Bike to Alaska

 Chapter 20: Some Challenges The gully where the built-up road served as a wind-break while I tried to wait out the storm. This photo was taken after I had packed up to leave. When I arrived, the raging torrent you see hurtling out of the culvert was a little stream I could hop across, barely big enough to wash the mud off my legs. July 26 1980, Saturday: zero miles  I felt a sore throat coming on this morning, and all it took was one little peek at the ominous, dark clouds for me to decide I wasn't going anywhere. I figure I can't afford to get sick out here, so I took a multi-vitamin and went back to bed. I sure didn't regret that decision. It poured off and on all day and at one point pelted down hail, up to marble size! I was glad to be in my tent then! I spent the day sleeping, writing, and eating.  I'm frustrated with my writing. It takes me so long to write a simple letter or journal entry that I only got four letters written in 12 hours of struggling thought. I ...

 Chapter 19: The Dempster Highway  July 21, Monday: 58 miles (5536)  Dawson City to ~ km 42 of Dempster Hwy I'm on the Dempster! I slept later than I had planned to, packed, and went into town. I went to the post office, and then got a huge load of groceries. I didn't get out of Dawson till 3:30. The last thing I did was go to the Sears store to weigh my bike. I almost fell over... it weighed 127 pounds !* * The Dempster in 1980 traversed a true wilderness; the road was only completed in 1979, so aside from a few primitive campsites with pit toilets, the only signs of civilization on its entire 456 mile length at that time were Eagle Plains at mile 230, and  Fort McPherson at mile 340.  Eagle Plains consisted of a gas station, a few motel rooms, and a little cafe. Fort McPherson was big enough (pop. ~750) that I assumed it would have a grocery store. Figuring 50 miles a day and allowing for weather or other delays, I packed what I hoped would be 9 days worth of ...

 Chapter 18: The Klondike Highway July 14 to July 20, Carmacks to Dawson City, Yukon.   July 14, Monday 50? miles (5281 + ~20 missed)    Carmacks to Minto campground  I had my first serious confrontation with mud! It rained more last night and this morning, and several times during the day, turning sections of the road to slippery, sloppy, sticky, messy mud which clung to all parts of the bike, clogging the chain and gears to the point where the chain skipped so much I almost couldn't make the hill I was on. Of course the odometer stopped working; the reason for the uncertain mileage. It rained lightly several times and then poured this evening just before I got to the Minto Campground. The pouring rain was Unicorn Luck - if it hadn't rained so hard I would have just gone on to the Pelly Campground without noticing the front tire, two inches of which had torn away from the bead, saved from a blowout only by the cloth I had wrapped around the tube. That could not...

 Chapter 17: The Robert Campbell Highway July 7, Monday: 54 miles (4933)   The only letter I got in Watson Lake was from good old reliable Edie. I bought some flares to scare bears, an inner tube, and $13 worth of food, treating myself to cottage cheese and canned pineapple, and even a half pound of cherries - an unheard-of extravagance.  The pavement ended a few miles out of town, and in the first 40 or so miles of dirt road, I got two flat tires. The first turned out to be just the failure of a previous patch, but the second was a legitimate snakebite flat, from pinching the tube against the rim. The Robert Campbell is narrower and less-well-maintained than the Cassiar; bumpy and lots of both embedded and loose stones, but thankfully also has less traffic. I saw maybe 2 dozen vehicles in 6 hours, including only one big truck, and one tour bus - odd to see, way out here. Less traffic was good, because it seems, if such a thing is possible, to be even dustier than th...