Fairbanks to Boundary
Both of us were glad to get out of Fairbanks. Due to the repairs required on the bikes we had spent much longer than we wanted too.
The day we left the weather also picked up. To 90F in fact which made the BMW suit’s a little warm and moist inside.
In a stereotypical American style they couldn’t leave the North Pole as the North Pole and had created a little community just outside Fairbanks called North Pole, and in the spirit of Disney had turned the whole town into a 365 Christmas playground/merchandise outlet including a 20 metre fibreglass Santa staring down on you as you drove past on the Alaskan highway. We gave this scar on the wilderness of Alaska a wide birth.
The drive down the Alaskan highway can be considered very boring as the road is dead straight and lined with spruce for hundreds of miles, the only distractions were a couple of stray moose calves trying to cross the road and passing a US Air force base whose runway ran parallel and only a couple of hundred metres away from the road. As we passed 4 jet fighters landed which was impressive being so close to such a sight on the bikes.
The first nights stop on the Alaska high way was at a place called Moon Lake. This was a state campground with only a hole in the ground for a toilet and well from which you had to pump your own water. The site was right on the edge of the lake and the views were magnificent which more than compensated for the lack of amenities. When we first arrived we had no food and were unsure what facilities lay in the town ahead (Tok) so we headed on into town and fortunately there was a small supermarket. Stocked up with supplies we headed back.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960335.jpg">
Moon Lake.
In the meantime every mosquito from Alaska had congregated for ‘John fest’ and ‘Giles a bake in’ in the only remaining camping spot. On our arrival the mozzie festivities began and regardless of what we wore, how much Deet we covered ourselves with, they ate well. If it wasn’t dark I’m sure we could have seen millions of them lying on the ground on their backs gently rubbing their swollen bellies, smiling and belching. The tents were erected quickly and once the dinner was cooked we ate in our tents and took revenge by the mass slaughter of all the mozzies that were daft enough to still be gorging on us as we entered the tents. Who are the masters now Huh!
In between the cooking and when we weren’t passing out due to the blood loss, we started chatting to two cyclists from the US (Brookes & Greg) who were performing a sponsored cycle from Prudhoe Bay to Argentina for Diabetes. The trip was expected to take around 5 months. If anyone is interested in looking at their web site or sponsoring them, the site is www.ribbonofroad.com
The next morning the mozzies had all but disappeared and there was a glorious view of the lake, blue skies and the sun. With the high temperatures of the previous days we both wanted a shower but given the lack of amenities Mike suggested the lake. I was happier with a flannel wipe down but in the end Mike persuaded me. Well getting was like watching two old ladies in a Supermarket. We edged forward millimetre by millimetre until we were waist deep when Mike literally took the plunge and put his shoulders into the water. Well there was no option, so immediately I went for it as well. At this point you usually say it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. This is the exception. It was freezing. A little swimming around the situation improved as the extremities went numb but we still had the head to immerse and given Mike had taken the initiative last time, it was time to take it back so I held my breath and under I went. This time it wasn’t so bad, but we returned fairly quickly to shore and dried out in the sun before packing up and heading on.
From Moon Lake the Alaskan highway is the same as before, straight with spruce trees but after and hour or so we turned off onto the Taylor Highway. Here the scene changed dramatically. We had heard there had been forest fires in this area but the sight looked like a nuclear holocaust, as there were just burnt sticks of trees for hundreds of miles. In the distance you could see patches of green where the fire hadn’t reached and these created an image of artificial shadows of black against the green.
Forest fires in this part of the world rarely turn into the ranging fires you see on TV. The fires usually start by lightening. The fire travels underground in the peat soil and trees only catch from the roots up. Most of the spruce up here have very short branches due to the 8-month winters and 40 below, the high snow so they rarely flame from tree to tree unless there is a particularly high wind.
Quite often the trees roots will burn and the tree falls over and at that point the trunk will burn. This type of forest fire do spread in all directions regardless of the wind and generate much more smoke than flames.
Fire is a part of the natural cycle up here so these are left to burn out unless they directly affect a community.
That enough of the National Geographic lecture, back to the trip.
The drive through this area was a weird feeling. It is sad to look onto the devastation but fascinating to see fireweed and other plants shooting almost immediately after the fire had left bring great swaths of strong colour to this bleak environment.
The rest of the days riding was through the aftermath of a forest fire it was only when we approached close to our camping spot for the night the trees turned back to their usual shade of green.
