Day 20 - Whitehorse to Dawson. Mileage today - 339 miles. A total of 4,457 miles have been ridden since the start of the trip.

You know you're way up north when the source of internet communication is satellite.  The fellas are having some difficulty emailing photos.  The satellite internet is wicked fast for text but not for large files such as images.  The  photos are being emailed one at a time.  They have also reduced the resolution of each photograph to make sure that they are received after hitting "send."  The images will appear smaller than they have in past posts in order to maintain a higher quality.  Still, technology is amazing.

Security system and air conditioning - view from inside the room.

This is the entry door to David and Joe's motel room!  The air conditioner in the room did not work.  Maintenance wasn't able to fix the unit.  The temperature in their room was...well, hot.  It was so uncomfortable there was no way they were going to be able to get a decent night of sleep.  There were no more rooms in the inn.  So, those two decided to MacGyver themselves right into a better situation.

They took the shower curtain down, rod and all, and put it across the doorway.  This way they could leave the entry door to their room open yet still have a little privacy.  The hotel kindly provided David and Joe with a fan.  The guys added that to the right of the doorway to exhaust the heat out of their room and into the hallway.  The bottle of Crown Royal held the shower curtain in place on top of the fan.  For security they put the ironing board on the opposite side of the opening.  Here's their theory - in the event that someone wanted to "break in" they would make noise tripping over the ironing board thus, alerting the guys to a state of wakefulness.  The entire contraption did cool their room considerably and they had a decent night's sleep.

The sun was brightly shining as the group departed Whitehorse this morning.  They were headed straight North.

The scenery continues to be gently rolling.  The guys noted a smell of smoke in the air and could see a haze of smoke in the air.  News reports tell of 86 separate fires burning in the Yukon.  Some of these fires are being allowed to burn themselves out since they are located in the "wilderness".  Lightening strikes have been the culprits of these blazes.

The haze is smoke.

The guys ride into some low hanging smoke on the road.

Bugs!  They are getting worse.  Flying insects are everywhere and make a real nuisance of themselves at every stop and seat break.  Maybe that forest fire smoke will help keep the pests in check.

Moose Creek Lodge

Mike outside the Moose Creek Lodge

This little lodge was in the middle of nowhere!  There was only a table or two in the restaurant.  The owner came from Switzerland.  The fellas all agreed this was the best lunch they have had in quite a few days.  Possible even for the entire trip!  The remote location means baked goods are fresh and made from scratch.  The menu depends on what is fresh and available.

There are no rooms inside the lodge but there are small cabins available.
 These cabins have no bathrooms in them, those are located nearby.  Given all of the wildlife the guys have been seeing, wouldn't that make a nighttime trip to the loo interesting?

Stu tried to negotiate a lower rate for this toupee, I mean wolf hide.  His bartering skills were no match for the owner of the Moose Creek Loge.

The guys reached Dawson!  Every street in the city is still dirt.  Many of the old buildings in town are being restored.  Buildings still sport the facades of yesteryear.  Dawson was the epicenter of the Klondike Gold Rush.  Today the economy is supported by gold mining and tourism.  The climate here is subarctic.  In the winter time the city of Dawson is accessible by dogsled or snow machines.

While in Dawson City, the fellas took in the show at Diamond Tooth Gertie's.  She was a real gold rush dance hall queen.  The old building is also a non-profit (yeah, right) gambling hall.  The floor of the building hosts the gaming tables.  A U shaped balcony surrounds the perimeter of the hall giving a great view of the stage where the show features Diamond Tooth Gertie and her dance hall performers.  The hall is decorated in large black and white images of historical photos of prospectors and early inhabitants of Dawson City.

The guys have reported seeing many motorcyclists in the city of Dawson.  There are very few roads in the areas where they have been traveling.  Many towns have one way in, and one way out.  It has been common for them to see lots of bikes in the towns where they have been staying.

Stu's idea of touring around town.

David, Fred and Joe checking out the city of Dawson.

Tomorrow's quest is Fairbanks!

Day 19 - Watson Lake to Whitehorse, Yukon. 281 miles today. 4,118 miles ridden since departing from Indianapolis, Indiana.

A short ride from the motel brought the guys to the Sign Post Forest.  What is the Sign Post Forest?  This place was started in 1942 by a homesick G.I., as he worked on the Alaskan Highway.  The original sign listed the number of miles the G.I. was from home.  Soon other people followed suit and the forest was born!  Today, people still post signs in the forest.

David, Joe, Stu, Fred, Mike

and Ron, at the gate of the Sign Post Forest.

