We have also discovered a new ingredient thanks to Laura: tortilla wraps instead of (toast) bread. It's very tasty with salty and sweet filling and it takes half the space of bread in our bear vault as we can conveniently roll it. Additionally, one can get very creative with it (check out the slideshow)... :-). Right after our lunch break a big RV pulled aside us and the Swiss family from Berne that we had met on the ferry, was waving at us! How good it was to see each other again on the road! We stopped over for a chat, could visit the very cosy RV, and exchanged advice for the travel route in Alaska and addresses back in Switzerland. Ines, Res, Sina and Anja even had a surprise for us: a bag of Basler Leckerli and some Lindt Schöggeli!!! They had seen us eating Leckerli on the ferry and wanted to give us something from home too. We felt extremely spoilt and were very touched - merci viumou! After this great encounter we cycled on to Tutshi Lake, where we found a picturesque spot for our wilderness camp this night. The following day, we pedalled into Yukon and stopped in Carcross for lunch. The route to Whitehorse was very scenic and led along astonishingly shimmering lakes, like Emerald Lake just out of Carcross. Once more, we were lucky to get hot summer weather (although we didn't expect it at all in this region!) and thus decided to stay three days in Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. We also rented a canoe for half a day and paddled down the Yukon River for 20 km. It was a welcomed change to the cycling for once and we saw a lot of eagles and as well as a beaver slapping its tail onto the water surface. The next day we were back from the Alaska Highway on the Klondike Highway and the landscape began to look like one imagines it from the North: endless forests of spruces (sometimes burnt from forest fires), occasionally mixed with birch trees and berry patches. And the light is very different from what we are used in central Europe. There is daylight from 5 in the morning until 11 in the evening... We now even have to be careful to catch enough sleep :-). And there was another characteristic weather symptom that we were soon to discover: if it rains, there is still sunshine and wind! Together, these three form a vicious trio and we constantly debated whether to put on our rain gear or to get wet in shorts and T-shirt. Soon enough though, we didn't need to take this decision anymore: it was raining two entire days. Well, that can happen if you travel North in summer :-)! The best method to cope with it, is to keep on pedalling. Therefore, it only took us four days to cycle from Whitehorse to Dawson City. In Dawson City we allowed ourselves a rest of a few days and it proofed to be a good decision. The weather cleared up and we could explore this gold rush town mostly in the dry (which is an advantage as the streets are not paved!). Dawson is yet touristy, but historically well displayed and prettily maintained. For once, we joined the tourist program and went to see a dance show in the Diamond Tooth Gerties Casino: it was entertaining and a fun evening. There was also the annual music festival going on in town when we were there, so we probably had hit the busiest weekend, but the town was full of relaxed festival goers and we enjoyed some good music just while walking in the streets. While we had time to think about our route further north, there was another temptation and slightly crazy idea coming up. Originally, we had planned to continue our trip right away with the Top of the World Highway into Alaska. However, there is relatively sunny and dry weather predicted for the Northern region of Yukon and the Northwest Territories, so we will take the challenge and go on an adventure: we will try riding the Dempster Highway - a 740 km long and desolate gravel road - from Dawson to Inuvik in the coming days.
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As smooth we had entered into Canada, as nerve-wracking it was to re-enter the USA! Cars and even passengers on foot advanced on a routine, but it took the ferry crew ages to have two bicycles checked through customs and properly stowed in the ferry belly... One wouldn't have thought, that we had informed the ferry company well in advance and also paid for the bicycles separately. We were amazed by the effort of goodwill and patience that was expected from us as customers! Finally aboard, we enjoyed our two-days ferry ride from Prince Rupert (Canada, B.C.) to Skagway (USA, Alaska) very much! It was meant to be a treat for us, as it were the first 1000 km towards the North that we had decided not to cycle. On the solarium deck we awed at narrow passages and glaciers leaping directly into the sea and spotted humpback whales, orcas and porpoises. In our cozy and warm berth we relaxed, read and enjoyed yummy picnics with food from Switzerland :-)! The ferry schedule allowed for stopovers of a few hours in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau and Haines. We have also made various interesting acquaintances and gained a friend or two on the journey. Early in the morning, we arrived in Skagway, the legendary starting point for taking the White Pass Trail towards Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. Today, Skagway's gold is tourism and especially the cruise ships. Five of these giant vessels arrived today and loads of cruisers stormed the town: by bus, by train, by foot... They all passed our tent on the RV Park and we were watching them quite amused. Tomorrow we will make our way into Yukon on the Klondike Highway. Equipped with plenty of good wishes from our host family and some delicious homemade cookies from Darah, we left Smithers heading further west towards Prince Rupert. After our longest bike-free time so far, it felt good to