Key West to Prudhoe Bay and back.

[FL_biker]

UPDATED December 11th, 2011 to add clickable-photos, updated text, and SpotWalla map of the day's route


June 17th ( SmugMug Photo Album )

Today's Ride - Kalispell MT to Cocolalla ID



I got a bit of a late start leaving Stan and Liz's place today. Not a huge deal because I had less than 250 miles to ride. I DID get some more photos uploaded while I was packing so that's a plus!

My host for the last 2 nights - THANKS STAN & LIZ !!





When I left Stan's it was still cold and very overcast.
I got a bit of rain but eventually it stopped raining and was just a dull gray sky.

I rode North out of Kalispell towards Whitefish, then on up US-93 through Olney, Stryker, up to Eureka & Rexford.

After Rexford I got to Lake Koocanusa (Kootenay Indians/Canada/USA) where I stopped at the bridge for some photos.









View from the bridge




Then I crossed over to the National Forest Road (NF-228) which is rated a "G-1" road by Butler Motorcycle Maps.
I have mine with me and used them for several legs of this trip - I really liked them!!

In this shot I'm now on the west side of the lake heading south.





This was a well paved road with a TON of twisty sections that runs along the lake
THIS IS A MUST RIDE ROAD if you are in the area!!




I was being very vigilant for wildlife but didn't see any, nor did I see any cars on the road to this point.


I made a stop at the Libby Dam



The lake behind the dam




But my trusty steed awaits and I have another state to find today:



But first a little more dam sightseeing






After Lake Koocanusa I headed west on MT-37, over to US-2 which took me through Troy, MT across the border...

...into Idaho... ....




...then thru Moyie Springs which has a nice bridge that gives you a view of the dam.
While I was at the scenic overlook it started raining again so I decided against a side trip to get see more of the dam.








US-2 dead-ends into US-95 where I turned left (South) and headed to Bonners Ferry and points beyond
I crossed Lake Pend Orielle and on to Cocolalla Lake where I stayed with Eric and Karrie.

I also met Eric through the same woodworking forum that I met Stan on and we've stayed in touch via IM over the years.

It was great to finally put a face to the name in the chat room.

Once I got to Eric's place we chatted a bit then headed back into town to buy some oil so I could do another oil change.
Once the oil change was out of the way we all went to his back yard where he had a nice fire going.

Eric had invited some friends and family over and we all sat around the fire telling lies for several hours till everyone had to leave

At one point Eric put a huge stump on the fire. Now this was no ordinary cedar stump - it had a square of wood missing from the center so when he dropped it onto the fire it acted like a chimney and you could immediately hear a whoosh of air accelerating up through the makeshift chimney.

In about 5 minutes, after it dried out a bit, it ignited with an even louder whoosh and then we had an amazing little bonfire going.









Dave

[FL_biker]

UPDATED December 11th, 2011 to add clickable-photos, updated text, and SpotWalla map of the day's route


June 18th (Today's SmugMug Photo Album)

Today's Ride: Cocolalla, ID to Golden, B.C.



I got up around 6 a.m. at my friend Eric's place and started the coffee and my notebook PC.

As the coffee was brewing I uploaded some photos to smugmug and added some to an older post.

Is it my connections I keep getting or is smugmug just slow at accepting my 12MP photos? Do you folks upload at lower resolution? I'd like to keep taking them at 12MP so I can get better prints and zoom in and crop without loss of quality but MAN THIS IS SLOW!!!

Anyway, by 9 a.m. the coffee had my brain working a little better and Karrie was up and cooked me an AWESOME breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast!
THANKS KARRIE THAT WAS EXCELLENT!!

After breakfast I started hauling all my crap back out to the bike and packed it up.
By 10 a.m. I thought I was ready to go and was warming up the engine when then Eric noticed a small puddle of oil on the inside of my skid plate - NOT GOOD!!!

