Day 9. Alaska Ride 2017: Kinaskan Lake Provincial Campground in West Central British Columbia, Canada
It rains during the early morning, but nothing to be concerned about. I get up and go and get some water at the pump and run smack into Bob. Bob retired in 2003, from working out of Truckee, California and now lives in Lake Tahoe. Bob has an amazing recollection of the roads and distances in Canada, as he has traveled them for years. You ask Bob how far something is and he knows the answer. Bob and I talk about all kinds of things for about a half hour. Things like my bike, his solar panels for his rig, the weather, the roads, etc. Bob, just as Dustin says there were all kinds of fires in Idaho when he went through three weeks ago. I tell Bob that I was thinking about going to Price Rupert today and then through Banff. Bob asks when I need to be
home, and I tell him I need to be at work on the 11th. Bob then says “You better skedaddle up through Banff, and not go to Prince Ruppert, because it takes 3-4 days to get out of Canada from where we are standing”. I guess this means another change in plan. I go back to my campsite and start packing. Getting up late and talking to Bob is putting me way back on my departure time. As soon as I start packing, up my campsite driveway comes Bob and his wife Cindy. Bob tells Cindy that this is the bike he was talking to her about. Cindy is also a talker, and soon all three of us are talking about the bike and where they have been. Bob starts saying he went up in Alaska, here and there in 2007 and 2008, and then says “Right Cindy?”. Cindy gives Bob a funny look and says “Sure, it all runs together in my head these days.”. Together they make a great couple and probably have a great time going all over Canada in their camper. I ask Bob when he is planning on heading back home and he says “In October”. I tell him that October is kind of late and cold to be in Canada, but then I remember he is from Lake Tahoe, and tell him “That is no problem for you Bob, right?”, which he winks in return. I see the ranger starting to clean the rest room, and perhaps the recycling cans, so I quickly finish packing and hit the road.
I immediately run into road construction. For this torture test, I am to depart the highway and go down into a semi-swamp area of mud before returning to the road. As I start to descend an eighteen-wheeler starts to come straight at me. I quickly pull over to the side in even deeper mud and wait for him to come by. I quickly run into
another steel bridge matt, and then another and another. I also run into some 10 wood plank bridges, but none of them appears to be as slippery as the ones on the Dalton: maybe different wood, or newer wood, a different cut, or maybe the volume of trucks on the Dalton make them slipperier? Outside of the one road construction zone, the 37 continues to amaze me. Great road with lots of zigs and zags. Probably the best motorcycle road I have been on for such a long distance. About half way down the 37 I find a very nice hotel and restaurant. I get some gas and have a late breakfast. I am the only one in the dining room. Beautiful place with nice quarter sawed oak tables The canyons on the 37 start to get narrower and the feeling is very much like highway 50 going through the West side of the Rockies in Colorado. As always, it rains but often the sun comes out. I go around a corner at 60 MPH and there is a black bear, he is literally one foot off the road digging something out of the ground: I could have hit him if he spooked and ran into the road. About a mile later I see a dead black bear with it’s head on the roadside. 5 miles later I see a sign that says “Caution, Bears along the road”: a little bit too late for one of the bears. I stop to clean the bike a bit after crossing yet another steel mesh bridge, and Jason and Wanda have stopped, and are out walking their dogs. They come up and start talking about the bike and where I have been. Jason and Wanda says they are from the BC down South. They are the first people that I have run into that do not immediately know the current road conditions on the Dalton highway. Jason says “did you notice the two bear cubs up the tree where the dead bear was?” I tell him that I did not. I continue down the 37 with no further delays or events. A day and a half and I am finally out of the 37: on the map it looked so small compared to the rest of Canada. I thought when I started the 37, that I would be out in a few hours.
