Last night a European tour bus came into the camp ground. It holds about 24 people and is a self contained touring unit. The people sleep in little cubbies that take the back half of the bus. They seemed to be enjoying it, but I think I would be a bit claustrophobic if I had to sleep in one, as they seem a bit tomb-like to me.

We woke to more rain, coming down pretty hard. So, we had a nice hot shower to warm up and, in the bathroom, ran into Melissa, an old friend from Whitehorse that I had done the Chilkoot Trail with about 15 years ago. It was really great to see her and catch up a little.

As it was a kind of crappy morning, we decided to have breakfast out for the first time since we started the trip. We headed off to the Alchemy Café, a funky little restaurant in a log building. Linda had a cappuccino (her fave) and homemade granola with yogurt and a fruit compote, ii have the Black Bean bowl with eggs, beans, rice, goat cheese and pickled cabbage, along with a turmeric latte. We were both very happy with our choices. I would absolutely go back there if we ever get back to Dawson. The whole menu was vegetarian, only cheese and eggs, no meat. And all very healthy, and tasty options.

We had a window table and watched a couple of very wet riders having coffee outside under the roof overhang. Again we were thankful for the car instead of the bikes.

By evening the rain had stopped ad we went to the Dust 2 Dawson bike games. We have been to bike games before, but these were a whole new level of challenging. There was the requisite slow-ride, the winner was able to balance his bike while it was stopped, so there was no hope for the rest. It was quite something to see. There was also the standard, passenger-eat-a-wiener-hanging-from-a-string game. Honesty not my favorite. The next one was pretty wild. A hood is placed over the rider’s helmet, so that they can not see anything. They then ride until the crowd yells stop, trying to ride in a straight line, and land with their front tire on a paper plate. That has to be unnerving. Next was slow riding, while trying to drop tennis balls into progressively smaller tubes, about 1 foot off the ground. Definitely a challenging event, no one got all the tubes, most got one or 2, the winner had 4. We heard that the 2 riders who won all but the wiener event were professional riders, so they were great watch, but it would have sucked to be competing against them.

After the bike games, it was back to Gerties. This time we got to spend a couple hours at the tables without donating any cash other than what we spent on beverages. It is always a good night at the casino when you walk out with the same amount you went in with.

It was supposed to be an early night but ended up being after midnight. The problem with all this daylight is that you really don’t have any sense what time it is.

Today was a bit of a sleep-in after staying up for sunset. We did a little shopping, trying to find fuel canisters for the stove. Yes, we should have picked a couple up in Whitehorse, but no we didn’t. And, we were going through fuel a lot faster than we had planned. Being Aboriginal Day, the hardware store was closed, but there was a general store on Front Street that sells camping and fishing supplies. They didn’t have the canisters and didn’t think anyone in town sold them. Drat. I guess we will have to try and be a bit frugal with fuel and hope it lasts.

After shopping we went to the NWT visitors centre. Much to my surprise Dawn Kisoun, an old acquaintance of mine from my dog mushing days, was working there. We got a chance to catch-up, it turns out that they have gotten out of dogs as well. They now run a fishwheel tour company. From there we headed to Sourdough Joe’s for fish and chips. It is too early in the season for salmon, so we shared a 2-piece Halibut and chips, the fish was great and there was more than enough for us to share. We were both stuffed and can’t imagine how someone can eat that by themselves.

After lunch we took the ferry across the Yukon River to head up the Top World highway. The highway runs from Dawson to the Yukon/Alaska border. What amazing views! You really do feel like you are on the top of the word. I had really wanted Linda to see it and was happy that she found it as stunning as I did. We had lots of time to take some pics, and even found a bit of the old road while bushwhacking. Eventually were chased back into the car because of a thunder storm. On our way back to town we only had a 2 ferry wait to get across the river. When we got to the campground we heard that it had been a 3 hour wait to get across earlier in the afternoon.

This was the fist day we had been truly thankful we were not on the bikes, as we were able to bring our pop-up shelter with us in the car and could to stay dry while the rains came down. Some riders from neighboring sites took refuge under it as well, so we got some stories from the road. One of the rider’s had to have his bike pulled out of the road with a front end loader as the front wheel was stuck in so deep. We also heard that the day before a rider was medevaced off the Tuk highway. The conditions of the road seem to change hourly.

While we were having beverages out of the rain, we heard a helicopter go up, followed shortly thereafter by water bombers. The lightening must have started a fire not to far out of town. The planes stopped after a short while, so hopefully it was a small fire, quickly contained.