I shut the bike off and knew immediately what had happened.
As I'm normally one to OVER tighten things I went a little easier than normal on the oil filter so I just needed to give it another half-turn or so and then I restarted the bike to check for leaks but found none.

NOTE TO SELF - keep fingers off the header pipes after the engine is just shut off as they are EXCRUCIATINGLY HOT and turn your skin white in an instant!!

MUCH THANKS TO ERIC for seeing that drip before I got on the road - much better to fix it in his yard than on one of the mountain passes I went through today!

Before I left Karrie took a photo of Eric and I:



Anyway - by 10:30 or so I was back on the road and headed back north on US-2/US-95 thru Sandpoint, Naples, & Bonners Ferry.

Eventually I cut over to ID-1 and up to Porthill, ID where I snuck into Canada.






Okay, actually I waited in the line, talked to the nice man at the border and was quickly allowed into Canada.

WOOHOO - my Vstrom has gone INTERNATIONAL!!



I'm trying to follow a route that Fighter had posted in another thread and THAT GUY KNOWS HIS STUFF 'cuz the route he gave was the most excellent day of riding I've had in ages!!

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=676719

I rode up through Creston and onto Hwy 3A which went along the eastern coast of Kootenay Lake on some amazing windy road!

I had a few wildlife encounters that I think I caught on video - I'll have to see if I can grab a frame from them and post it here later so keep re-reading my report to check for new pictures.

Anyway, eventually Hwy 3A runs right into the lake at Kootenay Bay where you catch a FREE ferry across the lake and into Balfour on Hwy 31.










Canadian entertainment to help pass the time:






Inbound Ferry approaches




Loaded on the ferry:






This is another amazing road to ride north on!!!
Sadly I took no stills, but I'm pretty sure I did shoot some HD Video - As of Dec 11, 2011 I've not yet edited it - soon... ...

At Kaslo I turned onto Hwy 31A and rode north and west until I got to New Denver where I gassed up for the first time in Canada.
Funny thing is they seemed to have forgotten the 10% ethanol stickers on their gas pumps!!

I headed north out of New Denver on Hwy 6 with Slocan Lake on my left for a ways.
This will run you to Naksup where my silly Garmin ran me off of 6 into downtown then back out onto 6 again

Ok, I admit it - it's my fault for not previewing my route or using enough common sense to catch an oops" like that.

After Naksup I was again headed north on Hwy 23 along what Garmin MapSource calls the Columbia River - but it looked more like a lake to me!!

23 eventually dead-ended at the water where I once again took a ferry.





Ahead of us:







Still cloudy out:



This one was only about 20 minutes long so I barely had time to make a restroom trip, take a few photos and then we were docking and I had to rush to get enough gear on so I could ride off the ferry and then stop to finish suiting up.

After I got suited back up properly I headed north again on Hwy 23 into Revelstoke where I took a quick stop for fuel and to figure out where I was going to stop for the night.
It was obvious that my late start was going to prevent me from reaching Lake Louise today without riding in the dark.
I was NOT going to do as I had seen far too many deer cross the road today and that was in broad daylight!!!

I can't imagine how many wander into the road after dark

I spoke to a guy on a FJR about where else I could go and he recommended Golden as a good stopping point on the way to Lake Louise so I decided to stop there for the night.

I rode out of Revelstoke on Hwy 1 which headed east.
This took me over a few pretty high passes (forgot to note elevation) and through some pretty cool avalanche tunnels.
(I will eventually post videos)

I guess they were built to prevent an avalanche from burying you as ya drove over the pass.
I must have gone through 7 or 8 of these tunnels.

Unfortunately I didn't get many (ANY?) stills today as I was pressed for time so I can make it to D2D on time!

NOTE: I will NEVER again plan a trip like this where all I can do is RACE to the next night's stop!!
While I still enjoyed the trip, I don't have as many photos as I should have - yet I still shot over 1200 photos - go figure!

Once again - I hope to get some frames grabbed from the Contour 1080P videos I shot on the go and post them up later.

