Yukon Ho!

June 10, 2006

Biking time: 9:30AM to 12:00PM
End: 50′43.322N, 127′27.419W, 4M
Distance: 50KM
Today started with hot showers at the scout’s hall and a big breakfast at another cafe in town. A little full and a little tired, we left for our final island destination, starting with a huge climb out of town (and a wave to our cowboy buddy from yesterday). We sure made a lot of friends in a short amount of time here. Maybe we’ll visit again. The road to Port Hardy was great. Mostly new pavement and no rumble strips to force us into the lane or onto the shoulder. The hills remained small and rolling, and we were armed with the knowledge that every metre we climbed was a metre of coasting later since Port Hardy pretty much has to be at sea level. We pulled into town ahead of schedule (mostly because it was 5km closer than the signs led us to believe). We had hoped to find a bustling metropolis (because we needed some supplies) but instead found a pretty dumpy small town. We were able to stock up on a few things from a local bike store, and we got some basic camping things from the hardware store, but there was nowhere to buy upgraded thermarests (I desperately want our oversized overweight pad off of my rear rack). Hopefully Prince Rupert will have what we need. We tried to get some info from the front desk of the Backpacker’s Hostel, but the place was deserted. It was like the Langoliers… nobody in sight, doors left ajar… creepily quiet. After sitting around and snooping through their stuff for 20 minutes, we gave up and grabbed some fish and chips at the Fish Fry Fuck Up (not it’s real name, but a deserved nickname since it took a half hour to make a burger and a piece of fish, and we were served our dishes 5 minutes apart, which at our rate of eating meant that Amy was done her entire plate before I even tracked mine down. In fact, I think they forgot to make mine because we ended up getting it from another table who had pity on us and decided they would wait for the next fish to come out of the fryer). We then hit up the local coffee shop, home of the biggest bitch in town (apparently her attitude was deemed acceptible enough that she was hired as a barista here). Finally we went to the post office to mail my heavy box of extra crap home, only to find they are closed all day Saturday. Thanks for nothing Port Hardy! As an added bonus, it was a 10km ride BACK IN THE DIRECTION WE CAME in order to get to the ferry terminal. But at least we made it. Now we are sitting at a rest stop next to the terminal, under a “no camping” sign beside which we plan to pitch our tent for the night. We have to be at the ferry terminal at 4:30 tomorrow. Yes, AM. Yes. Four-thirty in the morning. But we’ll get a free breakfast…

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