Alaska Highway

After being on the the famous Alaska Highway for about 350 miles we are getting the feeling that we are heading into the wilderness. The road is not as wild as it used to be. Its a paved/tarmac road for most of the way, it has a lot of damage to it so you never know when the next bend will be a giant hole or have nothing but hardcore left. Every now and again there is a sign pointing you to a point of interest; this particular time we came across an old wooden bridge that was built to follow the curve of the road, a real beautiful piece of engineering with a character reflecting the ingenuity of the builders of roads in this fantastic country.

We spent most of one day trying to get some tires, Taz's back tire had a nail in it and was looking pretty square due to the ridiculously straight roads, so we thought we could get a rear tire till we picked our knoblies up in North Pole Alaska. Could we find any tires in two towns? could we hell, we needed Jim (Taz' dad) the tire scout of Blighty. Unfortunately he was tucked up in bed in Cheshire UK.

We pulled the nail out and thankfully it was tiny and hadn't caused a puncture. We continued on..

Up at 6am tomorrow to see some Grizzly bears on the road.....?!!!!

Tour comes to an end!

but the ADVENTURE RIDE STARTS HERE!

We finally hit the the Alaska Highway... On route we are seeing signs for Alaska (Exciting). The gaps between the towns are getting longer.
We are in Dawson Creek so we have a 1000 miles through the Yukon Tundra to explore.

Today we found a nail in Taz's tire so we are considering swapping over to Knobbly tires now if we can find any. We were originaly having a set of tires sent on to the North Pole in Alaska. But with the unusual weather and maybe a puncture it maybe wise to change now....

Adventure riding... cooool.

Lake louise

Lake Louise is a tourist trap and the views are astonishing, but the cost for anything there is through the roof. We spent one night in the cheapest motel we could find, tried to make phone calls to family but really struggled the phone card we had started with a 1 and the number we had to ring out the room was 9+1 as you can guess ringing 9+1+1 has consequences... Bangs on the doors and distressed hotel staff...... funny? not!

The road out of Lake Louise to Jasper is all national park. Over the day we saw aGrizzly bear, a Black Bear with a cub crossing the road and loads of Caribou... totally cool

We took an hour out of riding and went up the Columbia Glacier in an amazing 4x4.. check it out.

" I'm not an axe murderer"

After crossing the border we landed in a tourist town called Invamere. We drove through an array of shops in search for a cheap motel. We noticed a couple of motorcycles and their riders on the side of the kerb, the customary wave and we continued our nightly search for the cheapest motel we could get. We stopped, myself doing the intricate negotiation and my sad story of poor motorcyclist on a very long trip so we need the cheapest room you have please. Eventual the receptionist bent to my jedi powers of persuasion and we got a cheap room, in triumph I headed out to tell Taz, who is chatting to one of the bikers we had passed. He introduced himself and explained he had offered us a room in his holiday home after explaining he was not "an axe murderer" We refused but continued chatting and then we decided to go for it. I went back into negotiations with the motel receptionist and scored a refund. We followed our new friend (Dean) back down to the shops and the others in his party. Cameron, June and Chantelle. Cameron (Cam) and Dean had been riding in the mountains and were then heading back. We followed and we were greeted as VIP guests into a very large and plush summer house in the mountains. After a home cooked meal (fantastic) we hit the natural hotspings on the hill at the back of their chalet. It is amazing that complete strangers will take you into their home, feed you and treat you like honored guests; Its the motorcycle adventurer thing. As motorcyclist who had completed a trip to Alaska we chatted over exotic drinks and cocktails sharing stories. We had a fantastic night with host second to none. If your reading this Dean ( Russia is calling!) Thanks guys...

Eureka and the Canadian Border

The next day we headed north to the Glacial National Park. Just outside the park we stopped for a break in the local gas station. After a healthy salad for me and a cheese burger for Taz we got chatting about the roads ahead. In no time at all the locals cleared up our questions. The roads were closed due to heavy snowfall... Doh!

So we opted to head straight to the nearest border which happened to be Eurekakakakakaka. The terrain had started to change into more alpine style.. Pine trees and grass. Rolling into Eureka we noticed the Canadian flags next to the American ones, a popular destination for Canadians to come shopping. A cheap Motel and we got ready for the Border Crossing the next morning. Passports bike documents etc.

8 am We awoke to a rainy day, we donned our waterproofs and headed the six miles to the border. Crossing over this border was a little worrying for us as we have not tried a crossing whilst here other than coming into the country.. On Arrival we asked to turn the bikes off, the office was pleasant and straight away said " your going to Alaska" shocked i agreed and he said he another couple from Mexico on similar bikes going the same place. cooooll He aked us the usual question our jobs? any thing we are leaving in Canada? and then stamped the passports and waved us on... easy....
Off into Canada..

Masoula

We stoppped a night in Masoula to get a new battery for the 1200, nothing serious it had done a lot of miles and was the original one, in the mornings it was sounding very tired whilst starting....

Ovando

We headed north, into the rain clouds and mountain pass. Light rain, and strong winds made it feel like Scotland. I love Scotland, strange but i really enjoyed this leg of the journey, moody mountains and empty roads. We eventual pulled off the road and dropped into a tiny village with an authentic old saloon stye buildings: very different from Scotland. We booked into the General Store which also happened to be the only place for a room in the area. Everyone was really friendly; they had lived there for all there lives and had history going back to the 1700,s. Most of them had been Outfitters or trappers and new the place like the back of their hand. On the walls were Bear skins, the uninvited visitors to the town! Outside our room window was the saloon which is now a Cafe called "The Stray Bullet". Named after the bullet imbedded in the wall after a little disagreement in it saloon days.. In the middle of the square was the site of the Hang Mans Tree, now thankfully gone but was still in use up to 30 years ago! The sun came out and we headed to the town bar for food. As we walked in the room went quite and then from behind the bar " hi there, welcome! would you like a drink" A very friendly place.. Just like Scotland.... Population: people 50 dogs 100....