1 follows the Canadian Pacific Rail line quite a ways and took me through Mt Revelstoke Nat'l Park, the Canadian's Glacier National Park (not to be confused with the one in Montana!!) and down into Golden, B.C.

What's with the Canadians stealing our names like Glacier and Golden anyway?
Couldn't they make up their own?

Anyway, I'm currently sitting in my hotel room typing this in notepad ('cuz ADV times out too fast and I've lost text that way before - still haven't fixed THAT post yet!)

I tried to upload today's photos but like I said in the post for the 17th, this hotel's internet sucks - but the room IS pretty nice and has a warm bed, hot shower, and doesn't need "taken down" in the morning like a tent so I'll deal with it and try to upload photos sometime in the next few days.
Its just frustrating to fall behind like this when I am trying to post as close to real-time as I can....

Now that it's almost midnight AGAIN I'm gonna copy this into ADV, post it, get a fast shower and hit the bed because tomorrow I need to get up extra early to try to make up today's lost time.

[goldenrev]

Dress warm for the Alcan & the great north! It is 43 (F) in Haines Junction this am and a bit rainy.

[FL_biker]

goldenrev,
I've been dressing warm for the past 3 days because grey skies, rain, and cold wind is all I've had!
As a matter of fact I'm beginning to thing that the sun doesn't shine on this part of Canada EVER!

Sure hope it gets better tomorrow when I head out of Chetwynd for Liard Hot Springs!!

I'll try to write something up tomorrow a.m. while I sip my coffee (so no guarantee it will make sense before the caffeine jump-starts my brain!!

For now it's off to bed at midnite yet again - can't seem to get to bed on the same day I get up (always after midnite since June 5th)

Originally Posted by goldenrev

Dress warm for the Alcan & the great north! It is 43 (F) in Haines Junction this am and a bit rainy.

[FL_biker]

UPDATED December 12th, 2011

Added clickable-photos (post smaller ones you can click if you want larger ones),
updated ride report text,
and added a SpotWalla map of the day's route


June 19th (Today's SmugMug Photo Album)


Today's Ride - Golden B.C.to Chetwynd B.C.




I got a late start today after working on my ride report from Eric's house.
Combine that with more dreary, gray, rainy weather and I made a lot slower progress than I had hoped for.

I also planned FAR TOO LONG of a ride for each day on this trip - it's made the trip it less enjoyable.
But I DO have a destination I need to be at on the evening of the 22nd as I don't want to miss Dust 2 Dawson!
With only 44 days between jobs I had to move fast.

If I had it to do over again I would have skipped all the US stops except Stan & Erics in MT/ID as they were on the route to Canada anyway.
Anyway, I left Golden in the a.m. and got back onto Hwy 1 and rode through the Yoho National Park and on into Lake Louise.
Silly ME forgot to ignore the GPS and rode south into Lk Louise only to turn around and head north again - oops!

At the entrance to the Ice Fields Parkway I paid my $10 fee and headed north passing several lakes on the way.

It wasn't very long until that ugly "R-word" reared it's head and started making the day a LOT less enjoyable.
It's not nearly as much fun sightseeing when your "waterproof" boots have your toes cold and wet despite 2 coats of a waterproofing product I used.

Here's a screen shot from the Contour video I shot during the day





I rode northward on Hwy 93 trying my best to improve my attitude and enjoy some really amazing scenery.

After a while it started to get to me again as it was my 3rd day of rainy weather and I had left my rain gloves at home
STUPID HURTS - as in cold achey hands!

Do Canadians EVER see the sun??

Just before Saskatchewan Crossing I pulled into a ranger station for a reason I can't recall.
But I got the camera out of the tank bag ....Google Street View of same place





I got to see quite a bit of wildlife on Hwy 93 but didn't get many photos as the camera was in the tank bag which was covered due to the rain.

