Amazing Scenery and a Ferry ride

June 22^nd, 2026

Million Dollar Falls Campground, Yukon Territory, Canada

Woke up early this morning and got things packed up.  Then walked over to take a shower and get dressed.

Loaded the bike and geared up.

Left key in the tent and rode off for the next adventures after 2 full days off the bike trying to get other things done.

Just a short distance down the road we turned off onto the highway that heads over to the coast and the town of Skagway.

Amazing drive, and it just keeps getting better as you go.

I passed by a few of the scenic overlooks as I was not wanting to spend too much time and had an idea of those I really wanted to stop at.

The first was the Carcross Desert.

This desert looking landscape is dropped into the midst of mountain peaks and pine trees!

The reality is that this sandy region of dunes is the remains of an ancient lake bed.

During the last ice age, the glaciers built up around here started to melt and huge lakes of meltwater were created.  Sediments washed into the lakes settled to the bottom.  As the ice finally melted away the lakes were drained off (though todays rivers were created at that time) leaving behind the region of sandy soils.

The region around Carcross town itself was nice with the huge bodies of water nearby.

Shortly after that you go back into British Columbia for a bit.

Farther down were some other lake views and the one near the town of Fraser also had view of the railroad that run up the Chilkoot pass between Skagway and Fraser.

This was also where the Canadian customs office is, though they do not check things going out, only in, same with the US borders up here.

About 15 minutes past the custom stop, you reach the top of the pass and this is where the actual border is.  You also get the large Welcome to Alaska sign here as well.

15 minutes down the roads you reach the US Border station to officially enter Alaska.  This stretch of no mans land (area between two countries border stations), which is roughly 8 miles, is one of the larger gaps between border stations.

Once through the US Border, it was only a short distance down the canyon to reach the coastal town of Skagway.

I got stuck behind a tour bus coming into town, and then the entire main road into town is under construction.  As I could not see around the bus, I did not realize this right away and sat there waiting for something to move so we could go.

Eventually I went over a block to another street parallel to the main road and made my way to the port area where I needed to go for the ferry crossing. This is where I also noticed two massive cruise ships were in port (actually 4, but I did not see the other two until later).

I turned to go back toward downtown, as I was hoping to find a place to have lunch, but thought I would be screwed due to the thousands of people dumped on the town at the moment.

I cruised a few roads and passed a pizza place that I had found on map earlier as a good option, but missed the turn as I was looking at the odd “Godzilla” statue at some sausage food truck place.

I went around the block and pulled up near the pizza place, the street was empty outside, so was not sure it was open, but sign was lit and I saw someone being seated near front window.

Shocked that the place was empty, I quickly parked the bike right in front of the window and went in to get a table by the window.

Ordered the big nachos and enjoyed a nice long lunch as I had about 90 minutes before I needed to check in at the ferry terminal.

Talked a bit to a guy who was sitting at nearby table who had seen the bike and connected me to the bike from the jacket and helmet sitting on the chair at my table.

Once outside as I was checking over the luggage and fixing a few straps another guy stopped to talk for a bit as well.

I have noticed a bit more interest in my travels when people see the Arizona plates or are bike riders themselves.  Also seeing far more riders up here than I did the first few days of the trip.

I finally headed over toward the ferry terminal, but stopped first to get a photo of the sausage Godzilla, and again near some old railroad engines.

Once at the ports, I went inside to see what I might need other than the ticket that was on my phone.

They printed up the boarding passes and destination badge that had to go on the bike.  Then they told me where to queue up to wait for the ferry.  They had all the bikes line up against the railing at edge of lot instead of using any of the numbered lanes in the large lot.

Parked the bike and then went inside again to use restroom.  I then sat on the railing and waited along with everyone else.  Talked some with several of the other bike riders and a few of the car drivers as well.  Probably spent 40 minutes talking with one older guy who had lived in the region most of his life.

The ferry finally arrived, running a bit late, and then took forever to unload.

The sailing time was supposed to be 2:00pm, but that was when we started to board.

About 2 dozen cars had to go on, most of them RVs, and we had roughly 20 bikes.

As this ferry is part of the Alaska Marine Highway System, it makes multiple stops between Skagway Alaska and Bellingham Washington.  They had to load the vehicles in an order that would make sense for letting those out at the earlier stops, and I am guessing to leave room for those cars that might join at other ports as well.

The route to Haines, which was the first stop, was only an hour long.  The final stop in Bellingham was almost 4 days later.

I was getting off at Haines.

This meant we were the last group to board and they put the cars on first, so the 8 bikes going to Haines were the last to board of all vehicles, which kind of sucked as the wind had picked up, temps had dropped and rain was on the horizon as we waited.

Once aboard, had to figure out how to strap the bike down and then make way up to the passenger decks.

I headed to the top deck where the main lounge was, the aft deck and snack bar and cocktail lounge.

Lower decks were mostly cabins and a few other shops, none of which I needed.

By time I reached the front seating lounge, we had already pulled away from the dock and were starting to turn around.

I went outside and walked along the side of the ship to photo and video and eventually ended up on the rear deck 1 level up.   This level was a partially enclosed space (open on 1 side) with lounge chairs where many people were sitting for the voyage.  Also, the deck some pitched their tents for the voyage. (That is one cool thing about some multi-day ferries is they allow you to tent on the deck if you do not want to buy a cabin).

