Not another Brit touring the Colonies.

Had a run from Prince George to Smithers, where I didn't find the opportunity for taking any great photographs. We visited Smithers as i'd arranged to stop off with Smokin Sam and his lovely wife Sarah. Sam's a bit of an all things bike guru, but is also quite versed in the logging industry. Sarah's the brains behind the outfit and, if I remember correctly, they've been together 37 years. Had a lovely stop over with them, along with a superb bbq. Top couple!



Like I said, not many photo opportunities today.

 
You can't beat local knowledge. Sam told us about the local Indian's fishing down the road at a place called Moristown, which looked a little like this.



The wide river funnels into a narrow ravine, where the salmon run and are caught in hand nets. It's really quite something to watch.



So we did the obligatory photo of Mark



and myself.



Hopefully these next few shots will show you the scale of things



You don't want to be falling in here.



We crossed to the other side, where Mark enjoyed the view



and I could get a better angle of the ravine.



Here's one they just caught



and back in with the pole.



and another salmon pops out.



Then it was on the road to see if we could get to Dease Lake



Some nice mountains in the area






And then we spotted this sign, ideal for a photo opportunity



and for me too!



We continued on and turned off the highway, looking for fuel and food, and ended up in a small reservation village with these totems



complete with info.



All in there's about a dozen



After filling up, we hit the road and then the worrying signs started appearing.



But there were loads of views



before our lunch stop, where this old boy was parked.



Following lunch, Mark said for me to carry on, as he was going to the rest room and might be a while. I continued on, into this lovely landscape, on the way to Stuart and Hyder.



There are avalanche signs all over, and this one was fairly recent.



But the sun was out, the road was windy and I was on the lookout for bears, which I did spot, but he ran off before I could get the camera out.



Steep waterfall's abound along the roadside as well.



And into Stewart, which has some lovely old buidlings that have either been restored,



or well looked after.



Down along the river



to Hyder, which is the most Southerly, old mining, ghost town in Alaska, with one road in and out.



Some lovely views down by the waterside



But the town's buildings are definitely in need of a little refurbishment.



Or knocking down and starting again

 
Ok, before I start, remember Mark saying carry on, at our last stop? Well, over three hours later, on a 45 minute journey, i'd not heard or seen of him. I went down to the river, to get some phone signal, sent a text and waitted, but no reply. I then went for dinner in the fish bus, with a chap we'd met in Smithers (who'd managed to find the campsite) and Mark still hadn't shown up. I ate my fish supper and heade for my bke, as I was going to go down to Stewart and report in with the local RCMP. Fortunately, Mark was in the campsite, having taken the wrong turn out of the rest stop - there was a 50/50 choice. So, the worry was over andf I was glad nothing untoward had happended to him. We hit the sack and headed up The Salmon Tail Glacier, with Terry who we'd met at Smithers, for a view.



The sun was rising, unlike my photography skills, so these are the best I got from the snappy. I've yet to look at the main camera.



Leaving Hyder, we saw a few more run down buildings. The general impression is that Hyder, and many parts of Alaska are slowly dying. The tent site's now closed, due to the motel closing, so we had to camp on the RV site, which was fine, but a struggle to get the pegs in the ground.



The sun was shining again, on our way out.

 
We didn't quite make Hyder, so found this place on the side of the road.



The view from our porch



The owners home/office. Oh, and he's completely bonkers.



and another morning view, on our way to Jade City



where Mark finally found his comeuppance with a bear.



Who was far more friendly once he'd eaten.



But Mark survived.



So we went and looked at the tourist tat for sale.



and carried on to...

 
Continuing on The Cassiar Highway,



with some great views



I then spotted some interesting cloud formations



so I tried a few shots with the snappy.



and that distraction passed the time till we made it to Whitehorse and found this superb, albeit a tad pricey, place



Which was rather popular



With a great cake stand



and eclectic decor



and lovely staff



who did a grand job of serving us and having a laugh.



On the way back to our digs, we spotted some local art



Our digs, no camping tonight, it was a long day in the saddle.

 
Leaving Whitehorse the next day, you get to ride through a whole load of this...













You get miles and miles and miles of nothing but scenery, with nothing else to look at or distract you,



until you finally happen to bump into some more people. These guys are cycling, for cancer, from Texas to Alasaka. Most of them were looking pretty knackered buy this point.



They'd stopped at this sign, the rear of which was rather interesting. ;-)



So I went round the front and blagged a photo with a few of the less tired cyclists



Then got a model shoot



and then these two ugly buggers.



A short while after, Customs!



and we're in Alaska and on to our camping spot for the night, but we did stop for a couple of beers. This liquor store is like many stores we've passed. In the middle of nowhere and stocked to the gunnels. With barely a sould living nearby, you're left wondering how the hell they sell it all.



The Sourdough Campground, Tok. This place is the epitome of not judgng a book by its cover. Mark's face, when we turned up, was a picture of 'where the hell have you brought me to?' I was a little unsure myself, with thoughts of dueling banjos going through my head, but we stuck with it and found a pitch.



