To Hess Creek: Milepost 24

July 15, 2007

The road is mostly gravel today, very hilly and we get some serious rain.

First though, after breaking camp and retrieving our food that we stored in the outhouse, we ride 5 miles to the Yukon River where there is a lodge and cafe. We order the "Haul Road Special" and a short stack of pancakes. The special is a double serving of bacon, three eggs, hashbrowns and toast, the short stack has four butter pancakes (a full stack has six!). We eat everything except for one pancake and drink some pretty strong coffee.

We also each buy a sweatshirt at the gift shop. Last winter a grizzly bear broke into the lodge and hibernated inside. They had to shoot it in Spring and found the inside of the store pretty much destroyed. Some of the merchandise is for sale at a discount as "bearly worn". With full stomachs we cross the Yukon River over a long wood decked bridge.

The clouds are building again and we get hit hard today. It pours huge raindrops that soak us and turn the road to mud. Patrick gets a flat rear tire with a snakebite on a downhill and with mud everywhere replaces the tube. Rachel rides her bike through some mud trying to park it against a road sign and we have to remove the front wheel to clear the red clay mud from the fender.

We reach Hess Creek just as there's a dry spell and find the small pull out amongst some trees. The mosquitoes are horrendous that we don't feel like climbing out of this valley today. Dinner of white sauce spaghetti and tuna, we pitch the tent just in time before it rains again, after washing up in the river, we seek shelter from the bugs.

We hear some splashing in the river, later we find out that it is a beaver clapping his tail on the water.