Return to the wild – first fire, no contact, forest camping, dodgy outfits (Lulu)

We were rudely awakened by an over enthusiastic lawn mower or some other power tool.  Didn’t put us in the best of moods for the day to come.  It was a bit overcast as we cycled out and it felt odd to be back on the bikes.  But one amazing thing no head wind wooo hoooo.  We were heading for telegraph cove which was about 46 miles away it was a bit off the main road but Dan had mentioned that it was nice.  Also there was very little on the way for us to stop at and therefore this looked like a good bet.

We lunched at Port McNeil in a cute little coffee shop (this seemed to be the only cute thing there) were I partook in a bubble tea which tasted as though it did not know the meaning of natural ingredient, but the calzone was goooood!

… Post lunch we turned off from the island highway and after about what seemed like the 10th hill Char and I assumed that Dan had never cycled to Telegraph cove as it was bloody hilly!!! Also after each hill there was the dread that followed that tomorrow we would have to be climbing the hills in reverse as this was a slight detour… We passed some huge logging sites which were scary to see.

Looming over logging site from v steep hill

When we finally arrived  we made our way to the campsite which seemed to be set in a rainforest.  Char decided to go on one of the trails but I decided to walk down to the sea front (we seemed to be grating on each other today so apart time was needed 🙂 ).

Telegraph Cove

On wondering around the cove I got chatting to a French Canadian lady called Solange who lived in Victoria and she offered to give me her map book with all the campsites on, so lovely.

After this interlude I starting talking to a guy from Campbell River who showed me a video of his granddaughter (Madison Waterhouse 4 yes old) doing traditional dance in the long house in Campbell River, it was really cute and so interesting to see the inside of this building as i probably wont get the chance.  The guy Dale Roberts was born and bred from Campbell river and his family had been there for hundreds of years.  Was great to talk to him, and we were discussing my journey and the fact that Char and I were going to cycle 140km the next day, which he highly doubted.  So I told him to read our blog to see if we managed it… So Dale if your reading this read below to see if we made it to Sayward.

Dale Roberts and me

On returning to the campsite I bumped into Char and we strolled back and made our delightful dinner of couscous and chilli.

We also decided that we probably wouldn’t bomb it down to Sayward ( so Dale you were right) as we wanted not experience the island and if we cycled dawn til dusk all we would see is tree lined roads not v interesting.

Was very strange as although the days were long there was darkness so the first use of the head torch occurred,  it had been carried all the way from Anchorage to be used finally in Telegraph Cove!!!

The next day dawned and it was rainy booooooo :(.  I made the porridge and brewed the tea I really am becoming a little camper. 

We set off back up the hills to the main highway, we were really dressing the hill that said it was 13% don’t think I’ve done one this steep with all the gear.  But we managed it 🙂

Once back on the highway the hills continued, the scenery was so different to what we had experienced before lush green trees and other plants lined the way and there was a steep cliff of rocks on one side and drop off on the other which made it difficult to go for a loo stop!!!

The sun had appeared and we stopped for lunch in a little inlay by the railroad.  Our lunch time sandwich has definitely improved, mainly by the addition of the condiment tub which contains all condiments that you could ever wish for on a sandwich.

We now even have cucumber in our sandwiches

Next to the railway

Post lunch the hills lessened but the sun was high so each hill even slight seemed slightly more of a work out.  But the kms flew by and we were soon at Woss where we were going to stop for the night.  We had to cycle 5 km down a gravel path to get to the campsite which was on a beautiful lake (called Woss).  As the sun was still out we decided to dive in before putting the tents up.

Woss lake campground

My bathing attire...

Then we sat by the lake and chilled out on our thermorests, I also got to test out the water filterer in a pond again.  This time the water tasted great and nothing like duck poo so that was lucky as wasn’t looking forward to duck poo tea. 

Post swim enjoying sitting by lake

I was really beginning to feel like I was enjoying this camping malarkey.  I realised that the key to me enjoying camping was good weather none of this rain or cold nonsense… I’m a fair weather camper and proud.

The next morning was gloriously sunny just the sort of weather that we had come to expect from our trip.  We packed up slowly as we had a morning brew by the lake and also cooked noodles for breakfast as we’d run out of other food.   We then headed back up the gravel path from Woss lake to the main highway. 

The river we crossed as we left Woss lake

Our legs seemed to feel very tired even though it looked like we were on flat!!! We stopped for a bite of lunch next to a creek (yep there are a lot of creeks!!!)

Char cooling off in the creek at lunch

Then we had a great down hill into Sayward junction with some great views. 

Beautiful cycle ride to Sayward

The weather was really heating up now so was having to keep on top of water consumption and suncream. 

We set up camp in Elk Creek campground which was beautifully set in the middle of loads of really tall skinny trees.  I felt a mixture between a v small person (similar to a borrower) and a hobbit walking through the elves woods in lord of the rings.

Feel tiny...

We went down to the creek were we had a cold swim/wash (as there had been no showers available since Telegraph cove).  The bottom of the creek was slippy and kept worrying that I was going to face plant into the water.  I found a tree laid across the creek reminiscent of the one from the film Dirty Dancing, so I of course had to to reenact it.

Elk creek just by our camp

Not quite as elegant as Baby!!!

Post glacial swim we went on a quick non panniered cycle to the first shop we’d seen since leaving Woss.  Very exciting…we also discovered a cafe which served the Biggest ice creams ever.  I had a kids portion and it was huge!!!

On heading back to the campsite we set up the tents and made our first fire 🙂 and cooked on it!!!

The fire were we actually cooked on. Slightly ruined our pans but let's that

Our campsite amongst the trees

Heading to Campbell river tomorrow so back into civilisation.  These last few days have been isolated as there has been maybe 2 places to buy groceries on the way and about 2 campsites to stay in…I’m looking forward to having a shower tomorrow as out door bathing as fun as it is leaves me gasping in shock each time due to the temperature.  It will be nice to get into some water and not feel as though you just walked into an ice bath!!!

Although on a sad note I do feel that this is the last place that Char and I can wear some of our more suspect outfits without being completely ridiculed.  I was sporting some v short pink shorts that showed off my cycling tan with some cycling trainers and a purple fleece I think the reason I thought the look was OK was I have no mirror to check myself in. 

Tomorrow helloooo civilisation.

