Travelers live for the doing; Tourists love more the telling.

Travelers live for the doing. Tourists love more the telling



Create Your Own Visited States Map

Monday, June 13, 2011

June 11, 2011 Day 8 Rancheria Yukon to Destruction Bay Yukon

No rain this morning but it is a bit cool, just touching the 40 degree mark. We eat breakfast finishing packing the bikes and John gets his bike fueled up and we hit the road. It is warm now, 42 degrees. Riding in these cooler temps really isn't too bad. I say that as my bike has heated hand grips so it helps to keep the fingers and hands warm. That is the only problem John has,  cold hands so we stop once in a wile and he warms them on the exhaust from the bike. Other than the hands we are layered with enough clothes and when it is really chilly like this morning we slip on the rain pants and or coat and that stops the wind and makes riding a pleasant experience. I do have a heated liner that I can put in my jacket and I just twist the knob and it warms my back and arms, it makes staying warm so easy I sometime feel like I am cheating. We are headed for Teslin, a small town that will have all the services. We are riding along Teslin lake and it is not very wide but it is long, I bet it is over 30 miles long. John's left arm goes out and he is pointing at something, and I am betting it is a critter of some sort. We pull over and he said " did you see the moose" I hadn't so we made a U turn and went back, There were two moose down below us in the lake, they both had pretty big racks but we were a lot higher so they paid no attention to us, we fuel in Teslin and are headed for Whitehorse. John has roamed around Whitehorse before so know there is a Canadian Tire store there. It is a big store, kind of like Bass Pro but with an automotive section and a hardware section. We cruised around in the store and picked up a few things including some anti fog John bought for the inside of his face shield and some plastic and glass cleaner, both made by RainX. RainX had been around a long time but I will wait and see what John has to say about the stuff before I buy any. I will report back in a few days. We find a Western Union store and John trades in some  US dollars for Canadian money. Close to the US border they seem to take our money with no problem, but as we get farther north it is more difficult. There is a Subway shop in the same complex so we grab a sub, one more stop for gas and we are on the road. As we are fueling the bike two more bikes come in, they had stoped in Rancheria last night for dinner but had continued on to Whitehorse for the night.John and I had stopped and looked at their bikes after we had dinner. They recognized us and started to talk. There were three of them, a couple ridding on one  bike and a single guy on the other. The amazing thing is that the bikes were only 650 cc, my bike is 1100 cc and John's is 1600, the couple had to hit 440 pounds (280 and 160 is my guess as a pound watching pilot)  plus all their gear  They were from Ontario Canada so were at least as far from home as we were. If the bike is still alive by the time they get home it will be a real testament for the Suzuki Vstorm 650. The dynamic duo are headed north to Alaska, Well we have been going more west than north but North to Alaska sound better than west to Alaska but we are on the road again. The area along the road has been less green and is more like some of the bunch grass we have up in Vernon, it is green down low but the ends are still brown and the ground is a little rockier. There are lots of brown pine type trees from the bark beetles, hundreds of acres along the road are more brown than green. Out next stop is Haine's Junction for fuel, John contemplated stopping for the night as there are rooms available and we don't know what is up the road. The girl at the gas station said that they weren't that busy yet and that at Destruction Bay the prices were about the same. Another 80 miles will give us another 420 mile day. The road had been getting alittle worse for the wear, with more pot holes and longer areas of gravel where they have been making repairs, repairs might not be too accurate of a word, I think patches or better yet rough patches would fit the situation better.Destruction Bay sits at the mid point of Kluane Lake, this lake is long like Teslin but much wider, it is an impressive lake in it's size as we ride along it. The roads are very wet and we see a big rain cloud ahead of us but it moves off the road and we ride the last 20 miles into Destruction bay with a lite shower and mostly dry. Our normal riding jackets are kind of water proof and with a lite shower the wind drys them quickly so we stay dry We get a room and are done for the day. Another 415 miles behind us. The Hotel has good wifi and the girl at the desk said Verizon is suppose to work and you will get a bar or two but they don't work. She was so very correct. The phone would show it was dialing and then ring busy. I am not sure I got much for my money buying the Canadian plan form Verizon. That is fine, tomorrow we should be in Alaska

No comments:

Post a Comment