They have power failures in Canada as well. I am in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. Dinner completed and ready to type up my day and then have an early night. I have just settled down on my bed and turned on the TV to watch the Olympics when bham!. All the lights and power are off.

It appears to be all over town and no one is too concerned. so I assume it is a frequent event. These are hardy people here; one just gets the sense of it. A winter of -40C and below makes you resilient. In this part of the world, if your car breaks down you are in survival mode. It is summer here and I need a warm top. The locals are walking around in shorts, sandals and T-shirts. On the road today the temperature never went above 11C and one of the local bikers whom I passed. was not even wearing gloves.

They idolise the tough prospectors of past and present. They opened up the Yukon and its mining wealth. The statue honours “All those who follow their dreams”

Another view. It says it all about this part of Canada and the people who make it work. And the dog also carrying a part of the load. No room for any passengers in this environment,

So why am I in Whitehorse and not Dawson City as planned you may ask? If you remember I told you in a previous blog that most of the road to Dawson is unmaintained gravel. I decided last night, that given my sore back and Bonnie’s less than ideal setup at present, she is going for some surgery when I get back to Michigan to get a upper torso extension, that if it was raining when I woke up, this would constitute the grounds for a diversion and change of flight plans. So at 06h00, as I arose ,it was bucketing down.

There and then I cancelled my hotel in Dawson and rearranged my Whitehorse booking for this evening, that being Sunday night so as to get our days right. As I set off I met another biker in reception, Mike from Arkansas. He also rides a BMW and so we agree to ride together. I told him I did not want to dawdle and so I led.

As we left I thought that maybe I had made the wrong decision in not going to Dawson City. Will I ever have the chance to go there again?  Is this possible that I could err? Once I even thought that I had made a mistake, but I was wrong!

The weather was improving rapidly. However within an hour I was vindicated. Why did I doubt myself? Two thousand years of pain and suffering in my gene pool should have given me more self-confidence and self-belief. It started raining, bucketing in fact. Cats and dogs and even a few grizzlies! In fact this morning I saw my second Grizzly, on the side of the road. Mooning me the bugger was!

They are seriously big animals. No wonder that they attract the same level of excitement that a lion sighting does in the Kalahari or Kruger. They are the big Cohunes of North America. Weighing in at over 1400 lbs when fully grown, they are the top dogs and ferocious to boot. Paws that can behead an adult moose with one swipe, they are not to be trifled with.

So back on the road previously travelled. The border, where a Canadian customs official with an African attitude, jerks me around for a while. Then we really twist the wrist big time. Soon we pass Burwash Landing, scene of my triumph over Eskimo Bill. I wonder if he has sorted out Eskimo Pie and fixed his broken chariot. Has he told Eskimo Pie of his drubbing at the hands of the ferocious African Assegai bearer?

Then Destruction Bay, which is still there. On to Haines Junction. There we stop for lunch. There is a mile queue at the hamburger hut. It is a Sunday and nothing else is open, reminiscent of Kroonstad or Koster on a Sunday. Only the Greasy Greek knows that this is best day for business. There are three other BMW GS’s parked there. Two 1200 GSA’s like Bonnie and an F800 GS.

One of the riders is mad Don from Nenima the other day. The other two are a father and his 18-year-old daughter who is on the F800. John ( On a 1200 GSA) and Kelly from Phoenix Arizona. They have ridden up all the way together. She has just finished high school and is following in the footsteps of her elder brother who did the trip with their father two years ago. Now wait for this. They have been to Anchorage and then Fairbanks and then all the way on the Dalton Highway past the Arctic Circle to Prudhoe Bay. This is on the Arctic Sea. Men, this is a real man’s trip and this tiny girl has managed it on an F800. Hasn’t dropped the bike or her pose once. She is going to Yale this fall to study Politics. I give her a card with my Cousin Ian Shapiro’s name on it. He is the head of the School of Political Science at Yale.

Proud father John, Kelly and Biker Pilot. She manages an F800GS on her own! Just done the Dalton Highway. Marry her if you can boys.

On her way. She really rides it! There is hope for all you old girls who want to come with Biker Pilot on an adventure motorbike trip

Darling Dearest, I now know that you too can do it. Charley you need to get that licence asap as well. This is a family bike trip in the making. Nikki and Andrew we can organise one of those little carts you see behind the Harley’s for the twins. I love the idea. This will show Eskimo Bill what the loins of an African warrior can spawn!

Now these two are on the way to Haines where they will spend the night and then tomorrow, they take the Alaskan Ferry to Seattle. This is a four-day trip through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, anywhere anytime. My next trip also has this on the agenda.

Valdez Harbour yesterday. The whole coast is like this.

Imagine four days of these views on the way to Seattle from Haines

We skip the lunch and set off again. Mike asks me where I am staying. I tell him I have a room booked in Whitehorse. He tells me he is on a tight budget and asks if the room has two beds? If so can he share? He will pay half. I know another Mike and the thought does not fill me with glee. You never know. Possibly I would wake up on the receiving end of a tail gunners strafing attack or all my stuff will be gone in the morning if I sleep well. So I tell him that I prefer not to share. I owe him no reasons and I give none. So we part company as we reach Whitehorse.

On arrival at the hotel, I do something that I very rarely do. I have a bath. Please do not get me wrong. My personal hygiene is of the highest order. My mother would be proud of me. I shower once and on most days twice. I wash my hair daily and also shave. My fingernails are trimmed and clean. I use deodorant and I floss and brush my teeth twice a day. But I do not like bathing, I shower. I have never seen the sense in lying in the water that you have used to wash.

However my back is in a mess and I am in trouble. So I run a hot bath. It is interesting because in North American style, the bath is about half the size of what we are used to. I get in and the water gets out. There is not enough room for both of us. I manage to soak my back in about 6 inches of water.

It helps but it will not get back to fully airworthy before I get can get my exercise routine back to normal. I therefore cannot wait to get back to the farm and my gym. A full stretch in the morning. Back exercises and a sauna normally sees it right. If not there is always Brendan Bailes, my chiropractor as a last resort.

I have an early dinner and take a short crippled walk around Whitehorse. It is an attractive town. You immediately know that winters here are very, very cold. There are plug points at every parking spot for the car engine heaters. This is to ensure that the oil in the engine does not freeze. I stop in at the Starbucks and have a hot chocolate. I walk to the Yukon River. It is huge and flowing very fast. A lot of water for the CoHo Salmon to swim up against. They have to pass this point to get to their spawning grounds at Teslin. I will pass Teslin again tomorrow and also Watson Lake. I will not be staying in Watson Lake. Once bitten twice shy!

Main Rd Whitehorse

Typical Whitehorse building

I will see how far I get. My aim is to do at least 400 to 450 miles. Today was a 425 mile day. This should see me in Dawson Creek, not City, on Tuesday evening and will mark the end of the Alaskan Highway.

It is now 21h31. I am an hour closer in time zones and will have an enforced early night and therefore hope to get going early. If the power is on I will post this from here or else along the route at Dawson Peaks where I have undertaken to stop and have breakfast with Dave and Carolyn.

So from Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory.
The power is back on. I have missed the men’s 100m final and other races. I am waiting for a replay. This post is on the way.

Good Night and Good Luck.

Copyright 2012