Day 19 – 23: All aboard! (Charlotte)

With the time that we had to get down to San Diego, and for us to hit San Fran in time for a mid way trip home, we were always intending on skipping part of the huge distance between the Yukon and the US border.  A distance of over 1700 miles, mostly on the Alcan Highway that we had been told becomes quite repetitive for long stretches.  Our original plan was to take the Alcan, and then the Casiar Highway which blogs had told us were very scenic, but even more remote than the roads we had travelled so far.  From Prince George, the first place we would meet the railroad, we would then train down to Vancouver and carry on cycling down the coast.

However, we were always open to suggestion, and had been constantly told that the Alaskan Marine Ferry was the way to go.  This state run ferry system links the thousands of miles of Alaskan coastline, providing a lifeline to some of the many communities that are unreachable by road, and longer distance transit connecting Alaska to the rest of the “lower 48”, with a 3 day ferry from Alaska down to Bellingham, just North of Seattle.  The ferry is a bargain really, considering it traces the course of many exclusive cruise liners which deposit thousands of tourists daily at places such as Skagway, Juneau, and Prince Rupert, leap frogging Disney ships as it moves between ports.  For $200 each, we left Skagway at 7am, bound for Prince Rupert 900 miles and 40 hours later – no need to buy a cabin, instead opting to sleep al fresco on the loungers under the heat lamps on the deck. We wrappes ourselves up in sleeping bags and sat on the edge of the deck and said farewell to Skagway in the sunshine.

Arty flag shot

The journey was definitely a highlight of the trip so far and we enjoyed two days of an intense schedule of napping, reading, covert wine and beer drinking with the other travellers on the deck, and being woken to announcements from the captain when Orca (Killer) whales were spotted from the bridge.   The ferry weaved down the rain soaked channels of the Alaskan coastline, which was all a lush green from the wet climate. We cooked our food on board using the microwaves and hot water in the cafeteria, and stocked up our camp kitchen supplies by liberally siphoning off from the insanely well stocked condiment selection! Up on deck, we finally put our wine platapus to good use, “discretely”  (until I spilled my full cup everywhere – twice!) drinking red wine on the deck despite the hilarious “American wall of No” listing off all the things we weren’t allowed to do. 

The “American wall of no” as we named it. Actually despite all the rules it was a very relaxed trip

Our bed for 2 days aboard the matanuska

My best worm impression on deck

I’d punctured my sleeping mat which meant 3 hourly reinflations through the night but otherwise a lovely nights sleep. Thankfully help came the next day in the form of Dan and his magic soap and water technique for finding and fixing a puncture, which was the most excitement we had for the day before reverting back to napping.

Some urgent sleeping mat repairs with Dan in between the intense napping/beer drinking schedule

Amazing couple of days and a much needed rest from the bikes

The ferry rudely dumped us in Prince Rupert at 2am, where we had arranged to stay with someone through Couchsurfing.  We had enjoyed probably one too many beers the evening before in a brief stop off in Ketchikan, which had deposited us right in front of a pub with two hours to kill with some of the fellow vagabonds from the deck, and the beer fuzz plus the first actual night of darkness added to the confusion as we made our way to our host, Devlins, house.  Luckily, Tim (one of the fellow boozing vagabonds) was also staying with her and had been to the house before, so with a little help we made our way to Devlins house and crashed out for a few hours.

The kindness of all our hosts continues to amaze me, and we met Devlin the next morning who cooked us up a lovely breakfast and told us more about herself and the area. Working with the local First Nation (native) communities around Prince Rupert, Devlin gave us a great insight into the the challenges faced in maintaining the balance between sustainable fishing, and enabling the communities to continue the salmon fishing which are deep rooted in tradition as their main source of  sustinence and livelihood.  It was inspiring to hear her, and Tim (our new friend from the boat) talk so passionately about the work they do in their communities., and definitely gave me a lot to think about.  

First Nation traditional Totem poles in Prince Rupert

We were lucky enough to be in town on National Aboriginal Day, which with a significant population and active community spirit in Prince Rupert, was celebrated at the towns’ civic centre with a day of music, dancing, food, and general merriment.  We sampled some traditional aboriginal food – fried bread, huges plates of beautifully cooked salmon, and were lucky enough to swap stories with locals who Devlin introduced us to. A great bunch of people. 

The Grand March at National Aboriginal day in Prince Rupert. You probably had to be there!

The salmon here is so pink, almost orange. Tasted amazing - much better than the photo looks!

A brief trek along a trail just outside of  town later in the day, showed how different the vegetation here is than we had gotten used to up in the North.  Lush rainforest, tall trees, and greenery fighting for space contrasted with the eerie sparsely leaved spruce trees that had dominated the landscapes in Alaska and the Yukon.  

Huge tree in Prince Rupert with Tim

On the way back, Devlin took us eagle spotting by the docks – I struggled to spot the first one, but once I had seen one, saw them everywhere! 

Spot the eagle!

A nice, if slightly hungover, day n a characteristic and interesting town thanks to our couchsurfing host.

The next day we were back on the ferry, this time on a Canadian BC ferry to Port Hardy at the northern tip of vancouver island. After the gung ho alaskan ferry this boat was a little too fancy for our liking – no vagabond deck, a terrible choice of condiments and no loungers. It also cost the same for the 14 hour crossing as our 2 day trip had which could explain why the boat was so empty. However we somehow managed to wangle our way onto a tour of the bridge which was rather exciting, with an amazing panoramic view of the channel ahead. Also more importantly we got to don the captains hat….

Capt', Inman

…and somehow they trusted me to steer the ship. Sadly the big wooden wheel doesnt do the job anymore but the little stick I got to press was alm
ost as exciting. I waitied for the alarms to go off but thankfully we and the ship survived me brief stint at navigation.

Having a go at steering the BC Ferry

Exhauasted from the pressure of the control room, we retired back to the lounge where Dan was waiting reliably with a box of wine (see a pattern here!?). I fashioned a DIY sippy cup to prevent the wine spillage distasters of the previous voyage.

My DIY sippy cuppy - preventer of wine spillages!

And so we finally arrived in Port Hardy, on a drizzly evening – 4 days off the bikes, back in the land of actual nightime and British Colombia living up to its name (rain!). The beginning of the next leg – 400 or so miles to Vancouver in time for my birthday and Canada Day on the 1st July.

 

Killer whales and guys with beards (Lulu)

After leaving Skagway at 7 am on the Matanuska ferry we began our long trip to Port Hardy. 

Loading the bikes in the ferry

The day was sunny which was great news as we were to be camped out on the deck for the trip. 

A bit over excited to be on the deck

We set up camp on loungers overlooking the back of the boat the views as we left Skagway were pretty impressive.  And we saw killer whales :).

