The Mobius Trip

[scarysharkface]

We do what we are able, as we are able. That is what makes us human.

When I first loaded the page and saw the ambulance stuff, I have to admit I felt more than a little panic. So glad you both are okay. I'm also more than a little conflicted at feeling relief that it was "somebody else," although I do recognize that's a coping mechanism as well.

If I ever have a bad biff, I should be so lucky as to have the two of you as first-responders.

Be well and enjoy the journey!

John

[DR. Rock]

And yet another 300+ mile day.



We pulled into Ft. St. John, and tried to find a reasonable, decent motel, and after driving around we settled in to probably the skeeviest in town. Not that it was dirty, just kind of run down, with displaced persons which we initially thought were from the forest fires and evacuation of Slave Lake, but with closer observation, it just seemed that they were living out of their car at the hotel.

We grabbed some grub at the restaurant across the street, with an easy view to our bikes, and debriefed the day. We were headed into Victoria Day weekend, with northern Alberta in a bit of chaos from the Slave Lake wildfire.



I'd routed three different variations from Ft. St. John to Edmonton -- the first headed due east on gas field roads, past Slave Lake, and then dropped straight south. That was out. The second followed the AlCan, more or less, and the third headed further south, back into the foothills of the rockies, and then turned east to Edmonton. That's the one we would take. Only thing we needed was the appropriate BackRoads Mapbook for Southern Alberta. There weren't any available before we left, so I figured I'd be able to score one in the area. Easier said than done given the holiday weekend.

[sallydog]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

to Sallydog: (he asked me to scout out some things for his upcoming trip)



I think we were too long on pavement at this point.

thanks for all your info also, where was that signpost place exactally? i wanna add it to my map.

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by sallydog

thanks for all your info also, where was that signpost place exactally? i wanna add it to my map.

No problem. It's at the Watson Lake visitor's center.

[DRRambler]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

No problem. It's at the Watson Lake visitor's center.

It's pretty hard to miss that place

[DR. Rock]

From Fort St. John to Pipestone Creek campground (near Grand Prairie)



Click on image below for a larger version:

[DR. Rock]

overnight, but we got a nice early start.



Today would be the day we finally broke free of the single-option Alaska Highway route, and found ourselves some dirt. We'd been pushing our mileage on pavement just to get to this point where we could relax a little, enjoy and explore.

Commentary on the symbolism of fleet vehicle color choices:



Not much more of this:

[DR. Rock]

to the Alaska Highway, we took this little detour to see this:



Click on image below for a bigger version:

[DR. Rock]

FINALLY! Dirt roads!!!



Didn't matter that they were straight. And Flat... they weren't paved!!!



The roads had suffered from the rain the night before, and our tires had suffered from thousands of paved miles... no worries



A couple of dead ends, a tip-over or two... this is more like it!

[DR. Rock]

started to realize that a lot of these roads were merely to access pipelines,



we started to get the hang of navigating the muddy grid.



It didn't so much matter when we'd have to turn around and backtrack... it was fun riding, and we weren't on pavement, and the weather was nice, and we didn't have to pile on the miles.

[DR. Rock]

Dawson Creek in good spirits



a quick stop for a snack and gas,



failed to find the Backroads mapbook we needed, and rolled out of town.



Into the bush:

[DR. Rock]

flattened out, but I was having a blast.



We passed a supply yard for the pipeline... tons and tons of pipe stacked up:



really impressive. And into Grand Prairie for groceries and gas. We got some intel from a guy in the parking lot on which campground to go to... remember, it's Victoria Day weekend.



Of course, we get drenched on the way,



but we see a moose,



which is cool, and make it to the campground with blue skies above:



and the nastiness behind us.



Since we've left the pavement, all of a sudden, it feels like we're adventuring again.

[DR. Rock]

open campsites.



hung out our riding gear to dry,



ate some dinner,



washed dishes,



and still had time to go for a walk down to the river and enjoy the sunset.

[DR. Rock]

207 miles on the day. That's more like it!



So much better. The campground was a little crowded, and noisy with kids and families,





but all said and done, it was fine.





We weren't allowed to have a campfire, on account of the campfire ban in effect throughout Alberta since they were all freaked out about the Slave Lake fire. No mind that it had poured rain and we probably wouldn't have been able to build a campfire if we'd tried.





We met a new rider, Aaron, who had just gotten his moto license the day before. He came up as we were hanging out back at our campsite, and he had all kinds of questions about our trips, and we asked him about growing up in the area, and working on the pipelines, and other stuff he knew about, like fur trapping and stuff. Good times.

[DR. Rock]

Pipestone Creek campground (near Grande Prairie, AB), to Pierre Greys Lakes campground (near Hinton, AB)



Click on image for a larger version:


We stopped in Grande Prairie to pick up supplies:



bought the south alberta mapbook (only later found out that what we really needed was the CENTRAL alberta mapbook , and bore witness to one of the biggest examples of mis-labeling ever:



Tuscany? Really?