Last Post for Now

Okay, it's now about two weeks later, but I want to finish writing the rest of this down before I forget most of it! After that bakery I left for Big Sky Brewing. It was closed, so I decided to find a quick bike ride nearby. The quick bike ride I decided on ended up being a 3000 foot climb up a mountain. I rode until I started running into snow and excessive downed trees, but I was 90% of the way there. If I had thought to bring my hiking shoes I would have continued to climb to the top.

Big Sky Brewing is fantastic, they actually give out their samplers, which is the correct way to get as many people trying your beer as possible. After getting a sticker and some coffee for Malcolm I traveled onward.

I found a great road in Idaho, ended up following a river in places, through deep canyons in others, and ended in an enormous mountain valley just before the desert started. Most of the roads in Canada I ended up on were very open, and even with lax speed limit enforcement there weren't a lot of entertaining drives. This road was entertaining.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 9, 2015 at 7:09pm PDT

I was so distracted by the drive that I ended up traveling far later in the day than I'm usually comfortable with. I found some potential campsites but they were all sketchy in one way or the other, or more likely were private property and completely fenced off. Eventually I found a place close to my goal for the next morning, Craters of the Moon National Park, and set up camp.

The stars ended up being particularly good that night, I've been captured by high humidity the entire trip so to finally have a clearer sky.

Good morning

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 10, 2015 at 5:33am PDT

The next morning I did some speed-tourism on the park, which was a really neat geologically. I basically ran up the main trail to see the crater, and did my best to remember a few geology terms that at this point I've totally forgotten. Still it was a neat place to check out.

On the way out of there I found that if I drove quickly and efficiently I would be able to make it back to Colorado that night to see my sisters before their trip to California, and my Mom for Mother's Day. I decided to go for it. The next 9 hours were a combination of strategic speeding and efficient pit stops through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and finally Colorado. I made it back for a nice Italian dinner with the family, and slept in a real bed. The trip was done, but hopefully I'll be able to look back on this blog and remember how fun/painful/educational it was.

Finally home!

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 10, 2015 at 7:32pm PDT

Jasper and Banff

Alright, there's been a long gap since I wrote stuff down unfortunately, I've been moving too quickly. Wednesday morning I woke up early and got to the Fort Nelson visitor center when they opened. The very helpful worker there gave me a bunch of information packets for the area and I found one specific to mountain biking. I headed towards Prince George, it would be a long day to get there but I had a couch when I did. Along the drive I saw a turnoff for wildlife viewing, and decided to take it.

I followed the signs but after the first couple I didn't see any viewing area so I kept driving. Turned out to be a neat road with several bridges over some very scenic highway turnoff  streams and ponds.

A video posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 5, 2015 at 6:48pm PDT

After following the road for approximately 15 miles I ended up giving up and turning around. I found that the turnoff for wildlife viewing was closed, and only a few hundred "meters", whatever those are, away from the highway. It wasn't a total loss though, I let Yogi run alongside the car to get some exercise.

Once I arrived at Prince George, I mooched off the visitor center wifi and met up with a friend I had met in Prince Rupert. We had dinner and some beers at a place called Nancy O's. The next morning I washed my bike at a manual car wash to get some of the dirt and crap off, and had a bunch of extra time, so I washed my bike again. Miho looks better dirty anyway.

The next day I was off towards Jasper. I got distracted at a scenic turnoff, turned out to be the waterfall that was the upper limit of the salmon run, where they stop to spawn. I knew I was getting close to Jasper when I saw some enormous mountains on the horizon. Mount Robson was the first that made me stop and see if there were any trails. The visitor center (I'm loving these places) pointed me towards a nice trail that ended at an enormous lake surrounded by snow capped peaks. It was incredibly scenic, and ran along a turbulant river the whole length as well.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 6, 2015 at 3:19pm PDT

After getting back I kept moving towards Jasper. I found the Overlander Trail, which would be a total of 30 km, on top of the 16 km I had already ridden. I decided to go for it, if Yogi could survive this plus Mount Robson he'll officially be some sort of mutant cybord super dog. The trail ran along the large river, with some scenic overlooks as well as a nice clearing where an older settler built some now delapidated cabins. Naturally Yogi did fine, he chased deer a few times, and had enough energy at the end to chase some off near my car.

