Peenie Wallie

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July 27, 2014

Day 8 - Great Divide Lodge, Yoho National Forest, B.C., Canada to Prince George, B.C., Canada (Sat 7/26/14)

Above: Driving to Jasper National Park from Yoho National Park on BC 97.

Additional Photos in the Extended Entry.

Sat 7/26/14

Update: I am alive and well and resting peacefully in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the Nechako River and the Fraser River.

Starting Odometer: 16,748
Ending Odometer: 17,204
Miles Driven Today: 456 miles
Miles Driven This Trip: 2,552

Here's a map of where I went today.

So, although my post for day 6/7 say I was in Banff, probably technically, that's not not correct. Apparently, I was in the Yoho National Forest in British Columbia. I was only about 15 km from Lake Louise, but Lake Louise and the town of Banff are both technically in Alberta. And, although I went through Alberta, I was technically staying in British Columbia, at the Great Divide Lodge, which technically isn't in a town, but is in the Yoho National Forest in the province of British Columbia. Just for the record.

Last night, I brought my battery inside the room and put it about 3 feet from the heater so it wouldn't get so cold that it wouldn't start my bike in the morning. It's really hard to say how demoralizing it is to push the starter on your motorcycle when you're 2,000+ miles from home with no cell coverage in a foreign country and just hear this "click...click...click". Not a goof feeling, I can assure you.

So, this morning, i walk outside and install my warm battery and the bike fires right up and Lord God I'm glad this god-forsaken vehicle is acting like it's going to run today.

Ted, John and I all get up at about 8:30 a.m. One of the things I've learned on this trip is that, if you're going to get any miles in, you've got to get up early. So we go down to breakfast. Yesterday, 5 barn swallows sat in their nest, patiently waiting to be fed. Today, they've fledged, and are flying around, trying out their new wings, and then resting on the roof of the lodge, begging for food from mom and dad.

Ted, my one roommate leaves, and now it's just me and John. John is from China. Ted is from the UK...up on the north somewhere near the Scottish border.

I'm getting everything packed up for a big bike ride. The weather outside is spectacular. Mostly sunny. Still cool, but not raining. I roll down the hill and give Nigel a $20.00 bill for saving my ass yesterday. He was nice enough to help me get my bike jumpstarted when I wasn't even sure it was possible, or even where the battery was located, really.

I go ahead and fill up at Nige's little gas station there at the Great Divide Inn. I tell him I'm off to Jasper and promptly head out going the wrong direction. I head west for 7.5 miles until I get to Field, B.C., at which point I realize that I'm going the wrong directions. Now, I head back east, then get on the Canada 1 road heading north towards Jasper. Probably, it's a good idea not to leave in the morning without programming in a destination into the Garmin Montana 600.

Get back on track, drive into the Jasper National Park entrance. Now, rolling north. Beautiful valley through the Rocky Mountains. Really indescribable. Probably the nicest place I've been, but then it seems I always like the last place I went the most. Who can compare RMNP, Yellowstone, Glacier, Kootenai, Yoho, Banff, Jasper, and Mount Robson? It would be foolish to try.

Here's short a video I shot today hand-holding the GoPro Hero3 Black Edition with a 128 GB MicroSD card rolling through Jasper National Park.

I find the little cabin Michelle and I spent our honeymoon in 21 years ago. How odd to return to this place 21 years later. Now, I roll into the exquisite town of Jasper. A train station here. I go in and ask them if we can put my bike on a train and ship it to Kitwanga or Prince Rupert. "No motorized vehicles allowed on any trains in Canada," the guy belts out.

Like, trust me...I'm not above changing this adventure up a bit. When I came back from Cabo, we loaded my bike into the back of a truck and I slept for 500 miles. When I went up to Alaska last time, I took a ferry north for 12 hours from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert. So, I'm all for loading up the bike on some other platform so I can rest for a bit. But, it's not in the cards.

