chasingsummerp.009
Chasing Summer p.008
Report initially published in the Adventure Rider web site. For more interaction and comments check it out here
Day 25 - Sept 9th - McCarthy (Wrangell NP)
It keeps raining and the clouds stay very low. It seems so pretty out there that we decide to give Wrangell another chance and wait one day to see if things would clear up. Truth is, none of us was really up for being soaked again if we had to ride away now
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We have been invited last night at the McCarthy grocery “closing party”. Yes, once again everything closes when we arrive.
We hike to that little funky town and see the spring they seem to be using for their water supply.
Main street
And the saloon, theater of our libations yesterday...
We peeked into that hotel and everything in the lobby seems to be exactly like it used to be 100 years ago!
We enjoy great BBQ and food with the locals (about 100 in summer and 40 in winter).
Not much else to report that day besides more rain and the fact that we were really grateful to Ed for giving us all that food earlier in Anchorage.
With that weather there would be not much interest to see Valdez tomorrow: the road to get there is beautiful and we wanted to do kayaking to see the glacier’s iceberg but we would not be able to see anything with that rain. We’ll see in the morning…
Day 26 - Sept 10th - McCarthy to Tok
It rained hard the whole night and when we wake up it’s still the same. We have to leave anyway. At breakfast it’s kind of unreal to discuss with a couple that is planning to get married today, up in the glacier!
As for us we unenthusiastically get ready to ride our bikes to visit Kennicott before to head to Tok. But first we have to cross this large pound at the source level, before to reach McCarthy.
Teryk knowing that we would eventually get wet anyway, really goes for it!
Kennicott was a very productive copper mine until that day in 1948 where the owners decided to close the mine and announced it to the workers the next morning with one precision: the last train to leave town was 2 hours later! It’s probably the greatest exodus from a town in the USA.
The site is facing the moraine and glacier
We explore a bit the trails after the mine and then start to head back West, towards the Park's exit. We can see much with the rain and our fogged visors but we keep ourselves entertained trying to avoid all the puddles on the road.
Finally the rain stops! We're already soaked but at least there is now hope to get dry again!
Just before reaching Chitina...
It blows my mind to see rivers that large!
At the junction of the Chitina River and the Copper River
The further North we go, the better the weather is. Even if it takes a long time to dry out our moral is on the rise!
Yes, it's too bad that we're missing Valdez but with this weather there was no other choice. Same thing for the Denali Hwy, North-West of us: It's supposed to be a beautiful dirt road but for now we're just fleeing East to avoid the rain.
The Tok Cut-Off Hwy goes along the Wrangell park and offers great scenery. I think that just having the sun makes everything beautiful in our eyes, a little bit like after being sick, you realize how nice it is just to be healthy again.
We camp at the Sourdough Campground. It was recommended by this board and what sold me is their WIFI: I was able to update the thread that night.
The Fast Eddies roadhouse which was also recommended might be a nice place too but we just can barely look at their menu! I'm afraid that we just had too much hamburgers, fries, pan-fried this, deep-fried that...
Day 27 - Sept 11th - Tok to Haines Junction
We’re planned to take the next ferry in Haines that’s departing on the 13th at 5 AM so we have plenty of time to get there. We have a leisurely morning at the campground, waiting for the sun to warm us up a little. And of course, updating this ride report. While almost ready to leave I check my tires pressure and realize that the rear tire is half of what it should be. Is it the same mounting issue than with the front wheel? Not this time: it’s just an old nail… ADV salute to the nail!
Murphy’s law I suppose. One more patching exercise and we’re good to go.
The Alcan is not that bad going East of Tok and becomes even great after the Canada border.
We stop just after the border, at Beaver Creek to have lunch and make reservation for the ferry. That’s when we learn that there is an additional ferry leaving Haines at noon on the 12th. The perspective of taking a ferry during the day rather than waking up at 3 AM is exciting, but suddenly we’re in hurry!
We’re still enjoying the road though and taking time to get some pictures.
When we arrive at Haines Junction there is still daylight. However, we don’t want to spoil the road going to Haines because it’s supposed to be spectacular so we decide to stay here. We find a cheap hotel to be able to leave earlier on the morning. There is no risk that the night life in Haines Junction would keep us awake late tonight.
Day 28 - Sept 12th - Haines Junction to Johnsons Crossing (part 1)
What a day! What a fantastic day today was. It’s not that we did so many miles but it was fun to get up in Yukon, cross British Columbia, then the border to Alaska, take a ferry, cross the border to BC and end up sleeping in Yukon again. But the best part is that the weather was great and the scenery even better.
We wake up early this morning with, for the first time on this trip, a schedule to stick to: the ferry we’re taking leaves at 12:30 pm and we’re supposed to be there 2 hours before.
We want to take our time on the way and so leave early. On the other hand we don't want to leave before the sun is out either!
