Day 13. Still in Whitehorse.

The anger and frustration of yesterday, was pretty much washed away by way too much Yukon beer last night. What was left this morning, was still an element of frustration, as no one really seemed to care about our plight. Not too surprising I guess! I tried to look at the positives of the situation. Firstly and most importantly, no one had been injured! Secondly, we did actually manage to get the bike into the only dealer for hundreds of miles. Next, our dealer in Red Deer had gone beyond the call of duty, and the spare part was on it's way. Lastly, we were actually on vacation, so this was just an unforeseen extension! So when you looked at all the plus factors, it wasn't too bad really, especially as the weather was glorious and we still had things to see and do.

Wendy had been looking through an area travel guide called 'The Last Great Road Trip'. In which she had seen an article on Muktuk Adventures. In short, Muktuk is a family business based a few miles outside of Whitehorse run by Frank Turner, a Whitehorse dog 'musher'. Many people would probably have heard of the Iditarod sled dog race held in Alaska. There is a similar race held in Yukon, called the Yukon Quest. Apparently, the Quest was started because many felt Iditarod was becoming too commercial and had lost touch with it's roots. As I understand it from a 'musher' at Frank's Muktuk kennels, the Quest was started in 1984 aimed at being a more 'pure' challenge. Although the races are of similar distances, ie 1500km, Iditarod has 20 check points, Quest has 8, some of the legs being 3 days long! Frank is unique in that he has competed in 24 Quest's since they started in 84. Ok, so that's a little background, you should also check out the Muktuk Adventure web site at www.muktuk.com . The site has over 130 Alaskan Huskies of ages, which you can play with and even take for a walk to the near by river - under supervision of course.

So, we hopped on 'Gertie' and rode the 15/16 miles to the Muktuk kennels and had a guided tour by one of the staff. What first struck me, was how 'slight' these dogs were. To think they not only pulled a sled, but several of them competed in the gruelling Yukon Quest. I listened into Frank telling one small family group, that the dogs in the race team, were capable of running about 150 miles a day!! He said that the dogs were still full of running, while the 'musher' was fighting falling a sleep on the back of the sled! We also went with some of the dogs down to the river. That sounds domestic enough for those of us with 'normal' dogs, but these 'athletes' are anything but normal. All the dogs are on long chains attached to their 'house', and when we arrived we were amazed at how quiet it was. For the most part, the dogs lay on or by their 'house' in the sunshine. We were able to go amongst them and make a fuss of them. Everything was very quiet until Manuella one of the staff there came out. At that point mayhem broke out. Dogs running round their house in circles, barking like furry, all seemed to be saying,"pick me..............". They all knew when Manuella came out, it meant a walk to the river. However, sled dogs don't do walking! We were told to walk slowly down a path that lead from the lines of kennels, through a pasture and woods to the river. We were warned that the dogs would come tearing past us. I swear, there dogs would out pace a Greyhound (dog not bus..............). Six of them were selected to join us, and they came like bolts out of the blue. I don't think I have ever seen a dog run that fast before, and they didn't care what or who they ran into! Wendy & I were amazed and stood out of the way to let these furry bolts of lightening past.

Down at the river, we chatted and the dogs ran non stop. Either chasing each other through the bush, or out into the river with one of the other volunteers. Either way, the dogs were having a whale of a time. After a while down by the river, we sauntered back to the house and the rows and rows of kennels. It took a little while to 'round' up the dogs and get them back on their chains. This commotion set off all the other dogs, and it was funny to watch them. Many were up on the flat roof of their 'house', straining to see what was going on and of course, all barking! One of the six that we had accompanied was eventually 'captured' & returned to his/her house and all went quiet again. Then another of our walk 'companions' would bolt down the line of kennels, and all hell would break lose again. Eventually all six were rounded up and peace restored. It was quite amazing how quickly they all went quiet again and lay in the sun shine. We followed Manuella to a sled that had been laid out, to show us the in's and out's of a racing sled - very interesting. Once we were finished there, she said we could wander round at our leisure, even going in to see the pups who were now about 6 months old.

