We were all packed up and on the road around 10am. The sun was shining, but we had a pretty good headwind for most of the day. The big rolling hills continued for most of the day. Joe and I rode ahead and planned to wait for the Michaels at Northway Junction. After about 10 miles of riding, we hit a pretty long section of construction. The sign guy let us go through right away even though all the traffic was stopped in the direction we were going. We didn't have any major problems going through, but at one point the pilot truck leading the oncoming traffic started coming our way. We had to ride really fast to get to a spot that we could pull out of the way. It was kind of fun actually; all of the construction workers were waving and smiling at us. There was quite a bit of gravel on the road which wasn't very fun to ride on, but it could have been worse. When we made it to the Junction, we were happy to find out that they had some groceries at the little convenience store. Joe and I bought a loaf of bread and pb and jelly for lunch. We ate at the table outside of the store and enjoyed talking with a couple of people from the area. One guy was from Tok and drove a bus that went back and forth from Northway to Tok. The other guy, Keith, was a Native Athabascan who had lived in this area his whole life. Keith was really funny, so we had a lot of fun talking with him. When the Michaels got there Keith made the joke about the size of Texas vs. Alaska. The Michaels got some tator tots for lunch from the little kitchen part of the convenience store. Keith offered to buy Joey and I an order of them too! We politely turned down the offer, but he insisted we get them anyway. They sure were a wonderful treat! With happy bellies, cameras charged and plenty of riding time left, we hit the road. Since we had only done about 16 miles before stopping, we had a lot of miles to do in the afternoon. The wind continued to slow us down and the road had a lot of pretty big hills. The gravel patches of road also continued for quite a while. I don't understand because there would be a beautiful smooth asphalt road and then these big patches of gravel on top of it. It definitely didn't make it very fun because we were just engulfed in a huge cloud of dust every time a car went by. Between the terrain, the gravel, and the hot sun, it was a pretty hard ride today. Joe and I rode ahead again since we knew that the Michaels had planned to make it to Tetlin Junction. After about 50 miles, we pulled off to the side of the road because we had CELL RECEPTION!!!! We spent about an hour and a half talking to family back home. A few people slowed down to make sure that we were ok and not broken down. A cop stopped to do the same thing. When we were just about finished, a cop stopped, apparently the same one that had stopped earlier. Apparently we were in his usual spot to watch traffic because he asked us how much longer we were going to be there. It was pretty funny, we thought there was just a LOT of cops in AK, but it was just the same one over and over again as he drove back and forth waiting for us to leave. So, we kept riding, even though the Michaels hadn't caught up yet, so the cop could have his spot. The junction was only a few miles down the road from where we were. There were only a few closed down buildings there from a cafe and gas station that had gone out of business. We rode down the road for about another mile before we found a spot to camp. We pushed our bikes up a pretty steep embankment to a nice open flat area that was really sandy. It was a pretty good camp spot. We got our tent set up, made some mac and cheese for dinner and got a fire going while we waited for the Michael's. The mosquitos were annoying, but still not as bad as in BC. A few times we thought we heard people talking, so Joe would run to where he could see the road, but there was no one there. When we finally heard the Michaels right near us, we yelled to them so they could find us. It turns out the voices we were hearing was them; they were just down the road having dinner on the side of the road. We were all pretty excited to have cell service. Michael called home and we even got to use the internet a little through Papa Mikes "MiFi" box that works on cell reception. We ate toasted marshmallows and went to bed pretty excited that we would be in Tok tomorrow. We rode 53.42 miles today.
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We all slept in really late today since we stayed at the lake so late last night. When we woke up, the sun was shining bright and our tent was like a sauna; we definitely didn't need our sleeping bags anymore! The plan for the day was to ride to the free wildlife refuge campground about 10 miles down the road. We learned that there was an interpretative talk done by a local Native American every evening there. We were all feeling that it would be a good idea to take a rest day, especially since it was a free campground. The Michaels thought they lost their Leatherman back at the lake, so Joey went on a jog to see if it was there. While he was gone, they of course found it, but it was ok because Joey got a nice little 2 mile morning run in. When we finally got all packed up and on the road it was already after 11. As we were riding to our destination, a car passed us slowly and I heard "Hi Emmalee!." It was Tamika, the little girl from Beaver Creek who was at the pool with us! I thought it was pretty neat that we got to see her again! Today was a perfect day for riding, the sun was shining and there was hardly any wind. We made it to Deadman Lake campground early and found a nice campsite right next to the water. We all set up our tents right away and made some lunch. I think that is the first time we have taken our tent down and put it right back up in such a short time. After we had our beans and the Michaels had their rice we relaxed for a while. I ended up typing a little and then taking an almost 2 hour nap! It sure was wonderful. Afterwards, we roasted some marshmallows and walked to the dock to see what was going on over there. I wasn't the only one to take a nap, both the Michaels took a nap too. Joe just laid in the tent and relaxed, but didn't actually sleep. Later on that evening, while we were making the package of vegetable soup that the Ritchie's gave us, we met a guy, Andre, who was on an afternoon ride. He is from Fairbanks but was working down the road at Northway and had ridden to the campground from there. We talked with him for a while before he had to get back on the road. The time eventually came to go to the interpretative talk in the pavilion. The lady doing the talk was Sylvia and she was a Native Athabascan Indian. There was a pretty good turn out since there were about 9 people there. Sylvia talked a little about the great horned owl before she went into talking about her culture and the way they do things. It was really quite interesting. Afterwards, we walked to the dock on the lake for something to do. The volunteer camp host, Ed, was down there along with a nice couple who were also at the talk. The guy was doing a little fly fishing, which was pretty interesting to me because I had never seen someone actually fly fishing. We all got talking there and at one point the couple offered for us to use their kayaks! Since there was 3 of us and 2 kayaks, Ed offered for us to use his single person 12 ft. canoe! The boys went out in the kayaks first and seemed to be doing pretty well with them. However, when they got pretty far out from shore, all of a sudden we saw Michael flip his canoe! He had to swim it all the way back to shore, but luckily the water was a pretty nice temperature. He got back in the kayak and I joined them with the canoe; we had a blast. Later on, the boys came back in and I tried out the kayak and Michael tried out the canoe. I really enjoyed the kayak, especially since it was my first time. You can really get those going pretty fast without a huge amount of effort (of course the lake we were on was nice and calm, I'm sure it would be a whole lot different in Lake Ontario!). Now, kayaks are on the list of things we would like to get at some point when we save us enough money. What a great day off! I can't believe we got to go out on a lake in Alaska each of the first 2 nights we are here! When we went back to camp, we made some ride for a second dinner since we were already hungry. Joe and I played the Farkel game that the Ritchies gave us for a little while before going to bed. We only rode 11.52 miles today.
