Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 18:47:02 -0400
From: Eddiehintz@aol.com
Subject: Trip Report: into the Yukon
Hey now,
We crossed into the Yukon territory this morning (26 July), and
are heading for Whitehorse today. Most of the group is going off on
the Campbell highway, which is a gravel road, and will take 2 days to
get to the vicinity of Carmack, where we will regroup and camp at
Frenchman Lake. Bob Hoover and myself have chosen the paved route to
defray damage to our vehicles, Dennis & Sheila are also en route
to Whitehorse so Sheila can catch a plane home to California-she has
to work on Monday-and Ron Lussier headed for Whitehorse to try and
get his loaner computer working. We plan to get to Whitehorse today,
but don't know if we will continue on to Frenchman lake tonight, or
stay in the vicinity of Whitehorse.
Last nights campsite was at Liard hot springs, where we were all
able to take it easy for virtually the first time on this trip. We
only drove from Ft. Nelson that day, so we were all at the campground
by about 3-4 pm, and of course we all went for a soak in the natural
jacuzzi. I'm a bit bushed, as a group of us sat around the fire for
quite some time last night, talking busses, Grateful Dead, and other
goodies of common interest. Neil & Niniek, Dennis & Sheila,
Jorge & Ivette, Jack Stafford, and myself all sat around the fire
with some Molsen Canadian and generally enjoyed ourselves. It's quite
odd up here-it's almost always light outside. The sun sets around
10:30-11 PM, and it finally gets dark at about midnight. Then comes
the weird part-by 1AM it's already starting to look like twilight in
the sky. Very odd. Jorge, Ivette, Jack and I all went to bed at about
1 am last night, but I had to get up earlier, since Whitehorse is a
440 mile drive from Liard hot springs. So, I was up again at 5:30,
and we were on the road by 6:30. The Alaska highway is a very rural
sort of road. 440 miles on I5 is nothing, 440 on the Alaska highway
is a *very* long day. 
Your top speed tends to be around 50-60, but there is
a lot of wildlife that you need to be on the lookout for. Yesterday
we saw 2 black bear, a buffalo, a couple caribou, and a whole mess of
mountain goats. The road is under construction all over the place, so
we are often forced to reduce
speed and/or wait for flag persons to wave us
through. Another thing that's different about Canada, at least on the
Alaska Highway, is the flag people. In the states, flag people tend
to be male, and of the Miller Time persuasion. Up here, they're
almost i
invariably young women. Cool, and different.
One thing that has been a bit difficult to get used to is our lack
of caravan skill. We almost never seem to have a real regulated
caravan going-it turns into 2 or 3 smaller groups, going several
different speeds. Maybe this will change on the Dempster Highway, but
I kind of doubt it. Having ridden with motorcycle clubs, I'm used to
a very tight group formation, with one rider taking the lead and
everyone keeping formation. Here, one bus takes the lead, then a
small group gets in front and goes faster, others fall behind, we
stop for lunch and half the group will leave before the rest, etc.
Kind of a bummer for me, as part of the fun is the group effort. I
guess bus owners are too independent for that sort of thing though...
;-) As we go farther north, the trees are becoming much more scrubby.
They're smaller and more stick like,
and very little green is found below about the 6-7
foot line, presumably because they are under snow most of the year.
It's becoming more desolate between gas stops as well, sometimes 200+
miles between gas stations. The views are still spectacular, although
it's becoming commonplace. It will be weird to be back in Texas, with
the scrubby trees and the hot weather, after this trip. And whenever
I see the national weather on TV, I'll have a picture in my head when
they talk about the snowstorms in Canada.
This morning we got to visit the signpost forest in
Watson Lake. It began during the construction of the Alaska highway,
when a lonely worker but up a sign showing how far it was to his
hometown-kind of like the signpost on the old MASH TV show. It has
grown to a huge assortment of signs from around the world-we saw
Croatia, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland represented, as well as
all kinds of places in the states. Little places, like Carlsbad CA,
San Saba TX, Peoria IL, and Elk Creek CA. We got a picture of my dad
in front of the Elk Creek sign, as it's just outside of his hometown,
Willows, CA. We ran out of time, so we found a Texas flag license
plate
and took a picture of me next to it-couldn't find
Austin, although I'm sure it was there. It was neat to see some of
the places I've known-such as Lomita CA, and Fort Bragg CA-which we
just drove through maybe a week and a half ago. I hope to send these
off in Whitehorse, but may have trouble finding a phone, so we shall
see. In the meantime, I'll keep writing and storing the reports for
transmission whenever possible. As always, our good wishes to those
at home in their comfortable 
mosquito free houses...
Peace,
Eddie
Back to the Main Trip
page
Your top speed tends to be around 50-60, but there is
a lot of wildlife that you need to be on the lookout for. Yesterday
we saw 2 black bear, a buffalo, a couple caribou, and a whole mess of
mountain goats. The road is under construction all over the place, so
we are often forced to reduce
speed and/or wait for flag persons to wave us
through. Another thing that's different about Canada, at least on the
Alaska Highway, is the flag people. In the states, flag people tend
to be male, and of the Miller Time persuasion. Up here, they're
almost i
invariably young women. Cool, and different.
