Visiting a remote village

July 24^th, 2026

Atlin, British Columbia

I woke early to piss as usual, but went back to bed.

Woke again later as a few people were getting bikes ready to leave.  Also, the rain was coming down enough to hear it on the roof.

I moved into my chair and sat there with the blanket for warmth, but hoping it would help wake me up, did not get a good sleep last night.

Finally got up and changed into all the riding gear other than the jacket. 

I walked over to have breakfast and once done I went back to the tent and slowly packed things up and prepared them for loading on the bike.

The rain was showing little sign of stopping.  Weather app predicted a lull in the rain starting around 11:00am, so my plan to wait till last minute to check out might work.

I started to load the bike and finished up about 15 minutes till 11:00.

Grabbed the final gear and checked over the room.

Put on the jacket and all the rain gear and started the bike to let it warm up a bit.  It is only in the high 40s right now and still raining.

Rode up to the restaurant and dropped off my key, then out onto the road.

Pulled over soon after my turn as the damn AI assistant on the phone came up and again and breaks my maps.  It keeps interpreting wind noise as speech and asks me to more clearly state that I want to toss a monkey into the ocean (okay, it does not say that, but the recommendations are just as stupid and totally unrelated to anything I would ever say).  I thought I had turned this fucking shit off, but it keeps coming back up at random and besides taking over the screen, it requires me to stop and take off gloves to get rid or it.  Half the time it stops by Maps routing as well so I have to restart that.

Once I fixed that crap I got back on the road and headed toward Carcross where I will pick up a new highway I have not ridden yet.  This road is a repeat from a month ago as it eventually reaches Skagway.

Had to stop again as maps freaked out, so just put the phone away and will rely on the Garmin today.

Having lots of fogging issues today due to the rain, but it’s my glasses, not the visor that fog up.  Will try riding without them next time I stop, my vision is not that bad at distance, just up close that I cannot see good.

Pulled over to take some photos of a lake I missed on my last trip down this road.

Reached Carcross and turned onto the Tagish Highway.    I had to stop right away though and put glassed back on.  Vision is just off enough that it is giving me headache trying to ride without them.  I will just have to ride with visor open and let my face freeze.

This new highway (Yukon Highway 8) is a short 40 mile stretch that goes back up to Highway 1 (Alaska Highway) across the Tagish First Nation territory.  It also has the turn for the highway out to Atlin on it, which is where I am going today.

Rain actually let up a bit while on the road, but then started up again right before I reached the turn onto Highway 7, or Atlin Road.

Turned off and started heading south and almost immediately the road turns to gravel.  This was supposed to be paved all they way, but in Yukon fashion, they tear out the asphalt and then put down gravel and never finish fixing the roads.

Gravel lasted for about 4 miles, and they went back to asphalt road.

Narrow road with lots of small hills and curves, and the views were okay when not being hidden by the trees.

Got stuck behind a large truck in some larger hills for a bit, but finally got around him.

I noticed that I was going to arrive much earlier than I had planned.  My original estimate assumed I would stop and do more photos, but since I have skipped most of that due to the rain and cold, I will arrive just before 2:00pm.  Check in is not till 3:00pm.  Hopefully they will let me in early, otherwise might have to find a café or something to sit at.

I finally arrived in Atlin and found the hotel.  It sits right on the lakes edge with some amazing views and two older boats that used to work the lake now on display along the shore.

The hotel front desk was not open, but sign said to talk to the person in the Post Office (which shares this building, along with a Saloon, though that is part of the hotel and serves as the restaurant most days.

He looked up my info, but the room had not been cleaned yet.

So, I would need to come back around 3.

I went outside and sat on the stone bench on the porch of the building to check for things.

The lunch service at the upstairs restaurant had already closed, but I was told I could sit up there and have coffee if I wanted.

The café around the corner was going to close in just a few minutes, so was not an option.

Restaurant a few blocks away was still open for a few hours, but as it was raining harder now, and I had been out of it long enough to start feeling dryer, I did not want to go get wet again.

So, I just sat on the porch and did some online research while I waited.  The wind was not so bad here and I was just warm enough to not be uncomfortable.

Went out to the waters edge to take a few photos of the mountains across the lake as well with all the clouds hanging around.

With the Post Office inside, the place was quite busy with people coming to get mail and drop off mail.

One guy had pulled up and noticed the plate on the bike and we talked for a few minutes before he went inside.  Then when he came out, we talked again for quite some time.  Older gentleman who has come up to Atlin in the early 1980s.  He had come into Alaska to work the oil fields, but when the place he was at dried up, he came over to Atlin to mine gold for a few years, then got a job with the highway department.

He told me about some stuff farther south that would be good to see, but its all gravel that way, though supposedly not too bad.  I might see what things look like in the morning and perhaps do a short ride south, probably not all the way down though, would make my day longer than I would prefer.

I finally went inside and this time there was a guy at the front desk.  He checked on the room and it was ready, so was able to get checked in a few minutes early.

Unloaded the bike and stowed the gear and then secured and covered the bike.

Once in the room I got out of the wet gear and took a nice warm shower.

Once dressed, I went outside to walk around some as the rain had mostly stopped, though was still sprinkling here and there, and was still a bit overcast.

Walked to the waters edge to do some photos of the mountains around the lake and then the old boats on the shore.

Back inside I did some online stuff until I drifted off to sleep, was suddenly very tired again.

Woke when my arms started to tingle from laying on them at the desk in the room.

Sat for a bit and then forced myself to get up.

I then went upstairs to see the view from the windows up there, but not clear enough glass to take photos.  Looks like they do not have dinner service up here except on a few days a week.  Though breakfast will be here in the morning and I get it complimentary as a hotel guest.

I went down to the Saloon as it serves as the restaurant tonight.

Sat at the bar and ordered dinner and just played on the phone while I waited and ate.

Paid and went back to the room and finished editing the video from last night.

I then started the export which would take some time, so went back outside as the clouds had cleared up and sun was shining in at least half the sky. 

Took some more photos and watched a sea gull along the shore for a while.

Then went inside the Saloon again to buy a few drinks for tonight (or will take them along tomorrow if I do not drink them tonight).

Once back in room the video was ready, and I am now uploading it, which takes forever.

While I do have cell and data service, its not as fast as it could be.  Hotel has Wi-Fi, but warned it is limited and not to stream or do massive things, so my upload might not be much faster, or could break things for others if I tried using it.

Figured I would get the blog entries typed and then once done with the video will get them online.

Then I will probably turn in, already 10:00pm, and had to many late nights, so will get a good night’s sleep hopefully in a bigger bed and warmer room.

Tomorrow is supposed to be less wet, though still cold.  Will see about any side trips and then will head back north to the Alaska Highway and then turn east and south. 

Not sure yet where I will stop, but likely be a close town, making a 4-hour ride is all, but they have several motel/hotels there and then things get sparse till another town much farther away, so probably not going to want to ride that long.

Catch ya down the road.

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