Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Tuesday - July 15th - 421 miles

Our camping accommodations were about as good as they could be.  We camped in the campground pavilion and had a level concrete floor and a roof over our head so we only put up our screen tents (to keep mosquitoes off) without the rain cover since we didn’t need the roof. 

 

Last night we went to bed at about 10:30 and it is still totally light out.  I got to use my pink blinders and they worked great.  At 4:15 AM I woke up and lifted the blinders and it was totally light out then as well.  I am guessing it did get dark at some point, but not sure when.

 

For the next two days we are taking shorter – 400 mile days to save up some energy and butt wear & tear for the Inuvik expedition.  I feel we are Sir Edmund Hillary’s team planning an expedition to Pole.  Tonight we are in Whitehorse, Yukon and tomorrow will be in Dawson Creek – the launch point to Inuvik where we will assess the weather and talk to some people coming back off the road.  In bad weather I guess it can be a real pain on 2 wheels.  In good weather it is about a 480 mile (12 – 16 hour) ride on dirt/gravel road.  Our plan is to ride up on Thursday and back on Friday.  We may try to leave some of our clothing, etc. at our hotel in Dawson so that we are a little lighter, but still need to take all tools, camping gear, food, etc. just in case.

 

Today’s ride was pretty boring actually.  Temps were 52 – 65 and we rode in rain about 35% of the time.  The one animal highlight is some Bison (photo attached).

 

Connections to the internet are tougher to come by – so I will keep sending as long as we can.

 

Vicki – really missing you!  Xoxo

 

Steve

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Read your blog today for the first time and enjoying it. Looking forward to more!

Anonymous said...

Have been following your adventure since reading of it in the press. Wish I was on the trip. nice web set. good ride, ted

Anonymous said...

have been watching your progress on the tracking page expecting you to continue on to Dawson Creek. Noticed the turn north off of Hwy 2 (Klondike Hwy). Ran a Google map from Flat Creek to Inuvik and the path matches. Looks like some harsh terrain on the way to Inuvik, which is north of the Arctic Circle. GOOD LUCK!
Mark's brother.