Into Canada

The start from Seattle on the Saturday morning was pretty good. An easy jump onto I5 and I was cruising through the northern suburbs of the city heading further north towards Canada. By lunch the weather had turned grey and damp again and that is how I crossed into the Canadian province of British Columbia. I only wanted to go as far as the turning off the main highway and by three o’clock I was in a nice little motel in a place called Hope.

It turned out that this was a long weekend in Canada, and the Canuks were out to play for the weekend with many of the campsites full along the way. Just after I left Hope (again in the pouring rain) I started to recognise some of the roads from when I was here two years ago. The road towards Harrison Hot Springs and shortly after I came across the cable car ride at a place called Hells Gate.


Self explanatory really


Then you take the car ride


Down to the bottom

I was only heading for Williams Lake that day when I ran across a couple of Americans on bikes so we rode together. I felt it would be nice to have some company for dinner that evening so I stayed with them all the way up to Prince George. It made it a long day but we had a good laugh and a chat about our travels over dinner. The next day I decided to have another day in Prince George while Steve and Colby headed out. They were on a tight schedule and were covering anything between 650 and 800km a day! Too much for this little black duck.


Colby and his Dad Steve

While we were talking Steve suggested that like my Aussie mate Errol Goodenough had done I might consider going up to Inuvik instead of Prudhoe Bay. He said there was more to see and there was less heavy traffic on that road as there was no oil refinery at the end. Errol had asked me if I was going to go there before I left Aus and I had changed my mind because Prudhoe Bay was the further North of the two (not by much) and I didn’t realize how close I would be to be able to go up the Dempster Highway instead of the Dalton. So the plan has now changed to going to Inuvik instead.

Smithers is a lovely little town as you head west from Prince George. In the winter it is supposed to have some of the best skiing in British Columbia. It was the closed town before I turned right onto the Cassier Highway to head north again. This is a long stretch of road with very little traffic on it and only a few fuel stops along the 850km up to the Alaskan Highway. So you have to plan your stops or carry spare fuel. Having given away the fuel can in Bogota because I wasn’t allowed to put it on the plane I stopped at every fuel station to top up.


Nice little town Smithers

As soon as I turned onto the Cassier the scenery was magnificent, and it wasn’t long before I saw my first Black Bear crossing the road up ahead. By the time it got level with where he was he was running for the trees. Never mind I thought it was a good sign for the day. I saw a total of eight bears that day and the rest of them could hardly care less that someone had stopped to take a photo or two. I was later tod that when they built this road back in the 1970’s they sprayed the verges with a mix of clover and other seeds that the bears like. So you are now more likely to see the bears by the side of the road grazing than you would be five km into the woods!


Just looking for food at the side of the road


Mmm food! If I run fast enough??

That night I blew the budget and stayed at the Bell 2 Lodge. It’s a little short of half way to Watsons Lake on the Alaskan Highway (not that there is that much choice of places to stay) and considering the amount of bears that I had seen I didn’t think camping was the best idea anyway!


Bell 2 Lodge. Nice but expensive

Within the first hour of setting off the next day there were another four bears by the side of the road. The run up to the Alaska Highway was good, virtually no traffic and wonderful scenery again. A lot of the lakes that I past up here were still partially frozen. It must have been a hell of a winter this year.




The lakes are still full of ice


But the riding is magnificent

After a 550km ride I got to Williams Lake around three in the afternoon. This place is a blip on the Alaskan Highway and after asking at four places in town (one of which was full) I realised that the days of cheap motels are over (at least until I get back into the USA. Two other bikers from the USA pulled in to stay that night Bob Stallard on a 950KTM and Bob McTavish on a BMW1200GS who sold me his fuel bladder that he reckoned that he wouldn't be needing (thanks Bob) and we all rode on together the next day.


Bob and Bob........


More fantastic scenery

Unfortunately they were heading a little further on that night and then going across the Top of the World Highway the next day. I decided to have a couple of nights in Whitehorse a nice town with a good frontier feel about it.


Main Street in Whitehorse


Some more of the buildings give the place a frontier feel


The biggest nugget of pure copper in the world


The Old Telegraph Office from around 1900

Tomorrow I head up to Dawson City and from there onto the Dempster Highway. Wish me luck!!

Oregon & Washigton State

I woke up on the Sunday morning to that eerie silence that you only get when it’s snowing outside. The cover on the bike had about two inches on it that was frozen. In fact the bike cover was actually frozen onto the bash plate.


South Lake Tahoe


Sunday morning!!