We were all pretty tired when we woke up this morning, but the excitement of getting to Alaska got us up early. I was so happy that it was a beautiful sunny day today and not all grey and cloudy like yesterday. Papa Mike was the first one to get all packed so he headed over to the RV park where they had coffee and wi-fi. Joey and I followed shortly after. Michael slept in for a little bit, but it was still only around 9 when he joined us. We used the internet for a while and made some oatmeal for breakfast at one of the campground tables. I was so excited that we were going to cross the border today. Our next stop was at a bakery/restaurant because the Michael's each wanted to get a big cinnamon roll. Papa Mike surprised us by offering to get one for each of us too! It sure was amazing. Getting to enjoy a HUGE hot cinnamon roll with butter made the day even better; thanks Papa Mike!! We stopped at the little convenience store before heading out of town to get a box of cookies and some more marshmallows to tide us over for the next few days. I was so excited that we were going to cross the border today and was riding really fast because of it. The ride was pretty up and down for the 20 miles to the border. At one point, Michael said that he saw a couple bear cubs and when they heard him they ran up into a tree. He also saw the mother bear and she grunted at him. With his bear mace in hand, he just kept riding as the bear stared at him. When he told us what happened he said that he was a little scared at that moment and I don't blame him. When we got close to the border, we could see the line cut where the border was in the trees. We were also excited to see the time zone sign that said we would be entering into the Alaska Time Zone; now we are 4 hours behind the time at home! The Alaska state sign was great. We got our usual picture taken by the sign and spent a little time walking around the area because they had information boards to read along with the international border post and a bench you could sit on and be in Alaska and the Yukon at the same time. I took a minuted just to take in the fact that we had made it. Even with all the mechanical problems, I knew we would make it one way or the other, but to really BE there was a neat thing. We continued up the hill to where the customs were. Joe went through first and I followed after. The guy asked the normal questions of if we had and fresh fruit, guns, etc. and then asked if we had any firewood. I couldn't help but laugh a little when I said no because of the thought of carrying any firewood on our bikes. The border guy chuckled a little too at that. He was so much better than the border guy we had when we were leaving MT and entering Canada. The Michael's didn't have any problems either. Right after crossing the border, the road went from the rough bumpy seal coat to a nice brand new smooth asphalt; it was wonderful! For the next 5 miles or so people in cars must have thought I was a looney because I was riding with a huge grin on my face. Shortly after crossing the border, we passed some old cabins that looked like they had been there for a really long time. They were falling down and looked like they had sunk into the ground for quite a while. A short while later, we saw a sign for a gas station/restaurant/gift shop. This was a big surprise because nothing on our map indicated that it was there. At that point we were already thinking of looking for a place to make lunch, so this worked out perfect. We sat on the porch and cooked up some mac and cheese for lunch while snacking on some cookies and the last of the gummie bears that had made it to AK! To our surprise, there was again free wi-fi. We took probably about a 2 hour lunch break since it didn't matter we had extra time because of the time change. We rode for a while an at the top of a pretty big hill was the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge visitor center. We stopped there and enjoyed the view through the big binoculars. The lady inside was super nice and told us quite a bit about the area. We found out that just down the road about 10 miles was a trail back to a hidden lake where there was a free boat we could use. That of course made us quite excited! We watched a video on the wildlife refuge while enjoying some coffee and tea. I also bought a big milk chocolate caramel bar they had to raise money for the refuge. It was a great little treat! The ride from the visitor center to Hidden Lake trail was a pretty short one. When we got there, we found out that the mile long trail was partially made with planks of wood. We found a little pull off on the trail not too far in to set up our camp. We got our tents all set up and then gathered what we needed to go to the lake. The hike back to the lake was great. When we got there, we found that they had life jackets to go along with the boat. Of the two boats, one of the had a small hole in it so it was taking on water. Michael, Joey and I all went out into the working boat. We took one of the fishing poles in hopes of catching something. It was great for me because the boys did all of the paddling, all I had to do was sit there, relax and enjoy the view. Unfortunately we didn't get any fish while out in the boat. We got a couple bites, and I had a good bite and somehow the fish got popped out of the water when I was trying to pull him in. Either way we had a blast. Papa Mike caught a couple fish from shore and had them cooking over the campfire. We snacked on marshmallows and ate some Rainbow Trout, life couldn't get any better. Michael caught a fish but when he was cleaning it (his first time cleaning a fish) he lost it in the water. Joey caught a little fish that we were going to throw back, but it swallowed the hook and we tried everything to get it out, but the fish didn't make it. We all sat by the fire for quite a while. It had gotten really quite cold out by the time we were heading back to camp around midnight. I couldn't wait to get in my sleeping bag. Everyday we have had so much fun lately, not at all what I pictured this part of the trip to be like. Looking back, the Yukon wasn't at all like I pictured it would be. It was SO much better. For some reason I just pictured a long road with nothing but trees on either side, but the ride was just so pretty. We've also met so many great people while we were in this area; I anticipated there to be pretty much no one living up here. I'm so glad my assumptions were wrong. Our first night in Alaska was wonderful. We rode 38.53 miles today.