As we were leaving Skagway

The ferry made a couple of stops and for one of the longer ones (Juneau although we were over an hour walk from there so really the outskirts of Juneau) we ventured off and walked to a nearby milkshake joint called Hot Bites.

As the day progressed the weather took a slight turn for the worse.  At first we persevered on the deck,  but soon the socks and sandals weren’t  keeping us warm.

Yep really rocking this look. And I wore these in public!!!

We dragged our sun loungers under cover, got the thermorests blown up and snuggled in our sleeping bags, but actually that wasn’t needed as there were heat lamps it was boiling, not sure how much of the extortionate price we paid on the ticket went to heating this outside deck!!!  We relaxed and had a glass of wine which we had managed to smuggle on as there was to be ‘positively no alcohol’ on the deck..

We were being pretty covert (well I like to think so) until Char managed to knock over an entire cup full not quite as spy like as we intended!!!

Had a great nights sleep was just so warm perfect :).

  The next day dawned and as slightly misty so stayed under the shelter and read and relaxed!!! We also got chatting to a couple of other passengers mainly guys with beards.  Not as weird as it sounds…  We were heading to Prince Rupert on the ferry and we had a night stopover before we got the ferry to Port Hardy,  we were meant to be staying with a lady called Devlin who had said that there was ‘a guy called Tim with a beard’ who was on tge ferry and staying with her.  So we had spoken to pretty much every guy on the ferry with a beard until finally we found him 🙂 but we’d made some friends in the process of discovering the elusive Tim.

Brian was from LA he had a great beard and he was cycling from Alaska back to California. 

Dan was from Vancouver his beard was not so bushy but he had more of a travellery look aka weather worn. His down coat had almost as much duck tape on as not.  He told us later that it would eventually become fully waterproof once he’d completely covered it.

Dan

Finally Tim – his beard was pretty awesome not sure if it was as good or better than Brian’s… He was from Vegas and worked as an artist who delivered art programmes to the disabled, he was going round different towns and looking at similar programmes that were given to the community.

On the way to Port Hardy the ferry stopped at Ketchikan so we headed to a bar with Tim and Dan.  Then once back on the ferry we went to the cocktail lounge where Brian joined us… Only a couple of hours left on the ferry until we hit Prince Rupert and it was DARK the first time since arriving on 1st June that we had seen darkness v surreal. 

On arriving in Port Hardy we headed to Devlin’s house with Tim, we cycled and Dan gave Tim a lift as it was a bit far to walk.  Slept like a log.

Devlin was lovely and she made us eggs for brunch.  It was a first nations celebration day going on so we wondered around town and then headed to the festivities.  We had some of the local food which consisted of a lot of salmon and fried bread which you dipped in maple syrup mmm healthy!!!

We headed back as had an early start the next day as ferry for Port Hardy left at 7.30am.

Was drizzling when we got on ferry and we headed to the canteen to make our porridge and bumped into Dan who was also heading to Vancouver island.  There were no loungers or heated lights so we set up camp inside by one of the windows.  We were heading down a very narrow channel so the views were really cool although the weather was a bit foggy. 

Now on a Canadian ferry. Just in case we didn't remember. Travelling down Granville pass.

When Dan and I went exploring we managed to book a tour up to the bridge, so our names were called and the 3 of us trooped up to the bridge, felt a bit like Star trek… Was really cool and I got to wear the Captain’s hat (yep I know not so cool but I don’t care).

On the bridge not sure why there is a bit of glass flooring but it was cool all the same.

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully although we saw hump back whales (well we saw them spout out of the water). As it was a long cycle to Port Hardy from the ferry Dan kindly took our bikes on the back of his car and drove us to the Hostel where he also stayed the night as he was leaving early the next day to get down to Powell river for a job interview.

Back on the bikes tomorrow and looking forward to it. 

Who’d get the train when your legs will carry you up 1020m pass for free!!! (Lulu)

The day after the big 29 dawned and it was rainy and windy,  we were only cycling about 44miles so met up with Matt for a farewell breakfast at the Bakery Cafe on Main Street.  We then set off fully lycrad up!!!

Sexy?! I think so...

On entering Whitehorse at the end of our 100mile day we had been grateful for it being in a valley and the nice downhill!!! On leaving it, we were not so happy with this fact.  We struggled through the wind and there was a bit of rain it was slow going. 

If somebody had asked me at the beginning of the trip to list my cycling hates, they have definitely changed as the trip has progressed!

Cycling Hates

Day 1 of trip                     Day 17 of trip
1. Hills                     1. HEADWIND
                                     (I hate it)
2. Rain                     2. Mosquitoes
                                     (can ruin any nice cycle or camping
                                       spot)
3. Mosquitoes        3. Knobby drivers
                                      ( there are NO cars on the road no
                                       need to pass so close)
4. RVs                      4. RVs
                                     (the inhabitants never leave the vehicle
                                      whether at a campsite or viewing spot)
5. Headwind            5. Rain

6. Knobby drivers   6. Hills
                                   ( I know shocking been pushed to the
                                    bottom of the list!!!)

I’m not going to dwell on the cycling of this day as it was incredibly miserable I can’t say for sure if the views were great or if there was any thing noteworthy on the route as for the majority of my time my head was bowed and I had a great view of the road (which was a crap surface). The whole day we were battling of gusts up to 66km/he, any fun to be had in cycling was sucked out!!! 

A harmless enough road surface so you would think. It was v v v painful!

When we eventually neared Carcross we passed the smallest desert in the world I think was one of this was one of the few points that I looked up from the bike . 

Looks so idyllic but it was NOT!

We had been cycling for about 6 1/2 hrrs and only covered 44miles :(.  However on arriving in Carcross our warm showers host met us and she was lovely.  She was called Laura and we were soon cozied up having had a shower with a cup of tea just perfect :).  Laura was a nurse who did a lot of touring and was based 10 weeks in Carcross and 10weeks in Whitehorse.  She gave us the best fresh fruit and veg we’d had in aaaages and we had a lovely evening chatting and trying not to think about the next day cycling…

We woke up early to get started as the wind was supposed to be easier in the morning (yep was still a headwind).  We had 66 miles to go and we were going to be going over the White pass which we’d been told was stunning but very hilly!!! We were pretty worried as we were at about 600m and we knew the pass was over 1000m. But there was so many ups and down we would be climbing loads……

After a quick stop at a bakery for dome high calorie snacks this is almost a right of passage before you begin any day of cycling.