Our Camping spot was at a place called West Fork and was another state campground, but like Moon Lake the views were superb. We were much further away from a lake and on a hillside, the mozzies where nowhere to be seen.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960360.jpg">
View from inside Mike's tent...doesn't do it justice but hopefully you get an idea.
The plan was for me to pitch up and Mike to drive onto the next town to get some provisions. I started and Mike headed towards the campground host for directions and information. Ten minutes later Mike reappeared. The camp host had kindly offered to provide us with the provisions from his own supplies and was bringing them to our pitch in the next few minutes.
The camp host was called Don Marshall who was a veteran US marine from World War II. Don uses the camp host job to allow him time and peace to write factual books on his experiences in the war and had just finished his latest for publication. He willing showed us some examples of previous publications, which was interesting experience to relate the situation with the person involved.
Being brave adventurers we decided that we didn’t need the flysheet on the tents and wouldn’t it be wonderful drop off to sleep under the stars to wake up and see the great views with the early morning sun casting shadows on the hilltops. The only flaw in the plan was the temperature drop. I just about survived OK but Mike seemed to get the worst deal of the night.
The next day was to carry on heading for the Canadian boarder. A few miles into the days riding we reached the town of Chicken. This was the only place before the boarder for fuel, so we filled up here. Chicken was a wield place. The town consisted of three shops, one of them a gift shop. We pulled the bikes up to the Petrol Pump and an old guy turned up to pour the petrol, saw we had bikes and told us to do it ourselves then disappeared. The only other notable things about the town were the visibility was low and the Taylor highway became the Top of the World highway and turned to gravel.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960375.jpg">
As close as we got to taking further interest in Chicken.
Everyone we had met on route said that we must go via the top of the world highway, as the views were amazing. Unfortunately for us the wind had changed direction and the rest of the road to the boarder was in a smoke haze. So we had a fairly uninteresting ride with only a hint of views we were expecting to see.
Just before we got to the boarder stopped at a place called Boundary for some lunch. This place is a Gas station, Café and gift shop. Considering the place was in the middle of nowhere it was fairly busy with people traveling to and from Canada. All with the same hopes and disappointments of the views on the Top of the World highway.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960407.jpg">
The Cafe at Boundary....note the smoke all around it.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960392.jpg">
Some of the many road signs we saw on the cafe...note the middle one !!
Both of us were glad to get out of Fairbanks. Due to the repairs required on the bikes we had spent much longer than we wanted too.
The day we left the weather also picked up. To 90F in fact which made the BMW suit’s a little warm and moist inside.
In a stereotypical American style they couldn’t leave the North Pole as the North Pole and had created a little community just outside Fairbanks called North Pole, and in the spirit of Disney had turned the whole town into a 365 Christmas playground/merchandise outlet including a 20 metre fibreglass Santa staring down on you as you drove past on the Alaskan highway. We gave this scar on the wilderness of Alaska a wide birth.
The drive down the Alaskan highway can be considered very boring as the road is dead straight and lined with spruce for hundreds of miles, the only distractions were a couple of stray moose calves trying to cross the road and passing a US Air force base whose runway ran parallel and only a couple of hundred metres away from the road. As we passed 4 jet fighters landed which was impressive being so close to such a sight on the bikes.
The first nights stop on the Alaska high way was at a place called Moon Lake. This was a state campground with only a hole in the ground for a toilet and well from which you had to pump your own water. The site was right on the edge of the lake and the views were magnificent which more than compensated for the lack of amenities. When we first arrived we had no food and were unsure what facilities lay in the town ahead (Tok) so we headed on into town and fortunately there was a small supermarket. Stocked up with supplies we headed back.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960335.jpg">
Moon Lake.
In the meantime every mosquito from Alaska had congregated for ‘John fest’ and ‘Giles a bake in’ in the only remaining camping spot. On our arrival the mozzie festivities began and regardless of what we wore, how much Deet we covered ourselves with, they ate well. If it wasn’t dark I’m sure we could have seen millions of them lying on the ground on their backs gently rubbing their swollen bellies, smiling and belching. The tents were erected quickly and once the dinner was cooked we ate in our tents and took revenge by the mass slaughter of all the mozzies that were daft enough to still be gorging on us as we entered the tents. Who are the masters now Huh!
