Duck Duck Goose? no, Bear Bear Moose (Day 6)

We got a good start on the day today only to arrive at the only fuel station/hardware store in town at 7:15am.  They didn't open till 7:30, but had a comfy bench out front to wait on.

Since we had seen highway 37a a few times already, we could focus on the riding at a faster pace. Grabbing a handfull of throttle along a rushing stream feels like you're on a log ride.  Then when you see the snowy peaks in your peripheral vision, it was a bit like the Matterhorn at Disneyland.

In about 40 miles, 37a turns into 37 and we were on our way north again.  We had to be very careful with fuel on this stretch of road. There are stretches where it isn't difficult to run out of fuel.

We topped off in a little town called Bell 2. There were two riders from New Jersy inside getting some coffee.  One was a Goldwing driver, the other rode a 1200 GS.  Then one pipes up, "what kind of tire do you have on that wing?" ... Paul said "It's a car tire, is that what you're asking or do you want to know the brand?"  The guy was facing the cashier as he said "I thought I read you weren't supposed to put a car tire ....."  We just laughed to ourselves because we knew where he was going with it.

They redeemed themselves though when they told us they road from Prudhoe Bay down to Fairbanks in 13 hours.  That is the Dalton Highway, the one you may have seen featured on The Ice Road Truckers show.  Paul and I actually wanted to ride that road up to the arctic ocean, but after so much advice against it, we were thinking there's a good chance it would not happen. It's mostly dirt/gravel and has a layer of this calcium stuff they use to keep the dust down.  The problem is that if it is wet, that stuff turns to slime.

These guys said to definitely go up there and do it, and that everyone told them not to as well.  So, we'll see what the weather is like when we get to Coldfoot.  If it's dry, more than likely we'll take the trek.

It just dawned on me that this little town was half gas station/cafe and the other half was a helecopter hanger/port. I'm guessing town name comes from the helecopter company.  I could be wrong.

Up the road a ways I saw the sillouette of a moose on the left side of the road. It was standing pretty tall and very still.  So still that I began to think it was just a sign facing oncoming traffic.  I still had the camera ready, but before I got that good picture off he got spooked by the bikes and walked back into the trees.

A little later on we saw another moose drinking from a small lake off to the west side of the 37.  I turned around to get the picture, and soon after he too was spooked from the attention.  This goes against what people have been telling us, which is that don't mess with moose ... don't even honk at them or they will attack your vehicle.  These were Canadian moose so maybe the Alaskan ones are those you don't mess with, hey?

The further north we go, or maybe it is just the further away from the cities, we hear people use the term "eh" we enjoy making fun of so much in the states. I've heard them pronounce it "hey" as well. I think if I lived here a few months that it would probably be one of those things that could eventually slip into my vocabulary.

Bears, we saw more bears.  There were a couple that weren't noticeable till it was too late to really get a look, but then there was a black bear strutting across the road.  I stopped, and then slowly rode by to get a good look and photo.  One was an obvious black bear, but the other had a brown coat.  It was also a black bear though as confirmed by one of the locals.  He said they would be fighting if one was a Grizzly.

Later in the day there were a heard of Stone Sheep on the side of the road grazing.  They would run about 10 feet when cars came, but immediately after they would go back to what they were munching on.  They didn't seem to mind me making a u-turn and stopping in front of them for a good picture.

The condition of the north end of Highway 37 wasn't very good.  There are "Frost Heaves" everywhere, which are sections of the road that sink because of the tundra (i think). It definitely made the ride more interesting by making a game out of dodging them without slowing down too much.  There were also small sections of gravel and others where road construction were going on, but it's nothing I that should stop anyone from traveling this road.

Just before the 37 dead ends into the Alaskan Highway, it leaves B.C. and enteres the Yukon territory. It had already been a long day, so we found a campground about 25 miles up the road.  There are tons of Mosquitos here and sitting inside the tent to write this is much more appealing than being outside.

Tomorrow we head west and should make the interior of Alaska by 5pm. We've had no mobile phone service for days, so I'm hoping we will at least get it back before we hit Anchorage.