Our Life Behind Bars – Father & Son Doing Time in The Northern Frontier (Mile 1750 to Mile 2305)

Days 8,9,10 (July 6-8, 2013)

Yukon Johann Writes:

Lots happening these next few days.

We left Telegraph Creek and headed back out to the Cassiar Hwy. The ride back from Telegraph Creek to Dease Lake was as amazing as the day before. On the way out we came across the cemetery, it's located on a bluff overlooking the village. The views from there to the coastal mountains will be etched into my memory forever. You could see the path the Stikine River carved into the mountains for miles and miles. All the way toward Wrangell, Alaska we were told.  The cemetery is a place that I think one would be very grateful to claim as their eternal resting home, if not for the humbling views, but for the serenity and beauty it provides in a remote setting; very quiet and peaceful.

Old truck mentioned previously

Our Camp in Telegraph Creek

Old Church in Telegraph Creek

Yep, we were in Telegraph Creek... the sign says so.

Above town there is a cemetery with an unbelievable view

No roads, no people, no nuthin' all the way to the ocean

 From there we followed Telegraph creek road, pretty much in the same manner as we rode in. Slow, methodical, and savoring every mile to the fullest. We even rode side-by-side (slowly and carefully) with a herd of horses in the valley who seemed to express no concern by our presence.

Moring sun on the pillars in Stikine canyon

View of the road

Where the 2 rivers meet... a scared place

Leaving the Stikine Canyon

Once at Dease Lake we made tracks to Jade City to meet up with Kendra, a friend we have made over the years, who works at the Jade City Store. After saying hi and goodbye we headed north to Watson Lake, hoping to be there before too long. We went through Good Hope Lake and at one point, my dad happened to get a nasty hornet inside his jacket. he told me that it worked its way down to his torso area. I could tell that the hornet was not happy about being stuck in his riding jacket, and was trying to sting him. He pulled over quickly and nearly tore his jacket off to get the darn hornet on its way without harming him.

Back on the Cassiar Hwy we arrive at Jade City

On the way to the Yukon border we pass through a burn area.

The fireweed was in full bloom

We came across a large burn area just prior to crossing into the Yukon. We noticed huge swaths of beautiful fields of fireweed, the official Yukon flower.

Pretty eh?

Gretchen taking a break

We made it to the Yukon

Yeah baby!!!

I present to you... Yukon Johann, "Larger than Life"!!!

We arrived in Watson Lake much later than anticipated and found a really nice place to stay… the Air Force Lodge. It is a charming place that once played a role in WWII as it was on the Staging route for the Lend-Lease of Aircraft to Russia.

NomaGal (AdvRider name) Working on her KLR

Frenchman riding around the world

The next morning we washed the bikes at the only carwash in town, at the Petro Station. That was the beginning of us meeting many interesting motorcyclists form the US and around the world. Of those people we met a Frenchman, which we sadly can't remember his name. He is halfway through his trip of riding around the world, he said he was doing it in two years. We met another guy named Mike, as I recall, he was making his way up to Prudhoe Bay, and then going kayaking somewhere. We also met another adventure rider. She goes by NomadGal on ADV rider she has popular thread called "A Year On the Road" she was a very interesting person and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her telling us about some of the things she has seen and done. Another guy we met shortly after leaving the carwash was a German fellow from Washington D.C. he also had the same idea in mind, go to Prudhoe Bay and back home. He was also doing something very similar as I. He was doing a charity ride as well.

 

Watson Lake Detail Shop

Mike from Denver

Sign post forest

Adventure riders come in all shapes and sizes

The "Mystery Machine"

We finally left Watson Lake very late into the day, we knew we weren't going to make it to Whitehorse so we thought we would just go half way and spend the night at Teslin Lake. My dad spent the night talking to the German guy we met in Watson Lake and another German guy who had just pulled into Teslin Lake shortly after we did. I, on the other was trying to catch up on sleep since I really didn't sleep well at all the past couple of days. It was a great social day you could say. A lot more talking than riding, that’s for sure.

Life along the Alcan Hwy

Cool rock formations at Jakes corner

One cool kid

Arrival in the Southern Lakes Region... Bove Island

Worlds smallest desert at Carcross

Emerald Lake

Arrival at Whitehorse

Yukon Joahnn

GrizzLee

Who dat handsome man? Helmet hair and all.

Until next time....