Back in 2000, Fred and Pat were here in this very place with Fred's sister, Linda and her husband, Frank.  They were on a motor home trip.  Even with the locating directions that Fred had, the guys could not find the sign that, Fred, Pat, Linda and Frank had put up on that trip.  Fred was very disappointed.

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign.  Blockin' out the scenery breakin' my mind.....

Thank you Five Man Electrical Band!

Fred searches the area for one particular sign.

The guys put two coins on this steel post in order to leave their mark.
Stuart, Stu's son, had these coins made to commemorate this trip for the six adventurers.
The coins are a beautiful creation.

Stu also had a Quality Deer Management Plate with him.

Shhh....Fred must be the Godfather, but don't tell anybody.

All six of the guys signed the back of the QDMA sign, added this blogspot address

and hung the thing up!

A very hygienic way to mark your territory don't you think?

When the adventuresome six left Watson Lake this morning they took the Alaskan Highway, or Alcan Highway.  This road was built to connect the contiguous US to Alaska through Canada.  Construction of the highway began in World War II and was completed in 1942.  At that time the road was 2,700 km or 1,700 miles in length.  In 2012 the road is 2,232 km or 1,387 miles long.  Why the difference, you ask?  The discrepancy in the reported kilometers, or mileage, has occurred as the road has undergone reconstructive work over the years.  Portions of the roadway have been redirected and numerous sections of curves have been straightened.

The road begins in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and goes all the way to Delta Junction, Alaska via Whitehorse, Yukon.

The Alcan Highway had a bad reputation of being rough and difficult to travel.  Its entire length has been paved.

The guys had lunch at the Yukon Motel's restaurant.

At the same spot there was a wildlife gallery.  The gallery was full of amazing full mounts of...wildlife.

Looks like you can eat and get gas, all in the same spot. That's either convenient, or disturbing.

Fred, David, Joe and Stu ready for lunch.

The mounts in the Wildlife Gallery.

There were also full mounts of Black Bears, Grizzly Bear, Caribou, Muskox, Mule Deer, Wolves just to name a few of the different species.  The guys really enjoyed seeing this place.

Here they approach Teslin Lake.  They ran along side of this lake for almost ten miles.

They remarked that this area was very beautiful.

Most of the day, the group still rode with the coastal mountains on their left side.

The guys ended their day in Whitehorse, which is the capital of the Yukon.

Day 18 - Stewart to Watson Lake. Today's ride - 420 miles! 3,837 total miles ridden since leaving Indianapolis.

Cloudy, but dry,skies prevailed as the group departed Stewart at 7:30 a.m.

They had to go back through the huge canyon that they had ridden through yesterday.

This canyon is enormous and is 40 miles long.

Joe in front of the glacier.

Yet another glacier.

Luckily they didn't have to be concerned with the avalanche warning.

Everyday someone is responsible for leading the rest of the group for the day.

The winner of paper, rock, scissors is awarded the leader of the day position. (just kidding.)

Four different bear sightings occurred through this canyon.

Joe approaches the bear cautiously.  A hog is no match for a bear!

The Moose sighting was a first!  This cow happily munched on vegetation from the little pond.

She didn't seem very concerned about the six pairs of eyes that were fixated on her every move.

They watched her for almost 15 minutes.

She looks longingly after the fellas, as they continue on down the road.

Ron read up on the information about Stewart, British Columbia during a travel break.

More open country this afternoon instead of tight canyons.

Evidence of the forest fire in 2010 near Watson Lake surrounded the six as they traveled almost 15 miles through scenery just like this.  Depending on where you research this fire was the third most expensive in the area's history costing $220 million dollars.  The fire started from by lightening strikes near the end of July.  In just 24 hours 100,000 hectares had burned.  That is the equivalent of 247,105 acres. 

 The conversion:  1 hectare = 2.471 acres.  Oh, that pesky metric system.

Residents in the area were evacuated from their homes and businesses.  Two pilots lost their lives fighting the blaze.  By the time the fires were completely controlled 330,000 total hectares had burned in 2010 in this British Columbia location.  That equals over 815,000 acres!

The guys exited British Columbia, 

and reached the Yukon!

They reached Watson Lake.  Well, Fred did anyway.

The arrival in Watson Lake was welcomed after a long hard day of travel.

Watson Lake

The group was on the road today for a total of 420 miles.  It took them a solid 12 hours to travel that far.

Road conditions continued to deteriorate as the day wore on.  Blacktop or pavement gave way to short sections of gravel.  There were many pot holes to dodge the way around.  These six experienced motorcyclists agreed that the riding today made for a tough day on the road.