Overlander Trail in Jasper

A video posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 6, 2015 at 6:13pm PDT

After some beers in downtown Jasper, I slept at Whistlers Campground which was the one campground open. It came with free wood, and I was hopeful that the clouds clearing up would give me my last opportunity to see the Northern Lights. I stayed up pretty late, and woke up fairly consistently through the night, but I didn't see any lights. At least I got to see them in Iceland!

The next day I moved on to Banff. The park started with some enormous mountains on either side that looked sort of like larger but flatter versions of Boulder's flatirons, except you're surrounded by them on either side. These mountains get larger and higher in altitude until you're driving through the Columbia Icefields, which contain several enormous glaciers. One seemed to be an enormous wall of ice several hundred feet high, perched atop a large cliff another 500 feet tall.

Enormous ice field!

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 7, 2015 at 3:55pm PDT

Along the way there was a group of goats in the middle of the highway, apathetically watching cars as they passed. They seemed too easy to hunt, maybe they're more afraid of people on foot?

Mountain goats!

A video posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 7, 2015 at 4:08pm PDT

I decided to go a little out of the way and see the town of Banff. I found a trail that circled the eastern part of town. After getting massively lost at the start of the trail I got back on track. I was hoping that the trail would go near a river as the map suggested, but it turned out to be near a river in only the map's perspective as the trail ran along the side of a huge ravine with the river a couple hundred feet below.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 7, 2015 at 3:57pm PDT

After sampling Banff Brewing Company I continued on south towards a hot spring that one of the rangers recommended. It was well worth the long dirt road to get there, it was a very natural hot spring with basically just a few rocks moved around to create the pools directly next to a pleasant river. It reminded me a lot of the hot spring along the Kern River in California. After spending way too much time there I continued on the road where some of the other people at the hot spring were camping. It was a nice spot right next to a small lake.

Hot springs!

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 8, 2015 at 9:56am PDT

The next day I escaped that dirt road with only mild damage the underside of the Miata, but I think a stray rock might have finally done-in the bike tire damaged by exhaust/stupidity. I drove on to Kimberly, where I heard there was some good biking. After getting a nice new tire, I rode along Magic Line, probably their premier trail in the area. It was great but consistent rocks made it the first time I was really missing a rear suspension. I thought about doing another ride in Cranbrook farther south but I decided to keep moving and get into the US.

The border crossing guard was more suspicious than normal, when I said I was from Colorado he needed to see my registration for my California registered car. Once satisfied I wasn't driving a stolen car (from Canada?) he let me by. My first stop was Whitefish, where I tried out a few breweries including the Great Northern Brewing, Bonsai Brewing, and Tamarack Brewing. I decided to have dinner in Tamarack, I needed a non-camping meal.

Montana isn't as consistently covered in ice as I thought

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 9, 2015 at 8:56am PDT

I ended up camping near another lake, if you could call it that. Flathead Lake seems almost large enough to call it an inland sea. The next morning I had breakfast at a small bakery and that finally catches us up! Today I'm heading to Missoula before hopefully camping in Idaho.

Somewhere Montana

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 9, 2015 at 8:56am PDT

Tuesday, I've been looking forward to Tuesday. I visited a place a lot of people have been pointing me to, the Liard Hot Springs. On the way I saw some wild buffalo! The only other time I had seen some in the wild might have actually been on Catalina Island, so it's neat to see literally herds of them roaming around Canada where they're actually indigenous.

A video posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 4, 2015 at 5:09pm PDT

Once I get to Liard, I arrive to an empty parking lot, and walk the long boardwalk across a marshy landscape until I arrive at a small building. The hot springs are a set of two pools, on one side are the steps into each pool, a wooden overlook and some changing rooms. Besides that structure on one side the hot springs are entirely natural.