We got a little bit of an earlier start to our day than usual. It was a partly cloudy this morning, so we were hoping that it wouldn't rain. The first 15 miles of the ride went by really quick. There was an RV campground that we passed that had helicopters flying in and out dropping things off; it looked like they were going to build something. That was kind of fun to watch. We crossed the White River and a little ways after that we met our first cyclist that we've seen in 4 days. His name was Eric and he was from Prince George. He is doing a combination of riding and taking the ferry around Alaska/ Yukon/ BC. We talked with him for a little bit while we were waiting for the Michaels to catch up. About 5 miles further down the road, we met more cyclists! They were sitting in a pull out having some lunch. Their names were Matt and Jimmy. They are from France and are riding from Pruedo Bay, AK to Quebec. We continued on and were starting to get hungry for lunch. Joe and I waited at a rest area part way up a series of climbs in case the Michaels wanted to eat there. We were already at 24 miles, which is more miles than they usually ride before lunch. There was however a campground that we knew of about 6 miles down the road, so we were hoping to go to that for a picnic table and hopefully a shelter in case it started to rain. While we were waiting, we thought we saw a cyclist coming down the hill in our direction, sure enough it was another cyclist. Chris was from Seattle and was riding from Anchorage to South America. We had a lot of fun talking with him, and who knows we may even see him again since he will be riding down the west coast around when we will be. The group decided that we would go to the campground for lunch since it looked like it was going to rain. It was mostly uphill to get there, but when we got there we found a picnic shelter fit with a wood stove and everything. We were glad that we made it there because as we were climbing it started to sprinkle. Joe got some fire wood, which is always cut and ready here in the Yukon campgrounds, and made a fire in the stove to warm it up a little. Joe and I started cooking our Mac and Cheese while we waited for the Michaels. Although it was only a light rain, it continued for a while. The RV-ers we met last night gave us another pack of Peeps to take with us, so we had fun roasting them over the fire after lunch. By the time we got back on the road, the rain had stopped. It was still cloudy for the remainder of the day. As we were riding, Joey made a comment about how the way the trees looked made it seem like we were riding through a Dr. Seuss book. The ride from the campground to Beaver Creek was only bout 12 miles. I thought it was kind of neat that we would be staying there because it is the "Most Westerly Community in Canada." Like usual, our first stop was the visitor center. We were happy to find out that even though there wasn't a full grocery store, there was a little convenience store down the road that would have some of our staples to get us to Tok. We saw a sign that said "swim," and when we asked about it, we found out there was a pool in town! Joe rode over to see what the hours were and how much it would cost. The girl who runs the pool, Kaitlyn, told him that she would keep it open til 8 so that we could all swim. So Michael, Joe and I got to go swimming, and get a shower for only 4 buck each. It was so much fun. The pool was awesome, there were so many toys and fun things for kids to play with. They even had a slide and a rope to swing on. The water was the perfect temperature and it sure did feel great on our muscles. There were a couple local kids swimming, so we had fun playing games in the pool with them. I couldn't get over the fact that there was such a nice pool way out here. What a great treat to get to go swimming and get a shower today! We headed back to the visitor center and sat on the porch to make some rice for dinner. The Michaels wanted to go out to dinner, so once we were done we went over with them. We planned on just getting an order of fries to split just for a treat, but when we got there we found out it was wing night, so we each got 10 wings instead. They were delicious, but quite a bit smaller than the wings back at home. We saw Kaitlyn at the restaurant again; she sat with us for a while and we had a fun time talking. The funny thing is that she looked a lot like Joey's Aunt Kathy. There was a pool table in the room we were eating in (we couldn't eat in the actual "tavern" part because Michael is only 14), and it was free, so we had a fun time with that. By the time we were ready to set up camp it was already close to midnight. We all headed over to the little tiny church in town to set up behind it. The inside of the church was so tiny, there were only 6 short pews! We had another fantastic day. Tomorrow we will be in Alaska; I can hardly believe it. Since we got back from our last bicycle tour to FL, we have been planning to ride to AK, and now we're almost there. It is amazing to me how quickly the time has gone. To most people spending 4 months on a bicycle would seem like an eternity, but it has just gone so fast. I can't believe that we are in the Yukon so close to reaching our goal. Tomorrow will be such an exciting day! Our miles totaled 45.40 miles today.