I then went to the snack bar to get a drink and something to snack on, and then found a chair up front in a quieter spot.

I watched outside a bit and ran out to get photos when needed as the windows were too dirty for photo out.

I eventually grabbed my stuff and wandered around the decks more doing photos as we were getting close to the port in Haines.

I watched the docking process, and then as soon as they announced we could go below, I got in elevator with a few of the other riders, same ones I had rode elevator up with.

The elevator has some odd issue (even had a sign to press a button if it got stuck).  It did not seem to want to move and when it did, just went down one level, and then back up.

We all decided to take the stairs, which was confusing as half way down they moved the stairway to and different area, so had to find the last section of stairs.

Once down, I unstrapped the bike and loaded up my gear and got ready, then when we were given the signal, we all backed out and rode off the boat. 

At the top of the exit ramp we had to get scanned out by the port officer, and then we were on the road toward Haines.

I stopped in town to refuel as the next leg was a long one and would take most of my tank.

The first few miles were right along the river which was over flowing, in some cases just a foot or two below the road bed.  We were pretty much at sea level near here.

Eventually started to head up in elevation and move away from the river.

The road soon reached the Canadian border (after passing the US Border station) where we again had to go through a series of questions.

Once past there the road started to climb into the mountains, reaching average elevations near 3000 feet for many miles.

The winds picked up, clouds moved it and temps dropped.  Thankfully no rain actually came down along the road, but could see it in the distance over the mountains.

Very few cars on this road, guessing most of the people getting off the ferry stayed in Haines.  I did meet 4 of the riders heading up the road, but they pulled off before the border and never saw them again.

I was hoping to reach a campground back up in Yukon (was still in British Columbia for the time being), but that was nearly 4 hours away from Haines.

As things got colder, I was also getting tired, and the thought of riding that much longer was a bit of a drag.

As I came down off a hill, I saw a sign for one of the provincial campgrounds they have all over this part of Canada.  The places have basic services and only cost $20 Canadian dollars a night.

I decided at that point I was too tired, so would pull off and tent camp tonight.

Pulled off the highway onto the side road which soon turned to gravel road.  It went back about ½ mile before reaching the first part of the campground.  I road in a bit, saw a few empty spots, but did not see the kiosk where I would pay.  I went back, but all I found there were trash bins and bear proof food lockers.

I rode a bit farther into the park and eventually found the payment station.  I took out the envelope and pencil, then got on bike and rode the circle till I found a camp spot that looked okay, was close to a restroom and not too far from the pay station (actually ended up roughly 200 feet away.

I parked the bike, then walked over and filled out the form and put my money in the payment vault.

Hung my copy on the post for the spot, then got to work unloading the bike onto the ground or the picnic table.  I then setup the tent and moved stuff inside it, all while trying to not be carried away by the mosquitos.

I had sprayed a little repellent on me and then setup the new bug repellant device that runs off the gas cannister I have for my camp stove.  Has seen them in use back in Whitehorse and they worked great.

Took about 15 minutes, but then the air was mostly free of mosquitos in a 15-foot circle.

I kept my mosquito net hat on though as I was moving around in and out of that range.

Once everything was in tent, got the bike secured and covered and the sat down to eat a pack of tuna for dinner.

Once done, I decided to put the rest of the food in a bear locker as we were in active bear country, and also needed to toss the packaging.   The trash that was supposed to be near pay station was not there, so had to carry it all they way to the locker as well.

Then realized I had not brought a padlock to lock things (to protect it from human theft), so had the make the ¼ mile hike twice.

I then hiked over to the trail to go see the water fall, and that was impressive.

What I at first thought was just a series of impressive rapids turned out to end with a small, but powerful waterfall.  No way you would ever kayak this narrow but powerful stream.

Once done with that I went back to the camp spot and got into tent to get air mattress setup and then went to bed, it was late and I was beat.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Rest day and more shopping

June 21^st, 2026

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada

Woke up about 7:00 this morning, even though alarm was set for 8:00.

Sat around looking at stuff online while I waited for most of the other campers to leave.  Nearly all of them were out by 10:00 am.

Around 9:00 am I took my laundry over and got that done since no one else was using the machines.

After 10:00 I showered and dressed and then got geared up to go into town again as I have a few more things to pick up.

I had also worked on setting up a 2^nd camera on the bike, so wanted to do some test footage to see if that position would give anything useful.

I rode into town, trying several different camera angles on the mount while I was riding (is mounted in an area I can easily reach while riding).

In town I stopped again at Canadian Tire to pick up some straps in case I need them for the ferry crossing on Monday.  Might not need them, but not having them could be a bad thing, and eventually I will find ferry in some part of the world that requires me to provide straps, so time to add them to the kit.

I also wanted to pick up a bug repelling device some of the other campers were using and they all swore it was the best thing around.  Keeps mosquitos and even some of the other bugs away or reduces their activity by a huge factor in a range of about 10-15 feet from the device.  Its not too large, and runs off the same Isobutane fuel my stove uses, and uses very little of it, so efficient.

I pick up one of the devices and a box of refill pads that do the actual work.  They are small pads about 2 inches by 1 inch, so light and easy to pack away.

I then went over to a pizza by the slice shop nearby and had lunch.  Good food and decent price, cheapest food I have had since I came into Canada.