I step in to the right side, and it's burning hot. Apparently the farther right you go the warmer the temperature. I start on the left side, which turns out to be the most natural side of the springs anyway. It's incredibly relaxing, and just about the perfect thing for me at this point. There's a small back channel to explore, the spring's water level is set not by a stone or concrete wall but what appears to be a glorified beaver dam. The bottom of the pool is entirely natural rock and dirt. It's an incredibly relaxing place, and after spending way too much time there I decide to book it for Fort Nelson, setting me up to get past Prince George the next day.

A video posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 4, 2015 at 5:11pm PDT

Along the way, I notice a car stopped on the side of the road. This generally means they're tourists looking at something. I think it's probably another buffalo, but I'm surprised to see an enormous Black Bear! I've never seen one of them in the wild either. It would be the first of at least half a dozen I would see on the drive to Fort Nelson.

OMG Bear!

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 4, 2015 at 10:42pm PDT

I decided once I got to Fort Nelson to just find a campground in town, it was getting late and I wanted to charge everything up anyway. 

Convertible+Bald Eagle+Turboprop+Alaska=burning the crap out of your leg

Monday started so well, after leaving Haines it seemed like picturesque day to leave, with the sun out, the top down... As I was leaving the town I passed the airport, and a turboprop was landing just off my left, while a Bald Eagle soared just overhead, I'm literally not making that up. After a very scenic drive along the Chilkat River, and then through some high altitude snow capped peaks, it was back to the normal Canadian wilderness. Driving through the US, the geography is occassionally interrupted by desert, mountains, monstrous cities, but I feel like the variation is somewhat less drastic in Canada. 12 hours of driving can be very monotonous.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 4, 2015 at 4:59pm PDT

While most of travelling is seeing incredible new places, meeting new people, trying new things, and everything that people glorify it to be, sometimes you spill boiling water on your leg after 12 hours of driving, and go to bed hungry and cold. Monday was such a day, and I'm hopeful tomorrow will be better. I'll meet some new friends and catch up with old ones, and my if my destination tomorrow wasn't what it is I would probably be more discouraged. That said, sitting on a couch with some delivery pizza and binge watching Netflix sounds pretty enticing at the moment.

A video posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 4, 2015 at 5:03pm PDT

Haines, Alaska

After getting some new tires at Whitehorse I was on my way south towards Skagway Alaska along the Yukon Highway. The plan was to do some mountain biking in Carcross and then hitch a ferry to Haines to meet up with Erik, and old college buddy.

I found an incredible spot to camp, but it wasn't entirely legal. It was actually at a seaplane base, with an incredible view of the mountains. It was also covered, and could have been my first night sleeping tent-less. After reading at least until 10 PM waiting for the sun to go down, there was still a suspicious amount of traffic on the road, as well as some cars that stopped to see what I was up to. I decided against camping there and moved on, but the stop was well worth it.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 1, 2015 at 11:31am PDT

I ended up sleeping at a rest area, and carried on pretty early. After arriving in Carcross, I found a map next to the Visitor Center of the local mountain bike trails, and headed to one of the trailheads. After mounting up and starting off on one of the trails, I quickly ran into snow, and after seeing the deep mud and thick snow on some of the more shadowed trails I decided to pack up the bike and head to Scagway earlier than planned.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 1, 2015 at 11:31am PDT

As I approached the border to Alaska, the landscape quickly changed to what, if I was a snowmobiler, would appear to be some type of utopian paradise. There were immense lakes covered in several feet of snow, surrounded by large rocks mostly covered in more delicious pow, with diminutively picturesque trees dotting the landscape. It was surrounded on all sides by enormous snowy mountains. As the road gained in altitude, I entered the cloud layer, which spoiled some of the views unfortunately.

The border back to 'Merica was pretty uneventful. I was instinctively more careful about my speed near the border, I've come to realize how tightly those are patrolled. Canada's speed limits always seemed relatively optional, but in the US that's never been the case. I wasn't in a huge hurry anyway.

