The Wrangell MountainsI had a hilarious conversation with Ed last night. His GPS locator isn't working properly or doesn't have a signal where he is, so he just recounted for me the last 20 miles in Alaska and the first several miles in the Yukon Territory.
"Alaska did not let me leave easy and that makes me proud," he said. Apparently, when he left Tok, he had a decent ride and said to himself 'should be an easy last 20 miles into Canada.' Then it started to snow.
It was passable at places, but where it wasn't, it really wasn't. He is now considering a backup plan of riding to Haines junction and taking the ferry to Seattle, but he doesn't have to make that decision just yet.
At Border City, he met up with Cross-eyed Bruce who recommended Ed stay at Buckshot Betty's hotel in Beaver Creek, YT. Unfortunately, Buckshot Betty's was full, so he wound up at Hotel 1202 with plans to go to Buckshot's in order to pick up her new CD that just dropped last month. Arctic people are so multitalented (our former financial planner in Anchorage was also a piano tuner). You do what you have to in order to survive.
Cross-eyed Bruce told Ed a guy had blown into town after the snow started and frantically told Bruce to call the Troopers because he'd seen a "guy on a bike out there." Bruce was hesitant to bother the authorities on account of "people on bikes are usually there by choice." He further pointed out that the driver could've stopped for Ed if he really wanted to help him. True dat.
Ed mentioned before that he was wearing his Oklahoma bike jersey for the ride, showing Sooner pride wherever you go is an obligation for OU alums. At Dead Man's Lake, just before the snow storm, a truck containing two Texans waved Ed down and said hey. They were driving the truck TO Alaska after one of their sons had been deployed overseas. After exchanging the standard Oklahoma-Texas barbs (starting with "You're from Texas? I'm sorry"), they extolled the wonders of the Alaska wilderness.
Ed informed them that if you're on a road, you're not really in Alaska wilderness. They agreed, stating that when you see a Sooner pull up on a bike in the middle of nowhere, you're really not in wilderness after all.
Even though his Spot device isn't working, I can at least give you all a link:
And a few pictures to keep you settled:
Tanana Valley camp site
Wrangell Moutains and fall foliage
4 comments:
We love Cross-Eyed Bruce and dearly hope Ed got a photo. Snow, indeed. It's halfway down the mountains already in Anchorage! Our question: bear spottings so far? J&K
Is cross-eyed Bruce single? Maybe I should move to Alaska to meet men and get free money. Any hoo - one of the blogs shows up as black type on a dark background. As sponsor, could you fix that? It's great part of the TOK Library story.
Hey Ed,
Glad we got to see a few pix! Amazing journey. If you do have to land in Seattle, let us know and our offer stands!
Pete & Sandra
ferry to seattle? don't you mean the ferry to bellingham? i live in bellingham, 1.5 miles from the ferry terminal, and i have a place crazy guy can crash if he wants. no, you don't know me. i'm just a bike rider who likes reading about strangers on long rides. sorry, i have no opinion about leather washers.
Post a Comment