from Snag to whitehorse. Grueling. grueling. almost killed me

June 16th

Yup, back in whitehorse now... but lets back up a bit.

Left the campsite, and anything i didn't put in the tent was damp or wet. It rained during the night and i'll need to dry everything out. still worth it though. $12 campsite (has wood for a pit) and $9 smokies. that's $21 and it would have cost me $89 plus food in a restaurant.

i had to stop yesterday since i almost fell alseep at the wheel. more than a few times. damn dangerous

today i hit the road at about 10:30. not great.

The road condition on the yukon side was an absolute horror. the road essentially had whoop-dee-doos in it, and almost threw me off the bike more than a few times.

The day started off nice enough.

I was not waking up so i stopped in at this gas/motel/cafe place. It looked a little run down, but hey, i needed coffee.

Inside there was a table and 4 chairs, and over every nook and cranny there was stuff. some for sale, some not. it was like walking inside someone's house.

by this point i pulled up a chair and asked for a coffee.

Cold and wet, a hot coffee by a wood stove sounded good.

The place is run by an older couple that have been running it for the last 40 years. we chatted for about an hour but i had to get some miles in, so i bid them farewell.

a nice couple harsh times for people out here.

the coffee and warm fire and chat did me some good, i felt good riding now... not falling alseep.

those clouds do not look good.

more clouds to the left and right, and when i looked in my mirrors, there was rain there too.

i was going to get a bit wet.

I did get a bit wet, but not that much. i needed gas and food so i stopped in at Destruction Bay

really good beef barley soup and ham and grilled cheese sandwich. hit the spot. can't remember the name of the cafe/motel/gas place, but the cafe closes at 2pm. i walked in at like 1:55. hah.

good food.

around the lake by destruction bay

non picture interlude.

From around 4pm until about 6:30, it rained. it rained really hard. I thought my rain jacket and liner would keep me dry. they didn't. i thought my rain pants would keep me dry, it did to a point.

i didn't have a chance to fall alseep now, it was just bad weather. my facesheild fogged inside very badly, and i had water coming on the inside of the visor as well. gotta figure where it's coming from, but i think it's coming in from the vent ports. arg.

I was cold. freezing. it was roughly 6 degrees C and my hands were cold and wet, my feet cold and wet, and i was starting to lose ability to move my arms and legs. not good. i needed off fast.

I tried to go as fast as i could, but hydroplanning over puddles scared the shit out of me.

I finally got to whitehorse, where it was not raining as hard and was a bit warmer. 8 degrees C.

i pulled in to the 1st motel i saw that had internet and doors out front. i walked inside with all my gear on. i slowly took off my gloves and helmet. my hands were purple and shaking and wet. I was shivering.

got the room and quickly some gear off the bike and inside. I took a hot shower for about 30 or so minutes. my hands were burning. wow. i was not in good shape.

I laid down for a bit and got dressed. thankfully i put my clothes in big ziplock bags so it was dry.

I only had wet shoes and wet boots. I chose to put on the wet socks (wool blend) and put on the wet shoes. funny. my feet were warm.

went out and got some food and a coffee.

The place was an absolute dump. the internet was a coin operated computer in their front office/lobby.

the room was crap. there was even blood on the floor. seriously. gross.

i couldn't wait to get out of there.