Scagway is a cool old mining town, tucked right into the end of a large waterway. I picked up a hiking/biking map after getting my ferry ticket, and having a few hours to spare I set off to find a good trail. I was quickly distracted by the city itself though, there was a lot of neat little stores, and after finding out there was a disk golf course and a brewery I decided against riding.

The disk golf course itself was really neat, tucked away behind some trees at a corner of town. Back in the woods a couple was corralling their team of sled dogs, and Yogi skiddishly met a few. I did a couple rounds before heading back to town to catch my ferry and make lunch.

The ferry ride itself was gorgeous, the waterway was surrounded on all sides by snow capped mountains. I managed to get some work done on the ferry when I wasn't taking way too many photos. I met a couple I had seen earlier, it was the people with the dog-sled team that Yogi had met earlier! Turns out they're from Colorado, and super nice people. They were heading up to a glacier in Alaska to give tours for the summer. They signed the car before we needed to get off the ferry.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 1, 2015 at 4:56pm PDT

Once driving along Haines, I had the top down and the scenery was probably among the best I had seen yet. The views were gorgeous, the sun was out, and I ended up needing to stop for pictures at almost every opportunity. At one there was an older couple with an enormous camera and a set of binoculars looking into the bay. I followed their lead and saw a large pod of Orca whales swimming maybe a half mile off the coast. I followed them for about 10 minutes as they were leaving the bay for the Pacific.

A video posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 1, 2015 at 4:56pm PDT

Haines is a great little town, and after trying to track down my friend Erik for a bit I decided to wait at the local brewery. Everyone there seemed to know not just Erik, but each other. Their beer was also great, way better than Skagway's, and they have at least 5 aged beers I have to try before leaving.

Erik got an Aerospace Engineering degree with me at CU and now lives an incredible life here in Haines. He's building a house just outside of the city, but currently rents a sweet house right off the bay. He has a boat right there to catch fish, a wood burning stove, really cheap rent... seems like an incredible setup. After some beers and a couple frisbee golf rounds (literally right next to the brewery) we left to get some food and went to the Friday night open mic night. Almost everyone I met earlier at the brewery was there, seems like they have a really cool community here.

The next day I tried to climb Mount Riley just outside of Haines. Pretty quickly me and my new bike were put to shame after I ran into pretty thick mud and large roots on the trail. I decided to stash the bike at my car and try again on foot. The vegetation is much more green and thick than I thought, it could have easily been Oregon or Washington. The mountain just barely got to the upper tree line, but the trees shrunk enough up top to provide some killer views of the mountains and the bays. Yogi got way more dirty than usual walking through all the mud, he's going to need a good bath when I get back to Colorado.

A video posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 2, 2015 at 10:06pm PDT

Afterward I met up with Erik at the house he's building. I mostly helped him raise a wall and move some stuff around. The house is going to be gorgeous, there's great views of the mountains on both floors, plenty of space, the property itself is gorgeous... I'm pretty jealous and definitely going to mooch off his couch again once he's done.

Erik's new mountain view in the house he's building in Alaska

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 2, 2015 at 10:07pm PDT

After getting some supplies in town we head back to make breakfast burritos using some meat from a goat he hunted (again, so jealous of his life). The following morning I wake up to probably the best conceivable view to wake up to (that doesn't involve two X chromosomes), and that catches us up until now. I'm heading off today back south, but my immediate direction is north because the geography forces me to, not that I'm complaining there's some more mountains up that way!

My view waking up this morning

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on May 3, 2015 at 9:13am PDT

I was due for a problem

So what I said about speaking too soon about surviving the Dempster? I spoke too soon. Just 44 miles after leaving Eagle Plains, I had a flat. I had over 180 miles of rough dirt road to make it back to pavement, much less a tire store another 300 miles from there. I don't have a spare tire and wheel, just a doughnut. I had kind of hoped that if I had a flat, it would be early on. The snow likely concealed some short of sharp rock.

My comeuppance has arrived

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 30, 2015 at 1:39pm PDT

Looking immediately at my tools, I did have a jack, the spare, and a wrench, so it would first appear like I had all the tools I needed to keep moving. If there's another flat though, I'd need a tow, which would likely be more expensive than the car. I jacked up the car, and immediately ran into a problem. The wrench that came with the car was the wrong size!