I then headed back to camp, but I wanted to stop again at that Yukon Transport Museum and I noticed on the ride in there was a car showing going on in the parking lot.  I had heared about this from a guy at the camp my first night, was related to the celebrations of the solstice and Indigenous People’s day.

I pulled off and found a spot to part as the lot was in use by the cars and so many cars around that you just parked where ever you could find a spot.

I walked around looking at the cars and bikes.  A good mix of 4x4’s, classic muscle, hot rods, a few exotics, some imports, and handful of various bikes.

Talked to a few owners and then got back on the bike and hit the highway.

Short ride back to the campsite and then I started to work on a video, but like the day before, I suddenly ran out of gas and had to lay down for a 2-hour nap.

After I woke around 4:00 pm, I worked on the video for a bit, and then went over to try having dinner, but the place was packed!

I came back to the tent and took my new mosquito thing out to test it and make sure it worked.

Spent some time talking with the two riders in the tent across from mine.

After about an hour, figured the restaurant might be more open, so walked over and still quite busy, but had a small table open I could sit at.

I kept working on my video while I ate, then came back to the tent to finish it.

Went out a few times while waiting for exports or uploads to talk as well.

Day is about over now (well, still daylight out at 11:00pm, but the “day” is over), so going to wrap this up and then get a few things done to get ready to start riding again in the morning.

Earlier day as well then I have done last few.

Catch ya down the road!

Rest and supply run day. And changing my route again!

June 20^th, 2026

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada

I slept in today.  Alarm went off at 8:00am, but stayed in bed for a bit anyway while I listened to many others packing and riding off.

Finally got up and went over to use the restroom and stopped and talked to same guy (Tad was his name) from last night and another guy who were both taking a rest before they packed final gear and headed out.

I went back to the tent and organized a few things and then checked the weather. Looked like it could rain a bit in the afternoon, so decided to go into Whitehorse earlier to get the stuff I needed.

Got geared up and took the bare minimum with me and got on the bike and headed out.

I noted a few fuel stations on the way and thought I might stop and top off the tank on the way back to the camp so I can be ready for a ride in the morning on Sunday if I decide to do so.

It takes about 20 minutes to ride into the far side of Whitehorse, and it is a simple ride along quicker moving Alaska Highway route.  Passed lots of smaller business areas, but some open forest areas as well.

I noticed as I came in toward the airport that we were up on a ridge and the town was down below.  While a good-sized town, you could not see any of it from the highway except the stuff built around the airport.

As I pulled up near the main entry to the airport I saw the big Douglas DC-3 mounted on a pedestal and realized this was the largest wind vane in the world.  It was one of the sites I had planned to stop in the region, but had forgotten about it, so was good that I just happened past it. 

Turned off the road to get some photos and video of it, then noticed it was sitting in front of the Yukon Transport Museum and saw a few larger vehicles sitting on the grounds next door.  Might need to check it out later today.

I got back on the highway and was another 5 minutes to reach my first stop.

I needed some camp gear and my online searches had led me to a place called Canadian Tire.  So, one would think this is a tire shop (and I think they do sell them), but they also have all kinds of stuff.  Think Walmart without the clothing sections.

I went in, and found the bug repellent, a mosquito net hat, some batteries.

Checked out and went out to load the bike, and only then realized I had left my cell phone sitting on the checkout counter.

I was rushing back in with the cashier was coming out and looking around and saw me, she had my phone.  Was checking really quick to see if I was out there before taking it to the customer service desk.

Got back to the bike and loaded up the stuff, then rode next door to Walmart so I could get some water to refill my hydration pack and look for a few other things.

I found my water, and some other beverages.  Also picked up a stick of deodorant, something I had forgotten to pack as well.  Sadly, only had the large version, not the travel size, but will figure out a spot for it.

Could not find small bottles of shampoo or laundry detergent.  Still have some, but will run out in another week or so.  Will check later in Alaska.

Went back out to the bike to load up that stuff, and then noticed I had left my cell phone on the mount on the bike!  Two days in a row and I have lost my GPS case, left my phone in a store and then on the bike….need to get focused, I seem to be distracted, but not sure by what!

I then sat and looked for a place to eat, but was not really in the mood for some sit-down place, especially with the prices up here.  I ended up going to KFC as I had not eaten at one in many years (most of the places around Phoenix have closed, rarely see one anymore).

While eating I checked out that Yukon Transport Museum and decided I would spend some time visiting it instead of going back to camp right away, and turns out they are next door to a small natural history museum as well and have a combo pass that lets you see both.

I back tracked to the museum and notice the DC3 was pointing a new direction, so it does move with the wind.

Bought my ticket and then spent about an hour seeing the sites.  Lots of stuff to read about the railroad and aviation history of the region, and the early access problems faced by those coming into the region.  Also, good history of the building of the Alaska Highway and some other roads built for access to natural resources.

Several trucks, sleds, carts, small boats and a few planes were on display along with lots of random stuff used in the early days of the region.

I then went outside where they have some larger vehicles stored.  Was a small train, some other train cars, a few construction trucks, firetrucks, a container moving lift and a large Logistics Vehicle used by the government to support the DEW line stations during the 50s and early 60s. (DEWline was Defense Early Warning stations setup to detect nuclear attacks by Russia during the height of the Cold War.)

Once done, I rode next door to the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center.

Here they have lots of fossils and activities related to the study of ancient ice age animals and cultures.

