK (sharing the screen with Stewart, BC) has also been the location for several movies, including the horror movie "The Thing" and Robert DeNiro's widely panned "Insomnia."

Odometer: 8177 miles

Tanzilla River CG to Stewart, BC: the Bear Festival!

More great riding on the Cassair Highway today. About 200 miles into it, heading south, they decided to put a center line in the road, and it made it feel more like we were approaching civilization. The pristine streams were gone and we were now back in glacial runoff territory. Phenomenal views everywhere, and another thing I noted was that the trees were getting bigger and bigger. They can put up a fight against Ol' Man Winter a lot better that the little spruce can up in the Yukon.

We took the spur road, 37A, to Stewart. This route, entirely paved, was unreal. There were glaciers and waterfalls everywhere.

Much to our surprise, we arrived in the middle of the 3-day Bear Festival. There is a creek in neaby Hyder, AK, in the Tongass National Forest, where the chum salmon are twice as big as they usually are (the sign i read said that they weigh "as much as a small child"), and the bears come to take advantage of this fact and feast in July and August.

We loved Stewart so much that we immediately made the decision to stay for 2 days. It has lots of restored buildings, a beautiful estuary, and, of course, the Bear Festival! Below is a picture of the estuary.

There were roosters where we stayed, too! We enjoyed the Bear Festival in town--there was live music, great food, local art and a bingo game.

In the evening, we went across the border to Hyder, AK to try to see some bears. The river was packed with chum salmon, but the bears were being shy and staying away, so we headed back to town for a meal at the Bitter Creek Cafe--this place was top-notch--I highly recommend it!!

Odometer: 8137 miles

Watson Lake to Tanzilla River CG near Dease Lake, BC

We got a late start out of Watson Lake after changing our oil and switching out the knobby tires. After just a few miles heading west on the Alaska Highway, we turned south on the Cassair Highway (HWY 37). This road was amazing, one of our favorites of the trip. No center line, no traffic, and tons of pristine creeks, rivers and lakes. Lots of twists and turns.

Just a little while into the day, I caught up with a few people who were carrying an important passenger. Her name was Neve, and this was her first trip--and she was loving it.


They had her in a milk crate set up with a harness system so she wouldn't fall out on bumpy parts of the road. And, of course, she willingly wore doggles. She had very long eyelashes that she needed to protect. When they were riding, she'd just rest her head on the bedroll in front of her.

She had the sweetest disposition! I think our hounds would be a bit heavy for this type of set up, but maybe a sidecar...

Our plan was to head down to Dease Lake and turn west to Telegraph Creek, which is about 70 miles off of the main road. As we made it into Dease Lake late after a rainy, muddy afternoon, we opted to camp just down the highway. In talking to a local, we were informed that the scenery on the road to Telegraph Creek is spectacular, but that when it is rainy, it becomes almost impassable and he advised against it, as the forecast called for more rain.

Odometer: 7887 miles

Tatchun Creek to Watson Lake, YT: Chicken revisited

This was a "mad bomber day." We needed to put on some miles on the Alaska Highway to prepare to head south on the Cassair Highway. Tires and oil needed to be changed, and Watson Lake seemed to be the right spot to do it, as we had been here before on our way north. Just before Whitehorse, we turned east on to the Alaska Highway. After a stop in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon, for oil and lunch (and a failed attempt to see the whitewater rodeo--we were a day late), we powered through at a blistering pace to Watson Lake for a 400-mile + day, which is far on our single cylinder machines. But not before getting gas in Tetlin...

We were riding fast and it was smoky, so I didn't take any photos, but I do have a story to tell, and it occurred in Tetlin as we were getting gas. Those of you who know my husband are well aware of the fact that he can be a little "scattered" at times. I mentioned early on in the trip that he had dropped his wallet in the highway and I found it. Well, since that time, he has amassed quite a record of lost items which I will not list here for the sake of protecting my hands from a certain case of carpal tunnel syndrome. His traveling companion, who seems to find said lost items, has grown somewhat tired of this.

Rewind about 800 miles and a few days to beautiful Chicken, AK. Just as Mark and I were about to leave the town, Mark said to me, "Oh, I don't have my wallet," so he rode back down to the place where we ate and zipped right back to tell me, "Phew, it was in my pocket." So away we went.