It rained again last night for a few hours, but everything was nice and dry by the time we woke up this morning. As we were getting ready to leave this morning, a truck with a cab over camper pulled in. Two doggies came running out, a golden retriever and a black lab (made us think of Nala and Lilly back home!). It was funny to watch because the dogs would run and greet any of the people in the vehicles that pulled into the rest area. Soon enough they came over and visited us. That got my day started off to a great since I got to pet the doggies! We rode for about 6 miles before we stopped at an RV park to fill up on water. There was construction just down the road, so there were a bunch of trailers around the area too. One of the guys who was on the construction team said that the water from the taps at the camp sites wasn't drinkable. He offered for us to fill up in the kitchen trailer where they had a nice cold filtered water! So, we got our bottles all filled up so we were ready for the rest of the day. Just as we were leaving the RV park, the Michaels had caught up and were riding by. The start of the loose gravel road was just a few kilometers away. We rode for a couple miles before getting to where the construction was in full swing. Unfortunately they had a pilot car so we weren't allowed to ride through. They said the road was too bumpy and it would be too dangerous for us to ride through because of it. So, we had to load our bikes into the back of the truck and ride the 4 miles through the construction site in the truck. Now we can't say we rode the whole way from the US border to Alaska, but I guess it saved a little wear on the bikes from not having to ride on the gravel. The Michaels thought that it was great that we got to ride in a truck for a while and were super excited. Joe and I went through first and then the Michaels came through on the next round. Instead of waiting in the congestion of the construction area, we rode ahead to the rest area which was only about 8 miles down the road. While we waited, we made some mac and cheese for lunch. A truck driver who had stopped for a quick break stopped to talk to us for a few minutes. It was pretty interesting to hear about how he drives to Alaska and back every week. When the Michaels got there they made some lunch and then we all headed down the road. We stopped pretty soon after lunch so the Michaels could fill up on water at the river. They wanted to sit there and let it filter and fill the bag up again before getting back on the road, so we decided to ride ahead and wait for them at the next rest area, which we knew was about 28 miles away. So, off we went. Since it was just us riding, we got the miles done pretty fast. There was a little section of construction at one point again, but we were allowed to ride through that one. At one point it started to sprinkle and the nice tailwind we had turned into a little bit of a head wind. Luckily it didn't rain long enough to get us really wet, so we dried off pretty quickly. When we had about 2km left before the rest area, I found a little motorcycle Alaska license plate! That made my day for sure. The rest area was a pretty nice one since it was right on the edge of Pickhandle Lake. There was a little dock and everything. Joe and I found a nice spot in the woods next to the rest area to set up our tent and there, again, was a fire pit already made. Joey gathered wood to make a fire and we got that started right away. Since we were already super hungry, we each had a bowl of oatmeal. We played cards for a while to kill some time waiting for the Michaels to get there. After we had been there for two hours, they arrived. Joey and Michael had fun playing around by the lake. They went swimming and stayed in there for a lot longer than usual because the water wasn't as cold as the rivers made of melt water. While we were by the water we met some folks from Arizona traveling in their RVs. They talk to us for a while and told us they planned to spend the night at the rest area too. We invited them to come sit by the fire if they were interested and they said they would. They also said they had a bunch of Peeps that they would bring over so we could roast them. Can't say I've ever thought of roasting a Peep before, but either way, I was excited. We headed back to the fire and made some Ramen Noodles for dinner. We are starting to get really low on food. We have 3 meals of mac and cheese, one meal of rice, and a meal of baked beans left (along with a whole bag of oatmeal). Hopefully we will be able to pick up a couple things in Beaver Creek tomorrow because the next grocery store we know of is in Tok, which is about 190 miles away. A little while later, the people from the RV came over with their folding chairs, peeps and metal roasting forks. I couldn't believe how good the Peeps were roasted. The sugar on the outside carmelized and the inside was just so melty; it definitely was a step up from you ordinary roasted marshmallows. We had a great time talking with Jim, Marcie, Merry and Gerald. They were telling us about how great the Alaska Cruise was and that we were definitely in for a treat! I am already getting excited about the cruise, so that made me even more excited. Jim, Marcie, Merry and Gerald offered to have us fill up on water from their RV which was really great because we didn't have to wait for all the water to filter. We had another great day. We rode 43.28 miles today (plus the 4 we had to ride in the pilot car through the construction). I can hardly believe how close we are getting to the Alaska border; it is kind of a crazy feeling.
