Skagway had been way better than we had expected, and we'd had a great time here. Now it was time to move on, head home to Canada and sample the Yukon Territories along the way. The day looked quite promising, though weather forecasts the day before had predicted some rain along the way. We also knew that climbing out of Skagway and over the pass, temps would certainly drop. So, as any boy scout would do, we got prepared! Our Gortex liners went back into the riding suits, Gortex gloves came out as did long sleeve tops. We'd done a bit of packing the night before, so we just had a little more to stuff into pannier bags after breakfast. We met Zahara and Norman at breakfast, they were staying a few more days in Skagway, so we said our farewells & promised to get in touch once we were all home back in Edmonton. Breakfast done, it was back to our lovely room one more time.
How we got everything into the pannier bags, the good Lord only knows. Carrying them out to the bike was like having a small person on my shoulders! I stuffed, crammed, forced the larger of the bags into the metal pannier and clicked the latch shut - phewww. If customs ever asked to look into that pannier, there would be problems. Bags loaded, we were almost ready for the off. Wendy was pretty sure 'Sydders' tyres were a little soft, and after checking we discovered they did indeed need a little air. Wendy headed down to the one & only gas station in Skagway while I finished loading 'Gertie'. I swear she groaned!!!!! Down at the gas station, we finished off with the air line, fired up both bikes again & headed out of town.
Skagway is only a very small place, so we soon found ourselves crossing the Skagway river on the edge of town, following 3 slow moving RV's/camper vans. The road immediately went into curves and turns following the contours of the valley, and quickly gaining altitude. That was fine for our bikes, not so good for the RV's who laboriously made their way up the side of the valley. We were in no hurry, so hung back waiting for a gap. The last RV kindly pulled over to let us past & we soon found a straight long enough to shoot past the other 2 RV's. We now wound our way steadily up the side of the valley, with a great view across to the rail tracks we had been up the day before on the train trip. It was quite sobering, looking over at the thin ribbons of steel which made up the track. It was hard to believe the train we had been on, managed to make it's way along such a precarious perch. As we pushed on, the temp was dropping, and by the time we hit the summit at about 3,500', we were at a 'cool' 9'C/48'F. Thank heaven for the liners! The photo at the top of todays blog, was taken just over the top of the summit. It even looks cool doesn't it?
We'd hardly stopped & Wend was pushing us along again, concerned that the convoy of 3 RV's would catch us. So, we climbed back on the bikes and were of again in a 'jiffy'. Now what does that mean folk? Has anyone witnessed a 'jiffy', and how quickly do these things move. Anyway, any contributions or ideas always accepted. On our way again, the terrain looked very very menacing. We were riding on what could best be described as a plateau, but the plateau it's self was smooth boulder like rock with short vegetation & shrubs. Not a very good description I'm afraid, but it didn't look like somewhere you'd want to be stuck overnight that is for sure. A few miles down the road - sorry, kilometres, we were back in Canada now - we approached the Canadian border post. Having had a pretty nasty experience the previous time we entered Canada on bikes, I wanted to prepare a little better this time. We pulled off the road about 200m from the small border post building, where we prepared our passport & permanent residents cards. We also removed gloves & undid helmets - all so we could have the bikes switched off PDQ, and helmets off.......... As it turned out, the female Officer was very pleasant, and we went through the formalities very painlessly. We were soon officially home into Canada and on our way to Whitehorse.
After about an hour on the road, we rode over a river & into a very small town. I had suggested that if we found a 'Timmies', we should stop for coffee! The town was way too small for Tims, but we decided to stop all the same for a leg stretch and coffee. All that was available was a small gas station/general store, so we popped in, got some 'proper' money from the ATM and had coffee & 'stickies'. After a short break, it was back in the saddle & heading for Whitehorse, and that's where we ran into a little bit of a problem with 'Sydders'! Wendy was hanging back behind me & called over the radio that she was having problems. I stopped, swung round & headed back to see what the problem was. A red 'oil can' light was illuminated, and 'Sydders' was not running smoothly. Wendy had only just had an oil change carried out before we left, so I couldn't see how it could be low oil. Neither had I seen a puddle under the bike. Anyway, to be safe, we checked the oil, of which there was plenty. We decided that as we were stuck in the middle of no where, and there was actually a Can Am dealer in Whitehorse, we should push on. The warning light remained on, and at about 4000rpm, Wendy said there was very bad vibration from the bike. We settled for a speed of about 85km, and headed into Whitehorse.
The pair of us were getting increasingly tense with the situation, but the GPS was indicating that we were getting close to Whitehorse so we pushed on. Some time ago Wendy got hold of a short program from a fellow 'Spydereer', which detailed all of the Spyder dealers in North America. I'd loaded this into my GPS. Wendy now remembered this & I reprogrammed the destination on the GPS. We rolled into the dealer at the far end of Whitehorse at about 3:25pm. The dealer closed at 3pm!!!!!!!! BUGGER!!!!!!!!!! I said there was nothing we could do, so we might as well get to the hotel, unpack & start to see what Whitehorse had to offer. We'd get back to the dealer first thing Monday morning, which was our scheduled departure day. After that, we'd be in the hands of the dealer.
Plans made, we back tracked and found the hotel, parked and locked the bikes, then checked in. After a quick unpack and shower, we headed out for a look at town. We found a great gallery with some beautiful artwork and carvings. Now we have yet another piece to get home.............. The girl in the gallery asked if we were going to ship, but as it is a rather heavy wooden piece, we said no, we'd take it! 'Ohh, you are in a car then', the girl said.'No', I corrected her, 'even better, we are on motorcycles.................'. We all had a good laugh, and now we are pondering the purchase of ANOTHER bag to be attached to 'Gertie'. I need a bloody pack mule not a bike! New prize in hand, we headed back to the hotel via a lovely 50's style diner. We'd seen a girl exiting clutching a gorgeous looking banana split, so had to investigate. See photo of the day!!
After that, we took a slow 'mooch' back to the hotel and decided to have an early dinner. Oh yes, and sample the local beer! Well, we're fed & watered and settling down in the room for the evening. Well, Wend has settled and I'm finishing chatting to you, then it's into my book. Today has been a strange one, more especially with the worry about 'Sydders'. I'm sure it will turn out to be a 'computer' problem which they will put right, and we will be on our way. In the mean while, we are heading to the hot springs and the brewery tomorrow - not necessarily in that order!!!!!! Nite nite all, talk to you tomorrow.
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