It is important to note that as we approached Tetlin, we saw some running shoes in the roadway that someone obviously failed to secure properly to their vehicle. I was paying for gas at the station when I heard a guy say to Mark, "Hey, were those your running shoes in the road, and do you have your wallet?" Then Mark says, "Oh my gawd, Annie, this is the guy from Chicken who found my wa....." Oops! Turns out, Mark DID lose his wallet in Chicken, and the guy who found it was at the Tetlin gas station standing right next to him!! He knew that I would blow a gasket if he told me he had lost something else, so he told a little fib, but was busted 800 miles later! I was almost crying I was laughing so hard, and so was everyone else in the gas station.

Odometer: 7721 miles

Dawson City to Tatchun Creek, YT: Yukon is burning!

Spent an uneventful night on the Yukon River--it was kind to us. Recently, it has not been so kind to the town of Eagle, AK, which is a bit downstream. It is/was a very well preserved old town, known for trapping. We were told that earlier in the year, during the ice break up, warm weather upstream melted the ice, but downstream things remained locked up. An ice dam formed near Eagle and resulted in rather severe flooding of the town. Apparently the river is usually 10 feet below the level of the town, but the ice dam that formed was 16 feet above the level of Eagle.Here is the little ferry that takes folks across the river. You can see how hazy it is because of the forest fires.

A typical building in Dawson. We relaxed in town for the morning and met lots of nice people from all over the place.

In the afternoon, we attended a tour of the Robert Service cabin. It was outstanding--we were spellbound by Johnny, the guy who gave the presentation. He had everyone laughing with his delivery of several poems, and the story of Robert Service is fascinating.

Heeeeeere's Johnny!

So, about the smoke...we had planned next to take the Dempster Road up to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, crossing over the Arctic Circle one more time. The views are supposed to be spectacular, but because of the fact that 1/2 of the Yukon seems to be on fire, you couldn't see much, according to the folks at the Visitor Center. We reluctantly passed the turnoff to the Dempster and headed south...it will have to wait for our next trip.

We rode for about 4 hours to a campground on a creek. Saw a coyote and a lynx along the way. Mark caught the smallest fish in the universe, barely visible to the naked eye. I got skunked.

Odometer: 7315 miles

Tok, AK to Dawson City, YT

We headed east on the Alaska Highway just 12 miles before turning north onto the Taylor Highway, which leads to Chicken, AK. Chicken came highly recommended and we had to see it. The road was mostly paved with some gravel breaks along the way. Along with long steel grate bridges, hitting 4 inches of loose gravel at 60 m.ph. has made it on to my list of "least favorite things related to riding a motorcycle" in the last couple of days.

Chicken is a pretty funky place. They wanted to name it Ptarmigan, but nobody knew how to spell it (and I am not even sure if I do), so that is how it got its current name. It is an old mining town, complete with a huge old dredge. Lots of mining implements are scattered around. Mark's powerful shopping gene got the better of him here, and he purchased a baseball cap, a t-shirt, and a thermometer, all carrying the Chicken signature.

Outside of Chicken, the Top of the World Highway begins. I think it was made for the express purpose of making motorcyclists happy. It is a dirt and gravel road, with some pavement here and there, and it generally runs along ridges, so you really do feel like you are on the top of the world. Unfortunately, there have been a bunch of forest fires burning, and our views were limited because of the smoke.

We ran into some reindeer on the road. Mark said, "Oh, there's Donna and Blitzen." The only Donna I know lives at Whitney Ranch back in Idaho. Let's all help Mark this next winter during the holiday season and teach him the proper names of Santa's team!

We reached Dawson City in the afternoon, at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike Rivers. After setting up camp on the banks of the Yukon River in West Dawson (where people lived to escape the intermittent typhoid outbreaks in the main town back in the day), we took the little ferry across to Dawson, as the locals call it. This place is GREAT--tons of cool old buildings and lots of history. Robert Service and Jack London both lived here in the early 1900's.

Robert Service's cabin is pictured above. Tomorrow, we will go on an informational tour and attend a poetry reading at this site.