Luckily, I bought a small tool set at Home Depot before leaving Tehachapi. I opened it praying there was the right socket size. I know it's a metric 21 mm, and my set goes to... 19 mm. But! There's a 7/8 socket, and it fits over the nut but with a lot of wiggle room. I've played this game before, and if you torque it too much the nut gets stuck in the socket.

I really carefully undo each nut, and luckily I was able to get the wheel off. Did I mention it's snowing? I mount the doughnut, lower the car, and the tire deflects almost completely. The thick rubber on the spare made me think it was inflated, but it was almost completely flat.

Luckily I also brought along my trusty tire pump that served us so well in Mongolia, and it worked great... up to 40 psi of the recommended 60 psi. It would have to do! I strapped the flat tire to my hood, which I chose partly because I thought it looked cool but it turns out it tends to block a little bit of my visibility, well a lot actually.

Wish me luck

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 30, 2015 at 1:44pm PDT

Just to get a feel for how isolated this place is, the process for changing the tire took over an hour, and not a single vehicle passed me, either way. Yogi was happily wandering around the woods until I was done.

The rear tire likely went first because I worked the rear tires a lot harder on track days than the fronts. This also means that the rear-right tire is just as likely to fail as the rear-left. I decided to at least make a small change so that I can say I tried if/when the other tire fails. I lowered all the tire pressures to 25 psi to try to lower the contact pressure with rocks, maybe that would help.

I kept moving, and on snow with almost bald all-seasons and a spare tire, the rear end really wanted to oversteer in every corner. The spare also was so narrow it really wanted to stick itself into ruts and stay there. I ended up "edging" the right side of the car to save the rear-right.

It probably took me an hour or two longer than the way up, but I finally escaped Dempster without any additional problems. Luckily I didn't try to go much farther than the Arctic Circle, a Jeep driver told me a bit past it there's a river crossing, and due to the rain and snow it was about 3 feet deep.

A little dirtier than before

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 30, 2015 at 1:44pm PDT

I had a nice lunch at one of the Tombstone Park overlooks before heading back towards Whitehorse for a new tire. I stopped at a nice lake for the night. I decided this might be my most northward opportunity for the Northern Lights, so I decided to set an alarm at 2 AM, and set up a big pile of firewood to keep me warm. I woke up to a bright tent, but unfortunately it was lit by the moon more than anything, no northern lights! Maybe the next night.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 30, 2015 at 1:48pm PDT

I'm here in Whitehorse now getting 4 new tires, they were all due for replacement anyway. From here I'm going to head to Haines, Alaska to visit a friend, and then finally back South. 

The Arctic Circle

With the sun coming up so early, it's impossible not to wake up at a reasonable time without feeling like you've wasted all morning. I've also found I don't really feel cold until I need to pack everything up the next morning, lots of exposed digits and sub zero temperatures don't mix well. After getting the car packed Yogi and me were on the road towards Dawson, a small mining town.

Along the way, there were some really nice views of the Yukon, but I didn't see any wildlife except for these really neat falcons. I tried to stop at a few trails, but they're still all snowed in. I feel bad for Yogi, he's going to be fairly un-exercised for a few days while I make it North. After a few more disappointing trailheads I decided to make an attempt to book it north and then head back South so I can get back to Mountain biking in warmer temperatures.

Once at Dawson, I refuel, get some cash, and then fruitlessly try to find some wifi before I decide to get out of dodge and get on the Dempster highway. This is the highway I've been looking forward to/fearing the entire trip. I mentioned it to one of the brewers at Wheelhouse in Prince Rupert, and his reaction was "that'll destroy your car". I took the lonely road to the start of it, and set off, only to immediately see a sign stating that the next gas stop was 370 km away. Under my normal driving habits, this is longer than the range of my car. There was a gas station at the start of the highway, so I topped my tank off to the brim, and hoped that the road's surface wouldn't degrade my milage by too much. I'd be a filthy hypermiler if it meant I make it to my goal.

This is probably a bad idea...

