Day 30 - Watson Lake to Ft. Nelson. A day as good as it gets!

Day 30 – Friday, June 19, 2009
Start: Watson Lake, Yukon Territory
End: Fort Nelson, British Columbia
Trip Miles Today: 311
Total Trip Miles: 6868

Today was just an all around great day! It started out in perfect weather and the temperature was even a little bit warmer. By the time I had been on the road just over an hour I had seen (and photographed) another black bear, some bison were kind enough to pose with the bike, and the temperature was climbing into the 50s. What more could one ask for?

Today’s route, was once again simply Alaska Highway southbound. For nearly the first 150 miles of today’s route the highway follows the Liard River Valley. On the northbound trip this was where I saw the greatest concentration of wildlife, especially bears. I had hoped to see a number of them again today but at the end of the day the tally was only two. I did have a number of Bison sightings early in the day however. One thing that I saw, that I had hoped not to see, was a large area of forest damaged by recent wildfires in the area between Coal River and Liard River. The damage is pervasive, the smoke still hangs in the valleys, and the smell just goes on forever. Wildfires are an unfortunate element of life in this area. This fire, at the junction of the Smith and Liard Rivers was over 100 sq. Kilometers at it’s peak and the Alaska Highway was actually closed for some period on June 4. I spoke to some northbound riders last week and they said that even several days after the fire was brought under control they were using pilot cars to lead traffic through the smokiest areas because visibility was extremely limited. Glad I didn’t have to go through that!

After the small village of Liard River the Alaska Highway takes a turn up into the higher elevations of the Northern Rockies toward the Muncho Lake Provincial Park, one of the most beautiful places you will ever see. When I came through this area 3 weeks ago there was still ice on the lake and snow flying. Returning today I found the lake, and park, in full summer regalia. Lodges weer full, people were out on boats and in floatplanes and the whole place had an energy to it that I hadn’t seen even a very few weeks ago.

Following Muncho Lake I made a gas stop at the Toad River Lodge (where I met three guys from Calgary bound for Inuvik on KLR650s – now THAT’S an adventure!) then began the long uphill climb to Summit Pass, the highest point on the entire Alaska Highway. I am glad I chose this route today because I had unfinished business with this place! When I can through before it was 30 degrees (f), it was snowing/raining/sleeting, it was windy, and the mile long construction area just below the pass was doing it’s best to imitate a mud bog. And yours truly came very close to wallowing in that bog! Anyway, today it was some 30 degrees warmer, partly sunny, and even the construction area was firmed up to a point where it represented no particular challenge. So, I guess the score is even.

After the pass, it’s a long downhill ride and, even though some afternoon storms were building, I endured no rain on this near perfect day! (Side note:It does, however, seem that I may get to do a bit of rain riding tomorrow.) Anyhow, then it was arrival in Fort Nelson, where I am holed up tonight in what is best described as the least “elegant” of hotels so far. Tomorrow, it’s a short day down to Dawson Creek, then on to Prince George on Sunday. It’s exciting to think about having time to do laundry once again – that’s on my short worklist for tomorrow! I’m still planning to re-enter the US on Monday or Tuesday near Seattle, then on to Oregon to visit friends a day or 2 later. At some point I’ll have to face up to the task of cooking up a route to take me East but I haven’t quite come to grips with that one yet. Soon.

Thanks for riding with me!

There are plenty of additional pictures of my ride at http://jackb1.smugmug.com !

The 2009 Ride to Alaska for The Austin Hatcher Foundation is supported by RevZilla.com , Philly's Premier Destination Motorcycle Gear and Apparel store and by Hermy's Cycles of Port Clinton, PA.