The wind kept going strong all night long. At one point I woke up and the tent walls were blowing all around, so it was a little hard to fall right back asleep. Joey said that he woke up around 5 and had the same problem. We had our usual oatmeal for breakfast and are happy that we got the big 2.5kg bag in Whitehorse so that we can eat a bigger bowl of it to fill us up and don't have to worry about running out right away. Everyone was moving a little slow this morning. I get a kick out of Papa Mike and Michael because Papa Mike will make Michael his oatmeal and hot cocoa and bring it to his tent, ie breakfast in "bed." That must be nice! There was still a nice wind again this morning, so when we got on the road, we got the first few miles done really quick. For about 7 miles, we were riding right next to the lake, but then the road turned away from it a little and we didn't get quite as good of a view. I was surprised at how fast we made it to Destruction Bay. That first 20 miles flew by. Joe and I waited for a while at the one stop shop building (gas, groceries, bar, restaurant, etc.) for the Michaels to get there. We contemplated getting a box of cereal and milk because it would fill us up, but it was really expensive. Then we thought about treating ourselves to a 2L of ice cream, but that was $15! Joe said there might as well be some gold flakes in the ice cream to have to pay that price. We stopped in the restaurant and decided to split an order of fires. They gave us a good amount of fries and it was such a great treat that we decided we would use grammy's anniversary lunch for July (even though it wasn't an all you can eat buffet like we normally do). We had gotten the email a couple days ago saying it was "Tink time" again (the credit card is a Disney card and has Tink on it!). What a great idea that was-Thanks Grammy!!! Papa Mike ended up treating Michael to a nice lunch too, so it was nice to be able to all eat out together. Joe and I each got cheeseburgers and fries (since we are always craving those while riding for some reason). They also had huge cinnamon rolls there too, so we each ended up getting one of those too because they just looked so good, and believe me they were awesome! The waitress had them cut in half and put on the grill for a few so they had a little crispiness to add to the soft sweet roll. Boy that sure was a great touch! After a fantastic meal we were able to use the wifi there to check our emails and make some updates. We had a really relaxing almost 2 hour lunch break. When we got back on the road, the wind was still helping us right along. We got the next 11 miles to a little place called Burnwash Landing done really quick. After that, the road turned and went away from the lake a little more, so we lost the really strong wind. The nice thing was that the terrain was still pretty flat. To our amazement, Joe and I even found a Yukon licence plate, a full size one this time with the little guy gold panning on it! As if the day wasn't already going great, that just made it even better! We had some rough patches of gravel seal coat to ride over, but were still able to get the rest of the miles for today done pretty fast. We planned on stopping at the rest area that was coming up, so when Joey and I got there we sat there for a while waiting for the Michaels before we set everything up, just in case they felt like going further today. Michael said he wasn't going to ride anymore, even though I think Papa Mike wouldn't have minded going further. Either way, it didn't really matter and since this was a nice spot, we stayed right here. There was a nice flat grassy area with a fire pit already made that worked out perfect. We all got our tents set up and made some dinner. Since we hadn't had rice in a couple days, Joe and I each had a big bowl. We snacked on marshmallows over the fire and enjoyed being to camp a little earlier than normal. After cooking we were a little low on water, so Joe went over to one of the RV's that was at the rest area and they gladly gave him some water. He ended up being over in the RV for quite some time, probably explaining our travels. A little while later a guy in a truck talked to us and mentioned that we were camping right on a section of the original Alaska Highway, which I thought was pretty neat. He worked on the road crew and told us that there was a big construction area up the road about 10k, so that should be "fun" tomorrow. After he left, Joe and Michael had fun trying to make an Atlia and a spear like they had gotten to practice using a few days ago. Let's just say they didn't have much success. While we were enjoying the fire, a nice couple and their little boy walked over to talk to us. They live in Fairbanks and said they were on the way home. They gave us a couple extra apples to enjoy and were on their way. That sure was a good treat too! We went to bed a little earlier than normal, so hopefully we will be able to get an earlier start tomorrow. We rode 45.31 miles today.
We woke up to another beautiful sunny day, with a bit of a tailwind! Joe and I went ahead quite a ways just because we were so excited to get to Kluane Lake. While we waited for the Michaels to catch up, we waited at a rest area and ate a few cookies. The view of the lake was spectacular, and the best part is that we would be riding next to it for quite a while. We had a pretty long down hill to the lake and then we turned into a headwind off the ice fields. The views all around us were just so incredible. There was the crystal clear turquoise lake with beautiful mountains to the one side and then huge snow covered mountains to another. As I was riding, I kept taking pictures in hopes that it would capture how amazing the scenery really is, but the pictures just don't compare. At one point, I saw a bald eagle in a tree pretty close to the road. I took a few pictures and was able to get off my bike to get closer to take a couple more without him flying away. He was still sitting in the tree when I left. We crossed a bridge over Slim River that feeds into the lake as we rounded around one end of the lake. Shortly after, there was a visitor information center. We stopped there in hopes of finding some information out about going on a hike in the area. The ladies inside were really nice and one of them even knew who the Ritchie family was. They told us about the trails in the area and we were excited that we would get to go on a hike today! Since it was already lunch time, we sat at the picnic tables and made some mac and cheese before getting ready for the hike. We left some of our bags right there at the visitor center because Papa Mike was going to stay there while we were hiking (we had a mile and a half ride down a very bumpy/holey gravel road to get to the start of the trail). After the not so easy ride to get to the trail, Joey hid our bikes in the woods and Michael did the same. The trail we hiked was called Sheep Creek Trail. It was mostly uphill, but was only moderate climbing. As we got higher higher the view of the mountains and thee river below got better and better. We could see the very end of a glacier off in the distance, but couldn't get a really good look of it because there was a bit of a haze in the air. We later found out from the Rangers that that haze that is all around is from a forest fire in Siberia. It sure was nice to get to work our legs in a different way for a change. Michael was really excited about the hike, but once we started it that excitement was gone. He said he had never done anything like that before and therefore didn't know how hard it was going to be. He was ready to give up and just wait for us to hike up and get him on the way back, but, he pushed through and made it to the top with us. We did a little "off trail hiking" just so we could go to the top of one of the hills before we started heading back. I'm glad that Michael was able to go the whole way with us, even if he didn't want to at first. Overall we hiked a little over 6 miles and had an elevation gain of about 1400 feet. It took us 3-4 hours, plus the ride back to the visitor information center. Papa Mike was there waiting and said he had a very relaxing rest. The three of us on the other hand were pretty tired, and hungry. We made a can of beans for dinner at the picnic tables again before heading down the road a ways to find a spot to camp. The tailwind we had was amazing and the road had flattened out nicely as it wound along the edge of the lake. A few miles down the road, we found a perfect spot that had its own little private beach and everything. We got our tents all set up and Joey and I ended up making a little oatmeal because we were still hungry. I went to wash off in the water because my legs and feet had gotten really dirty on the hike from all of the dust. I don't think I have ever seen water in a lake so clear before. It was just as clear if not more clear than tap water, but boy was it cold. I didn't stand in the water very long for fear my toes would freeze right off. The wind was still pretty strong, but the good thing about that was that it kept the bugs away. There was some kind of little building down near where we were camping that we used to hang our food (the trees are so short now that it's really hard to find a good one to use to hang the food). I sure was tired by the time we went to bed. Although I had another fantastic day, I was still sad to have missed Kevin's wedding back home. I hope his special day was as perfect as he hoped for. As awful as it is to have to miss things like this, I guess it's the things that we have to give up that make this trip all the more meaningful in the end. We rode 31.31 miles today (and hiked 6).