Sat through a short film about the Yukon region and its climate and life in the region during the last major ice age where the land bridge between Asia and North American was exposed, but remained ice free (unlike much of Canada and even the northern parts of the United States which were under glacier cover.

The main hall has some life size models of animals no longer existing and displays on early human activities in the area as well and connects some of the to the current native cultures that are likely direct descendants of those early travelers coming over the Beringia bridge.

I then left to go back to the camp, but it had been lightly raining, so bike as a bit wet, but thankfully it was about done, and stopped around the same time I left the parking lot.

Back on the highway for a short ride back and then once parked I unloaded the bike.  I then looked over some of the stuff and then as I was feeling really tired suddenly, I sat in my chair and sort of dozed off, only to wake up when more bikes started to arrive as it was not after 4:00pm.

I still ended up laying down on the bed and crashed for about 2 hours.

I walked over to the restaurant and ordered a pizza and ate it while I worked on uploads of some photos and video from today and started converting 360 film footage from earlier days.

I also did some route research and decided to change my plans.

I was not feeling too good about the day trip down to Skagway and back.  4 hours of riding and not much to do down there, and if the weather was overcast, even the views would be less impressive.

So, I had already decided to just hang around in camp and work on videos.

However, while planning my Monday route and looking over things, I realized I could still get the drive in without the back tracking.

The original plan was to ride out 2 hours to Skagway and back.  Then I would ride up and around to Haines Junction and try to find a place to camp or stay.  Then would ride the 3 hours out to Haines and back, and probably stay same place.  Then head toward Alaska.

Now I will leave on Monday and head to Skagway, but then will take the ferry over to Haines and then ride up toward Haines Junction to stay.

So will do in 1 days what was going to take 2 or 3 days and save several hours of riding over the same roads twice.

The ferry only takes an hour, and the cost ($80 for me and bike) was not that bad, and will save me some fuel money as well (remember, fuel is running about $7-8 a gallon up here.)

In the end I booked the ticket online (though would probably be save just rolling up and buying one, I figured I had already put in most of the info to get the price quote, might as well just buy it online, price wouldn’t change buying in person.)

I then came back to tent, then walked over to restrooms and on way back went a longer route and stopped to talk with another rider who has a Suzuki here I had spoken with a bit earlier when we both walked to the restaurant.

He was sitting with another group (turns out they all work for same government agency (nuclear power) in Ontario, and while not traveling together (the one guys is on his own trip) they had met up here for the night.

I spent a few hours talking with them, and then came back to the room to work on the blog and maybe start my next video edit.

While out to use restroom about midnight, I got to talking with two guys in the tent across the firepit from mine, both from Alaska and just on a short trip round Yukon before going back home.

They gave me a few things to look for and think about on my Alaska ride coming up soon.

Now back in the room to finish this blog and will not get much more on the video tonight, but have all day tomorrow.

Only need to run into Whitehorse again to buy some straps for use on the ferry (might not be needed, and sometimes ferry has them, but online it was recommended to have your own set, and I know there are ferries in other parts of the world you provide your own, so was a needed purchase and part of my travel kit anyway)

Its now 1:00 am, sunlight is just fading now, dusk like, so good time to head to bed.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route (round trip):

Riding the Cassiar Highway – Part 2 (rain, more rain)

June 19^th, 2026

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada

Woke up about 30 minutes early today, alarm was set for 6:30, but was up at 6.  Sat in chair and sort of dozed until I was more awake.  Then packed up till alarm went off and then took a shower and got dressed.

It is raining quite nicely outside, so going to have to load the bike in the rain!!

Pulled off the wet cover, and shook it out best I could, then stuffed it in the bag.

I then loaded the bike slowly as I could not pile it all on the ground, so just one bag at a time carried out and attached.

While I was loading, the room next door let a cat outside, who promptly went in to explore my room.  Think the lady works on the property and lives in that room, not one they rent out.

Kitty finally came over for a few pets, but then went inside, too cold and rainy, I guess.

I finished loading the bike, then put all my gear on, including all the rain stuff.

Rode over to the main building to check out and then got on the road just before 9 am.

A short way up the road I pulled over to use the toilet at the rest area and also had forgot to put the Garmin on the bike. 

I run most of my navigation with the phone using Google Maps (offline in this case) as they tend to be bit more updated and much easier to put a destination in, but like to have the Garmin on as it sits higher on the bike and is easier to read the map.  It also gives me altitude data and if I have the routing active it will even show me upcoming elevation changes.

I usually take it out of the tank bag, then out of its case, lay the GPS down and put case back in the tank bag.  However, when sitting on the bike, no where to lay it, so I laid it on the tank bag the other day and about dropped it when I opened bag to put case in.

Today I thought I will avoid that mistake, laid the case on the tank bag and installed the Garmin to the bike.  Then forgot about the case and rode off, never even zipped up the tank bag.

1.5 hours later I noticed this while at my first fuel stop, and only then realized I had lost the case and the USB cable.  Now cable is not a big deal, nothing special, I have others like it and rarely use it anyway.  Case was nice though to protect it when not in use, so will have to buy another one, probably 30-40 dollars.  Still a bit irked though.

After that rest area I made my way to the first fuel stop which I had plenty of fuel to reach, so no worries, but was raining fairly steady most of the way there.  Also was very cold.  Was running about 8 – 10 degrees C (46-50 F),

Roads were very wet and a bit slick in spots as well.  So was slow going.  At one point they had covered the road with loose gravel on a very steep hill and curve section, I am guessing to assist with traction for the larger trucks?  Either way it was not fun riding down that for about 1 km (0.6 miles).

