Borders

Back in Skagway, I met several other bikers at the campground (Tom, Paul, Craig and Rich). We talked for a while, then I cleaned up and went for a meal and a beer or 2. The next day, Saturday, was more coastal fog and mist. I spent the morning doing laundry and food shopping, but when I checked the weather report, it looked like that afternoon would be the best chance of getting over the pass back into Canada for the next few days. So I put the luggage together and headed out. I was rewarded with a mostly dry ride over the pass and beautiful riding afterward, all the way to Teslin Lake, where I camped for the night. On Sunday I rode the AlCan to the junction with highway 37 known as the Cassair Stewart Highway. Unlike the AlCan, there is no shoulder on 37, just steep dropoffs. A trucker died that day when his rig went off that road. I camped at Dease Lake and met Chris and Shaun, 2 nice dirt bikers camped next door. We all had breakfast together and headed off in different directions, Shaun north, me south and Chris on some dirt road. At Bell II I stopped for gas but couldn't unlock the cap. Just then Chris pulled up behind me cover in dried mud. I borrowed some WD40 from the service station and worked the lock for while before it finally became unstuck from road grit. I then rode on to Stewart BC, an interesting and scenic little town. An arm of the Pacific Ocean traverses through the Alaskan panhandle and reaches Stewart, thus providing access to ocean fishing to an area that appears on the map to be land locked.