We had such a wonderful nights sleep last night since we were inside and had a comfy cushion to sleep on. I woke up to the smell of homemade rhubarb muffins baking in the oven. What an amazing breakfast we had. Along with the warm homemade muffins we had cereal and milk, fresh strawberries, yogurt, tea/hot chocolate, and homemade mixed berry scones. I had 2 muffins and ate at least 3 or 4 scones. It sure was a fantastic way to start the day. We threw in a load of laundry and were so happy that we were going to have clean clothes again! For the rest of the morning, we relaxed with the family. Joey and Michael spent some time jumping on the trampoline while Little Michael and I got to make homemade chocolate chip and toffee cookies (Marty suggested the idea so we would have some treats for the road!). It was so much fun and I was so happy to get to bake some tasty treats. We doubled the recipe, and it was a good thing we did because by the time the first half of the cookies were done, they were all gone. Even still, we had quite a bit that we could take with us from the second half. Afterwards, Little Michael and I joined the boys outside in a made up game involving them jumping on the trampoline and the rest of us trying to throw in big exercise balls and have them hit the bottom of the trampoline while "the bouncers" tried to knock them back out of the net. At one point Stefan came out with a bowl to pick some lettuce from the garden to make a salad. We enjoyed a nice salad for lunch and got packed up ready to go. Papa Mike headed out earlier than the rest of us by about an hour or more to get a start on the big hill going out of town. Fritz, Cynthia, Stefan and Tristan were also packing since they had to head back to Whitehorse today so that they could catch their flight back to Vancouver tomorrow. Marty offered to take some of our stuff in the truck so we could ride the hill unloaded. Papa Mike took her up on the offer and unloaded his paniers. The original plan was for her to drop it off at the top, but since we had food, someone would have had to be there with it. So, since they were worried about Michael breaking his bike more, they threw his bike and trailer in the trailer on the truck (he was going to ride up in the truck). Once we were all ready, we bid our fare wells to everyone, even though we would most likely see Marty and Michael again at the top of the hill. It was a perfect day for cycling again. It was nice and sunny and warm (which since we didn't leave until about 2pm, we were riding in the heat of the day). We had a slight head wind for the first few miles, but then, just in time for us to start climbing, we got a pretty helpful tailwind. We could feel it pushing us up the hills and were so glad for it. The sun was warm enough that I actually worked up a pretty good sweat while climbing (usually I don't sweat very much). The hill itself wasn't as bad as I was anticipating it to be. After we had been riding for about an hour, Marty, Michael and Little Michael passed us in the truck on the way to the top. A little while later, we caught up to and passed Papa Mike on the hill. He didn't mention it to Joey, but when I went by he said that there was a milkshake waiting for me at the top! I couldn't believe it and right after hearing that I got so excited. I started climbing a lot faster since I had such great motivation. I even caught up to and beat Joey to the top of Bear Creek Pass! He was impressed, but I told him it was because I had a lot of motivation, but wouldn't tell him what it was because I wanted it to be a surprise for him. When I pulled into the pull off where they were waiting, Marty opened the truck and sure enough, there was a wonderful milkshake waiting for me! I couldn't have been happier. I had a strawberry milkshake (that might have had some cherries in it too!) and Joey had chocolate. The Ritchie's have just been so kind to us and have surprised us with so many wonderful things: from the beer to the blueberries, and now a delicious milkshake. They truly are angels to us cyclists! I was so sad to have to leave them because they made us feel like we were part f the family- I would have stayed for a week if I could have because we just had so much fun. But when the time came, we said our goodbyes and headed off down the hill. The views were again just so spectacular. At the bottom of the huge hill we crossed Jarvis River. Michael went into a pull off by the river to check it out and ended up meeting a really nice lady named Yvonne there, along with a guy named Darwin. He talked with them for a while before catching back up to us. Michael told us about how she had lived in Boulder, CO for a long time before moving up here and that she loved the mountains and was still hiking up them at age 70 (she is 76 now). Michael also mentioned to her about how Joey and I had ridden though there too. Marty and Little Michael had told us about a good place to camp. We looked for the road to turn on (it was part of the old Alaskan Highway), but weren't 100% sure we were at the right place (we looked in several of the places we thought it might be). We found one spot that we were sure was the right place. Joey rode back in a ways, but turned around because everything started to get really muddy. While we were waiting there, we met a guy from Australia who was riding with his wife (who was feeling sick and hitched a ride for a while), another girl from Australia, and a girl from Portland Oregon. They were riding from Anchorage down to Los Angeles, CA. We chatted with them for a little bit before continuing our quest for the place to camp. We rode for a while longer, but didn't find what we were looking for. A ways down the road, we saw a place next to a lake that we thought would work, but decided to keep going for a little bit. We saw Yvonne and Darwin again, but this time he was fishing in the lake. He caught 2 fish in the time we were standing there talking to them. He ended up giving us 2 fish to cook for dinner! Yvonne also gave me an egg salad sand which on sourdough bread. They were so nice