Yukon Ho!

June 21, 2006

July 12, 2006 on 5:20 pm | In Uncategorized |

Biking time: 9:30AM to 6:30PM
End: A gift shop North of Iskut
Distance: 93km
In one of our travel brochures, we read about the festivities in WHitehorse every Canada day, so we’ve made it an informal goal to make it there by July 1. With over 800km to cover in 10 days, we figured we should get off to an early start for a change. Our goal for today was Iskut, 80km away. Armed with the knowledge that the first 10km would be downhill, but the next 5 very uphill, we figured that it would be possible, but not at all easy. So off we went, my legs burning with desire to be asleep (even on the downhill). And we were not wrong about the climb. We actually ended up climbing higher than our starting elevation, in half the distance. It had taken at least 40 minutes to climb, if not more. But we also had 15km under our belt. Almost there! Amy flew ahead while I stubbornly trudged against wind, hills and (very light) rain, grumbling at each pedalstroke. Aftre what seemed like days to me (and minutes to Amy), we reached Kinaskan Provincial Park for lunch. The park was quite nice, though all the campsites were small and gravelly. One major bonus though, was that half of them were on the Lake, so you could swim (or fish) right out of your tent door.

Our afternoon ride was much better for me. The sun came out a little more, which always helps, and the roads tended toward the downhill variety. For a few kilometres leading into Tatogga Lake, we had to fight for our space against the quarry trucks on a sloppy gravel road surface. We had actually been looking forward to the gravel construction because we’d been told (by Wolf) that they often have a “pace truck” which leads the cars through the construction, and ferries cyclists across the gravel section. Unfortunately for us, he’s a dirty liar. Regardless, I kind of enjoyed the gravel challenge, and the gravel sections were all downhill.

At Tatogga, we took a break from the gravel and bought coffee (and gas for the stove) at the little resort built there. The restaurant/store area was filled with antlers and statues and other log cabin style decorations. Promintently featured trophies included: a carved bear, 4ft tall, on sale for $1200, a jade inukshuk, 2 ft tall, on sale for $2400, a matching pair of moose heads, both cleaned to the bone, complete with antlers, and a stuffed bobcat with a saran wrap rainsuit. We got 83 cents worth of gas.

After coffee, we were treated to more downhill gravel, followed by a stretch of road with a fantastic view of Eddontenajon Lake and an even more fantastic wind at our backs that literally blew us the rest of the way into Iskut. Poor little Iskut, having been the object of our dreams during 80km of pedalling, never had a chance. We got there and it was closed, so we hate it. No really. There is one store in Iskut, and since their power was out, they were closed. The cashier was inside, but I guess she could not count high enough on her fingers in order to make cash sales with no powered register to help her. We sat and got angry for a few minutes, then decided to forget about the store and continue toward (and up) the legendary Iskut hill. At the top we’d be rewarded with a used book store owned by the grandmother of some kids whose mother told us about it.* Are you ready? At an elevation of 1080M, she was not home. Closed again. So we toook some pictures of her Llamas, and rode on, hoping for food. Then… a sign. It said “food, gas, etc, etc for next 6km”. Then on the left, the Bear Paw resort, advertising “Fine Dining”. DO IT. Are you ready? CLOSED. Well, not exactly. It was open, but only in the sense that the door was unlocked and there were people inside. Apparently, despite their roadside advertising, this lodge only feeds people who are “reserved guests”, meaning the only buy food for you if they know you are coming. Thanks for nothing.

And finally, hungry as the wolf, we pulled in to Trappers Gifts, where we found many souveniers but no food. The owner Lorraine assured us that she was the last business Northbound for a good 70km to Dease Lake. She invited us in for coffee and told us that we could camp there for free. She wanted to offer dinner, but didn’t have enough prepared, but we were happy enough to have a great camping spot, so we made our own dinner (Curry Inna Hurry). Before heading out to cook and camp though, I fixed the universal remote on her TV and took a look at her laptop’s internet problems. Nerds on site indeed.

*You can breathe now.

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