Alaska 2008 – Day 4, July 7

Day 4, July 7

Burns Lake BC to Stewart BC

292 Miles

Flat monotone miles of spruce-beetle damaged trees, punctuated by the occasional burned-out gas station and even less frequent open gas stop with a small convenience store where I can stock up on my Canadian favorite, Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate bars. I’m sure there are mountains in the distance, I see them on the map, but the overcast is sitting low today, so no views for the weary!

Then, a left turn off the main road and two miles down 37A we are greeted by a towering wall of black, green, white, and water. Mountains surround us, shooting straight up from the valley floor and disappearing into the mist, hanging gardens of intense green add counterpoint to the soaring black granite peaks. Valleys are white with thick ice, misty waterfalls pouring from their impossibly clear-blue-tinged edges.

We’ve crossed into Hobbit territory! In my imagination unicorns and dryads hide around every corner, just out of view.

Stewart BC is what we came on this trip looking for. One thin strip of pavement down the middle of main street, a town of raggedy homes and beautiful old structures battered by intense weather and surrounded by intensely rugged scenery. A feeling of being totally cut of from the real world. Now that’s what I’m talking about!

Our hotel is a newer and subsequently boring structure near the middle of town. Dinner is good, if a bit too “yuppie comes to the North country” for our tastes.

The Alcan, the Yukon, Prudhoe bay, all on a Goldwing Trike with a trailer. See, there are people crazier than we are.

We meet up with multitudes of other riders on the same quest as we are. Unfortunately, it makes me feel less special because I’m now one of the crowd, instead of standing out in it. I know I should be happy for the stories and experience of fellow riders, but darn it, I wanted to feel like we were pioneers here!

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