Teslin, whitehorse and fox lake, yukon.

June 2, 2009
Last night i froze sitting on the patio at Dawson Peaks resort updating the blog via slow internet. damn mosquitoes kept bugging me. If anyone is coming up north, bring a lot of 30% DEET bugspray. you'll need it. I've resized all the pictures i'm uploading to be very small, so i'll have to upload all my pics once i get back home.


I had fitful sleep last night, mainly because my pillow (the bike coverin a bag) kept sliding around. polyester on polyester doesn't offer much friction. my solution in the future is to just roll up a sweater and use it. that works just as well.


My Body just didn't want to move today. Body aches and just all around sluggish. I took a coin operated shower at dawson resort and broke camp.

I rode until i hit Teslin and took a picture of the longest bridge in the yukon.

I stopped in at the gas station/motel resort/campground/general store/restaurant for breakfast. Eggs and Caribou sausage. I should have stuck with regular bacon. It was ok, but nothing to write home about... which i'm doing. oh well. wasn't worth the $14 price tag. At least i tried something different.

Before i got to whitehorse, I stopped to take a picture of the ice on the water. I think i serously came at the wrong time of the year, yet on the other hand, it's not often you see this type of sight when riding a motorcycle.I only rode about 100km and my body and mind just couldn't take it. This was at about noon. I was burned out so i stopped at the next rest stop i saw. The rest stop is all gravel and no grass to lay down on, so i grabbed my towel (thank you Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and rolled it up for a pillow. I was wearing a long sleeved T-shirt so i put that over my face for the beating sun. when stopped it was hot, but when riding near water, it was downright cold. I lay down essentially in the ditch facing the highway, with my trusty towel as a pillow. I was like that for a little while and it felt good.

after a little while (maybe 20 mins or so) i heard a bike stop behind me. I got up and saw a very nice BMW GS 1200

Meet Yoni.

Yoni was on his way to the start of his trip at Prudhoe Bay, and his final destination will be Ushuaia, Argentina. He's originally from Israel and started this trip in California Here's his website for those interested http://harpatka.com/ seems i can't figure out the english version of it. We swapped pics and chatted for a while. I got a sticker to put on my windshield once i clean it. i'd be interested in doing the trip Yoni is doing, as it's the same trip that SgtMarty did and was just finishing this year. you can read about SgtMarty's trip at http://www.errant-ronin.com/ . it's a great ride report. Yoni said he had to take a loan out for this trip. I don't know how much it costs, but i know it's more than i have. ouch. I'd like to do this trip, but i think lack of Bike, money and no spanish skills really hold me back.

I headed into Whitehorse, which still had snow. 30 degrees celcuis and still snow on the ground. seriously. From what the ladies at the Watson Lake info center said, it piles up high and doesn'tblow around much. If you're in Watson lake, ask them about it. They have pictures... pretty neat. Whitehorse is nice, but it's very very small. very small.

I grabbed a coffee and tried to decide what to do for the night. I was still exhausted and didn't feel like going far today. I knew i'd be camping out so i went out and bought some supplies.

nice clear blue skies. it was hotter than arizona i'd bet. Saw a deer looking at me while riding by. didn't see him until the last minute because he was in the ditch. You need to keep a sharp eye for animals in these parts.



found a nice campsite at Fox Lake. in the Yukon, all government campsites are $12, have outhouses, water and firewood. you don't need much else. It's all self serve as well,
Pretty neat setup actually.
Here's the site i chose.



No better way to cook a smokie than over an open fire. why this barbaric ritual of playing with fire soothes my mind, i'll never understand. love it.

Then we slow cook some chili, in the can. Why dirty more pots? I didn't have any pots to cook directly over the fire anyhow, so this works well enough.Make sure you bring enough hot sauces and spices. Food can get very bland on the road and it's always nice to spice things up. I also brought with me some Mrs Dash.

I love how bike tires scare these packets. hah.

I added some Marble cheese on the smokie, smothered with chili and topped with some mild hot sauce. Viola. Chili cheese dog is born. it was delicious. i'm going to start making these at home.

I went down by the lake to take some pictures. Very nice lake. Quiet. these pics don't do it justice, there are more mountains on every side.

This is me. tired, but in good spirits. i needed to take a pic to tell my friends and family i'm ok and that i was actually there. hah.

Got a little bored so i picked up a few pine cones and did this. i'm such a geek.

This is the water that came out of the well pump. says to boil for at least 10 mins before drinking. i don't think i'd ever drink that. the lake water looked cleaner.

final fire of the night. had to destroy all evidence of the cone writing. i think i took it at around 9:30 pm. it didn't get darker until 3am or so. it never really got dark.