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 28, 2015 at 10:22pm PDT

I set off and was immediately disappointed at the road surface, in that it was exactly what I was expecting. It was a rough dirt road, with many exposed rocks and sand, I could barely maintain 40 mph. At this rate, it would take me roughly 5 hours to get to the Arctic Circle, my loafty likely unrealistic goal. Not only that, my tires aren't exactly new after several track days, so any sharp rock could puncture the tire. I was also thinking back to when I first packed the car, I knew I had a spare, but I didn't know whether I had a jack and the right tire iron size.

Nevertheless I pressed on, hoping that the weather would clear and the road would improve. Magically, it did temporarily. The weather cleared just before Tombstone Park, which turned out to be incredible. The road took me far above tree line, and I was quickly driving among snow capped peaks. Because of the low tree line the peaks are shorter than they seem, but they still looked large an imposing especially compared to a pitifully small Miata.

I decided to put the top down, which ended up being the correct choice. The air was cold but felt good while properly bundled up. It would be the best part of the Dempster, by a long shot.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 28, 2015 at 10:16pm PDT

The car's rattles and squeaks kept getting worse, so I finally put a concerted effort into fixing some of them. Turns out 90% of the noise was coming from two sources. The first was solved by rolling up my Buff and shoving it into one of the convertible top's hinges. The second was solved by shoving a sock in between the roll bar padding and the convertible top. Suddenly my car seemed quiet and composed in comparison, but it still complained loudly whenever I hit a large bump.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 28, 2015 at 10:24pm PDT

Suddenly the road darkened as I drove under a layer of clouds, and the road started gaining in altitude. The road surface itself started degrading to the point that I couldn't go much faster than 30 mph or I felt the car would fall apart Blues Brother's style. I found that if I drove on the far extreme right and left sides of the roads, there were less rocks and pot holes, but you run the risk of getting carried off the road by a large rut if you're not careful. I decided to call this method "edging".
After over 5 hours of traveling, with an average speed of just about 40 mph, I finally reached the next fuel stop with some margin. The hotel/gas station/bar/restaurant/shop was currently being run by a solitary gruff German woman, and after a beer and some gas I kept going north, enough light at 11 PM to keep me going for at least a couple more hours.

As I approached the arctic circle, more and more things on the car seemed to be complaining. It was probably my heightened awareness, fearing that something would go wrong just miles from my goal. But as the miles went by it became less and less likely. 8 miles to go... that oil temperature seems strangely warm... 7 miles... oh that wheel bearing is making that funny sound again.... 6 miles... huh is the left bearing making the same sound now? 5 miles... it suddenly occurs to me why people travel to Hawaii so much, it's awesome there... 4 miles... I can't believe there's still dusk remaining at midnight...

Suddenly, I'm at the arctic circle. There isn't a huge monument, just a small wooden sign. It was still very cloudy, very windy, and very cold, so I decided against putting up my tent and instead decided to sleep in my car, my first time doing so on the trip. Pictures could wait until the next morning. I celebrated with a beer Kristina and Ryan gave me in Seattle, and it was worth saving until now. I had a slight hope that the clouds would clear up so that I could see the Northern Lights for the 2:30-4 AM period when it's actually completely dark, but with the last clear pockets closing up I decided to get a few hours of sleep before heading back south.

I woke up surprised by about an inch of snow on the ground. What this meant, in the short term, was that I needed to do some doughnuts. In the more long-term, it meant I was driving back on the Dempster in the snow. It was also my first time driving the Miata in snow, maybe any rear wheel drive car actually. Just an inch of snow, rather than closing up bumps or pot-holes, ends up just concealing them. The drive back would be even slower than the pitiful 40 mph I was able to average yesterday.

Made it! Somehow!

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 29, 2015 at 6:59am PDT

After a crawl I was able to make it back to Eagle Plains, the refueling station. And that's where I am now! Waiting on everything opening up so I can get some fuel. The tentative plan is to stay in Dawson tonight in a real bed, and get a good night's rest before heading down to Haines, Alaska via the Top of the World highway. If I can survive the Dempster (maybe I shouldn't speak so soon) I can survive that highway right?

