Well, we’re on our way back to Haines Junction. Lots of highways in Alaska “Dead End” at the various oceans. So you need to backtrack to get somewhere else. In this case the “Haines Highway” goes back up through Alaska, through British Columbia and through the Yukon to hook back up with the Alaskan Highway. From there we will run across the Alaskan Highway , through Whitehorse (Capital of the Yukon) and over to one of the most anticipated roads of the entire trip……The Cassiar Highway. By the way, this little “jaunt” to get to the Cassiar is about 603 MILES!!!
On our way back to Haines Junction we decided to try our hand at some salmon fishing. We stopped in a little town called "Copper" and ate at a turn of the century roadhouse and had a wonderful breakfast. Maybe the best of the trip so far. It was fun eavesdropping on all the conversations going on around us from the locals. Talk about bears, wolves, sled dogs, gardens, hunting, fishing......same kind of stuff folks talk about in Boston....
Before we left I struck up a conversation with a few of the folks about the fishing. I asked, wheres a good place to catch a salmon (what a freak'n tourist!)
The answer was..."Where ever it's wet...". They suggested an outfitter just down the road over a bridge. Bob and I rode over there, rented a couple of rods with salmon flies and tried our luck. You have to picture this.....a couple of yahoos standing on the side of the stream in full motorcycle gear, trying to catch a salmon. As it turns out, I hooked one, but lost it at the bank.........and at one point, while standing on said bank, it collapsed sending me about 3 feet down the bank into the rushing waters! My boots and pants got soaked and in trying to stop my fall to certain death, I wrenched my back....This will be with me for a few days I'm sure..... Bob had no luck and lost one of his flies.
Just like EVERY time I go fishing, we heard from the locals..."You should have been here last week....next week will be better!"
Enough of this.......let's ride!
The Cassiar is reported to be one of the most beautiful rides in the world! Mountains, Glaciers, forests, bluffs, and lots of animals. Over its 344 miles, it consists of chip seal, hard packed gravel and plain dirt. It is roughly 28 feet wide and doesn’t have a center stripe, guard rails, few gas stations or other services. FANTASTIC!!
We made amazing time on the Haines Highway……..That little V-Strom 650cc Twin beat it’s brains out moving me and all the luggage at many times triple digit speeds. But the road is just about perfect with huge expanses of tundra on each side so you can see critters running up to the road from miles away, and there was zero traffic on the road. In over 200 miles we saw no other vehicles, none, nada, zip! Sometimes there is just absolutely nothing better than being on a motorcycle……….As we crossed over the mountains we left the clouds behind and the sun came out and all was right with the world………
We headed over to the beginning of the Cassiar and decided to go to Jade City to spend the night. This part of BC is known worldwide for the high quality of Jade that is mined here. Bob and I bought some gifts for the ladies in our lives (Man, I got a lot of ladies in my life now, what with a wonderful wife, two daughters, three daughter in-laws and two grand daughters………This is gonna leave a mark!)
Once in Jade city we inquired about camping accommodations and the owner of the Jade store told us to just set up our tents out back and use the bathrooms to wash up in. Pretty nice offer, but we needed showers and something to eat and there was no food available in Jade City. I saw a sign on the road advertising “Moose Meadows” campground so I went back to read the sign……It said “Showers” and a “Camp Store”……Even if this meant a dinner of Snickers Bars and Coke, It’s better than eating rocks! So off we go to Moose Meadows…………What a pleasant surprise! The place is a dream…..Instead of camping we took a renovated trappers log cabin right on the water (Moose Lake) for only $40. The store had Dinty Moore Beef Stew and some kind of Bag Rice thing……..The cabin had pots and pans and a propane stove………Bob whipped us up an amazing meal and we ate it looking out over the lake as two mother moose and two calves were feeding in the water and a beaver swam by. Right out of freakin Norman Rockwell……..I kid you not! I guarantee I’ll return to Moose Meadows at some point and spend a week here. The fishing is supposed to be fantastic………….
Well , it’s off to bed………It was a long day with lots of riding………I’m loving it!