Across the Yukon

This morning I didn't awake until 9:00. I'm not sure if it's because of the 3 hour time difference catching up with me, or the 4000+ miles I just traveled, but I found Keith and Dan (the guy we met yesterday) sitting by the fire. I had told Maria that I would skype the kids at nine, so I hurried to get near the campground office for a strong signal. It was nice to see the family again and we talked for about 15 minutes. It had rained all night and was still raining and everything was soaked. I ate breakfast and started packing up. We hit the road around 10:30. We had planned to slow down once we got to Canada so we weren't very worried we would fall behind. Dan left about 15 minutes before us and was headed to meet his brother in anchorage.
The drive on the Cassier Highway was magnificent. The tall rugged mountains, partially obscured by the low clouds welcomed us on the narrow wet road.




We passed dozens of emerald colored lakes nestled between green mountain valleys.
We also spotted a bear cub eating by the road. Couldn't get a picture since the camera was put away since it was raining but it was pretty cool.







In the early afternoon we reached Dease Lake. We juiced up the scooters and took a little lunch break while talking to other adventure riders.

After lunch the roads started getting rougher. They were hard packed gravel, with patches of loose gravel for about 80k's



A few semi trucks were busy hauling big loads up north. They ranged from heavy equipment to this large round pipe

At this road block we learned that a truck just like this had flipped over yesterday and they had just arrived to pull it out of the ditch.


Look Out!

The green forest suddenly turned black and brown. A month ago a forest fire had devoured thousands of acres and left thousands of toothpick looking trees standing solemnly in the sun.



A few miles down the road we started seeing many cars and trucks sitting by the side of the road. People were heading in the burnt forest with big packs on they're backs. We stopped and asked an Australian hippy what they were getting. He told us they were merral mushrooms. They are evidently a delicacy here and people can make upwards of $1000 a day collecting them and selling them to mushroom buyers. He showed us what they looked like and we were off t o the forest to pick supper.



Back on the road to cook um up!

Te miles rolled on and soon we crossed into the Yukon!

The Cassier Highway was ending and now I could check off one box off my trip list.
We stopped for gas and found a small dirt road that lead off. The Alaska Highway. We would camp here until morning then head towards Tok. From there we will check the weather and decide weather we will head up the Dalton highway or over to Anchorage. If rain is forecast we will head to Anchorage and wait until the Dalton is dry.
After we set up camp a van stopped by and 4 people got out. They were locals looking for a place to fish. They chatted with us for about 30 minutes before driving off. They were very friendly and were really diggin' our small camp stoves and the fact that we were boiling the mushrooms instead of frying them in garlic butter. I told her to hook me up with some garlic butter!


We hung the food bag up and stoked the fire and headed off to bed. It's 10:30 and still rather light....it really messes with my mind. I'm not really tired, but need to sleep!


The food in the blue and yellow bags





yum! With Ramen flavoring they taste pretty good...almost like Ramen...

Location:Watson Lake