be back on the bikes again! On the first kilometers, however, we were slowed down: a sharp metal cramp punctured Philipp’s back tire. This was fixed in a matter of minutes, though. Day by day we are amazed how well our Schwalbe Marathon tires cope with the rough roads. Three flat tires in nearly 6’000 km are an amazing (intermediate) result and we hope that the even rougher roads in Yukon and Alaska won’t change the statistics too much. Our first intended stop was at the aboriginal village and museum "Ksan" in Hazelton. We visited the museum, traditional buildings and totem poles, which were very well displayed and described. We especially liked the art paintings of the Ksan. On our ride to Kitwanga we then got lucky once more with bear sightings: we saw two mother bears with cubs and another (probably male) bear, that had a shiny pitch black fur. In order to reach our campground in Kitwanga, we shortly turned into the famous Cassiar Highway, that leads to Alaska. Following the Skeena River until its stream mouth into the Pacific Ocean in Prince Rupert, we saw many fishers. The majority was of human kind, but also white headed bald eagles were hunting for the salmon which now start to migrate. We were surprised by the various snow-covered mountains along the river; somehow we had expected the landscape to be flatter. Prince Rupert welcomed us with thorough rain showers... nothing unusual in this region, where it is raining 220 days a year. Some even call the town "Rinse" Rupert :-)! The day after, the rain ceased and even the sun was shining occasionally, so we could enjoy a stroll through the town’s pretty centre and along the waterfront. As Fabienne's parents, who were on a two weeks Canada vacation tour, were stopping by in Prince Rupert, we were waiting for them to meet and enjoyed the reunion! Tomorrow, we will board our ferry to Skagway (with plenty of goodies from Switzerland!) from where we will cycle on through Yukon and Alaska. After a half-day break in Prince George, a dinner of yummy Indian food and a comfy night in a motel we were ready to head for Smithers. We pedalled through wide passages of lower woods and grassland, passed various lakes and were constantly looking out for animals along Yellowhead Hwy again. Despite the signs warning from moose crossing, we haven't been so lucky to spot one, but we topped up our counter with another bear sighting (it was so busy eating berries, it didn't even notice us!) and we also saw a coyote and deer. What we didn't expect though was the strong head wind! From Vanderhoof to Lake Burns our dear friend The Wind - whom we knew already all too well from the Pacific Coast - hit in with all its strengths and we had to mobilize ours as well. This leg felt like pedalling 200 km... Luckily, the next day the wind was still present, but in a decent manner. On a hot Sunday afternoon we arrived in Smithers at the house of our HelpX hosts Tamara and Mark. We were staying with the family for 10 days. HelpX is a volunteering program where hosts needing a hand with various tasks sign up on the platform and volunteers can get in contact with them. The family has a 1 acre farm with chickens, sheep, pigs, bees, and several large gardens and greenhouses. We helped weeding, looking after the animals and cleaning beehives. However, it was not all about work! We were welcomed very warmly by Tamara and Mark and their three children Darah, Caitlyn and Hayden into their home and we spent a great time with them! We happened to join the family in their last week of school before summer break. So one afternoon Tamara took the kids and us on a short hike to the impressive Twin Falls (there were five falls at the time though :-)) and we got all soaked by the mist of the biggest fall while climbing up to it. As it was a hot summer day, this was a lot of fun and didn't hinder anyone to go to nearby Lake Kathlyn afterwards, where the children paddled out to get some water lilies. We were also in Smithers on Canada Day, July 1st. The museum in town offered a historic walk along the main street in which we participated. It was very interesting and humorously held by a local historian who told plenty of amusing stories. Apparently, Smithers has an active Swiss society (we didn't know that!) and the town's emblem is a man playing the “Alpenhorn”; in fact the entire town has to follow an alpine theme in its appearance. After the culture crawl, Mark took us to the nearby wildlife shelter together with the kids, as it had its door open to the public on the national day. The main attractions were the 20 (!) black bears cubs - and no, we did not use them to boost up our bear counter :-) - and a famous tiny fawn that had even made it to the local newspapers. Its mother was hit dead by a car and a farmer from Alberta, who happened to see the accident, freed the fawn by a caesarian cut out of the dead deer's belly and had brought it to the wildlife shelter. At the same time, the midsummer musical festival started and the entire family was involved. We joined the festivities for one evening and had a great time. If you want to get a sneak peak about the kind of music that was played at this folk music festival, listen into the songs by the duo Jennis. After these great days in Smithers, we will soon continue our journey to Prince Rupert, where we will meet Fabienne's parents on their Canada vacation for one day and afterwards take the ferry to Skagway, Alaska.
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Blog Archive
September 2016
CountersKilometers pedalled
Hours on the bike
Meters cycled uphill
Flat tires
Burgers eaten
Bears sighted
Day by day statisticsFor those interested in our day by day activities and statistics, please download the following document.
World Clock
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