Yukon Ho!

June 18, 2006

Biking time: ten minutes
End: Meziadin Junction (again)
Distance: 62km
Today’s goal was to get an early start (breakfast) and then hitch a ride back to Meziadin where we could continue biking to the next town (94 km to Bell II). After returning to Silverado’s for more friendly feeding (too bad Debbie wasn’t there), we hit up the bakery next door for an hour of internet and a cookie. Then it was off to the phones to check in with the family (and send out some father’s day wishes). By the time we were on the road with our thumbs out, it was already 11am. Hitchhiking sucked. One problem was that Stewart, being on a dead end street, did not have a healthy flow of traffic in either direction. It seemed for every 4 vehicles going in, only one came out. Most were small RVs or regular cars, so the hopes of any being big enough to accommodate both of us and our loaded bikes was small enough. What we were really hoping for was an empty pickup or a really large RV (preferably one towing an empty pickup). After waiting two hours (being passed with a wave by two pickups) we reluctantly started riding out of town… the only other option being to stay another night and try again earlier Monday morning. Ten minutes into the ride, we saw a pair of Greyhound-sized RVs come barelling up behind us. We were able to wave the first down, but were turned away under the guise of “no room”. Despondent, we flagged the second, and the cheerful couple was willing to give us a try. We strapped our bikes atop the covered bed of the pickup they were towing, and threw the bags in the pickup cab. Then we got to ride up front in the RV in full leather couch glory. Thanks Vivian and Adriaan! The two of them were hilarious, and they told us stories of their travels (the RV/Bus has been their fulltime home for 3 years). We also learned that they were actually driving to Alaska with the first RV that turned us down… and it sounded like the first couple didn’t pick us up because they were afraid we were criminals. Culture of fear! It only took 45 minutes to climb back up to Meziadin Junction, but it was still too late to trek on to Bell II, so we hit up the cabin for a second night. Before calling it a night, we went back to the ol’ Meziadin Cafe for a coffee, and it’s a good thing we did. Somehow we’d managed to win over the restaurant owner to the point where she even gave us the ends of the banana bread for free because she can’t sell them. She also gave us a bunch of tips about the road North, whereas the day before she just answered my questions with “Dunno… Haven’t been up that was in 5 years”. Perhaps it being our third visit made us “regulars”, or perhaps Friday had just been a bad day, but we will leave this corner tomorrow morning with a bit of a better feeling toward it. Before we left the cafe, we had a good chat with a couple coming up from Kitimat (south of Terrace) who had lots of tips for free camping along the rest of this highway. They have been vacationing up in this direction for years, and were on their way for the first time to Whitehorse. A big thanks to all of our helpers today, and it’s off to the creaky cabin for bed.

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