Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Day 15 - August 06, 2013






Day fifteen.  All is well.  Arrived Fairbanks.

The top photo is one last scenic lake, located fifteen miles south of the Alaska state line, still in Yukon Province, Canada.  The second photo is me, contently sitting in front of the "Welcome to Alaska" sign. The photo is compliments of a fellow traveler from Buffalo, NY.  300 miles plus to Fairbanks remaining. Photo three shows the new addition to my helmet. It is there as a commemorative of this journey, and all it represents to me.  Photo four is of a distant mountain on the US side . . .still on the Alaska Highway.  Lastly is a photo made at the end of this leg of the ride, a closeup of the left lower running light, showing a hole in the lens. This is the only damage to the bike I have located so far.

I will not re-state the listing of negatives about the condition of the highway from previous posts, lest I detract from all of the positives and many joys of the ride.  However, I would be remiss if I did not report that today's section of the highway traveled, on the Canada side, was no better, and in some areas worse than the previous two days.

There were very long stretches today and yesterday where there were no services available.  Traveler beware.  

In yesterday's post I misreported.  I said the "guide" that I use for my travels on The Alaska Highway is "The Guideposts".  That too is a good "life" guide, but the travelers aid and guide to which I intended to refer is "The Milepost".  Here is the link:  http://www.milepost.com/.  

Today was warmer than yesterday, with no rain.  When I arrived in Fairbanks in mid-afternoon it was 81 degrees.  I am surprised to see these warm temperatures this far north.  I expected temperatures in the low to mid-70's which was incorporated in my planning,  But, I guess 81 for a high is not that much out of the range.

Another time zone.  Alaska, like Hawaii, has its very own time zone, which is a full four hours behind those on the right coast of this big continent.....the Eastern Time Zone.

I will be in Fairbanks for 3 days. Tomorrow's event determines what I do the following day and 1/2.

Another good day.

2 comments:

  1. Good gracious that is a lot of earth on the front of your bike! It must be heavier by twenty pounds! What a great picture! Were you following someone when you got that hole in the light, or did some one try to shoot you off the bike?

    Sometime you will have to tell us lessons learned. What you would have done differently. Packed food, more gas, less whatever? I think you might have fired a few imaginations! I know for one, I need to do this some day! keep it coming!

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  2. I do not know where or when the hole arrived. No, I was not following someone else very close. This came up front the highway. Did I mention it was muddy along with my other descriptions? :) no, guess not. As you ca see, it was. I was going to let the bike wear the gunk as a badge of honor until I returned home, but I just couldn't do it. I hosed it off last night. But, I made some good photos before I did.

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