Day 24 – Monday, July 23rd (415 miles, Eagle River, AK to Beaver Cree, YT, CA):
Today was my last day in Alaska. It as a slightly somber day, with the reality that my trip will be coming to an end soon. My whole trip, starting with the planning a few years ago, to actually making the trip happen, and then finally arriving in Alaska, was all about Alaska. Making it to Alaska was the goal and the challenge. Now it is over.
On my ride today, I reflected on my time in Alaska and the trip leading up to this amazing place. The beginning of my trip seemed like it was such a long time ago, leaving Atlanta and riding through over 100 degrees temperatures everyday across the US. For the past two weeks, I had been waking up to temperatures in the 40’s! There have been some tough times, dealing with the bad weather, or riding on a couple hours of sleep, but I wouldn’t change any of it. By far though, the good times outweighed the few struggles I have encountered.
I left Eagle River after having breakfast with J.J. and Alex and saying goodbye, and began riding northeast on Glenn Highway towards Canada. The first few hours of the ride were pretty, with mountains off in the distance and rivers and lakes off to the side of the road. About the only negative thing on the ride today was the terrible road conditions. I was again surprised at how bad the road was, worse than any others I had ridden on so far (besides the off-roading I did on the Dalton Highway). Many potholes and bumps were spread throughout both sides of the road, hard to avoid at times. It was also a warm day, much warmer than I would have expected in Alaska. When I finally reached Tok in the late afternoon, the temperature was 87 degrees!
After filling my gas tank and eating a snack in Tok, I decided to keep riding until I made it across the border, into Canada, and to the town of Beaver Creek. With no issues crossing the border, I arrived in Beaver Creek, YT around 8pm and got a cabin at Buckshot Bettys. I then grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant and had dinner with another motorcyclist named Ken, from Toronto. Ken was on his way up to Alaska, so I gave him some suggestions on places to visit and things to do. I then headed to bed after dinner to get ready for a long ride tomorrow!
Border between US and Canada
Cabin #5 – my cabin for the night at Buckshot Betty’s. Mosquitos were terrible here!
herecomestrebble 