In between the cooking and when we weren’t passing out due to the blood loss, we started chatting to two cyclists from the US (Brookes & Greg) who were performing a sponsored cycle from Prudhoe Bay to Argentina for Diabetes. The trip was expected to take around 5 months. If anyone is interested in looking at their web site or sponsoring them, the site is www.ribbonofroad.com
The next morning the mozzies had all but disappeared and there was a glorious view of the lake, blue skies and the sun. With the high temperatures of the previous days we both wanted a shower but given the lack of amenities Mike suggested the lake. I was happier with a flannel wipe down but in the end Mike persuaded me. Well getting was like watching two old ladies in a Supermarket. We edged forward millimetre by millimetre until we were waist deep when Mike literally took the plunge and put his shoulders into the water. Well there was no option, so immediately I went for it as well. At this point you usually say it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. This is the exception. It was freezing. A little swimming around the situation improved as the extremities went numb but we still had the head to immerse and given Mike had taken the initiative last time, it was time to take it back so I held my breath and under I went. This time it wasn’t so bad, but we returned fairly quickly to shore and dried out in the sun before packing up and heading on.
From Moon Lake the Alaskan highway is the same as before, straight with spruce trees but after and hour or so we turned off onto the Taylor Highway. Here the scene changed dramatically. We had heard there had been forest fires in this area but the sight looked like a nuclear holocaust, as there were just burnt sticks of trees for hundreds of miles. In the distance you could see patches of green where the fire hadn’t reached and these created an image of artificial shadows of black against the green.
Forest fires in this part of the world rarely turn into the ranging fires you see on TV. The fires usually start by lightening. The fire travels underground in the peat soil and trees only catch from the roots up. Most of the spruce up here have very short branches due to the 8-month winters and 40 below, the high snow so they rarely flame from tree to tree unless there is a particularly high wind.
Quite often the trees roots will burn and the tree falls over and at that point the trunk will burn. This type of forest fire do spread in all directions regardless of the wind and generate much more smoke than flames.
Fire is a part of the natural cycle up here so these are left to burn out unless they directly affect a community.
That enough of the National Geographic lecture, back to the trip.
The drive through this area was a weird feeling. It is sad to look onto the devastation but fascinating to see fireweed and other plants shooting almost immediately after the fire had left bring great swaths of strong colour to this bleak environment.
The rest of the days riding was through the aftermath of a forest fire it was only when we approached close to our camping spot for the night the trees turned back to their usual shade of green.
Our Camping spot was at a place called West Fork and was another state campground, but like Moon Lake the views were superb. We were much further away from a lake and on a hillside, the mozzies where nowhere to be seen.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960360.jpg">
View from inside Mike's tent...doesn't do it justice but hopefully you get an idea.
The plan was for me to pitch up and Mike to drive onto the next town to get some provisions. I started and Mike headed towards the campground host for directions and information. Ten minutes later Mike reappeared. The camp host had kindly offered to provide us with the provisions from his own supplies and was bringing them to our pitch in the next few minutes.
The camp host was called Don Marshall who was a veteran US marine from World War II. Don uses the camp host job to allow him time and peace to write factual books on his experiences in the war and had just finished his latest for publication. He willing showed us some examples of previous publications, which was interesting experience to relate the situation with the person involved.
Being brave adventurers we decided that we didn’t need the flysheet on the tents and wouldn’t it be wonderful drop off to sleep under the stars to wake up and see the great views with the early morning sun casting shadows on the hilltops. The only flaw in the plan was the temperature drop. I just about survived OK but Mike seemed to get the worst deal of the night.
The next day was to carry on heading for the Canadian boarder. A few miles into the days riding we reached the town of Chicken. This was the only place before the boarder for fuel, so we filled up here. Chicken was a wield place. The town consisted of three shops, one of them a gift shop. We pulled the bikes up to the Petrol Pump and an old guy turned up to pour the petrol, saw we had bikes and told us to do it ourselves then disappeared. The only other notable things about the town were the visibility was low and the Taylor highway became the Top of the World highway and turned to gravel.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960375.jpg">
As close as we got to taking further interest in Chicken.
Everyone we had met on route said that we must go via the top of the world highway, as the views were amazing. Unfortunately for us the wind had changed direction and the rest of the road to the boarder was in a smoke haze. So we had a fairly uninteresting ride with only a hint of views we were expecting to see.
Just before we got to the boarder stopped at a place called Boundary for some lunch. This place is a Gas station, Café and gift shop. Considering the place was in the middle of nowhere it was fairly busy with people traveling to and from Canada. All with the same hopes and disappointments of the views on the Top of the World highway.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960407.jpg">
The Cafe at Boundary....note the smoke all around it.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114960392.jpg">
Some of the many road signs we saw on the cafe...note the middle one !!