Around 11:30 a.m. I was about 60 miles south of Jasper, Alberta where there is a cool pass just before Bridal Veil Falls and a great view down the valley:



Google Street view got a look at it in better weather

Hell, I could have stayed home and saved a ton of money by just "riding" it on Street view and stayed dry to boot!
Just kidding, it was still more fun actually being there - LOL


Sign for The Falls



The Falls







On the other side of the pass was Athabasca Glacier where you can take a tour of the glacier.
I believe it's the only one you can actually drive onto, well not YOU but the tour driver LOL


Glacier Bus



A little closer



NOT your ordinary bus tires on this glacier tour bus - too bad I was running so far behind, and cold/wet so I didn't stop to take the tour.




Here's a quick shot of the glacier




A little further up the road you run along a creek/stream/river that was the most amazing color.
Unfortunately my camera didn't pick up the real color of it well.
It was probably the photographer's fault more than the camera's.

As usual Google Earth's Street View car got better weather here






Hwy 93 eventually runs into Hwy 16 at Jasper which kept me on a northwestern course through Jasper National Park.

Around 6:40 p.m. my engine started to spit and sputter and then died completely!!

I WAS OUT OF FUEL!!

Don't worry though, this was intentional as I wanted to find out just what exactly my range was so I ran it dry.
I had two full 1-gallon Rotopax gas cans on the back of the bike, so I filled the bike and motored on into Prince George.


Around 7:00 p.m. I rolled in to Prince George and realized that Dawson Creek wasn't going to be my stopping point for the night.

I spoke to a friendly guy at the Chevron station and decided that Chetwynd would be a good stopping point that I could most likely make before dark.
I didn't want to ride after dark if at all possible due to all the "critters" up here.
I feared moose the most as I'd had a close encounter with one earlier in the day when it ran out of the woods, almost hit a car coming towards me, stumbled a bit, and thankfully then ran back into the woods.

That was quite the heart-stopping, this isn't going to end well, moment!!

The good news was that the sun finally made an appearance by this time and I started to feel a little bit better about the ride.

After fueling up I headed to a Tim Hortons for some coffee, chili and a bun.
I hadn't had Tim Hortons coffee since I was over in Afghanistan at Kandahar Airfield and I wanted some more!

After dinner I bundled back up, hopped back on the bike, and headed out of Prince George on the John Hart Highway (Hwy 97) and rode on past Summit Lake, Bear Lake, McLeod Lake and then through Pine Le Moray Provincial Park.

Right around dusk it started to rain, the temperature dropped, and my feet were once again going for a swim in my boots (I think seepage down my pants caused it).

Just as I thought it was as bad as it could get Hwy 97 turned into a construction zone with much lower speed limits to further slow my progress.

So with temps falling and the light fading I slowed way down as what I was riding on had a closer resemblance to a trail than a paved road.
After a bit of bumpy grooved pavement it turned to dirt and one really hairy section of gravel

(NOTE TO SELF - find and post a video clip of this).

Of course the grooved pavement had the bike wiggling back and forth like I had two flat tires, but I just ignored it and pressed on.

I finally made it past the construction zone just as it got dark out and the rain got heavier.

A few miles later I had yet another close encounter with what was either a large elk or a moose - I couldn't tell as it was just a large dark blob in the distance.
Luckily for me the sound of the Vstrom approaching scared it back into the woods.
Even the critters thing a Vstrom is a hideous beast and run to hide from the sight of one.

I eventually made it across the pass and down into Chetwynd where I fueled up and decided that I was indeed a wuss and needed a hotel room to dry my socks, boots, and gloves.
So I checked into the Pomeroy Inn and Suites where they even offered me some rags to stuff into my boots to soak up the water.

I finally got to sleep around 1 a.m. after getting some photos uploaded.
Then I finished getting caught up with the uploads the next morning.

That's it for June 20th - time to pack up and head to Liard Hot Springs.

While the original plan was to run into Dawson Creek for the photo at Mile 0 of the Alcan, but I may skip that and go up through Hudson's Hope if the weather is nice
If not probably take the faster road to Dawsons Creek.