to us. I asked if she, or Darwin, had the internet. She told me that she just got a laptop and that Darwin was teaching her how to use it. I gave her both our webiste and Papa Mikes website because she seemed so interested in our trip and was so nice to us. I explained how she could follow our trips if she was interested and she was just so happy. She gave me a big old hug and I could tell she was glad she had a way to see how our trips turned out. Since we now had 2 fish (Pike) to cook for dinner, we decided to go back down the road the short distance to the place by the lake we thought about camping at. It turned out to be a perfect spot. There were already a couple fire pits there and it was a nice open area that was hidden from the road. While Joey got firewood, Michael walked back over to where Darwin was fishing to see if he could catch anything. Sure enough about 15 minutes later, their car pulls into our camp spot; they had brought Michael back along with the fish that he caught (another Pike)! We were all pretty excited that we would get to have some fish for dinner. It was also nice that we got to see Yvonne and Darwin again. Papa Mike got everything he needed to clean the fish and went way off into the woods away from our camp to clean them. I named the Fish Fred, Arnold, and Joey named one Johnny, just for fun. Once Papa Mike got the fish all cooked up in the butter and salt and pepper that we had we got to enjoy. And boy, Fred, Arnold and Johnny sure were tasty! What a great treat. We didn't expect that we were going to get to enjoy fish for dinner, especially since the Michaels have been trying to fish but have not had any success. After we enjoyed a few marshmallows over the fire and some of the super tasty chocolate chip cookies. What a fantastic day, AGAIN! I was expecting this portion of the trip to be just super hard because I thought we would hardly see any people, but it has been almost the complete opposite. Everyone we meet up here has just been so wonderful. Michael and Joey decided to put the food inside a big metal box that was attached to some kind of road work machine that was sitting next to the pull off driveway where we set up camp. It worked out pretty good because the trees have gotten so short and are mostly all pines, which make it difficult to find a suitable place to hang the food. The one thing that seems to be good about the trees is that since we have bee getting further into the Yukon, the bugs have been getting better and better. We haven't had to wear our bugnets in almost 5 days now! Even after a fun morning and early afternoon with the Ritchie's, we were still able to make a little headway down the road. We rode 26.14 miles today.
We woke up nice and early for a change and all had a big bowl of oatmeal. We were on the road by about 9:30, which is a lot earlier than we've been doing lately. Another beautiful sunny day! The views during today's ride were just so incredible. For the whole ride we got to look at the snow capped mountains off in the distance. As we rode, we were slowly getting closer and closer to the base of them. There was an old strip of the Alcan highway off to the side of the road, so Joey and Michael decided they would ride on that for a while. The funny thing is that when they got to the top of the hill, there was no more road on the other side; they were forced to ride in the weeds for a while to get to a flatter spot where they could get back on the real highway. Whatever the case, the boys still managed to get in some kind of adventure today. At one point we stopped at a rest area that had a sign about Mt. Logan, the highest mountain in Canada, at 15,000 ft. We could see it off in the distance, and there sure was a lot of snow on it. It didn't take us long to get into Haines Junction from there (we were there a little before noon). Our first stop was the visitor center and to our surprise, the Ritchie's were there with their cousins (Mark's sister and her family are visiting, so there will be 12 of us at the Ritchie's house tonight)! Little Michael was standing outside when we pulled in and we got to meet the rest of their family when we got inside ( Fritz, Cynthia, Stefan and Tristan ). We watched the video on Kluane National Park (which Little Michael happened to be in!) and walked around the visitor center for a little bit. Little Michael shared a lot of his knowledge about the surrounding area. Since they happened to be at the visitor center, it made it really easy to find their house. As we were pulling into the driveway they were motioning like they were directing traffic, it was pretty funny. We got there and got changed and were off again. The whole crew loaded into the 3 cars and headed to a lake somewhere down the Haines Highway. Another adventure! We arrived at Kathleen Lake and it was so picturesque. We all enjoyed a fantastic lunch of sandwiches that Marty had made up along with homemade muffins and even a little chocolate. Their dog, Handsome, had fun fetching sticks in the water and everyone else enjoyed skipping rocks and wading in the really cold water. It was almost like a party because there were so many of us. Marty showed us the mural that she had designed and with the help of all of the kids at the school had completed in the main picnic building. It was so beautiful and was really neat to see all of the different parts that the kids had done (they each got to paint their own wooden fish!). After a while, Little Michael and Joe took off on a hike and Mark, Marty, Stephan, Christopher and I (and Handsome) went on a walk along the shoreline. The boys all went for a quick swim, but it was too cold to stay in there for too long. We met up with the trail at one point and started walking back to the main building. We rested for a while and since Joe and Little Michael weren't back yet we began to wonder where they were. They got out the binoculars and looked up on the mountain where the trail went. Sure enough, that's where they were, way up on the mountain on the other side of the lake. So since we knew they were on their way