After a supper at the campsite, we headed out to catch the can-can show at Gerties. It is quite a good show, with much more than just can-can dancers. And is a must-see if in Dawson City.  While waiting for the show, we made another donation to the Klondike Visitor’s Association by way of roulette and 21. The table minimums are pretty low and the players are quite relaxed. Linda even gave up slots and played 21 instead.

We called it a night pretty early, still tired from the previous evening. It was still raining when we went to bed, and thankfully the tent was nice and dry inside. We are quite impressed with the tent, even more so considering we paid very little for it.

Day 4 was a relaxing day in Whitehorse spent mostly visiting with old friends. It was great to be able to catch up with Beej & Norm, JF & Sylvie, and Robert & Carl.

We also needed to pick up some more fresh food for the trip and replace a couple of things that got left behind in Calgary when we did the quick pack-up of the car. We also picked up an electric cooler that was on Sale at Canadian Tire. It will have paid for itself by the end of this trip with us not having to buy ice and not having to throw out spoiled food.

Yukon River

We did manage to get in one touristy stop at the SS Klondike, a Parks Canada Historic Site. The SS Klondike is a paddlewheeler that operated in the 30s and 40s, taking passengers and supplies along the Yukon River between Whitehorse and Dawson City. She now sits on the bank of the river and is open to tourists. Parks Canada give guided tours and admission is free.

Day 5 had us heading back out on the road, going north on the Klondike Highway.  Linda had the pleasure of listening to me tell stories about everything along the road until we passed Lake Laberge, as this was my stomping grounds for many years.

We stopped for lunch at 5 fingers rapids. The Yukon River splits into 5 channels here, and not all of them are navigable, only one was deep enough for the paddlewheelers that traveled the river. There is still a cable that the ships used to pull themselves up the 2-foot falls. From the lookout there are stairs to go down the escarpment and a path to walk to the rapids, it takes around an hour round trip.

Next stop was a photo-op an hour outside of Dawson City, the Tintina Trench lookout. This is a large valley formed by the separating of a fault line some 8 million years ago. The 2 plates of the fault line have shifted over 450km from where they were 65 million years ago. It is a great view from here and a great place to contemplate how tiny a blip we are in the history of the planet.

Our stop for the night, and our home for the next 3, was the Goldrush Campground in downtown Dawson City. The sites are really made for trailers, not tents, and have no shade, but the facilities are well kept, we have power for our cooler, and it is in walking distance to most things in Dawson. We brought our pop-up canopy with us, so we have shade, and the double size air mattress keeps us off the rocks at night.

After we set up camp, we headed over to Diamond Tooth Gerties Casino to make a donation to the Klondike Visitors Association. After we left our money on the table and in the slots, we headed over to the Downtown Hotel so Linda could do the Sourtoe Cocktail. For $5 plus the price of a shot of something 40% you can have a human toe put in your drink, if it touches your lip, your get a certificate and membership card for the Sourtoe Cocktail Club.

While we were waiting for the toe to start, we got to listen to a great piano player. He was the Stompin Tom of piano, complete with a board under his foot. He has a diverse repertoire, and takes requests. He plays from 7-9 nightly and its definitely worth a visit to hear him play.

To end the night we sat by the river, and watched the solstice sunset at 12:50am. We didn’t manage to get up for sunrise at 3:57.

Day 2 started early, but we were well rested after  a great sleep in this quiet little campground. Linda struck camp, while I made bacon and eggs. Not a bad way to start the day, nice breakfast while watching the fish jump in the lake. The early morning fishermen were out and the fish were biting. At least one family was having a feast of grilled rainbow trout for breakfast. Next time we come up this highway we will be bringing fishing gear and getting a license.

After a quick stop in Ft Nelson for necessities like gas and beer we made our way to Steamboat. A little blip on the map with a 10% grade to get down to it, and then again back up. We were wondering would have managed more than 50km/hr going back up. At the top we stopped for a quick bite and took time to enjoy the breath taking view.

Our next planned stop, at Linda’s request, was Muncho Lake. 5 years ago when we were riding down on our KLRs Linda asked why no one knows about this place, as the beauty rivals that of Lake Louise. Quite simply it is because it is at least a 1 day drive from any major airport. We feel lucky to be counted in the number of people who have been able to see and enjoy it.

Along the way to Muncho Lake we saw 5 bears and a moose. The bears were a bit elusive when we tried to get pics, but the moose was pretty cooperative.

