Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Teslin Lake

A video from day 9 covering bear sightings and the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake.
We ended the day by camping at the Dawson Peaks Resort on the edge of the beautiful Teslin Lake in the Yukon.

Sign Post Forest

Interactive maps:

Watson Lake and Sign Post Forest




Dawson Peaks Resort





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.....