August 21, 2007
To Bonus Lake: Homebrew from Scotty
Grey skies again this morning with low clouds hanging between almost vertical mountains surrounding Stewart. Patrick rides to the restrooms and finds Rich there already packed and ready to go. His intent is to get a ride to Meziadin Junction and then ride all the way to Kitwanga at the end of the Cassier Highway.
We are packed up and head to town for breakfast, and guess who we find at the cafe? Rich could not resist the $6.00 breakfast special either. We have pancakes with eggs and bacon, then we all ride out together...we too decide to catch a ride back to the junction as we've already ridden this section.
Getting a ride is a lot harder than we expected.
We ride down the road, thumbing the trucks that pass by. First of all there aren't that many vehicles and maybe it's because there are three cyclists that is too much? After trying for about 15km, we change strategy, stop and wait for a ride. A couple of trucks pass, we don't even bother with the cars or RV's. Then a big Ford F350 passes by, brakes and backs up to where we stand.
We have a ride!
Everything fits easily in the truck bed. The guy is a logging supervisor on his way to an operation near Bell II. When Patrick asks if he is clear cutting or selective logging, he first wants to know if Patrick is a "tree hugger". He sure does not like the logging restrictions that have made it much harder to make a living up here. At the junction we are dropped off, and we set off immediately, heading south for Cranberry Junction. Rich follows a little later catching up when we take our first lunch break, and he keeps going. He has about 75km more to do than us.
The weather inland is better than at the coast, blue sky, and clouds are moving in. We dry our tent just to make sure. Our road is relatively flat as promised by Noah and Simon, long flat stretches either slightly up or down. They must have forgotten about several short steep hills. We meet Ed, a guy on a big BMW motorcycle. He has been around the world, now on his way to Prudhoe Bay and then heading home to Philadelphia by way of California. He might visit us in Boise later this fall.
A little bit further we meet a young woman from Portland on her way to Skagway from where she'll take a ferry back South. We stop at the Bonus Lake Forest Recreation Site, a small clearing next to a pretty lake. To our surprise we find a couple of picnic tables, fire ring boat dock and an outhouse. All not more than 100 meters off the road yet hidden in the trees.
After we have set up, filtered water and start to cook our meal, a guy with a truck trailer with a camper shell and boat pulls in. He backs into a narrow site between the scrubs and when he gets out of the truck to check the location, his dog Bam Bam locks him out.... motor running and all.
The passenger side window is cracked open, Patrick helps him try to pry it open with a stick and a spare spoke to first lift the lock button, then to lift the door lever. After awhile he succeeds. We eat our meal with a mug of homebrew from Scotty. He looks a bit rough, long white bear, ponytail, tattoos everywhere, but seems a nice guy. After dinner we share another bottle of his excellent brew.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 92 km (57 miles)
Total: 12,974 km (8,057 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |