June 10, 1999
Abbotsford to Hixon
430 miles
3,612 miles to date
In the morning I encountered a spate of rain. In fact, two motorcyclists coming from the opposite direction cautioned against heading north. But I went North anyway, saw the sun breaking clouds, and really didn’t get too wet. Strangely it was warmer than California. The day was filled with deep green fields and deep blue lakes (Lac la Hache for example). I arrived at a small village called Hixon, just a bit south of Prince George.
I remember Hixon as being a small village with a single take-out restaurant. I walked over from my motel and a family and friends appeared to be enjoying the evening. It was quite late, probably around 10:00 but it felt like 6:00 because of the daylight and the warmth.
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June 11, 1999
Hixon to Iskut
591.6 miles
4,204.2 miles to date
This was my longest day so far and it was due to the sun setting so late. At this latitude I was able to ride well into the night. I believe I pulled into Iskut around 10:00 or 11:00 before stopping.
By this time I had purchased a spare container of gas, about 2 gallons, that I placed in a saddle bag. Leaving Prince George I headed west on the Yellowhead (Highway 16). Just outside of New Hazleton I took Highway 37 North. It was right near this junction where I came across some totem poles. I was getting out in the sticks now and some of the road was gravel. I found out later that this route to Alaska is referred to as the Cassiar. Along this stretch I came across my first bear sighting and took a photo. As you can see, it is just a tiny fuzz ball (see selected photos link above).
Once again the scenery is fantastic. The fields are a rich green and the sky a deep blue. Wildflowers are in abundance and it is warm. It is a pleasure to motorcycle through British Columbia, truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. The last photo below is Eddontenajon Lake.
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June 12, 1999
Iskut to Whitehorse
466.1 miles
4,670.3 miles to date
Today I completed the Cassiar. It was a lot of gravel to work one’s way through on a motorcycle. In the mid-morning I skirted Dease Lake, crossed over the Yukon border, and then joined up with the Alaska Highway. I had lunch at the junction which was just a truck stop. The Alaska Highway dipped back into British Columbia for a few miles, crossed back into the Yukon and I made my way through Teslin and then stopped for the day in Whitehorse.
This was a big-time achievement for me. Looking back to the time in California and how near I was to giving up on this adventure, I began to realize that I had come far and experienced much. Arriving in Yukon was a wonderful feeling.
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June 13, 1999
Whitehorse to Fairbanks
589.3 miles
5,259.6 miles to date
I covered a lot of miles today. Once again, because the sun “sets” so late I could drive for hours. In fact, it never really does get dark. Today’s journey took me through Haines Junction and then to Burwash Landing and on to the Alaska border. At Burwash Landing extensive efforts were being made to fight a forest fire. In fact, I was just lucky to be riding through during an open window as the Alaskan highway had been closed for several hours. Trees were burning on both sides of the highway. It didn’t seem dangerous but it was quite a sight driving down the highway like that. Helicopters were dipping into the trees and dropping bags of water (I think that they were bags of water) but I’m not sure why they would bother doing that. It certainly didn’t seem effective.
At Burwash Landing I fell into a conversation with a young man who was cycling in from the opposite direction. He was waiting for family members to catch up. We talked about our trips. His was really more local as he was from Alaska and heading to BC. But he shared with me his first trip to Alaska from New Orleans, quite similar to mine. When he heard that I came up the Cassiar instead of the Alaska Highway through Dawson (that would be my return trip) he shared with me some of his insights into gravel. This was wonderful information for me. He said the tendency for cyclists when they hit gravel is to stick their legs straight out, trying to help balance the bike. If you’ve never ridden a bike through gravel, the gravel tends to pull at the front wheel and cause loss of control. Also, the tendency is to slow down, further increasing the loss of control. His riding tip was to stay compact, keep the legs in place and then gas it a bit instead of slowing down-driving the cycle through the gravel. I followed his advice to this day and it is sound. It makes the gravel stretches much less stressful.
Hitting the Alaska border was huge. I arrived in Fairbanks quite late but was anxious to set out the next morning. To my horror, in reviewing the map in the motel room, the entire 400 mile highway to Prudhoe Bay was gravel. How could I go 400 miles on gravel (each way). My stated goal was Alaska but I always had, in the back of my mind, the Arctic Ocean as the ultimate goal.