The roads were clear though

The forecast wasn’t any better for Monday or Tuesday, and they said the temperature was going to drop dramatically overnight. The roads were clear but I figured that it might get worse if they froze!! So I packed the bike and set off very carefully for the shortest distance out of the mountains, that meant going East towards Carson City. I then turned north and went up to Reno. While I was in a McDonalds having a coffee and trying to warm up I asked a couple of fellas which was the best way to get back over into California? They recommended that I take highway 70 towards Chico. “That road runs through the canyon rather than over the mountains, you might get wet but it should be clear of snow” So I set off again. I got wet driving snow, hail and freezing rain on the way through, but by the time I reached Chico I was back in the valley and things were better up to Red Bluff for the night. On Monday I continued west until I reached the Redwood National Park. What had started as another very wet day had finished as a lovely sunny afternoon to see the trees again.


The Oregon Coastline


It's hard to do these giants justice with a camera


One of the few left that you can drive through!!
This tree is still in remarkably good health despite having a bloody great hole cut in it!!

The next days ride was wet again, all along the Oregon coast was wet and cold, not my favorite weather for riding a motorcycle in. If it had been finer then that part of the Pacific coastline would have been magnificent and would have given some good photo opportunities, as it was I was just glad to find a motel for the night and dry everything out.

Wednesday was fine again, and the ride up to Seattle in Washington was good. I wanted to find the American headquarters of Touratech to buy the mounting for the windshield that was broken. I also bought another ram mount, which now means I can have both the GPS and the video camera on the bike at the same time. They were very friendly and interested in my travels and even had a fully equipped workshop if I wanted to do any maintenance. Nice service with a smile and no rough end of the pineapple!!

After settling into my motel room I caught the bus into Seattle on the Thursday and explored the city.


The Space Needle In Seattle


Another view


Downtown from the top


Pikes Market has some great seafood




And the flowers are pretty too. A lot going on there.

Today has been spent finishing the second of the Mexican video’s which I have uploaded and getting prepared to cross the border into Canada and start the final push up to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska.

Viva Las Vegas

I arrived in Las Vegas early, so I had to wait for a while for a ground floor room to be available. I didn’t mind because I wanted the Wombat outside the room so I could keep a good eye on it. That afternoon I walked across the bridge and the one block down to the main strip.


This is just one Hotel!


Outside the front of the Hotel


Paris anyone??

It’s been twenty years since I was here last, and most of the Hotels and Casinos hadn’t been built then. It’s now a Disney type wonderland of themed Hotels built to amuse and amaze families and tourists from all over the world. But the underlying theme in all the bars, hotels and everywhere else for that matter is the gambling. There are even slot machines in the gas station opposite the motel where I am. The promise of quick riches always has a seedy side and in this respect Las Vegas hasn’t changed. There are still some very sad looking people around during the day. Although unlike last time I haven’t seen the “chain gang” cleaning the streets minded by a shotgun carrying officer. There are also the magazines advertising the working girls who are just a “phone call away” and the strip clubs.


This was what I remember. It's in a covered mall now!

The next day I set out to find the “old” strip. This is located downtown from where I was staying and was a good six or seven miles away. I walked a good half way down until I realised how far it was, then I bought a bus ticket that lasts all day for $7 and rode the bus the rest of the way. The old casinos from the original strip are now housed in a covered “mall” and Kind of preserved for prosperity. They still operate as casinos but with a different kind of atmosphere. I planned to go back into the strip after dark but as it rained heavily in the afternoon and there were some very dark clouds moving through as it got dark I decided that I would have an easy (and dry) night in my room.


The water show outside the Bellagio. Remember Oceans Eleven?

The rain had cleared the next day and I took the bike for a ride down the strip to get some video with the helmet cam. I also found the BMW dealership to try to find a replacement for the screen mount that has broken on one side. They didn’t and they also told me they now sell them in kits that cost $70. I’ll get the Touratech steel replacement ones hopefully in Seattle. So on the last night in town I walked back down to the strip in the late afternoon to get some final shots in the dark.


It's at night things start to get really spectacular


The bright lights and the drunk people


One last look back then bed

As I rode out of Sin City on the Wednesday I had the same feelings as I had twenty years ago. I had been there three nights. Two would have been enough!

The weather warmed up considerably as I started my ride through Death Valley. It continued to warm up all the way through and it turned into another long day in the saddle as I changed my plans as to where I would stay half way through and headed for Bakersfield. This would give me a better chance of seeing what I still consider to be my favourite American National Park, Sequoia.


Death Valley. It was already warm.


