Day 22 - Tuesday, July 21/2009
Starting Location: Laird Hot Springs, BC
Ending Location: Fort St. Johns, BC
Distance Travelled: 441 miles or 714 km
Distance Travelled to date: 7019 miles or 11699 km
Gas:
Muncho Lake, BC $1.599/li 16.675 litres $25.06 total
Fort Nelson, BC $1.199/li 13.68 litres $16.40 total
Wonowon, BC $1.249/li 14.027 litres $17.52 total
St Johns Rotary RV Park $20 less 10% Pal Sam
We left for Dawson City today as it will be quite a distance. As it rained the night before, we saw no signs of forest fires, except for the amount of wildlife along side the road. We're not sure if it was typical or due to the fire.
As we drove Highway 97 or the Alaska Highway, we once again came across grazing buffalo as well as numerous black bear, mountain goats, deer & caribou.
While driving the route, we went thru Muncho Lake National Park and as are all the Provincial Parks in the west, the mountain scenery is simply breathtaking. Hard to ride the bike and get all the scenery in. Want to take a lot of photos, but can't stop at every gorgeous spot or we would never leave.
Highway 97/Alaska Hwy was is great shape for riding. There are few gas stops, so make sure you have enough. At the Muncho Lake Resort, we paid $1.599/litre for gas. No alternative. The lady said they really don't make much on the gas as they must transport it to them...We paid a helluva lot less in more remote places (ie. Chicken or Stewart, AK)
The scenery and roads were great for riding, well paved, curvy and thru moutains. In one section, we went down a 7% incline for 3.1km, followed by another steep decline...awesome scenes along the way as you went thru the range.
However, once we got to Toad River, they were doing a 10km section of resealing. Man was it dusty!. They had to use pilot cars to get the traffic thru as the dust was so thick. As I was riding, a transport went by and I literally could not see my front tire because of the dust. It's a bit tricky as the gravel is loose and you're trying to avoid thick gravel so the bike does not slide from under you and you can't even see the road. Most of the time, I gave a lot of room between myself and the pilot car so some of the dust from the car moved away abit. It saved on food as I was full I when finished this section.
There were a few other dusty areas that were shorter. Other than the resurfacing sections, the road was very good. We did hit a 20 minute delay after getting out of Stone Mountain Provincial Park.
Once out of the Provincial Parks, the mountains disappeared and the land became flatter from Fort Nelson to Fort St.Johns.
Temperature: The day in Whitehorse started off very nice, a little overcast, in the low 60's and worked it's way up to the mid 70's by the end of the day. We did hit a bad, 10 minute rain storm just outside of Fort Nelson, but the sun was shining and there was blue sky all around except for where we were travelling. As we go south, we can notice we are getting a night sky again.
The Alaska Highway/Highway 97 from Laird Hot Springs is absolutely perfect for riding, except if you want to pull over to view a scene or wildlife, the transport drivers don't give a rat's a_ about you and go full throddle past you even if there is a buffalo directly along side. or another camper...They bull their way thru...Someone will get killed by these guys.
They had a lot of resurfacing of the roads in the Provincial Parks and that can slow you down...did I mention the dust in those construction areas?
After the Provincial Parks, again the roads are perfect for riding except they only have loose, gravel shoulders...not ideal for stopping with a bike.
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