Day 10. Alaska Ride 2017: Burns Lake in Central British Columbia, Canada
I wake and find that the rain has not stopped: it is coming down pretty good. I ride for a couple of hours getting soaked embracing new and interesting smells from the countryside. I then decide to switch out my gloves at a historical marker.
This was the exact site where the last spike was driven for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad that connected the East to the West, just outside of Fraser. As I change out the gloves in my pannier, the bike falls over to the right. I poorly parked the bike, and the new Givi large footprint stand adapter has raised the kickstand about ½ inch. I immediately start taking off the top bag and the left pannier, but I unable to get the right pannier off, as it is trapped under the bike. The bike is still heavy as there are many other items still on the bike, but using all my effort I am able to lift the bike up without rolling it. The preferred method is to roll the bike forward during the lift, but due to my poor parking, moving forward would have sent the bike off the road and into the mud, which would have turned into even a larger mess. The good news with the bike dump is that all the gear to keep the bike from getting damaged worked. The front panniers and hand guards kept critical components on the bike from hitting the pavement in the fall. I continue on for two hours until I reach Prince George, where I stop at my first Tim Horton’s restaurant of the trip. I had a great sandwich and a much-needed hot soup. I honker down and continue in the ever-increasing rain until I stop at a gas station near the foot of the mountains. I see a hotel on the other side of the road and contemplate finishing for the day, as the rain is just relentless.
I ride on for another 30 minutes and suddenly the rain stops after an amazing 6.5 hours, which must be due to the positioning along the mountain range. I continue on until I reach jasper, which is your classic town on the edge of a national park. People, restaurants, and traffic are everywhere: I cannot wait to fill my gas tank and head out of town. I head south on the 93 toward the ice fields. I am thinking that I will get a camp spot at one of the many campground along the 93. I stop at the first campground and ride through, but immediately know that I am in trouble as I can tell from the eyes of the people at the existing campsite. They have that “You are so out of luck” look in their eyes as you drive by. I give up on the campground idea after the first two campgrounds, and realize that I am now in big trouble because there is not a hotel around for a hundred miles plus, and it is already 6:00 pm. I check my Garmin and find that the largest bulk of hotels is in the town of Golden, which I will not get to until 9:45 pm. I bear-down and drive through the rest of Jasper park.
By the time I get to Golden, I am on my last legs. The last few miles going into Golden was torture. The highway goes from 100 kph to about 30 kph with twisting roads. I go to the Best Western and they are sold out, but Mildred at the desk calls several other hotels and finally calls Carrie at the Holiday Inn with one room left, but at a hefty price. I immediately take it as I am out of options, and you cannot sleep in your bike, like you can in a car. I check in and Carrie tells me they have not had rain for over 30 days, which is what Dustin told me earlier. I tell Carrie that my equipment is totally waterlogged and I must dry everything out: this idea is very amusing to people that have not seen rain in a long time. Carrie asks where I was that was raining so hard, and I tell her, but Prince George and the 16 appear to be a long way away for the people of Golden. I order pizza after I secure my room, and hit the sack after a 12 hour, 566 mile ride, of which half was in pounding rain.
This was the exact site where the last spike was driven for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad that connected the East to the West, just outside of Fraser. As I change out the gloves in my pannier, the bike falls over to the right. I poorly parked the bike, and the new Givi large footprint stand adapter has raised the kickstand about ½ inch. I immediately start taking off the top bag and the left pannier, but I unable to get the right pannier off, as it is trapped under the bike. The bike is still heavy as there are many other items still on the bike, but using all my effort I am able to lift the bike up without rolling it. The preferred method is to roll the bike forward during the lift, but due to my poor parking, moving forward would have sent the bike off the road and into the mud, which would have turned into even a larger mess. The good news with the bike dump is that all the gear to keep the bike from getting damaged worked. The front panniers and hand guards kept critical components on the bike from hitting the pavement in the fall. I continue on for two hours until I reach Prince George, where I stop at my first Tim Horton’s restaurant of the trip. I had a great sandwich and a much-needed hot soup. I honker down and continue in the ever-increasing rain until I stop at a gas station near the foot of the mountains. I see a hotel on the other side of the road and contemplate finishing for the day, as the rain is just relentless.
I ride on for another 30 minutes and suddenly the rain stops after an amazing 6.5 hours, which must be due to the positioning along the mountain range. I continue on until I reach jasper, which is your classic town on the edge of a national park. People, restaurants, and traffic are everywhere: I cannot wait to fill my gas tank and head out of town. I head south on the 93 toward the ice fields. I am thinking that I will get a camp spot at one of the many campground along the 93. I stop at the first campground and ride through, but immediately know that I am in trouble as I can tell from the eyes of the people at the existing campsite. They have that “You are so out of luck” look in their eyes as you drive by. I give up on the campground idea after the first two campgrounds, and realize that I am now in big trouble because there is not a hotel around for a hundred miles plus, and it is already 6:00 pm. I check my Garmin and find that the largest bulk of hotels is in the town of Golden, which I will not get to until 9:45 pm. I bear-down and drive through the rest of Jasper park.
By the time I get to Golden, I am on my last legs. The last few miles going into Golden was torture. The highway goes from 100 kph to about 30 kph with twisting roads. I go to the Best Western and they are sold out, but Mildred at the desk calls several other hotels and finally calls Carrie at the Holiday Inn with one room left, but at a hefty price. I immediately take it as I am out of options, and you cannot sleep in your bike, like you can in a car. I check in and Carrie tells me they have not had rain for over 30 days, which is what Dustin told me earlier. I tell Carrie that my equipment is totally waterlogged and I must dry everything out: this idea is very amusing to people that have not seen rain in a long time. Carrie asks where I was that was raining so hard, and I tell her, but Prince George and the 16 appear to be a long way away for the people of Golden. I order pizza after I secure my room, and hit the sack after a 12 hour, 566 mile ride, of which half was in pounding rain. 
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