Lunch at Smitty's Family Restaurant, and now west towards Prince George. As soon as I leave Jasper, I just open the bike up and let it breathe. I run about 93 mph in a speed limit 62 zone for hours. Until suddenly, I see a bear.

A black bear on the side of the road just sitting there minding his own business. I loop back to get a shot of him. He lets me take my pictures, and then I go on my way. I'm totally blown away by the bear. Suddenly, I'm not going 92 mph any more. Or passing campers on double yellow lines. Now, I'm watching very closely for bears, and hardly even driving. And now, a cop is coming at me and turns on his blue lights. Oh shit shit shit. I can't believe it. What made me think this road wasn't patrolled? Am I retarded? But wait...I can't believe my luck. He pulls over the truck behind me. Man...that was close.

If he'd stopped me 10 miles back when I was going 93 in a 62, he would have taken my bike on the spot. B.C. has a policy (maybe all of Canada, I'm not clear)...but they will confiscate/impound your vehicle for speeding on the spot. Like...they'll write you a ticket AND they'll take your vehicle away from you.

So, I got lucky on that one.

Now, as it turns out, the distance between Jasper and Prince George is roughly 374 km, or about 233 miles. Which turns out to be further than I can go on a tank of gas. I get about 30 miles from Prince George, and the bike just shuts down. Flat out of gas. Fortunately, I'm carrying 2 gallons of extra fuel in case of just such an emergency. Stop on the side of the road, gas up the bike, and continue on my way.

But, it does get me thinking. If the gas stations are this far apart down here, I can only imagine what it will be like on the Deese Lake Road from Kitwanga up to the Yukon.

I roll on into Prince George...I've actually been here before...and pass a motorcycle dealership. But, they're closing. Somehow, I'm in the last big town in Canada for thousands of kilometers, and it's closing time on a Saturday. The motorcycle dealerships will all be closed Sunday and Monday. All of this because I took a day of rest yesterday to dodge the rain. Man. I should buy a calendar or something.

Buy some gloves at the motorcycle dealership, hoping they're warmer than the ones I have.

Now, off to Wal-Mart to buy some things I need for the trip like:
1) a new motorcycle battery
2) a motorcycle battery charger
3) some warm (not-cotton) long underwear
4) a replacement for my melted power adapter
5) some food for the bike (trail mix)
6) a cigarette lighter
7) a tarp
8) duct tape

This bad weather has really got me thinking about survival. Like, if I get caught out in the rain, I need to be able to build a fire, and get out of the rain. So, the tarp and the cigarette lighters are my plan. And the duct tape. You always need duct tape.

In the parking lot, people flock around me like a rock star. I'm not joking. Somehow, they figure out that I'm on a serious motorcycle trip, and they come up to offer advice. What they want me to do is go back and pick up the Al-Can Highway at Dawson Creek. But that would mean I have to go back east, and I'm not going east.

Instead, I'll take the road to Kitwanga, and follow that road north into the Yukon and pick up the AlCan Highway there.

It is sort of odd to have people flocking around me, asking where I'm going and what I'm doing. The fact that people are still shocked when I say I'm going to Alaska is a pretty good indication that I'm probably biting off more than I can chew. Like...if you've already been on the road for a week and driven over 2,500 miles and people are still shocked when you tell them your final destination, then you've probably made a poor life choice.

But this is where we are.

Now, off to the Cycle North Honda...closed. Off to the KTM dealership across the river that isn't listed on KTM's website. Closed.

So, I've missed everything. Looks like I'll be leaving in the morning with what I have. (But I did get a serious amount of gear at Wal-Mart. And the new battery is charging in the bathroom right now.)

Photos in the Extended Entry.

Posted by Rob Kiser on July 27, 2014 at 12:15 AM

Comments

Posted by: Carlisle on July 27, 2014 at 7:27 AM

Posted by: Rob Kiser on July 29, 2014 at 2:23 AM

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