The bikes continue to run well. We are both about to ditch our knobby tires, as they have served us well and they only thing that now identifies them as knobby is the Dunlop 606 moniker on the side.

Odometer: 7107 miles

McCarthy to Tok

After a comfortable night of camping on a beautiful site, we again packed our bags and said goodbye to Erin, Bryan and Mark. We can't wait to come back and see what they do with the place over the years!

Before we left the area, we had to visit the old mine, which is perched above the moraine from the Kennicott and Root Glaciers. The Kennicott Mine was started in 1906. It is about 5 miles up the road from McCarthy. McCarthy is where the "women of ill repute" spent their time while the miners worked in the daytime up on the mountain in Kennicott. The mine area is slowly being restored by the National Parks Service, as it is an Historic Landmark.

We charged back down the road to Chitina on our way to Tok for the night. Up near McCarthy, a 50,000 acre forest fire was burning, so the air wasn't so good. We couldn't see across the Copper River on our way back. As we got back on the pavement to Tok, the skies cleared and we were treated to some more views of the Wrangell Mountains.

We decided to camp in Tok before heading north back to the Yukon. We REALLY needed showers, laundry and some internet access. I would now like to sing the praises of the Sourdough Campground in Tok, AK. Not only do they have WiFi, but they have laundry, showers, and most importantly, an evening pancake toss. I entered, but despite my best efforts, I failed to throw the pancake into the bucket, and thus, did not win a free breakfast in the morning...

Odometer: 6907 miles

Valdez to McCarthy, AK

In the morning, we left a message with a guy named Mark, who is the brother of our friend, Dave, in New Meadows, Idaho. He has some property in McCarthy, AK, and we were headed there, so we left a message. We weren't really sure if we'd see him or not, as we hadn't made prior contact. The ride out of Valdez started in a narrow canyon. There were waterfalls everywhere. The canyon opened and we crossed over Thompson Pass, which is pretty famous for the extreme skiing that goes on there. Not a bunny slope in sight.

We then entered the Copper River drainage and the Alaska Pipeline appeared again. It runs from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. Just as I thought the scenery was done for the day, we approached the turnoff to McCarthy. The Wrangell Mountains appeared, and they were something else. We had a great view of Mt. Wrangell (14,163 ft.) and Mt. Blackburn (16,390) along with a bunch of other peaks.

We stopped for lunch in Chitina, a funky little town that was bigger than Anchorage back in the gravy days of mining. It is where the dirt road begins, known as the McCarthy Road, which crosses over the Copper River and ends in Kennicott, an old mine. We loved this little town of Chitina--it even had an art gallery! And as we were wandering around Chitina, my phone rang. It was Mark! He WAS in McCarthy and told us to head on over to his property. The stars were in alignment for us to meet--if he hadn't called just then, I wouldn't have gotten the call, and if we'd showed up a day later, he wouldn't have been there, as he had plans to go to Anchorage.

Mark contemplates his future in Chitina, AK.

The view on the way to McCarthy.

Another view...and we arrived in McCarthy. It is accessible by foot only for outsiders. Locals and workers can use a toll bridge. We crossed the footbridge on our motorcycles after getting the OK from Mark.

Mark and his friend Bryan bought their property a couple of years ago. They hope to have a hostel there someday. It does not have a million-dollar view--it has a fifty-million-dollar view. It is truly incredible. They have a direct view of the Root Glacier, which is massive, and mountains all around them.

The guys are building a platform for a yurt. This is not such a simple task when you are hundreds of miles away from the nearest supplies. Here, Mark gives Mark and Bryan some building advice.

We rode bicycles that evening (thanks for the loaners, Erin and Bryan) into town for a beer with Mark. A great time was had by all!

Odometer: 6632 miles

Homer to Valdez, AK via Whittier and Prince William Sound

Off we went on a new adventure today! The views of the bay as we left Homer were phenomenal. We traveled back on Hwy 1 to the Seward Highway and took a right on the Whittier/Portage Glacier access road. This little road is short, but it packs a scenic punch! The road stops in a parking lot, essentially, where you are surrounded on all sides by glaciers. If you look carefully, there is a tiny tunnel at the end of the parking lot. For $12, you can take a 2 1/2 mile trip through a mountain to Whittier, AK, on the other side! You must pay attention in the single-lane tunnel if riding a motorcycle--the passage goes along a train track and if your wheel gets stuck in one of the gaps, you are done for and may never be seen again--that is why the motorcycles have to wait to go last--I suspect that there is quite a record of motorcycle carnage in the tunnel...