I did not stop many times other than to use restrooms at rest areas or to buy fuel.  So not many photos taken, but did take a few at one rest area right next to a large lake.

The fuel stop was quick fill up at the pump, then parked the bike to go in and use restroom.  However, I guy came up to me that had been fueling on other side and started talking.  Was a rider himself, but was on a work-related trip going from Idaho to Alaska.  While we were talking, another rider that had pulled up as I pulled away from the pump came over as well.

He had ridden up to Alaska from Texas (but had his wife following in the pickup, so did not have to carry all the luggage on the bike).

Probably spent 20-25 minutes chatting before my bladder told me to go inside.

Once done, I decided to skip the food they also sold, would take too long and got back on the bike.

Long ride to the end of the Cassiar, about 4 hours from the motel to the end.  Most of the post fuel stop was dry, and even warmed up for a bit, but near the end it cooled off and rained really good for about 5 minutes.

I then reached the Alaska Highway and turned westward on it for about 1 km to reach the next fuel stop.  Pulled up to the pumps, only 1 pump with 2 hoses for regular fuel, another pump was diesel.  Both sides where taken, and a Uhaul was waiting on the one side, so I pulled in behind the camper on the other.

Guy finishes up and then goes inside.  Finally comes back out and moves truck and I pulled up.  I see sign to go inside to pay first.  Went inside and they tell me that the pumps are broken, so I need to leave the payment (card or cash) with them and then go pump the fuel after they turn on the pump, then I have to take a photo of the amount of fuel dispensed and take that back in do they can compute what I owe!

Did all that, paid the $22 Canadian dollars for 4 gallons of fuel and then went out and moved my bike so others could fuel up.

Decide again to skip the food, would take too long at café, and I was already running behind on a long day of riding, but also had not eaten any food yet.

Got going and was trying to keep my speed adjusted to make the fuel last till I reached my targeted fuel stop, but eventually realized I was not going to make it, so would either need to stop at an earlier stop or use the fuel in the spare bag.

While the rains have mostly stopped and temps were back up, I decided to just stop at the other station so I could try and get food as well.

Stopped and fueled, oddly this place you pumped your gas and then went inside to pay.  But after paying for the fuel I was going to inquire about some of the snacks behind the counter, but phone rang and guy started working on a motel reservation.  I decided to just leave, was only 1.5 hours from my destination now.

Interestingly I bumped into the same guy from Idaho at this station (we were on same route).  We talked again for few minutes, then he left, but guy at pump in front of me was from Ohio and heading to Alaska and also talked a bit about bikes.

The route from here I was able to ride a bit quicker, now had more than enough fuel to reach my end point for the day.

Not long into the ride and cars in front of me started to slow down, and another was on shoulder.  As I got closer, I noticed a very large dog was on the opposite shoulder of the parked car and was likely why others were slowing down.  As I passed by the dog was still trying to cross, but each car made it jump back. 

On looking closer, I wonder if this was not a young wolf, looked similar, and was a black with gray coloring.  Did not seem comfortable with the cars either, so not a pet I would think, but could still by a half dog/wolf or a actual wolf.  I got it on video, will have to check it out when I get around to editing this day’s footage.

Not too far down the road I came around a bend and there was a reddish-brown bear trying to cross the road.  Likely a grizzly, but young one, was smaller and skinny.  He jumped back to the shoulder as I came up and seemed annoyed, raising one paw and looked like he might have growled at me? (I was going about 62 mph (100 km) at the time, so hard to know.)

Later, while on a long straight I saw a dark shape come onto the road ahead and slowly move across.  As I approached it was a medium sized black bear taking its time crossing the road.  Not a huge animal, so might have also been a younger one.  He just stopped and watched me as I passed.  Got that one on video as well.

Finally pulled into my stop for the night.  After 10 hours and 450 miles on the bike.

I am “camping” tonight.  As I have rented a fixed tent (wall tent) at the Yukon Motorcycle Park.  Like an RV park, this one caters only to bikes (3 wheels or less on the sign).  The tents are wood frames with heavy tent cloth and locking doors with 2 beds and a shelf inside. 

The facility has 25 of these, along with 30 some spots for tents if you want to pitch your own.  About 3 times more to rent the fixed tent, but I wanted something I could lock up as I will stay here 3 nights to have 1 day off and do another day trip as well.

Got checked in, rode bike over to tent which has sort of carport in front where I can park the bike.  Won’t keep it out of the rain if coming down hard, but helps in a light rain.

Unloaded the bike, took and the wet cover and laid it over picnic table nearby to dry.  It had soaked the stuff bag which had then caused my shop towels in that bag to get damp.

Then I walked over to the shower/bathrooms and took a shower and changed into regular clothes.

I next walked back over to the main building which is really just a restaurant.  There I had a large dinner as I was starving.

After dinner I came back to room to put away some stuff, then walked over to use the restroom.

On my walk back, bumped into a guy sitting near the unlit firepit and we spent about 90 minutes talking about bike trips and some of the roads that I will be riding.  Got some good info on some camp sites and roads I was not aware of.

Then suddenly realized it was midnight (yet sun is still up).  So came back to room, assembled my camp chair to have a place to sit and typed up this blog.