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 29, 2015 at 7:00am PDT

 

Yukon Brewing or Bust

This morning I woke up to what I thought were water droplets on my tent, but once I examined them closer I found they had actually frozen! I did my best to shake them off, and after filling up and getting breakfast I was off northward. The road followed a lake, crossed some rivers, but was mostly through either burnt or thinning forests. As I move north, the trees begin to look more like Dr. Seuss trees, very scraggly and thin, definitely responding to the harsher temperatures and weather. I saw some Caribou for the first time! Next up is Reindeer and hopefully a bear at some point.

Eventually I arrived at the 37 junction with the Alaska Highway. I asked the gas station attendant if there was any good biking trails nearby, and she said there was a "wicked" trail near Lucky Lake, about a 20 mile detour in the wrong direction, which sounded fine by me. It turned out that this trail was only 2.2 km long, and after beginning to take my bike off I decided I'd just run it instead.

Turns out this was a good choice, the trail was sandy until the snow took over all the way until a river. I was being overly optimistic by wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I ran through as much snow as I could but eventually it was too deep and I had to walk. I saw lots of interesting footprints, one was likely a moose but I'm not sure. The river was almost entirely frozen. It looked like a bunch of icebergs had a traffic jam and the water was just flowing around them all.

Shorts were a bad choice

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 27, 2015 at 2:55pm PDT

Once I got back to the junction I found some wifi and discovered that there was a brewery in Whitehorse called Yukon Brewing, but it was very far away and if I hurried I could make it there before they closed. I booked it the entire way there, and ended up covering a lot of ground. I should put more breweries off until the last minute. I felt a little bad though, my first long stint on the Alaska Highway, and plenty of good views but I was in too much of a rush to stop.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 27, 2015 at 2:55pm PDT

The brewery was worth the effort though, I ended up mixing a six pack and got a lot of good advice from the bartender. Unfortunately the hot spring/campground I was hoping to check out was closed, so it might have to wait until my journey back south. As a result of it being closed, I was traveling north later than I usually like to. I ended up stopping to make dinner at a river, and then moved on another 15 miles or so to camp. I figured a bear would be less likely to want to get into my trunk if he hadn't just gotten lured there by dinner smells,

I was hoping to find a rest area, but as the sun was going down I decided to just stop on the road and pitch a tent in a field. Turned out to be one of my most scenic camping spots, hopefully a Mounty doesn't come to shove me out of it!

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 28, 2015 at 10:20pm PDT

Driving/Recovering

Monday was lame, well as lame as driving through the wilderness of Canada can be. I drove through rain basically the entire day, hoping to take advantage of my healing knee to get some good driving hours completed. Almost all views were spoiled by clouds. Not the cool kind of clouds that give you cool perspective and depth, the lame ones that obscure almost everything. The variations in weather, climate, and vegetation at different altitudes is really startling though. One minute you'll be driving through fairly dense forest with budding deciduous trees, the next minute you'll have climbed a few thousand feet and the temperature will have dropped, it's snowing, and even the conifers are having a tough time clinging to life.

I passed several gorgeous lakes, and stopped at one to make dinner. I'm increasingly worried about bears, not for fear they might take my food or damage the car, but rather that they'll damage my new bike in doing so. I'm prepared with some bear mace to fight them off and the stupidity to do so. I'm currently at around 58 degrees north, so only another 8 degrees before I hit the Arctic Circle, if I make it that far.

I did finally make it to the Yukon! So there's that, the goal for tomorrow will be Whitehorse, a small but relatively large town.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 27, 2015 at 2:54pm PDT

The Miata's rattles are getting increasingly annoying, consistent, and maddening. I'll probably spend some time ditching some more interior panels to track a couple down. The bike rack's bolt keeps loosening, allowing the rack to sway but it's not in danger of falling. It's more concerning that that swaying would create some contact pressures and fatigue the metal. I'll have to tighten it up tomorrow before I drive farther north.