Dave

[DeepSea]

Thanks for sharing Dave. When I'm stuck where I can't ride, this site always gets me thru it.

Amazing photos. Good luck, stay alert and be safe.

[FLARider1]

Be careful!! Hope you figure out a way to keep your feet dry! I hate cold wet feet!!

[Semper Gumby]

+1 need to keep your feet dry. Hard to stay warm when you are wet underneath...

Stay safe!

[FL_biker]

semper gumby & GunnyT

I am beating myself over the head for not bringing two things with me on this trip:

1) my waterproof gloves
2) my Chokka overboots

I had thought the Gaerne Balance Oiled boots were waterproof - cuz that's what they say about them....even after 2 coats of waterproofing stuff they still let water in....grrrr...

It is indeed hard to stay warm once you get wet!

Dave

[FLARider1]

Originally Posted by FL_biker

semper gumby & GunnyT

I am beating myself over the head for not bringing two things with me on this trip:

1) my waterproof gloves
2) my Chokka overboots

I had thought the Gaerne Balance Oiled boots were waterproof - cuz that's what they say about them....even after 2 coats of waterproofing stuff they still let water in....grrrr...

It is indeed hard to stay warm once you get wet!

Dave

Dave......just a question.....is there any change that your pants are getting wet and soaking top of your socks and its weeping down into the boot? Rick had that happen on our ride in 2009. He just had his riding pants, not rain suit, no liner, and the pants were getting wet enough at the knee and then soaking the sock and weeping down till it felt like the boot was leaking. He initially thought the boots were leaking. We both have the Gaernes with the same Drytech liner, bummer if its leaking on you!! Might also be a defect in the boot!!! So Sucks having wet feet!!

[FL_biker]

Flarider1

No, my pants were not wet enuff to do that
(UPDATED in Dec 2011 -- as the trip progressed I think I found water WAS seeping down my legs)
My sleeves were another story- rain soaked gloves and water ran up to my elbows

Kicking myself in the butt for not bringing rain gloves and chokka overboots

Will likely buy some first chance i get but then rain will stop LOL

[FLARider1]

well I hope it quits raining for you soon!!!

Checked out the photos on smugmug! Great pics. I think I am going to load to smugmug and then let Angie post back to here and FB. Seems like you can tolerate one upload to smugmug, but the time to get back to advrider is just too much. Pretty much the same thing I found last year on my trip!!

be safe......10 more days to go for me!!

[FL_biker]

UPDATED December 12th, 2011
Added clickable-photos (post smaller ones you can click if you want larger ones),
updated ride report text,
and added a SpotWalla map of the day's route

June 20th (Today's SmugMug Photo Album)


Today's Ride: Chetwynd to Toad River, B.C.





I left Chetwynd later than I wanted to (9 a.m.) which seems to be a recurring theme lately...
I just can't seem to get going as early as I want to.
Oh well, I guess the rain is really tiring me out as I can't seem to get up early like I did at home!

Anyway, since Fighter said that Hudson's Hope was the more scenic route, I headed out of Chetwynd on Hwy 29

Hwy 29 wound it's way along Moberly Lake then along the Peace River where I saw several billboards saying things like "Say NO to the dam" and "Save the valley".
I guess someone wants to build another hydroelectric dam up there and some folks were not pleased with the idea.

Eventually Hwy 29 ended at the Alcan Highway along Charlie Lake Provincial Park.

This is where I had to a decision to make:

1. Backtrack down the Alcan Hwy to Dawson Creek for a photo at the Mile 0 sign.... or ....
2. Continue north.

A quick look south and the darkening sky in that direction told me that I needed to make tracks for Liard Springs as quickly as I could before the weather turned ugly.

I got about an hour or so north in partly cloudy weather before I was again feeling that special Canadian Liquid Love surround me with it's cold dampness (especially in my toes as my Gaerne boots were full of water again)

Because of all the rain I today, the camera stayed in the tank bag (under the rain cover) so I only took 3 photos all day.