Now I think I will go to bed.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Riding the Cassiar Highway – Part 1

June 18^th, 2026

Tatogga Lake, British Columbia, Canada

Woke at 5:30 this morning to piss.  I was actually awake, but that was too early to start packing and such, so went back to bed.

Woke again at 6:30 a.m.

This time I decided to stay up.

Took a shower and packed up the gear, then loaded the bike.

Once read, rode over to the office and checked out of the hotel.

I then went a mile back toward town to fuel up the bike, and also put fuel in the spare 3.5-liter fuel-bag I have. (It took me about 15 minutes this morning to figure out a method for securing this to the bike once full, empty it just folds up and fits in the pannier with my tools).

Once done with that, we hit the highway again.  Took BC16 back the way we had come the other day for bit over an hour, then turned off onto 37 north, the Stewart Cassiar Alaska Highway.

I stopped at the interchange at the fuel station there to use the restroom and buy breakfast. 

After some way overpriced packaged donuts, it was time to hit the road north.

This highway is a long stretch of road through the wilderness.  There are a few small villages in the south part in the tribal areas, but not much else.  A few stops have been built along the way, usually a lodge and fuel station, perhaps a few homes nearby.  Few small towns farther north, and several recreation areas, and even a few campsites managed by province.

It starts by crossing over the Skeena River.

I then pulled off into the small village on the other side to see some traditional totem poles.  The village has about 8 or so along the street in town.  Some are larger, but simpler, not painted, or paint has long since faded if it was there.

Spent a few minutes taking pictures, admiring the poles carvings and listening to the large black raven on the telephone pole nearby screeching at me.

Got back on the highway and started the long stretch northward.

My trip this morning was roughly 390km to reach my first fuel stop.  The bike normally says I can do 400-425km on a full tank, but typically that number starts dropping faster, and I end up only getting about 320km.

After the last week watching how the bike uses fuel while in various gears and engine revs, I have found if I keep the bike under 4500 RPM as I cruise it will do good, even better if I stay around 4000.  This means typically riding about 56MPH with a few times going slower and maybe a couple times hitting 60.

I had the spare fuel, which would give me about 60-70km of extra distance.

I had a fuel stop prior to the one I was targeting as well if I really needed it.

However, keeping speed down, not accelerating fast, and being mindful of keeping a more constant rev on the engine, I arrived at my fuel stop with about 75km of fuel range left, and still not used the spare fuel.

I filled the tank at the station and then went inside to have lunch at the café.

Food is crazy prices up here (though I do see some benefit from the conversion of currency, things are not quite as costly when I put them in US Dollars vs CA Dollars.

Chatted with a few people very briefly while getting fuel, otherwise just kept to myself on this trip.

After the fuel stop, it was about 1.5 hours to reach the motel I had booked the previous night.

The road was generally the same most of this route.  Lots of trees along the side, mountain views ahead and behind, occasional river crossings, and a few lakes along the road.

The bridges were interesting.  While many were normal highway bridges of asphalt or rougher concrete, there were a few that were the grating that you can see down through and are bit difficult to ride on as the grating can cause some wheel instability.

Also had a few bridges that looked to be surfaced with heavy wood planks.  They had signs warning about slippery surface, and it did feel a bit loose going over those, glad it was not raining, would made it worse.

In the last few miles before my motel, I stopped for the 2^nd time at a rest area to use the toilet.  The cold air makes me piss far more often!

The mosquitoes here are next level.  Not only are they the size of a house fly, but you get about 5 seconds after getting off the bike before you have 3 dozen swarming around you.

With the riding hear I was covered pretty good, so not much real estate for them, so they focused mostly on my head, and bit on the hands.  I need to remove gloves, so at risk there, and after the first stop, I just left the helmet on any other time I stopped.  That kept them away from my face at least, just buzzing around the helmet.

I did manage to get a few bites though the first time I stopped before lunch.

Once done with my stop, I then headed the last half hour to the motel.  But now the temperature was getting lower, and it was even sprinkling a bit.

I arrived at the motel and went to the main building with the restaurant where I suspected the check in would be.

Got my key and then rode back over to the row of rooms.  Parked up the bike and started to unload, but was only about half done when it started to rain steadily.

I also discovered a large type of bee stuck in a crevice of one of my bag straps, it was still alive, so not sure if it got in there while I was parked and went for a ride or was caught while riding, but usually a high-speed impact would kill them.

It was moving, though very jerky and unstable.  It did not want to let go of the bag either.  I took the bag over to the table outside the room and knocked it onto the table, then righting it since it landed upside down.

It was moving badly around the table, was not sure if both wings worked or if it would survive.

I at least got it out of the rain, but was also windy and cold.  Wind actually blew it off the table onto the chair, but since the chair was fabric, it was able to cling better to that.

I pushed the chair in under table, hoping that would keep wind and rain away and went back to unloading.

While I still had my rain jacket on, the bags still on the bike and the bike were getting wet.

While not a big issue, I still need to cover the bike to keep it from getting soaked and helps keep it out of view (out of sight, out of mind concept).  So ended up covering the bike after it was already wet.  Hopefully it will mostly dry off overnight, and will make sure I get it uncovered right away in the morning (assuming it is not raining).

I checked on my bee again, he was not moving, I touched it lightly with the room key and it lifted a leg and wiggled a bit, but not much.  I suspect it will not survive, but to keep the wind down I grabbed some larger dandelion leaves growing along the front of the board walk and covered it with those.  Maybe that will let him relax and get back to normal.