Heading to the pen where the pups were, we passed Frank who was talking to a small group of visitors, and I hung about listening to him. Meanwhile Wendy headed over to play with the pups. Once Frank had finished and some of the visitors moved on, I decided to find out where Wendy was and make sure she wasn't about to smuggle any pups out!!! I soon found here in a pen with six pups, she was in her element. I declined to go in and waited til she had finished. I suggested that we get a coffee at the house before we headed back to Whitehorse, and that's when the fun began................ Not quite sure which was the best direction to open the gate, I suggested pulling it toward her, but watch the pups! Too late, one saw a chink of light between her leg and the gate post, I tried to stop this one with my leg, but another popped out with it. Now with Wendy stuck in the partly open door, two more escaped, then a fifth. Did I mention these dogs run like the wind????? I tell you, when five puppies make their bid for freedom, no one was going to stop them, they were out like lightening then running hell for leather out of the compound for the tree's.......... Wendy looked very sheepish, but I said she had to tell Frank. He could hardly have missed it as five of his pups went charging through the yard, setting off most of the other dogs tied up at their 'houses'. Once we had established that Frank was not at all concerned, it was quite funny - well not for Wendy who was mortified that she had allowed the 'great escape'. Before we left I had helped capture one escapee, and another couple were rounded up. Like I said, quite funny once we knew Frank was ok with it. After a coffee, we got back on 'Gertie', headed down the 3 1/2 km gravel track, then back into town. Time to visit the brewery!!!!!

We rode back to the hotel, parked up 'Gertie', and after dropping biking gear, called for a cab. After the previous days aborted attempt to get to the brewery on foot, we were not going to make the same mistake again! The brewery is a fairly recent addition to Whitehorse, but has gained a reputation for some great beers. Take a look at this link for more info: www.yukonbeer.com . We have already sampled some of the beer at eateries round town, so the brewery visit was certainly on our schedule, given our enforced stay in town. The tour was due to start at 2pm, and there was already a crowd gathered inside the small reception, sales area. The only other micro brewery tour we had experienced was in Fredericksburg at the 'Blue & Grey'. Here we had a great look at the brewing process from start to finish. This tour was to be quite different and lasted about 10 - 15 mins! We were shown the bottling plant, the canning process, and oh yes, a quick couple of words on the brewing process.............. Shame really, there was the real potential for an informative look at this fine little brewery. After the tour, it was into the shop/reception for sampling - so not all bad. As a Brit brought up on dark ale, I was really impressed by their 'Lead Dog' ale, which was based on British bitter. Apparently they had taken the brew to the UK & competed in an International Real Ale competition held in Wolverhampton. There the 'Lead Dog' had won them a 2nd place! Unfortunately riding bikes does not lend its self to carrying beer, so I settled for a polo shirt............. Not quite a 'slab' of beer, but a nice memento all the same.

As there brewery was at the northern end of town, we had a long walk ahead of us, but remembered the waterfront railway. This is a section of the old rail track running along the river bank. This had been the end of the line for the Skagway to Whitehorse railway. Now they have an old electric trolly bus running up & down the line as a tourist attraction. We found a 'station' near by and as luck would have it, along came the trolly. We jumped on, and had a leisurely ride back into town. This left us with quite a short walk to the hotel.

We are both feeling pretty low now, really fed up with the way we are being treated by the CanAm dealer. Tomorrow the part HAS to arrive, or we are in real trouble! Canada Day is on the 1st July, so the dealer will be closed! Wendy has already rebooked hotels along the way, likewise the kennels. We are both pretty dumbstruck that anyone could be this callous, and heartless. The service manager had it in his power to remove a switch from a sales unit and have us on our way. Especially after our dealer in Red Deer provided confirmation that a part was on it's way. A recent check of the DHL web site still shows the consignment being in Edmonton at 5:10am this morning. I'm hoping this has moved by now!!!!!!!!! I have run out of ideas of how I can get through to this person, words for once fail me! Tomorrow we HAVE to get out of the hotel and from there, I have not a clue what will happen. I'm hoping tomorrows blog will be a very short note from Watson Lake. No I guess I'm not hoping, I'm PRAYING Mr Johnson has one tiny scrap of decency in him and gets us on our way. I'm too pissed off to write anything more upbeat - sorry.