Tuesday June 10. Hazelton B.C. to Whitehorse Yukon Territory. I got a great nights sleep last night. I am on the road at seven and there is not a cloud in the sky. It’s fifty degrees and a stellar day. The clerk at the motel said a storm system is coming in from the northwest, so I leave my raingear on the top of my bags. I am driving north today and hope that I am lucky and avoid the storm. When you are riding five hundred miles a day you move from one weather pattern to another pretty easily.  I rode west to Katanga and then on to the Cassiar Highway. I meet Arnold, who is traveling solo from Nova Scotia in a Ford F-250 with a camper. He is seventy-five years old and is returning to the area after fifty years. He spent five years logging in B.C. when he was in his early twenties. He said he rarely got out of the camps. He wanted to return to the area to see what he missed. He said I was a “tough old sea-gull” to try to ride to the Arctic Circle. I took it as a compliment. We said we would see each other in Hyder latter that day but I knew at the pace I was riding that it was unlikely we would meet again. I did ask him to keep an eye out for me in case I got a flat along the way.              

 The ride north on the Cassiar was everything I thought it would be. Remote, wild and wilderness. Saw my first bears, moose and coyotes. The Cassiar is a motor bikers dream and nightmare all in one ride. Some sections are like a high-speed road race course. [pic] It’s fast and twisty with a liberal dose of curves and sweepers. No traffic enforcement within five hundred miles. Great road, great views and the only limits are your own ability to master the bike. Then you see the other side of the Cassiar's personality . Dirt, gravel, ruts, mud, dust and potholes. It can change from high-speed road course to enduro course in an instant. [pic] Just when you think you have seen it all the surface changes again. Now it is hard packed dirt and you have to draw on the skills you learned thirty years ago when you were sliding your stripped down Triumph 650 around the local half-mile flat track. Hard packed, fast and smooth. All this in one road! It is all drivable but you must be at your best and adjust accordingly. The real challenge is at the transitions from one surface to another. If you miss a transition it can be costly. [pic]                   

North on the Cassiar about an hours ride from Kitwanga you reach a fork in the road. Fuel is available on the right. Straight ahead sits a guy with a long white beard giving directions. All you can do is turn left to Hyder or continue north on Highway 37. I did not see how a lot of information was needed at this spot in the road, but what do I know?    

 The forty-mile ride to Hyder Alaska is filled with great expectation. It is like driving a very long driveway to someone’s grand estate. Just knowing that I would soon be in Alaska was very exciting! The two lane paved road to Hyder parallels a class four kayaking river. The river is a raging torrent. It is fed by glacier run-off from the mountains that brush against your elbow and rise a thousand feet in the air. The road snakes along the mountain base with enough curves and twists to bring an ear-to-ear grin to any bikers helmet. Do it as fast as you dare on the ride into Hyder but take time on the return ride to enjoy the scenery.    

To say that Hyder is a small town is an understatement. [pic] [pic] [pic] Hyder is the “Friendliest Ghost Town in Alaska”; with a population of one hundred. [pic]  Hyder is about one hundred yards long by about two hundred yards wide. If you are hungry stop at the blue bus. No kidding, it is a blue bus. [pic]  The husband catches the fish in the Salmon River and the wife cooks them in the bus. I had halibut sautéed in butter and garlic. Maybe it was the fresh air or maybe it was the scenery, but it was five star delicious! Do not worry about calling ahead for reservations. Also, they really like bikers.   

Best I can figure there is only one road into and out of Hyder. You pass the Canadian Customs office as you drive the one hundred yards into Hyder Alaska. [pic] Then you turn around and drive back out. But you must re-enter Canada, therefore you must go through customs. I am so pleased that I get yet another opportunity to interact with the Canadian Customs system. " What are your plans, length of stay, where will you be staying, any friends in Canada, any guns, drugs or excessive amounts of cash "? This is the second grilling I have received and they still seem to doubt that I am without guns, drugs or excessive amounts of cash. This time it goes fairly quick and they only look through my tank bag and the top of my soft bag. I am on the road in about ten minutes. I am back on Highway 37A heading east. It’s time to enjoy the scenery.  Bear Glacier comes right down to the road. Amazing! [pic]   I stop at one point on the road and count eleven waterfalls coming off the mountains on the north side of the road. It is drop-dead beautiful.

Back on the Cassiar driving north and there are several long sections of very rough road with a lot of gravel. Here you must adjust your speed and riding style accordingly. Many sections of the road are steep. [pic] The RT is amazing and handled everything the road threw at it.   I hoped to make it to Watson Lake before I called it a day but the gravel and dirt riding exhausted me sooner than I expected. I wanted to be off the Cassiar before any rain hit it and the sky looked threatening. But I reached my limit for safely riding the bike before reaching Watson Lake and I knew it was time to stop. I found a cabin north of Dease Lake. The cabin has no electric, heat or bed covers. I use my sleeping bag and boiled water on my camp stove for oatmeal. The setting is beautiful. If I had to choose a place to relax, the Dease Lake area would be a great place to stay.  

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