back down and there was only one trail, we decided to start walking to meet up with them. We met up with them a lot sooner than we though, but later found out that it was because they had run a good portion of it. They told us that they went up as far as the snow and actually slid down about a 40 foot section of snow/ice. For some reason they didn't take water with them (probably because they didn't plan to go on that long of a hike), so they resorted to eating snow on top of the mountain. After we met up with them, they ran for a good portion of the way back to where everyone else was; man do they have a lot of energy. It was such a fantastic afternoon; we definitely didn't expect that we would get to do this today! We all piled back in the cars and headed back to the Ritchie's house. It was kind of weird being in a car in this area because of how vast it is. On a bicycle I really felt like I was a part of the area, but in the car it just felt like I was watching a picture slide show through the windows, it was totally different. When we got back to their house, they started cooking dinner. They made shish kabobs with Moose and Buffalo, potatoes, salad, carrots, and corn on the cob! We even had canned peaches and ice cream cones for dessert! It was SOOOOO good. We haven't had a home cooked meal like that in quite a while, so it was greatly appreciated. What a great dinner and amazing company; it was like one big family since there were12 of us. After dinner the boys went down and jumped on the trampoline for a while and then we played a little Farkle . At one point we got looking at google earth and looked up each other's houses. It was pretty neat to be able to sit there and show them what the area we lived in looked like and where exactly our houses were. We were all having so much fun that by the time we went to bed it was after midnight. Today was just such an incredible day, I am so glad that we were lucky enough to meet the Ritchie family! We only rode 20.90 miles today.
It rained for most of the night but luckily we had hung the tarp up to keep Michael's tent and our tent dry since we don't have official rain flies. By the time we got going this morning, the rain had stopped and the sun was starting to come out. We were on the road late again, but had a nice relaxing morning. After about 15 miles, we stopped at a little river to fill up the water filter with water. We ended up staying there for a half hour or more. Papa Mike tried a little fishing and Joe and Michael had fun throwing rocks into the river below. They tried to hit targets and had their usual competition to see who could throw the rocks further. We had a nice rest in the sunshine. When we got back on the road, we didn't go too far until we found the Champaign cutoff that the Ritchie's had told us about. There was a vault toilet close by and when Joe went in there we heard "Ahh there is an animal in here!" I went in with my light and we saw this little animal trapped inside the vault. He was wet and shivering; I was so sad because there wasn't really a way to get him out, and I knew he was probably going to die in there. What a horrible way to go. For the rest of the day all I could think about was that poor little animal. The Champaign cuttoff was so wonderful. We were actually riding on a section of the old original Alaska Highway. This is what I had pictured the Alcan to be like: an old desolate road that had holes and weeds growing in the road,with the trees and wilderness close to the road and virtually no cars. The entire time we were on that stretch of road only one car passed us. We had only gone about 18 miles today before we found a campground. A couple of dogs came running out to see us and then we heard a man saying that we could come in and look around. His name was Harold and he and his family ran this area. There was an old First Nation Village site that he let us look around without charging us. He also said we could eat our lunch at the picnic table that was there too! I was definitely not expecting to see any picnic tables in a while. Harold had already had a fire going, so we were able to have some roasted marshmallows too! We had a good time talking with Harold and hearing a little about how his family has lived in this same area for hundreds of years. He showed us some spears and Atlia's that are things the First Nations used for hunting and in war against the Spanish. He let us try throwing them and it was amazing how much the Atlia (hook shaped stick that you stuck in the end of the spear) actually helped propel it. Michael and Joey had fun having a competition to see who could throw it further. They were pretty close, but in the end I think Joe won. Our lunch break ended up being about 2 hours long again, but that is ok, because that's what this is all about- taking time to have fun when the opportunity arrives. The terrain had less hills today, but we still had a bit of a head wind. Joe had ridden ahead a ways and Papa Mike, Michael and I stopped at a creek to fill up on water. We ended up being there a lot longer than I thought we would be, but it was fun watching Papa Mike try a little gold panning. After about a half hour or so, we were back riding. We met a couple girls, Corey and Porscha, who were riding a loop from Haines, AK to Stewart, AK and were going to take the ferry back to their car afterwards. They live in Fairbanks. Not too long after that, we found Joe waiting at a gas station for us. He said he had been waiting for almost an hour and was starting to get worried about us. Just down the hill from there was a rest area in an area called Canyon Creek where we made camp. There was an old historic bridge over the Aishihik River that was fun to explore. We made some rice for dinner and were still hungry so we had some oatmeal too. It was already really late by the time we were done eating and had everything set up so we didn't have a fire tonight. We rode 38.65 miles today. I am excited to get to Haines Junction tomorrow and see the Ritchie family again.
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