I was really wishing I had a weatherproof and ruggedized camera like some folks I know bought.
That way I could leave it out and not worry about water damage and get more photos on the trip.

My biggest regret on this trip so far is that the bad weather has made it hard to get a lot of photos.
As it is, I have little time to really enjoy the scenery on the way to D2D, and the rain makes it that much less enjoyable.

When I get really sick of the rain I try to remind myself that riding in the rain still beats being at work!!


Just south of Sikanni Chief I pulled into a rest area (can't recall why) but I did take 2 photos that I've stitched together




At 2 p.m. and just before Prophet River my low fuel light began blinking so I started looking for a place to fuel up. Eventually I saw a large Shell sign in the distance and I pulled off to the left into the lot. As I pulled in I noticed that several of the building's windows had been shattered with rocks and there were no lights on inside....Hmmm, what now?

Luckily as I pulled back out of the lot I noticed a small station across the street that I had missed while focusing on the big Shell sign.

A quick ride across their lot and I was filling up with 18 liters or so of fuel, stripped off my riding gear and helped myself to some much needed relief inside. I think the combination of morning coffee and all that rain and seeing all that flowing river water made things a lot more urgent than usual LOL

The only other decent photo I got today was a bear that crossed the road in front of us just north of Prophet River, B.C.
Too bad my camera doesn't have a good enough zoom to really show more than a black lump.

There were a bunch of other riders on the road at this point and one even parked his bike and walked down towards the bear to get a better photograph - NOT SMART!! Luckily the bear didn't feel threatened enough to attack and it ran away.





Around 2 p.m. amid the rain and clouds I started seeing lightning flash across the sky - NOT GOOD!
Luckily I was approaching Fort Nelson at the time so I as I pulled into town I started looking for a place to eat.
I spied a Boston Pizza restaurant and pulled in.

I think I left them a huge puddle from all my dripping gear as I stripped out of my riding suit and rain liners (for some reason Motoport lets the kevlar outer layer get soaked and puts a rain liner UNDERNEATH IT.
I'm not sure I like this because my neck always seems to get pretty wet and cold when it rains a lot.

After leaving my soaked helmet on the floor near my table and getting rid of the gear I ordered a pizza and asked if they had fresh HOT COFFEE to try to warm back up.
About that time the skies opened up and cover Fort Nelson with EVEN MORE liquid love :)
Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and it poured outside while I enjoyed my hot pizza, hot coffee, and some motorsports highlights on TV.

After was was finished with the pizza I decided that if I was going to make it to Liard Hot Springs I needed to get on the road.

I asked my server what else was between Fort Nelson and Liard Hot Springs and was told that Toad River was a nice little village (75 residents) and had a lodge called of all things, Toad River Lodge.

I filed that away for future use and headed back up the Alcan.

Back on the road and now following the Muskwa River for a ways to the west I started to see more wildlife - when my visor and glasses were NOT fogged up or covered with water spots.

As I motored along I was really disappointed that Canada was having such a wet time of it as I was riding through a lot of what was probably great scenery WHEN IT WASN'T RAINING SO DAMNED MUCH!!

After a few hours of dealing with the rain and no end in sight I decided to call it quits as soon as I got to Toad River
I was starting to feel wet all the way up to my elbows, my toes where starting to "squish" in my boots, and my neck was cold and wet.

So I changed my GPS destination to Toad River and closely watched the Distance to Destination move ever so slowly towards 0.
Every time I looked at it I couldn't believe how little it had moved!
That's when I knew I was thoroughly frustrated with the weather.
I couldn't get off the bike fast enough to get warm and dry again!!

I finally made it to Toad River, got a cabin and hung wet clothes everywhere to dry - the riding suit and gloves got hung outside the cabin where there was a handy screw in the wall for the hanger.



After I stripped out of the long johns I took my PC over to the restaurant, got online via WiFi to upload what few photos I took and got some dinner.

When I was finished I asked what time they closed and was told "fifteen minutes ago" so I packed up the PC, took it back to my cabin, and went over to dry my rain jacket at the laundromat building along with the socks I was wearing.