Tim, the owner, and his granddaughter, Katie, who was visitin' for a week.



The place is somewhat ramshackle and in need of some updating, but the site turned out to be a great stop. This is the cafe, where a limited menu is served. The reindeer chilli and reindeer sausage breakfast are good though.



What makes this site special though, is The Sourdough Challenge!



Guests have to introduce themselves to everyone, saying a little about themselves, with our compere helping things along. Then you have two attempts, as everyone needs a practice run, to toss a pancake into the buckit (yes I have spelt that correctly) The prize for winning, is a free breakfast in the morning.



The under arm throw proved popular.



Everyone had to take part, even when you weren't throwing. To assist the throwers you had to clap and chant Buckit, Buckit, Buckit. If you didn't, you had your ass hauled on stage. This porr chap didn't clap, then had to try and clap, chant and stomp his foot at the sme time. He failed, woefully, which was a great laugh.



And the free brekkie winners are...



and the losers were? (Note Mr Foot Stomper not taking part again!)

 
Just dropped in on this.
Have a really good trip, looks good so far,.......but whatever you do, don't let Mark anywhere near sand, or steep hills. (he'll tell you the story much better than me :D)
 
Leaving Sourdough Campground, well stuffed with the victory breakfast of sourdough pancakes, rendeer sausage and eggs, we narrowly squeezed through this bridge



which went over this



and then we made it to North Pole, so took the obligatory photo and popped inside, then very quickly outside. It's Christmas Hell, 365 days a year here, and tatty.



So we found this terrific 50's deco diner for lunch



which was a brilliant find



and gave us some good, what not to buy, anti bear advice!



Then, thanks to Chris Biltcliffe (Unchained Tours), we found Sven's Hostel in Fairbanks.



Top, friendly camping hostel



with wall tent accommodation



Very nice and great wifi!



along with a tree house, but don't try the aerial walkway if you've had a few too many!



and some great communal rooms as well. Sven's been running this place for a few years now, and it's one of the best camping spots i've stayed at on my trip.

 
We left Sven's and headed to our final destination, The Dalton! No, not the Timothy Dalton, the Highway.



Which is loaded with views of the vast, open, wild, empty, did I mention vast?, landscape.



There's loads of this, so i'll try to put up just enough to give you a flavour of what we've seen.



Here's the start of it



and you're straight into this awful, slippery, shaly, muddy, gravelly, slop, that's sometimes loose and sometimes compacted. I'm remembering Chris's words, 'don't ride The Dalton if it's wet'. Well, it was mildly moist, so we gave it a go.



and saw stuff like this



some sections are flat and shiny, some are rippled and some are outright bumpy. All have loose gravel at the edges, to catch out the unwatchful and unwary.


big skies and big scenery, which you really can't capture in a camera lens



'Don't ride The Dalton if it's raining', said Chris.



Keep going and you get more scenery...



and more



Before you reach The Hot Spot Cafe, which is another of those 'don't judge a book by its' cover' kind of places.



It's run by a couple of ladies, who come across as not being the most cheerful, or friendliest, of people, but they keep a flower garden like this going and cook burgers that could teach macdonalds a thing or two.



The bog's somewhat rustic



and comes with a warning.



Anyone recognise thier sticker from a previous visit? We had a really heavy hailstorm whislt we were eating lunch and Chris's words were nagging in the back of my head.... don't ride the dalton when it's wet.



Following lunch, where we'd even raised a smile out of the cook, we headed back into the views. My thoughts on The Dalton, at this point, were a tad worrying, as this section was truly awful, wet, slippery and hell to ride, so I was thinking of turning back.



However, the road soon improved, so we continued on and reached a circle

 
We're spending three nights at Wiseman. The aim being to ride all the way to Deadhorse and back in a day, leaving a rest day to get some blog work done and have a little wander.



The Dalton just keeps on going



so i'll let the photo's do most of the talking...



Heading up The Atigun Pass









This is approaching the last of the mountains...



before the Arctic Tundra begins



We're held up, quite some time, in various places. The road crews basically have three months to get all the repairs done, before Winter sets in again.



so it takes an age to get through loads of this.



So, you drive/ride all the way to Deadhorse, through miles and miles of Arctic Tundra, to an oil exploration support camp, which isn't all that scenic. The day's passing by and you need to get back on the road. A swift stop, we fuel up and hit the trail back. I'm watching the skies as the cloud looks quite threatening in places.



But we crack on and, after what seems like forever, we see the mountains again



Along with increasing cloud. It's also been cold all day, so i'm glad I packed my heated jacket, it's been on all day. In the forground is the pipeline, the reason for The Dalton.



Back over The Atigun, the sun shines through and we're on the final leg, back to Wisman



Heidi, who owns The Boreal Lodge where we're staying, has a husband who flies. I'm half wishing he'd flown us to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay



Heidi's born and raised in Wiseman and is still there, which is a rarity.