Once bike was secured, I sat inside the room and organized bags a bit so I can do things, then got online to check things as I have been without cell service most of the day due to the remote locations.  The hotel has a Starlink Wifi setup for us to use.

I then changed out of the riding gear and into my regular clothes.

Walked over to the restaurant to have dinner. The place is interesting, has lots of taxidermy animals around the place and some seating areas for people to gather.

Main dining area was just tables and that was where I sat down.

Again, with the crazy food prices, but the food was really good.  Had a bowl of thick potato soup with large strips of bacon and sprinkled with cheese, then had a large burger.

I then bought a few drinks as well when I paid and walked back over to the room so I could work on various things on the laptop.

I checked on the bee again, and it was gone!  I looked around on the floor to see if it had crawled and fell off, but could not see it, though possible it went down the crack between boards, there was one that probably was large enough.

The leaves were untouched, so nothing moved it, so I am hopeful it recovered enough and flew away to explore his new home as he is probably long way from where he started.

In the room now to work on this write up, track expenses and maybe work on videos.

I did have the laptop at dinner as well to move all the footage over, and also did some route planning for tomorrow.

I have decided to try another long haul, as there are not many hotel options on the route and the one campsite I know of could be full when I arrive, and also since I lack any kind of bug spray or netting, would be a miserable night, so will plan to get those in the next large city I come too, which will be tomorrow, sort of.

I have booked 3 nights at a motorcycle campsite.  I opted for the more costly fixed tents they have instead of pitching my own tent (3 times the cost, but again, need to get some bug protection first).

I will use that as my base for another day trip on Saturday, and then spend Sunday going into the nearby city to shop and also work on videos.

Guess that wraps up the day.

Catch ya down the road!

Chris

Day trip to the coast, in the rain!

June 17^th, 2026

Terrace, British Columbia, Canada

I woke up at 6:45 this morning long before my alarm went off at 8.

I did not really want to go back to bed, so just did some research on the phone in prep for todays short ride down to the coastal region.

I then showered and got geared up for my ride.

Today I will not be taking any of the luggage, just my backpack with a few things in it.

This meant I had to spend about 20 minutes securing all the straps attached to the bike so they would not be flapping in the wind or falling down and getting into places they should not be!

Once ready, I put on the rain jacket to keep me warm as the temperature was going to be a bit low until later in day, at least that is what the weather app said.

Rode over to the nearby fuel station to fill up the tank, should be able to get there and back on this one tank.

Rode through town and out the other side on highway 16.  The road stays along the Skeena River for most of the route other then short sections inland to go over hills and areas where they could not build next to the river.  Most of the route was under 500 feet altitude, in many places down under 100 feet, even miles before we reached shore.

The winds were blowing as usual, right in my face most of the way, blowing up the river valley.  Temperatures did not act like they wanted to go up much, but were tolerable.  A few short spits of rain, but nothing to worry about, at least to start with.

About halfway there, the clouds dropped down to the water level, could hardly see the opposite shore at times. (The river gets wide here, I would say up to and even over 1 mile in width at places.)

Had to stop at a rest area to rest and use the facilities, but lucked out and it was one of the spots right on the river.

Then the rains started, light to medium rains, typically for a few minutes, but some were longer.  In between the roads were still wet, and the mists in the air would still hit the visor and condensate into water.

Had a few 1 lane constructions zones to navigate, but did not sit long any of them.

The last 40 minutes of the ride things went worse.  Winds were higher, rain was constant, and the temperatures dropped several degrees (Celsius).

I pulled into Prince Rupert cold, wet (I did not put the pants on today, and my leather riding gloves were wet, therefore my hands were getting numb) and tired.

I pulled up at the first place I saw, which was one of the two parks I wanted to visit and took stock of things.

I pulled out my wet weather gloves to use them rest of the day, though after a few minutes the rain stopped other than a few sprinkles.

I walked around the Pacific Mariners Memorial Park, which is dedicated to those who have lived and lost their lives at sea.  There were a few sculptures and memorial walls along with some sea themed items on display.

On display was the Kazu Maru, a small Japanese fishing boat that vanished off Japan in 1985.  Roughly 18 months later it was found drifting off the islands near town, and eventually tracked down to the missing fisherman from Japan.

The city and private donors restored the boat and, in a ceremony, attended by the fisherman’s family it was put on display in this park.

This was also a good place to view the harbor area and look out over the sea.  There are islands in front of the this area, so you cannot see the ocean directly, just the bay the city is on.

Once done, I rode a few blocks over to the Rotary Park to see the old train station and a whale sculpture. (completed around 1985, but artist died around then, and it sat in storage till 1998 when it was finally put on display here).

The old train station was kind of cool, it is now a railroad museum, but was closed today, so could not visit.  According to the sign outside, the building was originally built for the railroad in 1911 and located several miles up river along the rail line.  When the station was closed down the building was saved and moved by barge down to Price Rupert.  Years later, a flood damaged its original home and it was moved again to the Rotary Park where it sits today.

I overheard a guy talking that they might be moving it again, but just to a nearby area next to the tracks and will turn it into an actual rail station again?  I was going to look that up, but just did not have the energy to research it.

After taking some photos, I decided to eat at the little pizza place next to the park, the Wheelhouse Brewery.