Bakery wooo - lots of sugary treats

We headed out of Carcross – to be fair Carcross was a really cute town and there seemed to be quite a few shops I think this may be due to the White Pass and Yukon Rail way route that starts here so I guess a lot of tourists.  I could have spent a couple of hours exploring but we didn’t have the time,  the windy pass was calling…

Very cute little town

There was less wind wooo hoo and we were off – at one point we paused to put on suncream and then all of a sudden Char said ‘there’s a bear over there’ and sure enough there was a HUGE brown  (grizzly) bear just walking through the forest it was the first bear we’d seen on our bikes, we quickly cycled passed didn’t want to get into any sticky situation!

Then the wind started picking up and the road surface deteriorated horrible!

We had been struggling for a while so we stopped for lunch we still had just under 40 miles to go. We ate some pretty gross sandwiches as within the pepperoni the 2nd ingredient was ‘mechanically separated chicken’ not sure what the help this is.  Also in just 2 slices of this meat product it had 25% of our daily allowance of salt eugh! Not going to be buying that again

I cant believe we ate this!

After lunch we battled on and some of the views we passed were pretty awesome,  we were cycling along the Klondike highway (we’d been on this since just outside of Whitehorse) and we were cycling along next to huge lakes full of bluey/green water. 

Bove Islands one of the many lakes we passed before we started heading higher towards the summit

We were climbing along undulating hills that was gradually taking us to the border and the pass.  The temperature was dropping and the scenery was changing. It was so different to what we had experienced before we were up in the mountains and there was snow and lakes it was stunning.  Despite the wind the climb was exhilarating, one of the hardest climbs due to the wind, but so worth it. 

Stunning scenery amongst the mountains

On reaching the Canadian border we were freezing, we only had 11km left uphill to the summit… We stopped for a quick brew to get us warm, then continued on climbing!

Char having no energy to jump! But she's happy to almost be at the top!

Just 150m left to climb and it was tough, but we did it wowzers!!!  So proud of us I really didn’t think we would have it in us.  Now the fun descent we had 15 miles down hill to drop from 1000+ m to sea level.

The summit we had done it!!!

  It was a great ride down.  We sped passed people who had been driven to the top so that they could cycle down (a tourist attraction -laaaazy!).  Eyes watering but happy we hit the american border. 

The border nicely framed with my yellow glove

As we entered into the border we cycled forward and we paused at the stop sign and then when the car in front of us finished we continued on to the border. So this lumbering hulk of a security guard said, ‘Just want to let you know that in future when you see a stop sign you need to stop.  In the states a stop sign means stop! So you need to stop and wait until you’re called forward’. This was all said with a very serious expression… Cause in the UK stop means carry straight on!

WELCOME back to the states!!!

Finally after 5 miles more of descent we arrived into Skagway, we had made it.

On arriving we went and introduced ourselves to Rob who would be  hosting us, he was still at work so we headed up Broadway to a restaurant called Brewing Co. Where we partook in a couple of the local beers: Spruce tip pale and Prospector ale. 

Rob then came and met us and we headed to his house via a grocery store,  we were camping in the garden and I was keen to check out my new camping pillow that I’d bought myself as a present.  After chatting with Rob his housemates and Renee his gf we discovered that Renee and Rob watched Downtown Abbey what are the chances…

Then headed to bed to test out the pillow 🙂 off the bike for 4 days quite excited about that.  Feels like the first section of the trip has been achieved!!!

Day 13 – 18: Farewell to Alaska & The Yukon (Charlotte)

After the lucky turnaround of events that ended with us in a warm bed in Destruction Bay, I woke up the next morning tentatively listening out for the howls of the night before.  The bear spray sauna created by my bath of the previous night had died down and everything washed.  We were still feeling the pain of the previous days headwind hell, but thankfully the day was much calmer and we could now appreciate the beauty of the huge Kluane Lake that we had been sleeping next to.  The sun was back out and we were back in love with cycling again, with a good 60 miles day ending with a great 10km downhill to Haines Junction.  The peculiar food combos continued, and that day was cous cous and tuna to complement the usual snickers feast.

Another jumping photo at Kluane Lake

Happy again on the bikes after the day from hell

We decided to treat ourselves to another night in a motel but on opening the room wished we’d opted for the coffin-tents instead.  A lovely smell of wet dog and decades old smoke, mixed with a hint of wee , green carpets and wooden walls, a motel room that looked straight out of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas but whose walls probably had more stories to tell.  The guys hanging outside smoking weed (I’ve smelt more joints than cigarettes in the Yukon as it’s legal-ish in Canada!) and discussing their competing gold panning successes and plans for the week  added to the surreality and we escaped to the awesome Village Bakery for a couple of beers and an apple.  This place gave Haines Junction a real community feel, unlike many of the small junction towns that we’d passed through and had real food and coffee. We hit it again for a huge breakfast the next morning before setting off with our sights on making it to the Yukon capital of Whitehorse – 100 miles away – in time for Lulu’s birthday the next day.

100 miles on a fully loaded touring bike – our challenge for the day! We set off with Matt still in tow, and luckily the weather and terrain was reasonably kind to us, with flats and gentle hills and thunderstorms that seemed to dance around but never over us.  Biggest challenges for the day:

1) Our first puncture (mine, obviously!). Speedily resolved thanks to the last minute practice with Lu’s dad before we left
2) Popping enough pain killers to keep the increasing arse pain (sorry) at bay.  After 60 miles, there are no words to describe!
3) Resisting the urge to pull out the bear spray at the tool who pulled over tell us that us riding in the highway and not the gravel strewn shoulder on a completely empty road was “annoying”, This despite him being the first car that had passed for 10 minutes, and  despite him proudly announcing himself as “I’m a cyclist too guys”.  Cue lots of very English swear words in his direction as he rode away (but of course perfect English politeness face to face!).  Matt’s use of the word “tosser” was my favourite
4) Cycling for 10 hours is quite boring.  Making up games that make use of above list of English swear words, combined with animals in alphabetical order helps, but also increases risk of collision with car due to resulting adolescent giggles.

First puncture of the trip

But hurray for us, we somehow made it to Whitehorse, 103 miles on the GPS, making it the first every 100 mile+ ride for both of us.  Not something we’re planning on repeating often but meant that we had a rest day for Lu’s 29th, and just two more days on the bike to get us to Skagway for the much anticipated Alaskan Marine Ferry on the 19th.