I'm currently writing this in a tent at 9 PM, and the sun has just barely gone down. There's at least another hour of twilight. At some point I'm going to need to check out the Northern Lights, hopefully the weather clears up soon to let me. It's been cloudy fairly consistently since I was in Whistler, with only some brief hours of sunlight. 

An Awesome Pointless Detour

I ended up at a camping spot right next to a nice lake, but unfortunately the weather didn't really clear up. I didn't have to setup or tear down in the rain, but the tent definitely demonstrated it was worth every penny.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 24, 2015 at 7:58pm PDT

The next day I was off to Smithers for more biking, and the road west took me closer towards the mountains, a welcome relief from the more arid rolling hills. Once in Smithers I saw a biker riding through town. My normal approach is to ask a local bike shop or information center for trail recommendations, but seeing this biker I decided the best plan was to just follow him.

After a while I thought this was getting awkward and decided to just be a normal adult and ask him for a recommendation. He immediately pointed me to the nearest trail "network" that he was heading towards, a term I've come to despise but I thought I would give it a try.

While examining the (very confusing) map for the system some helpful bikers, Matt and Erin, came to my aid. They gave me some recommendations, but also offered to just let me follow them around, which I happily accepted. Two other bikers Brian and Zach met up with us, and we rode up the mountain.

The network they've developed is really extensive and amazingly well maintained. The new bike handles the climbs really well but it's going to take me a bit to get used to the new tire size. They've got a sweet widget that effectively lets you spin a wheel to decide what trail to go on! There were also a lot of other people enjoying their Saturdays on their bikes, definitely a healthy bike culture in that city. Having a ski area in town also helps bolster those sports.

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 25, 2015 at 4:46pm PDT

The trail uphill was pretty easy going, but on the way down I would find that there was a good reason everyone but me had a full suspension bike. The Trek handled it pretty well but i think less tire pressure would have been better over the roots and small rocks in places. It got pretty steep at times, and I chickened out by walking in a few places, but unfortunately not on a feature over a large log.

There was a narrow plank up a 3 foot high log, and unseen on the other side was the descending ramp actually turned to the right slightly. I ended up tumbling off the left side, and jammed my leg into either the bike's frame, the ground, or both.

I was able to make it down to the bottom without any problems, but it's definitely going to be sore for a couple of days! Matt and Erin both gave me some recommendations on where to check out next. They said the drive to Prince Rupert was incredible, and that there was a brewery there. It was out of the way, but whenever someone mentions and incredible drive and a brewery I pretty much have to check it out.

The drive was as great as they said it was. There was still snow on a lot of the peaks, but I think the warmer temperatures at lower altitudes and near the coast allowed the aspens and other deciduous trees to start blooming down below sooner than the rest of the country I've seen so far. The route followed a large river, and was a broad sweeping highway.

Smithers, CA

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 25, 2015 at 4:46pm PDT

Yogi's still afraid of loud noises, so he's never been a huge fan of driving, but he's starting to get comfortable enough to almost sleep in the car. I'm sure by the end of this trip it'll be no problem for him.

Prince Rupert is a nice quaint town, lots of nautical architecture and history. I stopped for a couple pictures near the water hoping to find their seaplane base, but eventually had to give up and found the brewery.

A video posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 26, 2015 at 1:32am PDT

Wheelhouse Brewing is a really great place, the owners were serving great beer, the people were very friendly, and they let Yogi roam around the building. Everyone signed the car, and after some free samples of a grapefruit ginger beer we all ended up heading over to a sushi place in town. I went with a wonderful girl from Prince George Lindsay, Lindsay's friend Lindsay, a local legend that payed for our dinner Tim, and co-owner of the brewery Ronnie. Ronnie told us some pretty amazing stories about the region, and I gave them some beer in exchange for dinner and the company. Pretty late I headed to the local hostel to get some sleep, eventually.

Wheelhouse Brewing Company in Prince Rupert, British Canada, a worthwhile detour

A photo posted by Byron Young (@byron.a.young) on Apr 26, 2015 at 1:32am PDT

Now I'm off back East, then heading North again to get to some higher latitudes.