The start of the road is not spectacular and it’s so cooooold! But we’re soon rewarded with great morning colors and patches of fog rising above water.
We do many pauses, just contemplating the view
I think we picked the perfect time to be on the road!
At every turn we’re in awe on how beautiful the scenery is.
Even better, it’s changing and evolving while we’re climbing even more.
With all those picture-stops, we are getting worried about missing the ferry so I took the following pictures while riding...
If there is one word to qualify the Great Northern for me it has to be "Scale"...
I had never seen this kind of fishing boat (at least that's what we think it was)
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the road was fun and twisty and having a ferry to catch was a good excuse for a spirited ride.
Just before Haines is a reserve of Bald Eagles and we’re able to see 2 of them on our way. Yeah! No pictures of them, so just a last one of the mountains.
It’s just past 10 AM when we show up to Haines’ ferry terminal. We get our tickets and are told that checking in at 11:30 AM would be fine. Cool, we then have times to visit Haines, just a few miles back. Haines is a nice little town. There were some tourists coming from the cruise ship in the harbor but it was not too bad.
There were about half dozen similar big white houses, remaining I suppose from a time where there was a military fort in Haines.
Not sure if those are authentic from the Chilkat Tlingit Indians who first established this settlement...
The real beauty of Haines comes from the high mountains surrounding it.
This dog adopted Teryk and followed him for the rest of our promenade in town.
He had very impressive eyes!
Not as beautiful as when they fly, but at least we were able to photograph this bald eagle in town...
It's funny to see how many themes museum can be about! This one is about hammers...
Funny also that within seconds of us stopping somewhere, there is always someone that comes with questions.
In this case, those people were in a cruise but had seen us a couple of times during their stay in Alaska. Sometimes it was "Hey, you've been all around the place: you must have passed me 3 times already!". It's true that we have seen a surprisingly small number of motorcycles on our trip so we must be somehow more recognizable to them.
Most of the questions are about where we're coming from, where we're going etc. But our favorite is "What brand is your motorcycle?" KTM. Stunned look. Sometimes another question follows before they get back to it: "You mean, it's a Kawasaki?". No, they are K.T.M., an Austrian brand. "Ahhh...
... I used to have an Harley..."
Day 28 - Sept 12th - Haines Junction to Johnsons Crossing (part 2)
Most people who visit Alaska take the boat, at least for part of their trip. We’ll now have that experience too, even if it’s just for the shortest trip available: just 1 hour to go from Haines to Skagway.
Here we are, waiting at the ferry...
The problem with riding a motorcycle: it gets hot as soon as you stop
It’s the first time I see a ferry with side doors… It’s definitely not the best option for some drivers like this one who spent literally more than 10 minutes backing up on a straight ramp, way larger than his camper (no trailer) and with one helper from the crew guiding him!
This time motorcycles were last to board but, hey, we’ll be the firsts to exit!
The ferry is kind of fun: it’s nice to see the scenery moving around you while relaxing on a lounge chair.
Since the whole ferry trip is going through a fjord we were expecting more spectacular views but it’s okay (we've been spoiled!).
The arrival in Skagway is like jumping to another dimension! The first (and only) thing we first see are 4 huge cruise boats, each of them with more passengers than there are people leaving full time in Skagway.
Oh, look! We can see what looks like a miniature town on the background...
Too bad, because the site is beautiful...
I’m sure the town could be nice too.
We stop a minute to regroup.
We were thinking of having lunch here. But in just a couple of minutes we had already so many people accosting us with the same questions than we just want to leave this Alaskan Disneyland.
Ah... it feels so good to be out of this crowd! I'm sure cruises are great too but not if you're found of remoteness. We even heard that once, there were 9 cruises ships stopped in Skagway
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What's amazing is that the scenery on the Hwy 2 was completely different from the one we had on the morning.
But it's just as beautiful
It's a very unusual landscape for us
The only things that remain the same are the fabulous colors of the trees!
It's late and we still haven't had lunch. On the map, 83 miles after Skagway, back in Yukon, there is a town called Carcross. Not much there I'm afraid...
Beautiful site though!
Carcross has a big general store and if I recall correctly it's the oldest in the Yukon province. Unfortunately they're only selling ice cream
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We walk to the bridge and have a quick lunch from Ed's smoked salmon stripes and tortillas
It's been a full day and we're now looking for a place to stay, probably one of those great Yukon campgrounds. This one, in Tagish, seems a bit too close to the water
No luck in Jakes Corner either. Yukon is scarcely populated and names on the map don't mean much in reality. Plus, many seasonal places are already closed now.
Finally we find what we want at the Johnsons Crossing campground. Nice site by the water, very few people and still plenty of fire wood.
But this one has something more!
A great pier, just for us on the beautiful lake
Teryk reminding of all the amazing things we saw in one day!
Perfect ending to a perfect day...