After Muncho Lake, we were off for Liard Hot Springs, our destination for the night. This place is well worth the drive! It is a mostly natural hot springs, just enough done to it to make it pleasant and accessible to everyone. And everyone does stop there. We arrived just after 4 and the provincial campground was full. We likely only missed the last site by 20-30 minutes as there were only 5 vehicles in the overflow camping. We considered camping in the overflow, but it was $26 to set up our tent in the gravel parking lot. Instead we went to a private campground right next door and had a nice shady and quiet spot.

A day pass for the hot springs is only $5, and you can park right next to the boardwalk that goes to the hot springs. At the end of the boardwalk there is a change room and 2 hot pools. The bottom of the natural pools have been graveled, as they were naturally soft mud, and some benches have been installed in the upper pool. We had a lovely soak. What a great way to relax and let go the stresses of the world.

After the soak, we enjoyed dinner by the campfire then off to bed where we had to think that the sound we were hearing was raindrops on the tent and not the mass of flies trapped between the tent and the tent fly.

We are always on the look out for interesting, fun, or unusual places to visit. Toad Rock Motorcycle Campground covers all of those, so it was a must do on our short trip to BC.

After our morning enjoying the activities at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, we headed south to ride some of the best motorcycle roads in Canada. Our route covered a third of the 850km Hot Springs Circle Route. There are 3 commercial hot springs along this portion of the route, but if you ask locals, they can usually point you to natural springs in the area, though you may need to hike a bit to get to them.

We followed Highway 23 south for about 50km to Shelter Bay, where we had just missed the Upper Arrow Lakes Ferry. Luckily it runs every hour on the hour heading east so we didn’t have too long to wait, just long enough to sit in the shade beside the snack truck and swap stories with other bikers.

Upper Arrow Lake Ferry

Once the open deck ferry arrived, loading was quick and the 20-minute trip gives you time to enjoy the amazing view of Upper Arrow lake and the Monashee mountains on one side, and the Selkirk Mountains on the other. This year though there are forest fires all over BC, with smoke hanging in the valleys and fires can be seen from the road.  The ferry is free, provided by BC Highways.

Forest Fires Seen From The Ferry

From the ferry we continue south for 50km to the end of Hwy23 and the Town of Nakusp. This is a lovely and quick ride with mostly gentle curves along the shore of Upper Arrow Lake. There are a lot of restaurants and shops here so it’s worth stopping for a stroll through the eclectic shops on the main street, to have lunch overlooking the lake. Or take the time to stop in for a relaxing dip at the Nakusp Hot Springs.

From Nakusp we picked up Hwy 6 East, to head towards New Denver. The road from Nakusp through to Balfour shows up on most lists of where to ride in BC. Highway 31A from New Denver to Kaslo, and Hwy 31 from Kaslo to Balfour is a destination route, riders come from afar to ride this beautiful highway whose tight twists and turns follow rivers and lakes, often right beside the road.

A popular spot for many rider, and our destination for the night was Toad Rock Campground. This is a funky, friendly motorcycle campground. You might think that with over 100 sites, it would be your basic commercial campground, but you would be wrong. Mary makes sure that you feel welcome from the moment you ride up. The sites are nicely treed and there is enough elbow room so as not to feel like you are in your neighbours site. Because it is a motorcycle campground there are cooking facilities, complete with pots, dishes, and even a few spices. There is a fridge to keep your food in, and coolers to borrow to keep your beverages cold at your site. Ice is available for a small fee at the wash-house. Speaking of which, the showers and washrooms are kept impeccably clean.  Didn’t bring a tent, no problem, they have an assortment of cabins, vans, buses, and tents that you can rent.

Campsite at Toad Rock

Surprisingly, the campground runs on the honour system. You get a hit when you check in. You keep track of how long you stay, any ice, pop etc that you use, and drop it and your cash in a box when you leave. They also do not have rules, but only guidelines. Basically, if you aren’t being an idiot, it’s all good.

If you want to meet other riders, there is a social area, strategically placed away from the campsites, where you can bring your beverages, swap tails, and sometimes even be entertained by someone playing one of the guitars (or drum set) that are there. No need even to bring that cooler you borrowed as there is a fridge in the shelter that you can keep your cans in.

For us the most notable part of the campground is the warning to keep your food and beer secured. For bears you may think, but it’s actually because of the 4 dogs and 1 pig that call Toad Rock home. They keep the bears away, but are more than happy to eat any wayward food. The pig particularly likes beer and will grab unopened cans, use her built-in can opener teeth, and take in the rewards.

If you do a trip to the Kootenays you really do need to check this place out. Heck, if you aren’t planning a trip that way, then you really need to start.