A Little Dirt on the way South

It seems that the skies opened up around Fairbanks, and the next few weeks were a series of heavy rains and winds.  Needless to say, I spent more time riding than taking pictures.  I enjoyed the ride over the "Top of the World" road and I was soon crossing the Yukon at Dawson City.

I breezed through Dawson City, and headed south.  I camped around Carmacks. A buffalo decided to join me for a bit, but did not like the odours of a bikie, so he soon took off.

I think that this shot was taken around 10 at night.  I love that midnight sun.

I decided that I wanted to head for Faro and Ross River, bypassing Whitehorse on this leg.  I have a friend who lives in Faro.  The road was good, and without traffic.  I enjoyed over 500 km of good riding.

Faro was a mining town at one time.

The more that you ride, the more that you learn...

Aside from the traffic free dirt ride, the good news is that the blackness in the clouds did not descend upon me to any extent...

I always appreciate signs which show where I am.  Apparently I was smack dab in the middle of a caribou migration route.  I had seen one lonely caribou the day before, but no herds were sighted on this ride. 

Although I did not see any caribou, a cow moose and her calf nearly took me out near Watson Lake.  She stormed off the side of the road on my right, barrelling down the hillside towards me.  For an instant, I debated driving underneath her as her calf was pacing me and she was sideways to me.  Yet again, my Guardian Angel decided to keep me around for a bit more.

I visited my sister in Chetwynd, and made my way to Edmonton to visit my family.   The rains outside of Edmonton were ridiculous and even my Helly Hanson raingear could not keep me from getting soaked.    After a few days visiting, I headed south through Nakusp to Vernon.  I enjoyed a good soak in the Nakusp hotsprings, and had a great ride over the No. 6 highway to Lumby.


My son was working in Lavington, and I saw this visit as an opportunity to visit the Lavington cemetery.  My great-grandfather, Scotty Smith, was a pioneer rancher in the Lavington area.  During the First World War, three of my great uncles were killed overseas.  I wanted a photo of the memorial which listed their names and battalions.

Homer to Fairbanks

After a tour of Homer, I headed north from the fishing town back towards Anchorage.  By early afternoon I had passed Anchorage and Wasilla and was looking forward to seeing Denali, the great mountain.  Unfortunately, it was socked in, so I kept going north.

I found a room at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.  At the Sunday market, there was an interesting rig from Britain.  It was some model of a Morgan, I  believe.

The Museum of Alaska is on the campus, and I found some interesting examples of Alaskan life.

This prehistoric ox had been found preserved by permafrost.

A diagram of the functions of a gold dredge.

This was the actual BSA motorcycle which Slim Williams had ridden from Fairbanks to Seattle in 1939.  His goal was to promote the building of the future ALCAN highway.

These guns were used on whales. It looked like they had a 2" bore.

The bronze Polar Bear looks out over the landscape of Fairbanks.