Whitehorse is the Yukon state capital, home to 25,000 people and more people than the rest of the state combined.  After 2 weeks of empty roads and one shop per 50 miles, the cars were a bit of a shock to the system, despite Whitehorse actually being tiny, about a 10th the size of Warrington. After checking into our backpacker hostel/halfway house for local drunks, we managed a celebratory beer and the biggest plate of nachos ever, and tried to make Lu feel better about waking up on her birthday in the basement of  a hostel full of smelly old men.  The plan to get a motel the next day helped.  Whitehorse has quite a gritty feel to it, but in a good way – lots of street art, a thriving second hand book store, and a handful of interesting cafes and independent shops, as well as all the usual stuff you need in a city. Mostly I think it is a gateway to everywhere else in the Yukon, and all the outdoor activities you could ever want.  All the people we have met so far have made a conscious decision to move here – mostly in their twenties, from all over Canada and US – in pursuit of the great outdoors and a different way of living.  Whitehorse seems to offer a good compromise as a base, but with everything around you to explore.

Jimmy Hendrix pawn shop in Whitehorse –

Our rest day was a lovely hazy day of refuelling on healthy food (smoothies! fruit! salad!) and then undoing all the good work with some boozing, and a feast of Ribs and Salmon at Klondike Ribs and Salmon which a few people had recommended to us.  We found what appeared to be the 2nd of the 2 bars in town, Cork & Bull, which  was a cool (if a bit empty on a Monday) place with the trend of good music I’d heard playing in places in Canada so far continuing.  DH Lawrence quotes of “Dirty Northern Bastard” seemed to be the motto of the place – they must have seem me and Matt coming.  Lots of giggles, innuendos and inappropriate Mountie cupping photos later, we finished our crazy night out by about 11pm and were ready to get moving again the next day.

Feasting at Klondike Rib and Salmon

Must have seen me coming

The first day of the 2 days and 110 miles to the coast at Skagway was horrendous, windy, unscenic and dull. ‘Nough said..   Our third and marvellous Warmshowers experience with Laura in Carcross made it all bearable, and we had a fun evening of lovely food and conversation before a great night’s sleep in a warm bed.   Our stopover was in the small village of Carcross, home to and array of wonderfully random things including the worlds smallest desert (!?), the worlds largest stuffed Polar bear, and more interestingly, part of the Taglish First Nation (native Canadian) territories with about 1000 living in the areas around. Like Haines Junction, this place had a nice community feel and another great bakery, as well as a tourist train bound for Skagway which we stayed strong and resisted taking!

We knew the next day was going to be tough, with a mountain pass and sixty odd miles between us and the ferry, we set off early, fearing that the wicked headwind from the previous day would be with us again, which to our despair it was.  The going was incredibly tough as we skirted around the edges of more huge lakes which made the scenery much more interesting than the day before, but contributed to the winds, and had us going up and down which meant every time we gained the elevation we knew we needed, we lost it again.  Highlight of the morning was seeing our second bear! Stopping for a quick break I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye and there in the trees at the side of the ride was a huge  deep brown grizzly taking a stroll. Very impressed with how calm I was, I pointed the bear out to Lu and pedaled quietly on.

Back on the bike, hours and hours passed but the miles didn’t seem to be going down!  Eventually we passed the lakes and the true climb started.  The scenery completely changed to become like nothing we had seen before, and though we had climbed higher passes on the Glenn Highway, this one felt truly rugged and remote.  The winds stayed with us, but the amazing surroundings helped us to battle through, over plateaus of rocky craters, icy rivers and patches of snow that lay within touching distance of the roadside.  I jumped over to write my name in the snow, amused that we had climbed from desert to snow in one day! 

Scenery over the WHite Pass

Scenic wee spot

We had looked at the elevation of the ride on Map My Ride the night before, and knew that the very last stretch into Skagway promised to be downhill.  As we crossed back in to Alaska from Canada, the Canadian border official told us in fact that the last 22km was a straight downhill.  Just the motivation needed to get over the final 11km up to tech aptly named snow peppered White Pass.  The rail tracks from the tourist train that we had considered bailing out with criss-crossed our path, and by the top of the pass we were very proud to have gotten all the way there, 900 miles from Anchorage, all by pedal power (with the exception of the 10 mile headwind/bear hitch from Obie!).  The last 22km were an AMAZING reward, as we descended from over 1000m to sea-level in about 20 freezing but exhilarating minutes.  Hilariously, we passed groups of elderly tourists from the cruise ships who had been driven to the top, put on mountain bikes to enjoy the free wheel to the bottom, but were now terrified and burning their brakes as we flew passed them on the downhill to Skagway, the weight from our luggage adding to our acceleration.  We stayed the night with another warm showers host, setting up our tent in their garden and having a natter before bed.  Skagway had a cool community feel, with a young population of only about 800, swelled daily by about 10,000 tourists deposited by the cruise ships which stop in the gold rush era restored town daily.  Once the tourists disappeared in the evening, everybody seemed to know each other.  We also loved being congratulated by four different groups of people who stopped us saying they had driven past us on the pass!

Gold rush skagway

The next 4 days will be a ferry 800 miles south to back into Canada at Prince Rupert, then onto Port Hardy on the north of Vancouver Island where we we will pick up the bikes again.  Leg 1 complete, onto the next!

Birthday day off (Lulu)

Woke up to some snoring coming from the bunk next to me woo hooo happy birthday!!! After quickly getting up we relocated to a motel. 

The day was sunny and we spent a relaxed morning at a bakery having lunch and picking up some supplies.

Enjoying a birthday smoothie

I then headed to the camping shop which was huge, I could have spent hours in here (since when have I been so excited about outdoors equipment – what’s happening to me).  I then met up with Char at the bar that we had gone to the night before and I partook in some birthday beers:

Yukon pale ale.

Yukon pale ale
Grizzly wheat ale
Bonanza brown

I got to have my photo with a Mounty,  still haven’t met a real one fingers crossed I’ll get the chance later on in the trip.

Getting friendly with the local Mounty

Feeling slightly merry went on to meet Matt at ‘The Klondike Rib & Salmon ‘ this had been recommend to us by various people.  It was goooooood, even the litre of slightly suspect wine that we had.   We ate about 2 salmon fillets and 6 ribs so full!

A litre of slightly 'interesting' wine

Protien

But of course we couldn’t not have desert!

Bonanza brownie!!!

After dinner we headed to a bar aptly named ‘Dirty Northern Bastard’ as I was with 2 Northerners.  The drinks list had some amusingly named cocktails and Char and I both went for a Shaft.