In the middle of summer one of the hottest places on earth


A long hot road

The forest in Sequoia is the attraction. Between the sequoia trees and the giant redwoods there are few other places on earth that compare, in my opinion. At 5000ft there was still plenty of snow around in the park, but the sunshine made it comfortable enough to ride.


The largest tree on Earth

General Sherman is a Giant Sequoia with a height of 83.8 metres (275 ft). As of 2002, the volume of its trunk measured about 1,487 cubic metres (52,513 cu ft), making it the largest known non-clonal tree by volume.


Still plenty of snow around


The giant redwoods


The riding here is glorious!

An Overnight stop in Clovis (California this time not New Mexico) had me still traveling north to see the final National Park for a while Yosemite. It was a quick run through the park which like all the others so far was very busy. It was a good time to visit as the snow is still melting and all the waterfalls are flowing splendidly.


The waterfalls in full flow


And another


They just keep coming


If you're coming to the park for lunch, don't forget to bring the BBQ!!

Again due to the road I wanted to take being closed due to the snow it turned into another 600km day. The last hundred km were freezing as I came over the top of the mountains at 8000ft and into South Lake Tahoe where I had booked a motel for a couple of nights online. So as I’m writing this the forecast tonight is for snow!! Which would spoil the Tour of California cycle race which is due to start here tomorrow, and also may extend my stay here by another day.

Peaks & Canyons

On the way up to Albuquerque I stopped in at Fort Sumner to pay my respects to one William H Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid, who was killed there in the summer of 1881. His headstone has been stolen three times so now the whole grave is covered in a steel cage.


The Story for the headstone


Safe behind bars

The second stop of the day was at the Route 66 motor museum at Santa Rosa to quickly have a look at some of the fine cars and memorabilia they have there. It was a windy ride all the way from Clovis to Albuquerque, with the Wombat being blown onto the hard shoulder a couple of times!


Some serious route 66 metal


Love the woodwork


Those flames are so 70's

I had already put the address of the BMW dealership into the GPS and so when I got into town it took me straight there. I arranged for the service and a new front tyre and as I was asking if there was a cheap motel nearby a voice piped up and said you can stay with me if you like. So for the next four days I stayed with John Dawkins and his family in the hills just outside Albuquerque. Saturday it was snowing! So instead of going for a ride we went to the local gun fair, then in the afternoon collected the Wombat. That was when I got the first shock. The $1300 bill!! I had expected it to be fairly expensive but not this high. What really hurt was they hadn’t got a replacement bolt for the main stand in stock so they kindly took one of a bike in the showroom. They then charged me labour to remove the bolt, fit it to my bike, then for the labour to put the bolt back on the original bike when it arrived!! Thanks fellas. Later I found that they had routed the wiring for the GPS all inside the tank so I couldn’t remove it. A bolt loose on the hand guard, and then the Power Brakes stopped working!! (they are working again now) Not impressed all in all. I've decided from now on I will be doing the servicing myself.


John Dawkins Place


The view from the house

We also took a drive up to Santa Fe on Sunday. A very nice place but extremely expensive.


Santa Fe art gallery with John's car parked in front (no joke)


Very expensive shops

John decided that he would take a couple of days and ride north with me. So on Tuesday 3rd we set off and headed for the Mesa Verde National Park just across the State border into Colorado. We took the long road round through the Jicarilla Apache Indian reservation and Durango (the real one this time) until we stayed the night in the Lodge inside the national park. The next morning we visited the site where the Indians lived in the caves in the rock face of the canyon, very impressive.


The Indian caves in Mesa Verde


Getting ready on a cold spring morning


The view from the Lodge cabins

Then we went up to Four Corners where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona all meet


Four Corners

Then finally something I have been waiting many years to do, a ride up through Monument Valley. I wasn't disappointed.


Coming into Monument Valley




These mesa's are unbelievable


Mexican Hat

The next day John headed back for home and I took a short ride up to the Canyonlands National Park and then didn’t get much further staying in Moab overnight. It seemed like the whole of Utah also had the same idea, with a lot of “off roaders” in town for a weekend of fun.


Canyonlands





The next morning I visited the Arches National Park and at that point decided to avoid the heavy storm and flash flooding in Northern Utah that was forecast on the TV for the weekend and headed SW towards another two National Parks, Bryce and Zion.


Arches National Park











Then into Bryce National Park

Finally that day into Zion National Park





By this time the plan had been altered sufficiently that a visit to Salt Lake City was also in doubt. I was only 200km from Las Vegas and after a quick check on the internet for hotels, I booked a Days Inn motel just one block off the strip for three nights for $28 a night, and headed for Vegas!