Monday, September 3, 2012

Day 10 - Finally in Whitehorse

Dawson Peaks Resort is a great camping site.  We had a wonderful breakfast cooked by the owner in the morning and then leisurely started packing our bikes.  The day before while I was walking around the supermarket I saw packages of chocolate pudding, with my mouth salivating I bought 4 packages, put them on one of the panniers and then completely forgot about them.  In the morning while I was packing my bike I saw them.  We had just finished breakfast, I wasn't going to leave them behind or carry them to Whitehorse,  I distributed them and then we all proceeded to eat chocolate pudding, it was so good, I think it was the first time I had dessert after breakfast.
We left the campsite and headed north on the Alaska Highway with about 118 miles (189km) left to reach Whitehorse.
Dawson Peaks Resort here.
Just up the road from the campsite is the long metal grate bridge that crosses Teslin Lake.  We stop on the overview and then proceed down the road to the village of Teslin on the other side.



Where the above picture was taken:



Bridge:
Go ahead, move the image around so you can see where I was



We continue up the road enjoying the beautiful scenery.



We arrive in Whitehorse around noon and head straight to Yukon Yamaha.  It's a big building a couple of miles south of Whitehorse on the Alaska Highway, difficult to miss.  None of the riders attending the event were there, after chatting with the people inside we leave and go less than one hundred yards south where our motel is located, we had passed without even noticing.


We check in at the Mountain Ridge Motel and head straight to the room to relax.  Paul starts the relaxing with a beer even before we unpack.  Don't know who took the picture but next time I have to remember to put it in completely auto mode.



While Pete and John are relaxing before continuing their trip north I walk around the motel.  I find this cute "trappers cabin" and later find out you can actually sleep in it.  It's available for customers and sleeps two.  The motel has a beautiful view of the mountains in the back.



As I'm walking back to the room, a couple arrives on two Tenere's, a blue and a black one.  They are husband and wife each riding a Yamaha Tenere.  She mentioned she had a BMW 650 before and had been involved in an accident.  She bought the Yamaha afterwards.  They were also attending the event.


With nothing planned for the afternoon, I head to downtown Whitehorse alone after saying goodbye to Pete and John.  They left and continued north, it would be the last time I saw them.  Thanks guys for a great ride.
I was looking for Wi-Fi  to call my wife and found it when I saw a Starbucks Coffee store.  It was Saturday afternoon, the town was pretty much deserted.


After a cup of coffee and a long chat with my wife I walk around the downtown area admiring the architecture, it's as if I have stepped in a time machine and gone back a century.



Not everything looked old, there are some nice buildings in town too.



At the base of this sculpture it says "Dedicated to all those that follow their dreams", I thought about it and smiled, I was following my dream too.



As I'm walking back to my bike I see a couple walking across the street to a Kawasaki KLR.  I walk over and introduce myself.  They are a young couple from British Columbia and are on the way back from Alaska.  We chat for a while, he tells me how a KLR is the perfect bike to travel up north and I kind of agree with him, except I had to do almost 4000 miles just to get to Alaska and there's no doubt in my mind the Tenere is a better bike for long distances.  I'm surprised how the bike is able to carry all the load, two up and carrying all the camping equipment, I'm impressed.
I take a picture as they are leaving, can you see my reflection on the door?


I return back to the motel and spend the rest of the evening on the computer checking my e-mail and Facebook.  We didn't even go out for dinner, I had eaten something at Starbucks and later just had soup and some crackers followed by a cup of coffee.  The room had a full kitchen with refrigerator and microwave.
At 11:30pm I walk outside, the motel is quiet and the sun has just gone down behind the horizon. The days are getting longer and longer as I travel north and I'm still 1100 miles away from Deadhorse, my final destination up north.  These two pictures were taken at 11:30pm.



Tomorrow is the first day of the "1st North American Super Tenere gathering", the group has a ride planned to Atlin, British Columbia, I'm so excited.
It's late and I'm tired but find it difficult to fall asleep.


Interactive Map


More to come.....

11 comments:

  1. Great post - I'm amazed at the load that KLR was hauling too.

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    1. Yea, me too, I should have asked them how long do the tires last with all the weight.

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  2. Even after all of the pictures that Richard has posted I still find it amazing that it is that light out that late at night. No wonder you found it hard to sleep. I know the motel probably had black out curtains.

    Thanks for sharing the photos and I liked how I could pan the google imbed too. Neat to be able to pan around and look at where you'd taken the pictures.

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    1. I think it was also because I was excited about meeting the group and going on a ride out of Whitehorse. I'm going to try to embed more maps, I like to go back and just spin the map around to remember the trip. I wish I was still out there :-(

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  3. Beautiful scenery, both landscape and town! - not that I'm surprised :)
    Dessert for breakfast - Approve!

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    1. I have a sweet tooth, I can't pass a good chocolate pudding :-)

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  4. I wonder how much weight is actually in there, looks like a lot of sleeping gear, which isn't too heavy. I'm not going to exaggerate the length of my peen and say I had a whole lot more loaded on my bike (of course, on a Connie) but we loaded it up pretty good last year and managed to get ninety five hundred out of the rear.

    But that looks like a snug fit for the passenger, to say the very least. It was a bit of a deal for my wife and I to get installed on the machine. I'm guessing it was the same for them.

    Also, at first I saw the painting on the side of the building and wondered what kind of strange-ass religious building you found up there. I guess, ahem, I made a mistake.

    Brady
    Behind Bars

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    1. Ha ha, but the Connie has more than double the "cc" and at least double the HP of the KLR ;-)
      Look at the rear, not much travel on the suspension.

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  5. That’s one of the benefits of riding a motorcycle. You’ve got to enjoy the beautiful scenery around as you go along the road. With motorcycle, it is very easy to go around in different places. Whitehorse is definitely a very good place to visit. Glad that you had a great time there!

    **Max Piedra

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  6. Who wouldn’t enjoy the beautiful and panoramic view of Whitehorse Yukon, right, Max? I’ve been in that place several times together with my co-riders. And we are more than willing to come back anytime. The wide smooth road and the lush trees along the way are just a few of the reasons why I enjoy the place.

    >Claudio Mccarty

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  7. Your google street view shots are very cool. Sara

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