Chose the Shaft

The day of the 29th b day was drawing to a close and it had been fun, the sun was still shining and it was 11pm, so surreal to be so sunny and light despite the hour definitely a birthday to remember.

One HUGE ass lake and 100 mile day… Yeah we did!!! (Lulu)

Woke up to sunny sky’s and the headwind of the day before only remembered as a horrible nightmare.  Started slowly that morning we were aiming for Haines Junction which was a 66 mile day.  After a big breakfast where we ate what were meant to be sausages although they looked very anaemic to me, we were off.  Praying for no headwind…although Obi had told us that for the next 20 miles along the lake (yep it was one huge lake) there was normally a headwind.  However the weather was sunny and it was not too hilly as sticking close to the lake.  Now that the headwind trauma was behind us we could appreciate the scenery. We stopped for a picture, and as we walked down to the shore line we were swarmed by mosquitoes, bug spray out I sprayed and sprayedP so that Il was covered, however due to applying Vaseline to my legs earlier in the morning (they were soooo dry due to the atmosphere and moisturisers were too heavy a luxury to have so Vaseline it was) my legs were slightly sticky mess of deet and Vaseline and the result was mosquito graveyard.  As they seemed to fly at my legs get stuck due to Vaseline and then die due to the deet, very satisfying.

The black dots are dead mosquitoes not just dirt!!!

kluane Lake bloody huge especially if your cycling it!!

In the aftermath of the mosquito massacre took some great lake photos!!!!

Classic jumping photo as i have no imagination in what else to do!

As we ventured on round the lake a beep sounded from behind us and it was Obi on 7hr jaunt (yes that’s how far everything is in the Yukon!!!).  The weather took on a slightly more overcast but still no rain 🙂 we stopped at a restroom/visitor centre.  Matt went inside and was told that there were wild sheep which you could view from the telescope that had been set up, Char and I were not massively enamoured with the idea of viewing wild sheep ( i think I’ve seen enough in the Uk) so I settled for stretching and Char lay down for a rest while Matt went and investigated.  After wild sheep curiosity had been met we carried on.  We steadily climbed out of the valley and were soon up at 800m.  Lunch time 🙂 what culinary delights did we have in store… Tuna and couscous mmmmmm, although Matt opted for Oreos dipped in peanut butter!!!

Matt enjoying a very nutritional lunch!!!

Post lunch the weather picked up and we climbed to 1000m and then had a 10km down hill into Haines amaaaazing down hill.  We had reached Haines Junction.

The mountains surrounding Haines Junction.

We opted to stay at a motel thinking it would be a good call before we had our mammoth 100 mile day the next day!!! Let’s just say that the room left a lot to be desired… Actually I’ll expand it smelt of cigarettes and dogs and the next door room you could hear dogs barking and outside our room a couple of guys were talking about panning for gold weird!!!

Didn’t want to stay in the room so headed to the most popular joint in town ‘The Village Bakery’,  Every cyclist that we had passed that day had mentioned this bakery, and it was great.  Free WiFi, beer, apples (OMG so happy for an apple) amazing cakes, bread, salad. 

Next day dawned sunny and we were ready for our 100 mile YES!!!!!! (Argh….) Went to the bakery for a good breakfast and stock up of snacks managed to spend $50 here… Totally worth it.

Popeye food - spinach to set us on our way

The cycle out of Haines Junction was great!!! The view as we left Haines junction behind us was beautiful.

Cycling out of Haines

We’d been cycling for about 2 hrs when we had the first puncture of the trip.  Char’s schwalbe tyres had given in due to a tiny piece of wire.  So about 600 miles with no puncture…

A very speedy change!

We continued on and was all going well until this car pulled over and a guy got out and said ‘I’ve got good news and bad news.  The good news is that you can take a detour down the next road and its a really nice route will only add a bit on your journey.  The bad news is that when you cycle in the road your very annoying for the cars, and it’s quite busy ‘. We all just stood there a bit dumbstruck:
A. There were prob about 1 car every 10 minutes
B.  The gravelly shoulder that he was suggesting we cycle on was not great for our wheels
C. We were cycling very close to the side of the road and heading over onto the shoulder when we heard a car
We politely said thank you and he got back in his car!!!! What a t***** and some other choice words.  Anyway we continued on and we’d done about 50 miles when we decided to stop for lunch. So exciting we had lettuce in a sandwich OH MY DAYS!!!

Getting over excited about the lettuce

After lunch had a bit of a slump and the weather took a turn for the worse with thunder and lightning all around us although we seemed to have escaped the rain v lucky.  The cycling was slow and the km posts were crawling by :(.  Char and I decided to pass the time with some games, after a failed attempt at eyespy  ( mountain and headlights just a few of the gems that were guessed) we decided to play the ‘supermarket game’ with a difference ‘ we went into the wood and stood on an ant, a bear, a cat, a donkey, an elephant lost, a fox’ after this we decided to spice it up a bit so had to have a weird describing word for the animal as well a couple of favourites were ‘a merkinlike moose, a twerking tweetie pie, a uncircumcised umbrella’. That passed about 10 miles of the ride. Then as we were having a break who should drive up but the very ‘helpful’ driver from earlier in the day.  He winded down his window and inquired on if we’d done the detour our short response of ‘no’ did not encourage any more conversation.

Finally we were at the outskirts of Whitehorse we had made it!!!!

Slightly over excited considering we still had 10 miles to go

The next 10 miles were pretty easy which was lucky as I don’t think the legs/bum could cope with much more… We then hit 100 miles as we got into downtown Whitehorse!!! We headed to the hostel which on arriving looked like a walk in centre for drunks and homeless and there was a smell of weed and dog pee.  I was so exhausted that I almost cried ( Char insists that I did shed a tear but I like to think that I held it together). We quickly dumped our stuff and headed over to a local bar.  After a Yukon pale ale and the biggest plate of nachos I have ever seen, i then began to feel more human and less like a baby. 

The most humongous nachos ever

So on the eve of the big 29 we had cycled 100 miles and made it to Whitehorse, go us!!! and we were going to spend the night sharing a hostel room with an old guy and I think maybe his girlfriend the whole set up was a bit weird!!!

We will be checking into new accommodation pretty sharpish tomorrow :).  

Day 11 – 13: Adventures with headwind, bears and bear spray (Charlotte)

Since leaving Anchorage we had been expecting to bump into Matt at some point, who was our famous warmshowers’ hosts previous resident before us.  Matt was doing the full shebang – Deadhorse on the northern shore of Alaska down do Ushuia at the tip of South America.  Finally he found us – appearing at first to be a bear, then a tramp, then finally a Yorkshireman on the horizon in his dark clothes riding low on his recumbent bike as we were gearing up to leave Beaver Creek.