On the other side is the town of Whittier. It began as a strategic port in WWII. The reason that it was chosen as such was that 95% of the time, it is hidden by cloud cover. Not today! I am pretty sure at this point I have used up all of my good-luck-with-the-weather tokens for this lifetime.

We took the slow ferry (pictured above) through Prince William Sound. It is a 6 hour ride and every moment of it was spectacular, as the weather was perfect. You can see the Chugach Range to the north the entire trip. Highlights included seeing a humpback whale, seals, massive snow-covered peaks, icebergs, and the enormous Columbia Glacier.


Above is the view as we left Whittier. It just got better from there.


Here is the Columbia Glacier. It is the second-fastest moving glacier in the world, progressing at an amazing 80 feet a DAY!

Prince William Sound is a treasure. Spent the night at Valdez Glacier Campground.

Odometer: 6454 miles, with a 75 mile ferry ride

Homer: Fishing adventure!!

Our meeting time at Homer Ocean Charters was 6:30 am. This early morning gathering time wasn't a problem because we were awake all night waiting for the end of the world to come. We met our captain, Billy, at the office, as well as the four other guys from Minnesota who we'd be sharing the boat with. The weather initially was nasty, and there was some concern that we wouldn't make it out to where we had planned to fish. About 15 miles offshore, the skies parted! We saw tons of sea otters, puffins, 2 killer whales, salmon jumping, and even a huge octopus, who, much to his dismay, was being devoured on the chest of a very happy sea otter.Captain Billy leads the team through rough waters, about 25 miles outside of Homer.

Blue skies and hungry halibut! Great combination. Everyone did well--we sent our fish back to the loving arms of Karen in Boise. If you are invited to a party at her house before we get home and halibut is being served, be very suspicious!! No, really, thanks so much to Karen, Tony, Emily and Will for keeping an eye out for the FedEx guy.

We spent another night on the Homer Spit, this time with clear skies...the place was packed! To celebrate our successful day, we had dinner at Captain Patties. Despite Captain Pattie's apparent love for things deep fried, we were able to find some local items on the menu that were not breaded--our meal was fabulous!

Overall, Homer is a great place--they even have a hockey rink!

Odometer: holding steady at 6262 miles, with a boat ride thrown into the mix

Anchorage to Homer

We left Anchorage on our way to the Kenai peninsula. The ride there was astoundingly beautiful. In addition to Dall sheep along the road, we saw glaciers, mountains, and countless fisherman going nuts chasing salmon. The Kenai has no shortage of rivers, and people certainly take advantage of them! With the skies overcast, we made our way into Homer.

There is camping available on the Homer Spit. Strange we were the only ones there...

Just after setting up camp, the downpour began. This neck of the woods is famous for its rain. Fortunately, our tent was comfy. At about midnight, the gale-force winds began. And we were told the day after that there was an earthquake, too! Is this the end of the world, or just par for the course here?

Odometer: 6262

Healy to Anchorage

We awoke to very high winds. We packed our bags and loaded up, heading out for a quick trip north to Healy to say goodbye. Bruce really wanted to get us up to the glacier, but the winds would not let up. Instead, we filed our "flight plan" with Roxy and Bruce and rode (though sometimes along the way I felt as though I could take flight, despite my not-so-aerodynamic ride) to Anchorage. As I was saying goodbye to Roxy, just standing there, I almost got blown off of my motorcycle. Needless to say, our progress was slow to Anchorage, but fortunately, uneventful.

Again, we can't thank everyone in Healy enough for their hospitality! Bruce and I will meet up in the fall in Boise, as I seem to have developed a hankerin' to learn how to fly...stay tuned!

Odometer: 6030 miles
Ibuprofen consumed: lots!
DR 650 for sale: NOT!