The 37 stops at the 16, and where there is a gas station. I do the regular pre-authorization game to get gas and then sit in the parking lot to review maps. A guy pulls up on a motorcycle and starts talking to me about the weather and how it is going to rain this afternoon, but there will be 6 days of sun afterwards. I was so into the maps that I did not really notice what he was riding, but pretty soon my eyes go down to his bike. The guy is on a scooter with panniers, and with one of those orange pole flags on the back. I have a hard time having a serious conversation with him once I
see what he is riding. He hits the road as I finish with my maps. In a few minutes I overtake him, as he is only riding at about 45 mph. going slower than the main traffic is very dangerous, I would not recommend anyone ride a scooter, bike, or run on this type of highway: too dangerous. The 16 is a beautiful road and well-travelled. Parts of the scenery look like Illinois or Wisconsin. I spend the next few hours making hay and arrive at a nice new hotel in Burns Lake. Time to wash some clothes. I go out to the bike to get something later in the evening and it has started raining.
home, and I tell him I need to be at work on the 11th. Bob then says “You better skedaddle up through Banff, and not go to Prince Ruppert, because it takes 3-4 days to get out of Canada from where we are standing”. I guess this means another change in plan. I go back to my campsite and start packing. Getting up late and talking to Bob is putting me way back on my departure time. As soon as I start packing, up my campsite driveway comes Bob and his wife Cindy. Bob tells Cindy that this is the bike he was talking to her about. Cindy is also a talker, and soon all three of us are talking about the bike and where they have been. Bob starts saying he went up in Alaska, here and there in 2007 and 2008, and then says “Right Cindy?”. Cindy gives Bob a funny look and says “Sure, it all runs together in my head these days.”. Together they make a great couple and probably have a great time going all over Canada in their camper. I ask Bob when he is planning on heading back home and he says “In October”. I tell him that October is kind of late and cold to be in Canada, but then I remember he is from Lake Tahoe, and tell him “That is no problem for you Bob, right?”, which he winks in return. I see the ranger starting to clean the rest room, and perhaps the recycling cans, so I quickly finish packing and hit the road. 
another steel bridge matt, and then another and another. I also run into some 10 wood plank bridges, but none of them appears to be as slippery as the ones on the Dalton: maybe different wood, or newer wood, a different cut, or maybe the volume of trucks on the Dalton make them slipperier? Outside of the one road construction zone, the 37 continues to amaze me. Great road with lots of zigs and zags. Probably the best motorcycle road I have been on for such a long distance. About half way down the 37 I find a very nice hotel and restaurant. I get some gas and have a late breakfast. I am the only one in the dining room. Beautiful place with nice quarter sawed oak tables The canyons on the 37 start to get narrower and the feeling is very much like highway 50 going through the West side of the Rockies in Colorado. As always, it rains but often the sun comes out. I go around a corner at 60 MPH and there is a black bear, he is literally one foot off the road digging something out of the ground: I could have hit him if he spooked and ran into the road. About a mile later I see a dead black bear with it’s head on the roadside. 5 miles later I see a sign that says “Caution, Bears along the road”: a little bit too late for one of the bears. I stop to clean the bike a bit after crossing yet another steel mesh bridge, and Jason and Wanda have stopped, and are out walking their dogs. They come up and start talking about the bike and where I have been. Jason and Wanda says they are from the BC down South. They are the first people that I have run into that do not immediately know the current road conditions on the Dalton highway. Jason says “did you notice the two bear cubs up the tree where the dead bear was?” I tell him that I did not. I continue down the 37 with no further delays or events. A day and a half and I am finally out of the 37: on the map it looked so small compared to the rest of Canada. I thought when I started the 37, that I would be out in a few hours. 
see what he is riding. He hits the road as I finish with my maps. In a few minutes I overtake him, as he is only riding at about 45 mph. going slower than the main traffic is very dangerous, I would not recommend anyone ride a scooter, bike, or run on this type of highway: too dangerous. The 16 is a beautiful road and well-travelled. Parts of the scenery look like Illinois or Wisconsin. I spend the next few hours making hay and arrive at a nice new hotel in Burns Lake. Time to wash some clothes. I go out to the bike to get something later in the evening and it has started raining. 
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