 

Our first full day in Canada took us to another lovely government campground, Lake Creek, where for about 5 quid the three of us camped and got a campfire going, before hiding our food from the bears and retiring for the night.  It had been a stop and start day, as we were made to get lifts over some short stretches of highway that were under maintenance, from a pilot car.  Good fun as we got to hear more stories of the wildlife,  including a workman over the radio who was being stalked by a moose, and of other travellers who had been passing through recently including a guy who was running the same route Matt is planning to cycle.  Insane!  After more bear sighting stories, we spent the day riding closely together and making lots of noise.



 

The motto of our trip is to have fun.  The following day was the first day of temptation to sack it in and hire a car!

 

Pulling out of the campsite, we faced a fierce headwind that continued to grow as the day went on, until we weren’t even able to hear each other over the gale.  .  It was the most miserable day of cycling, grinding us to a holt on the downhills, and making the uphills near impossible.   My GPS had broken, but after averaging around 10 mph for the trip so far including breaks,  it took us over 9 hours to do 58 exhausting, frozen miles.  A massive mental and physical challenge and when we arrived at the “town” we were aiming for, it turned out to be a closed down cafe, a long deserted RV park , and one lone ramshackle house.  Nowhere for us to stay, and the next place was 10 miles further on.  We were all pretty miserable, and could not even think about cycling any further in the state we were in.  The wind continued to batter, and we were running out of options.



 

But – hurrah! Just when we were at our lowest, the day magically turned around by the appearance of Obie, who appears to be the sole remaining resident of Burwash Landing,  owner of the said ramshackle house. An amazing 71 year old man who we all viewed with a little too much English wariness at first, who dug out an old trailer from his yard, loaded all three bikes in the back, crammed us in the front of his truck, and delivered us 10 miles down the road to the only motel in 100 miles, fully equipped with warm showers, laundry and hot food.  Even better, we had our first bear encounter, gladly from behind the safety of the windshield – if we had had it in our exhausted state god knows how we would have reacted!  Obie  had us all hooked with his stories as we drove down the road to Destruction Bay, even his truck rattled in the wind, and he turned what had been a horrendous day into a great one.  Amazing guy.

</a

The day will also be remembered for me pulling a classic Inman-ism. Half way through our day, as exhaustion was about to hit, Lulu and I spotted a suspicious looking van up ahead, which appeared to be curb crawling, with a slightly wobbly character walking in parallel on the opposite side of the road.  In the deserted highway, we felt suddenly vulnerable, and images of some elaborate highway abduction ran through my tired (and over exposed to American horror films!) brain,  In preparation for the impending attack, i got my bear spray out of my bag and cycled with it in one hand, ready to fend off our attackers.  As we got nearer, ready for the fight, Lulu finally clicked –  this was the running man! The van was his support vehicle, and the suspicious wobbly man was an exhausted Steve – on a mission to run the length of the Americas for charity.  Poor Steve looked even more exhausted that us, and we stopped for a quick chat.  At which point I forgot about my ready to go bear spray, and sprayed it all over my bag and stuff as I accidentally leaned on the trigger in my bag.  Not recommended!  I have new faith in it as a weapon, as the rest of the day was spent in varying degrees of burning pain as the smallest speck of residue left on something in my bag kept getting on my fingers then face/eyes/mouth.  Lesson learnt, and still being learnt today as I find spots that have somehow survived the laundry and possession disposal of yesterday! Bear spray -the gift that keeps on giving.

.

Bear!

Into the wild – bear sightings, hitchhiking, horrible headwind, no contact… (Lulu)

Slept great the tent and me seem to be working for me now… ( so I’ll stop the tent stats unless a disaster occurs).

Had a pretty leisurely start as we wanted to use the internet at the local cafe as we’d had no phone signal or contact with the outside world for about 3 days.  On leaving Buckshot Bettys we bumped into Matt who was riding a recumbent bike and who had stayed with Dave and Lynn in Anchorage a week or so before us.

Matt on his recumbent. Although we sometimes mistake him for a bear

Matt was heading our way so we stopped for a good breakfast and then headed off.  Unfortunately there were 2 sections of the road that were not cyclable (not sure that’s a word but you get my drift) so there was a piloted car that we had to put the bikes in and it drove us for about 5 k.  After the slightly rocky start the rest of the ride went off without a hitch and we stopped for a pleasant salami and crisp sandwich v tasty.
I’ve actually forgotten what fruit and vegetables look like. My poor insides are full of sweets and cake 😦 there is just no where to buy anything remotely nutritional.  Lunch was a bit of a rushed affair as you don’t want to stick around in case there are any bears in the vicinity.

With the bear spray ready and waiting!!!

The final 40 km of the ride were great stunning scenery we were at the bottom of a valley with mountains to our right although not one of our longest days seemed to go on for a while.

A beautiful view 🙂

We stopped at an RV park for a soda and on entering it was full of stuffed animals. The owner originally from Ireland said that they bought them and they were road kill or had been killed by a poacher and the money paid for them went back into maintaining the Yukon.

The great RV park

We finally arrived at Lake Creek which was a basic campsite no showers and no water but was by a creek so as I’m determined to get in some water I bravely took the plunge or more realistically gingerly walked in. As it was very shallow. The water was freeeeeeeezing but so clear and if you stood in it long enough your legs went so numb it didn’t feel so cold.  On a whim decided to go full in on my front and I didn’t regret it although was glacial, as there were no showers it was the next best thing.

Doing a press up into the water! Fun times!

After the ice cold dip we had a meal of couscous and chilli out of a can.  Headed to bed for a lovely tent sleep 🙂

Had a leisurely start, although spent about half an hour filtering water from the creek it takes bloody aaaaaages!  Once on our way the head wind picked up cycling was slooooow going even going down hill we had to cycle.  Had to eat the most calorific bun ever to get through the first 40km!!!

Iced cinnamon bun aka sugar and artificial flavourings no nutritional content

After lunch weather took a turn for the worse and it was cold and windy and altogether pretty miserable :(. Then all of a sudden we noticed this white van in the distance that seemed to be parked or moving at a very slow speed, there was also someone walking by the van on the opposite side of the road it was all very weird.  We’d heard so many dodgy stories about strange people in the Yukon we were a bit worried especially as we recognised the van as one that had been parked by us the night before.  So Char got her bear spray at the ready in case we needed to protect ourselves.  However as we neared the van we realised it was a guy called Steve Petrucci who was running from northern Alaska to the bottom of Argentina.  So bear spray was not needed he seemed a bit disheartened by the he wind like us.