Food was good, views from the 2^nd floor dining area were nice as well.

I then decided to head back to Terrace.  First, I put on the rain pants, in case it rained again, my legs were finally warmed up again, so did not need more wet with the cold.

Then it was back on the bike and headed back the way I had come that morning.  Got a bit of rain right away, but after 30 minutes things dried up and stayed that way, and the temperature was a bit higher than earlier.

Thankfully most of the road works were done as well, so less stopping. 

I did stop once to remove the backpack and strap it to the rear rack.  It is a single strap pack and was just digging into my right shoulder enough that my arm was starting to hurt.

Arrived back into Terrace and rode to the hotel to drop off stuff and grab some things for my next tasks.

I grabbed all the laundry so I could go to the local laundromat and get it clean again.  On the way I stopped at the auto parts store to get some chain lube, I had forgotten to pick that up before I left.

After the laundry was done, I went over to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner, then a quick stop at Walmart for something to drink this evening.

Worked on some stuff for tomorrows ride as I continue north, did a short video for the cat rescue project I am running along with this trip, uploaded my footage for the day and typed up this blog.

Now will get things posted online (think I still need to post yesterdays blog!) and then figure out a few things for tomorrow before going to bed.

Need to figure out if I will make the Cassiar Highway a 1 or 2 day trip.  Can do the whole route in about 10-12 hours, so would be along day.  There is a provincial campground at the end, but non-reservable, first come spots, so might not be anything left when I arrive later in the evening, and no way to find out till there, which would mean a 30 minute drive back to nearby town and hope one of the hotels has a spot.

Or I can try to camp midway, there is a campground, but conflicting info about it being RV only or RV and Tent.  There is a hotel nearby, but not cheap.

Will figure it out here soon though.

Catch ya down the road!

Todays Route (out and back):

Head toward the coast, and the rain.

June 16^th, 2026

Terrace, British Columbia, Canada

Woke at 8am this morning and got ready right away after taking a nice warm shower.

Looked outside and the bike was wet, it had been raining early in the morning, but looked like it was about done.

I packed up as usual and then loaded the bike up.  The rain had stopped, and it was 23 C out, so not too bad.  I decided to go ahead and put on the upper rain jacket right away as there was a possibility of rain after looking at the radar for the route I planned to ride today.

Once loaded, I rode over to the office to check out, then down the street to get fuel.

Back on the bike, we left the fuel stop and back tracked about 2 miles down the highway to another highway I would use to head mostly west toward the Pacific coast.  I will not go all they way, stopping in a town about an hour inland.

The ride out of town was a bit congested, but not horrible, and things were nice weather wise.

Once out on the highway though the winds picked up and pretty much stayed up all day long.  Some gusts were strong enough to blow me to edge or roadway if they caught me off guard.

I had planned out my fuel stops, though this highway has plenty of places to stop, but wanted to test my methods for extracting the best fuel economy and make sure I could operate father north when fuel stations become less common.

I stopped for the usual restroom breaks at the rest areas along the road.  At one I ran into another rider who was riding the bike he had just bought back home and was thrilled with the weather as well (It had been lightly raining off an on for several miles now.)

I had just stopped a few miles down the road to put on the rain pants as the rain was coming down hard enough to make a mess and get me wet, and temperature dropped down to 11 C during this short distance.  Even with 4 layers on, I was not warm up top, and only had single layer on legs, so figured it was time anyway.

Stopped for lunch before my first fuel stop, thought I would do both at same time, but was getting hungry and wanted to grab something.  So again, found myself at A&W, seems to be all over the place up here.

Simple meal, probably should have eaten more, then I could have skipped dinner, but was enough to calm my stomach pangs.

The route was starting to get more forested, lots of trees, both conifers and leafy trees at various times.  Also, several large lakes were along the route, though mostly hidden behind walls of green trees.

I stopped again along the road to fix and issue with the Go Pro and just happened to choose a pull off with a scenic view of a river with a small narrow rapid gorge in it.  Was kind of cool.

Bit later stopped for 2^nd fuel top off and also bought some drinks for tonight as I noticed there was very little around my motel for tonight, so would not be able to just walk next door like I have been lucky to do so far.

The final hour was a hard one.  It was still sprinkling and even raining enough to get road wet, temps dropped again and wind was still blowing.  The road was also slowly going downhill.

We had not had any serious altitude today, hitting around 2700 feet at high point, but stayed up around 2000 most of the ride. But as we neared the stop for tonight things dropped fast, eventually ending up about 250 feet is all.

The motel is located along the banks of a fairly large river, the Skeena.  It has been flowing along the valley for last hour, and is quite wide, and running fast, with quite a bit of tree debris floating or stuck in it.  Can see it right out the hotel window.

Once at the motel I unloaded as usual.  Room is nice, but very small, probably smallest place yet, so not much room for the gear.

I was trying to decide if I wanted to skip dinner, but was hungry.  The only catch was all the food places were about 3-4 miles down the road.

So did not cover the bike right away, or change out of my gear.

Rode into town and stopped at Boston Pizza, been many years since I saw on in the US, not even sure if they are still down there.

Once done eating, will ride back to the motel and then settle in for the night.

I am staying here 2 nights, so will be doing a day trip tomorrow and coming back to same place.

Will give you those details tomorrow though.

Catch ya down the road.

Chris

Todays Route: