Day 17 – Teslin, YT to Beaver Creek, YT

Day  17 – Teslin, YT to Beaver Creek, YT     09/06/10     Mileage: 394  

Morning came and of course it was raining. The forecast was for clearing mid-morning so I decided to wait and make use of the internet connection while I had it. I also did some maintenance on the KLR and noticed the rear tire is wearing down much faster than I had planned. It was brand new right before the trip, and I was hoping it would make it to Seattle. At this point it will be lucky to see Fairbanks…and I hope it does as that’s the only town I can get a replacement at this point! So, at the crack of 11 I started making my way out of town…with one last stop for gas. As I pulled up to the pump, there were two other riders there…one on a Kawasaki and the other on a Honda Goldwing. We got to talking and they are both from Fairbanks making their way down to Vancouver. Pete, the big guy on the Gold Wing has put 45,000 miles on it in two years…including a cross-country trip to the Jersey Shore….pretty cool!  

 

So after the standard telling of stories and lies, I was off and making tracks towards Whitehorse. The weather was overcast with spots of rain, but I’ll take that over the total soakers of the last 2 days.  

 

In Whitehorse, I ran some errands, had a quick bite and met a great group of riders while topping up the tank. They were on their way back from Inuvik, the farthest town accessible by road in Canada. The couple on the left is from Nederland, CO…very close to my friends Paul and Kim in Golden. I had breakfast two minutes from their house just over a week ago…small world. The gal in the middle is from Georgia and rode up from Colorado also. The other couple was riding two-up with luggage on an old model KLR from Seattle….and I thought my bike was weighed down!  

 

After wishing each other a safe journey, I was off again…this time to try and make it to Beaver Creek, YT close to the Alaska border. I don’t have many pictures as the weather was dreary, the light flat and I wanted to make up for the late departure this morning. The scenery around Haines Junction all the way to Beaver Creek was outstanding, it’s too bad the clouds obscured the peaks of the mountain range or I would have some great photos!  

 

 

 

The weather did clear and the sun came out for the last hour into Beaver Creek…so that was a welcome change.  

 

Dinner was at Buckshot Betty’s and I found a reasonable room at the “1202” motel. Tomorrow, it’s on to Fairbanks, AK where the KLR will get a new pair of shoes and some much needed maintenance.