This could be her old truck,



but this is definitely her original family home. The log cabins were numberd and dismantled from Coldfoot Camp, 16 miles South, and were re-constructed to form the village of Wiseman, when gold was found there. Wiseman's the most northerly gold rush town in Alaska.



The local store's npw a bit of a museum piece



with some vintage catalogues



it's all looking very ramshackle



but there's a great old till, locked unfortunately.



We found this sign, next to the river



before finding the old post office, and yes, it is really this tall. The floor level is the same inside, as outside, but we don't know why.

 
Great journey, great write-up and great photos but, in this particular installment at least, I think you're flogging a Deadhorse! ;)
 
Back South on The Dalton and I made sure I stopped at this sign, which I spotted on the way up. Giggety!



Down on The Yukon River. This used to be a hovercraft crossing for the truckers, till they built this bridge.



This chap sorts people out on The Dalton, fixing stuff that's broken and supplying/fitting tyres. He is getting somewhat cheesed off with people turning up and expecting tyres to be in stock, or delivered next day, which is impossible in Alaska. If you're ever likely to need hi services, get in touch and order well in advance!



Then it was to our ew chum, Leena's for the night in Fairbanks. Deena was contacted by one of our tent space buddies (Glen Corneaux) and said she was happy to look after us when we passed through. Deena definitely gets special mention, as she went overboard to make sure we were well fed and watered on our trip. We were also very lucky to have met her, as she's soon to be moving back down South, on the farm with her Daughter and her family. Great to have met you Deenie!



We even washed our bikes off at the hotel where Deena works as the Handyman. Top girl!

 
From Fairbanks, we covered the same ground, back to Tok, for another night of Sourdough camping. However, and due to a lack of beer affecting our aim, neither of us won breakfast. However, camping was 6 bucks cheaper for some reason?



Then it was on to The Top Of The World Highway, to Dawson City. We were up early as we had a weather window, which worked in our favour. The road starts paved...



and then goes all gravelly.



which takes you to Chicken (or, as it was originally named Ptarmigan) We were served by this lovely lass, who didn't have much of a clue how to make a Cappuccino



But the smiley service made up for it...



and they had these superb cinnamon buns



Chicken by name and chicken by nature.



It's a mining town, with this old dredger laid to rest, which was rather impressive.



They also have one of the best music festivals in Alaska... Chickenstock! Here's the stage. Apparently it's a great weekend if you're around at the time it's on.



Duly fed and watered, with two cinnamon buns, it was out into the big country again.



where we found this dilapidated old trading post



with luxury toilet



and big views

 
On arrival at the ferry to Dawson City, we wandered up to The Steamboat Graveyard



where we found these rotting relics of an age passed by



I'm amazed, with all this timber, they've not long since been burnt to ash.



The remnants of the paddle wheels are pretty impressive.



A little closer



and very close



Some of the wheels still have their timber structures,



but are missing the paddles



Close up it's hard to distinguish what is what



but hopefully you'll get the general idea.



Then onto a tin ship to get us over the river



and into the olde worlde of Dawson City



which does have some more cared for proeperties

 
Tripadvisor has this place at the top for eats, so in we went



It was great inside, with lots of historical memorabilia, but food in Dawson is very pricey and a bit hit and miss. Mine was a hit, but Mark wasn't overly impressed with his choce.



Some great old photo's on the wall



and a not so decrepit paddle steamer.



and they have a Fire Station!



It's all volunteer here, but they have a great little museum on the side



with this recent restoration masterpiece



the previously restored hose carriage



and this original condition pump. I spoke with their Fire Chief and he said they were raising funds for its' restoration. I said it was reallly nice to see it in unrestored form and made a great comparrison against their newest aquisition.



Some great old firefighting kit was on display, including some fantastic original leather helmets.



along with some badge displays from other Firefighters



They also had these fantastic, original, leather helmets.



The into the garage to see a few more...











 
Next day we went to see this behemoth of a Dredger. It was massive and operated by only 5 men.



It was only in operation for a few years and cost an absolute fortune in materials and costs to construct, but that's gold for ya.



It had no engines, as it was run on electricity



which turns this bloomin great big wheel



which spins the drum



and sieves out the gold



In the top deck were the controls. Pretty simple really.



These are the remaining scoops which dredged out the soil in the hunt for the gold. It's called Plaster Mining and you could squeeze 6 people in one of these easily.

 
Sorry folks, it's Placer Mining. It's those dodgy accents making it sound like Plaster.
I'm about a week behind on the updates, but had an off today, fortunately at a low speed, The bike's rideable, but now missing the screen, indicator lenses and screen mounts. I'be got a Grade 3 separated shoulder and my super snappy camera's toast. Four hours in A&E waiting for the confirmation, off to bed with some anti inflammatories and we'll see how i'm faring come the morning.
 


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