When the jacket and socks were done I asked the Harley riders that were in the room if they would get offended if I put my jeans (the ones I was wearing) in the dryer (I only had one pair with me) and they said they didn't care so I stripped off my jeans, put the now very warm jacket on my lap and waited for my jeans to dry.

When I got back to the cabin later I realized my gloves were still soaked so I walked BACK to the laundry building and put them in the dryer for 10 minutes or so despite knowing that you should not dry leather like that -- I just HAD to do SOMETHING to get some of the water out of them!

When I got back to the cabin and tried to FINALLY take a hot shower I was disappointed to find that while the sink could give me steaming hot water, the best the shower could do was barely warm water - not something I wanted to shower in when I was already chilled

So I wound up washing at the sink and the following morning asked for a partial refund for the non-working shower which the owner (manager?) agreed to.

[XC Rider]

Hey there Dave. Sorry to hear about all the nasty weather you're having. Looks like you're doing a good job not letting it get you down too much. Hope the skies clear up for you soon.

My replacement rain gear aight to arrive today and I should be leaving Kalispell and crossing into Alberta later this afternoon.

[FL_biker]

UPDATED December 12th, 2011

Added clickable-photos (posted smaller ones you can click if you want larger ones),
updated ride report text,
and added a SpotWalla map of the day's route


June 21st (Today's SmugMug Photo Album)


Today's Ride: Toad River, B.C. to Teslin, Y.T.




I finally got out of Toad River sometime after 9 a.m. and got back onto Hwy 97 headed northwest along the Kechika river.

As usual it started raining shortly after I left and my gauntlet-style gloves were binding on my right hand so I stopped and put on my lighter weight deerskin gloves.

Like before the ride was very scenic except for the grey grey grey skies and rain.
I might have to do this entire ride again in the future just so that I can really enjoy (without rain)

I stopped in Liard River Hot Springs, but as I was once again running behind I was unable to sit and soak and that was a shame as I could have used a warm-up.
I sweet-talked the lady at the gate and she let me ride in to take some photos and did not charge me!!

I guess because the ground around the springs was so swampy they needed to build a raised boardwalk into the spring



The walkway in to the springs...




I guess Canada also has slip-and-fall lawsuits - note the non-skid mats and warning signs:




There was an upper and a lower "pool"
This is the upper pool which is the warmer of the two.






This is the lower pool, and the cooler one...





This is on the left on the way out.
I loved the way this looked




After a quick walk in to the springs for photos I hopped back on the bike and headed north up Hwy 97.

Eventually, around 2:50 p.m., I had crossed into and out of the Yukon Territory several times, but now I had made it to the sign most people get a photo at...



A funny note to the photo above:

Since I'm using a really short GorillaPod tripod to do photos like the one above, I have to get down on my hands and knees to set up the shot (too see the screen, adjust zoom, etc).
Well this family drove up behind me in a motorhome while I was doing this and the wife freaked out...

SHE THOUGHT I WAS ON THE GROUND HAVING A HEART ATTACK

Once I got back up and ran to the bike for the self-timer shot she realized what I was doing


I almost forgot that I had made the mandatory stop in Watson Lake to see the signpost forest too....
A panormic shot was the only way to give an idea of the size of this place!!
You have to realize it is a pretty deep lot too!!




These shots are to the right of my bike, but zoomed in










And now some shots from inside the forest:

























Given the size of some of these signs you know they didn't carry them up on a motorcycle.
Even in a car they'd be in the way - look at the Visalia sign!!



HEY! Riverview, FL - that's only a short way from home.
And look, York, PA - I used to live near there too!




I eventually made it into Teslin Lake and stopped at the Yukon Motel and decided to hang it up for the day
My feet were wet, my hands were cold and after the rain today I just needed a break.

I did met a few ADV folks in the parking lot one who's going to D2D...but I was so brain dead that I didn't jot down their names...