AK Highway Roller Coaster Part 1 Skagway, AK to Ft Nelson, BC

The ride from Skagway, AK to Dawson Creek, BC, the start of the AK Highway, and south through Jasper and Banff National Park has been challenging, rewarding, beautiful and ugly.  The first part from Skagway to Ft Nelson was exciting, and with the exception of some dusty roads and hot temperatures, a wonderful stretch of riding.  

From Skagway I rode up the Klondike Highway over White Pass back into Canada. Above is the lookout near the top of White Pass on the Klondike Highway.  Lots of tourists and buses driving up from Skagway giving me beeps and hand gestures of encouragement on my way up. 

The least dramatic international border crossing I have ever seen.  At first I thought that was it, but customs was on the other side of the hill.  Still all very laid back. 

Once I got over the pass the sky turned blue and the scenery beautiful and unique. 

The bridge into Carcross in the Yukon.  Up the road I had to get a ride with a pilot car directing traffic around a recent landslide. The driver had a number of bear jokes, which I heard several times again later down the road.  None of them are particularly funny.   Just before this bridge I saw my first bear walking along the road.  In all, I probably saw at least 20 Black Bears, maybe a couple Grizzly bears, but didn't get a great look at them.  

A stop in the Caribou Crossing was a good one.  The owner, a German woman, gave me a bunch of baked goods, lasagna, and Caribou sausage in exchange for wiping a few tables and moving some chairs.  

My first night in the Yukon at Stephen's place near Tagish.  Eiko was a visiting couchsurfer from Japan.  The house is off-grid and no running water.  After more than 85 miles and 8,000' of climbing I slept like a baby even though darkness didn't come until midnight and last more than a few hours. Despite the sunny forecast I heard in Carcross it rained in the morning.  I got a late start and the rain stopped as I was leaving. 

After Tagish a short ride onto the AK Highway.  A look back down the road. 

The second night I camped in Teslin at a campground/RV Park right on the Teslin lake.  A shower and WiFi sounded good, and I wasn't quite ready for wild camping in the Yukon.

This couple from Quebec were riding from Anchorage to Argentina with their 17 month year old! 

The Yukon.  There is a remote stretch of about 150KM between Teslin and Rancheria with no services. 

Daniel, from Sweden, riding from Prudhoe Bay, AK to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.  He had a run in with a Grizzly Bear in AK along the side of the road.  He stopped to take pictures and when riding by the bear charged toward him and then backed off.  He had some good pics!    

A roadside map showing the continental divide crossing between Teslin and Watson Lake. 

One of the many "Services" signs with a CLOSED sign posted on top.  It seemed at least half of them were bordered up and out of business.  I heard the 2008 economic crash resulted in much less RV traffic and closure of a number of businesses.   

I stopped at the Rancheria Falls Recreation Site and spent the night after a refreshing swim and dinner on the boardwalk overlooking the falls.  The wind was blowing enough on that deck to keep the mosquitoes at bay. A retired couple cycling from Washington I met early in the day suggested keeping my food bag in the back of the bear proof trash containers at the parks.  Works like a charm and a lot easier than hanging food on short stubby conifers.  No sign of any bears at the park, but I saw a few just a few KM down the road in the morning.  

A short ride down the road from Rancheria Falls and I hit Rancheria, a campground/RV Park/ restaurant.  There were 4 cyclists out front and I rode with them for a bit.  Two of them were from Bangladesh, one from Australia, and one from Canada.  These two rode in style on their tandem, and even had speakers for their ipod. 

A beautiful day of riding along the Rancheria River toward Watson Lake. 

Momma bear and cubs. 

Watson Lake's claim to fame is street signs.  People from all over the world bring street signs from  home and hang them here.  I saw one from Glastonbury, CT.  Two other things that are great about Watson Lake: 1. smooth pavement 2. No mosquitoes (they spray around town).

A stop at an actual grocery store in Watson Lake, one of the few on the AK Highway.  Otherwise the food on the road is greasy restaurant food and expensive baked goods and candy bars. 

10-20 KM outside of Watson Lake at about 10PM (don't really need to worry about it getting dark) I came across Lucky Lake.  Quite a bit of trash left around, but wonderful swimming (night and morning) and I found a quiet place in the woods to put my tent.  I talked to several groups of kids hanging out at the park. They were doing a good bit of drinking and contributing to the trash problem, but were very nice to me. In the morning I found $15 in a plastic bag when cleaning up one of the picnic tables for my breakfast.  Lucky indeed!  

Wood Bison, lots of them, between Watson Lake and Summit Lake.  I am told they are docile, but they scare me more than the bears.  They are huge!  I later found out they are a subspecies of bison, distinct from the plains bison that once roamed the mid-west.   They like the road sides as they are easy travelling.

Hey bear! 

Seal coating sucks. I guess the cheapest way to pave and maintain a remote road is to seal coat it.  That is pour tar down and then cover it with dirt and gravel, and let traffic drive over it to compact it into pavement.  I was surprised to see them doing this during prime tourist season, but as was pointed out to me the seasonal window for road work up in these parts is very short.  

Camping at Fireside with the new owners. I negotiated a free place to camp in return for me buying dinner and some breakfast. 

Beep beep

Into northern British Columbia along the Liard River. 

More seal coating.  This went off and on for over 100KM.  Not pleasant riding with big trucks or RVs coming through.

I made a stop at Liard Hot Springs.  A nice place, but the day I was there was hot, so the hot springs were not particularly refreshing.  I left smelling sulfury, probably better than I was smelling before.

Wood Bison. Big head. 

The Liard River crossing on the AK Highway.  At this point the road dips south up along Muncho Lake as the river canyon further up was deemed too difficult for road construction. 

Heading up to the mountains of Muncho Lake Provincial Park. 

Muncho Lake

Camping along Muncho Lake, a bit off the beaten path.  The water is freezing, but my evening dip was delightful. 

The road winding along the east side of Muncho Lake is perhaps the nicest part of the AK Highway. 

A bit more climbing

Riding along the Toad River

A couple other cyclists riding the AK Highway I met at Toad River.  The young guy from Canada heading north, and Ernst, the German heading south.  I met many other cyclists, but they all turned down the Cassier Highway just before Watson Lake.  I later found out there is a good reason for that. 

Moose

The Northern Rocky Mts. The view from the road on the final climb to Summit Lake gave me plenty of energy to make it up and over.  

Looking back.  There are 2 Stone Sheep on right side of this pic. 

Stone Sheep crossing the road. 

Summit Lake.  Unfortunately the air temperature was not quite warm enough for a swim.  I continued down the road and camped along the Tetsa River near a roadside trash can so I could store my food.  I didn't have a nice place to sit and eat, but I did get a good fire going.  

Up to Steamboat, a bit of a hill before getting to Ft Nelson.

On top of Steamboat a momma bear was getting into the garbage.  A family in a camper from Illinois was watching with excitement from their vehicle and offered me a ride to "safety" in their camper.  The bear was not the least bit interested in any of the people around.   

A nice descent down toward Ft Nelson

The low flat boggy boreal forest outside of Ft Nelson

Geoff and Zappa, my couchsurfing hosts in Ft Nelson, are roof there are good people everywhere.  Geoff works for one of the First Nation groups (Native Americans) in the area doing environmental education, communication, and research.  Ft Nelson is on the edge of the oil and gas boom and there isc a lot of controversy about how much the resource should be exploited in the area.   I spent two nights in Ft Nelson with good company,  got in a bit of rest, and waited out a rainy day.  Geoff also sent me off with a can of bear spray and a lesson on how to use it, as he had an extra one.