2017 Motorcycle Adventure to Alaska (Day twenty)

Today was going to be one of those balls to the walls ride as far east as I could get. The roads are much better so I figured I could possibly make the 760 kms. to Dawson Creek. If successful it would be my longest ride so far on this trip.

The weather starting out seemed ideal, not too cold and no immediate sign of rain. The scenery continues to be a huge distraction for me because I love taking great photographs. I saw a few black bears and then I came upon this small herd of buffalo and had to snap some shots.

I only get a couple hundred kilometers to a tank so of course there were a few gas stops. One in particular stood out, the Muncho Lake Lodge. It’s this massive log structure that’s impeccably cared for but their gas was a staggering $1.69 per litre. It’s one of those old pumps where you go inside first and give them your credit card and they activate the pump. While standing in line I noticed their snack bar menu showing hamburgers for $18.95. Now I understood how the place was so gorgeous. I had been warned about high prices for everything in Alaska and the Yukon but oddly enough I found their prices very reasonable by comparison.

There were five guys at this stop all on Honda Goldwings headed for Prudoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean. They had lots of questions about what to expect going north. There are so many motorcycles going north, mostly Harleys and Beemers,  that it’s clearly a popular destination for the two wheeled crowd.

Here are some shots I took before the rain started.

When I pulled into Fort Nelson it was about 2:00pm and I hadn’t had anything since breakfast but it was too late for a meal so I spotted this ice cream shop and stopped in for a soft ice cream in a cone. I can’t remember the last time I had one of these. The girl running it said that she had been in business for just one season. All she had was vanilla, no chocolate dip, no extras, just vanilla. It was good though and me being the only customer we sat out front on a picnic table chatting. It turned out that she knew where Bracebridge was because as a kid she had camped with her family in Algonquin Park. Small world.

I pushed on but my energy level was running on fumes so when I got to Fort St. Johns I stopped for the night. I gassed up, picked up a few groceries, had some dinner and went back to camp.

Whenever I set my camper up I always get people coming over to check it out. Everybody says the same thing. They can’t believe how such a large a camper comes out of such a small trailer. Some guys came over and we must have talked for an hour.

As I sit in my camper typing this I can hear some distant thunder. It’s supposed to rain tonight. Glad I’m not on the ground in a pup tent.