Our Life Behind Bars – Father & Son Doing Time in The Northern Frontier (Mile 1532 to Mile 1750)

Day 7 (July 5, 2013)

We wake up to another picture perfect day at Bell II Lodge. We spent the night in out tent. The place was wonderful, however the mosquitoes were a bit much as the tenting sites were in the back near muskeg and brush… We’d preferred to have camped out in the open more towards the lodge were the bugs were less pervasive.

 We got began our ride that day with a hearty breakfast with coffee and hot chocolate courtesy of the lodge.

Leaving Bell II Lodge... Cool place

Soon after on the Cassiar Hwy

Riding along the Cassiar hwy on this was marvelous, albeit on the warm side.  We were on lonely roads for sure. We ride past Bob Quinn airfield and also discovered that we were following parts of the Yukon Telegraph line. A line that connected the Yukon Gold Fields to the outside world from 1899 to 1930.

We were following the Yukon Telegraph Line

Rest Stop at Bob Quinn Airfield

Mugshot

Damn this guy is handsome.
So is the guy riding the bike :-)

Looking up into the mountains of the Edziza Plateau...

Amazing Scenery

We found ourselves traversing the Mt Edziza plateau in the valley below, all the way to Kinaskin Lake.

Another handsome fellow

And his girl Gretchen

Always keeping the boy in view

The highlight of this section was Eddontenajon Lake. No wind and a sunny day, made for glass-like conditions on the lake. The reflections increased the WOW factor immensely

Holy smokes... one  of those get off the bike and meditate for an hour scences

WOW!!!

WOW!!! x 1.0 E6 (Scientific notation for the uninformed there :-)

Eddontenajon Lake near Iskut.... Man oh man

GrizzLee highly recommends this view

Time to go... sadly.

From there we gassed up in Dease lake and had a burger.  The gas station at Dease Lake is somewhat of a cross roads for motorcyclists heading north. The gas station serves as a grocery store and restaurant and carries some other necessities that are needed out in the bush, such as oil and a liquor store J

 

Off to Telegraph Creek. Gravel roads, canyons and steep cliffs....

Johann,, manhood is here buddy

They call the Stikine Canyon the "Grand Canyon" of the north
Easy to see why

We asked around about the road conditions out to Telegraph Creek and places to camp. One of the local native gals told us that the Chief was doing a charity bicycle ride out to Telegraph Creek and that they were having a Salmon bake to celebrate the arrival of the first salmon run. Furthermore, the road was in excellent condition. We were in.   It is 75 miles to Telegraph creek (one way), all gravel and dirt mixed with Calcium Chloride.  We didn’t care. It was a beautiful ride.  

Looking west toward the coastal mtns

Johann trying to fix the landscape

First and foremost, the area known as the “Grand Canyon” of the Stikine has been compared to the Grand Canyon in Colorado. The Grand Canyon of the Stikine River in northern British Columbia is one of the greatest whitewater runs in the world.  Photographs  do not do the river canyon justice, nor do videos. The people who have been there understand and now we fully understand.  The Stikine has huge rapids, vertical walls, and lots of beauty. There aren’t many places that have the power to move people on such an emotional level such at this. Aside from important human development history in the north, the road to Telegraph Creek is on the northern edge of the Mt Edziza Plateau ,which is unique and littered with lava flows, offering striking rock formations against the coastal mountains in the background. The Stikine canyon features huge columns of basalt.

Trust us, these pictures can't do the extreme beauty justice

Stikine River below

Sacred Waters of the Tahltan Aboriginal people

"Gorge"ous

Rick Mclean - Chief of the Tahltan nation.
Great guy

The chief let us camp in Telegraph creek by the Stikine River.
The truck in the background was used to haul supplies up to the Dease River
in constructing the Alaskan Hwy.

Telegraph Creek played an important role in this area and we got a first hand account from the Tahltan Nation, Chief Rick McLean and got personally invited to join them in a Salmon feast featuring Salmon,  Bannock and fine desserts. The Chief gave us a run down of the history and role this area played in the Tahltan culture as well as how the Stikine River was instrumental in getting the Telegraph Line to Dawson and how it played a big in the Alaskan Hwy construction. Supplies were shipped up river from Wrangell to Telelgraph Creek (this is as far as they could go, the river is not navigable to “any” water craft, rafts and kayaks included) beyond the village. From there, goods were trucked over the very road we rode down to Dease Lake and down the Dease River to the Alaska Hwy camp up north (Watson Lake). The Chief gave us a personal invite to camp on his land by the Stikine River and a beer that evening.

It was an incredible day.  We slept good that night and had an equally nice ride out back to the Cassiar the next day. We took lots of video that is sure to be posted here as well.

Thanks for riding with us.

Until Next Time....