As we were leaving him there was an almighty sound coming out of Charlotte’s handle bar bag and she’d managed to let off her bear spray!!! Something else to add to the crapness of the day, so after that drama we carried on cycling. Battling against the wind and steadily loosing any enjoyment of the day.  The apparently beautiful views were lost on us as we were staring at the tarmac and bike as we had head down just to keep going forward it was slow going. 

We finally rocked up to Burwash Landing which should be renamed derelict ghost landing, I was almost going to cry with exhaustion but that would have taken too much effort. 

We were all on our last legs and there was nothing there.  Matt ventured into the one property at the top of the road and this guy appeared and said he could drive us in his trailer to the next place to stay which was 15km down the road.  Thank the lord!!! The trailer was on its last legs but it would do.  I was perched on Charlotte legs and the 3 of us ( matt, me and char) + driver were squished in the front seat but it was heaven. 

As we were bumped along the guy told us that that he was called Obi (John Oberon) and he was originally from east Germany but had worked all over the world and had eventually settled in the Yukon he was such a gem.  He also finally explained what the weird(slightly phallic if you ask my opinion) shaped trees were that we had had seen in the Yukon and Alaska.  They were called burl wood and Obi said he used to work with theses by injecting bacteria into the wood and causing a growth s which are apparently beautiful… I guess its in the eye of the beholder. 

burl wood

Then all of a sudden we saw a Grizzly bear out of the window amaaaaaaaazing was so excited Obi said the bear hung around that area and was a Blondie wow the day went from zero to hero in about 30 minutes.

On arriving in Destruction Bay we said good by to Obi our knight and rescuer and headed in the lodge for a night in a bed.  

Obi amazing guy! Great pair of braces.

Dragon flies are our friend – but pond water is decidedly gross! (Lulu)

Getting back on the bikes was a bit of a painful affair and muscles seemed to take a while to get back into the swing of it.  We were now on the Alaska highway and it was pretty straight and flat for the first 20 miles then the hills started coming and it was hard to get any rhythm as as soon as we’d finished a downhill we were on an up hill was very tiring going. We passed nothing on our way there were just lots of trees and hills. 

The loooooong Alaskan highway

We finally came across a gas station at Northway Junction only 7 miles to go, we were now in Tetlin refuge  and the surrounding environment was of lakes and woods.  We arrived at our destination which has called Lake view campground. It was very remote and it overlooked … Yes you’ve guessed it a lake!!!

Lake view campground

The lake was called Yager and it was beautiful and the biggest bonus of all was NO mosquitoes wool hoooo! Once we’d pitched our tents we decided to venture into the lake, let’s just say squidgy mud so that idea was short lived and just resulted in our sexy sandals smelling of pond. 

We then set up our camp stove by the lake shore it was bliss.  Had to filter the water for cooking!

Me with water filter

There were some other campers at the site and they said that the reason there were no mosquitoes was because of all the dragon flies. So we now had 2 ways to escape the beasts.
1. 7 mile/hour wind
2. Dragon flies

After chatting to the other campers for a bit and hearing more about the trumpeter swans (still not sure why they’re so great), headed for bed. 

For those of you who have been following my battle with the cold while camping ill let you know that I’ve bought a fleece lining for my sleeping bag so tonight will be the night to see if I’ll be warm or not?And whether the fleece lining was worth it? Here goes…

Tentusage 5th time
Time to erect/deconstruct: slow as the ground was hard managed to bend pegs out of shape completely
Warmth: woooohooo managed to not be too cold so happy
Moisture: no rain but have noticed a hole forming in the corner of the tent this does not bode well
Barrier against pests: no mosquitoes in tent :).  Although having got into the sleeping bag+fleece liner+silk liner I realised I’d left sweets in my bag a massive no no so had to get out of it again to remove the said sweets.  It should be an Olympic sport getting in and out of basically 3 sleeping bags in a one man tent!

After having a warm evening sleep I felt great although I still managed to take a good 2 hours to pack up I think Char has given up on me being speedy as I seem to always be last to do anything. We also had to use the water filter as had run out of water so with a bit of trepidation we got water from the pond… I wouldn’t say it was a pleasant taste in fact it had a certain je ne sais quois which I couldn’t quite put my finger on until about the 4th swig and then it hit me bird poo that is what it tasted of.  Not that I’ve tasted bird poo before but its what I imagine it to taste like.   Even when sucking a jolly rancher sweet while during the water the strong flavour still came through!!! But at least it was clean according to the filter!!!

We set off and it was similar to what we had experienced the day before up and downs with v little flat!  After about 25 miles of this we reached the last lodge before the border and stopped for some homemade been jerky. 

Beef jerky and mountain dew a perfect meal

On leaving the border city lodge we bumped into some guys from Arizona who said that they’d cited bears and moose on the road that we were about to cycle.  I was excited about this prospect but Char was a bit more worried.

We finally reached the American border a bit of an anticlimax as we just cycled through and were then in a bit of no-mans land as we hadn’t hit Canadian customs. 

American border very official but still not at the canadian border!

The changes were instant though mile signs switched to km and the Mounties were welcoming us on the signs.  But then low and behold a sign that stated ‘road construction for the next 22km’ and I’m not kidding when I say this was a painful and slow couple of hours on gravelled and bumpy roads. When we finally saw tarmac I don’t think I’ve been so happy.  After a couple more miles we got to the Canadian customs and we were in :).

Canada ey!!!

Beaver Creek where we were staying was just 2 km into Canada the most Westerly Canadian community seemed to be its biggest and only claim to fame. We headed for Buckshot Bettys to camp a bit of a disappointment the pitches were gravelly and there was no WiFi, running water or electricity.  Also the lady that checked me in was definitely not going to win a prize for helpfulness or even being pleasant, the only thing that I enjoyed from our exchange was that she said abooot (about) so I knew I was in Canada. 

After pitching our tents – quite looking fwd to the camping as it now doesn’t fill me with the same horror as it did before in regards to warmth due to the multiple liners – we headed to the bar and I tried some of the local brews and braved asking the scary Canadian lady if we could charge our phones…luckily she agreed.  Headed to bed feeling a bit tipsy from the two beers.

A local pale ale!!! With a weird poem on the back.