On the Road from Hinton and Jasper Park, Alberta

Friday morning, 11/20/09 I rolled out of Edson, Alberta heading west on Highway 16, next stop Hinton a bit shy of 50 miles down the road.

My new friend and generous host Don Laird saw me off with a photo op and a last wave from me heading down 6th Avenue on my way out of town.

Not only was Don a very generous host but also a wise counselor drawing upon his own organizing experience. The momentum Ride for the Planet is beginning to gain through media exposure will be in no small measure thanks to Don. Before leaving town he arranged for an interview with Victoria Carnagham, an editor with the local paper, the Edson Leader. Further down the road he made other contacts, with the Hinton Parklander, the local paper and other contacts into Jasper Park, the next stop on my way west.

On four lane divided Highway 16 west to Hinton shoulder width was generous. I remained safely well to the right, on my bicycle of course. No left leaning tendencies on this road unlike the often skinny to non existant shoulders on Highway 32 and 748 into Edson.

And still only patchy snow with temperatures only slightly less below to above freezing. Pedaling out of town in sandals with heavy socks of all things.

Camped for the night about 36 miles west at the highest point on the Yellowhead Highway, Obed Summit. I was flying along so fast I missed the summit elevation. It was one of my easier days with gentle grades followed by long downhill runs and no headwind.

Joe caught up with me after that.

Friend (Joe): I see you got a little snow last night.

Peace Rider: Yeah, when I broke camp there was just a trace on the ground. You know I darned near camped in the middle of the track, not really a road into the forest where I pulled off the road. You couldn't even see it from the highway because of a steep embankment. It looked little used but I was wrong about that. Fortunately, I found a small clearing amidst the tall pines and aspen trees more to my liking. I pitched my tent there. Boy, was I glad I did, no sooner was my tent up than a pickup truck drives out on this "road" then down onto the Highway. Later that day en route to Hinton I saw hunters emerge from the woods and figured out what was going on.

Back to your question about snow. Hinton received more snow, maybe two inches and it was slick and sloppy when I made it into town. It was beginning to melt by the time I pulled into the IGA food store to replenish my larder about mid-day.

My destination was the Entrance Ranch about 10 minutes away by car and north of the Athabasca River but a good hour away for me over two pretty steep grades.

F. Why stop at Entrance Ranch?

PR As you may recall Connie Friend, whom I had met in Tok, Alaska suggested I might want to stop here on my way south. She had visited the Ranch many times for healing by Jimmy O'Chiese, an Ojibway healer living on the ranch. She was quite impressed with all the folks at the ranch and suggested I stop by. I took her advice. I am staying at the Ranch now although to use this computer for an update I came into Hinton and the local library.

F So did you meet up with Jimmy?

PR Not yet. Just off the main road and going into the ranch I met Rocky Notnes. He's one of the Ranch owners and runs the place. He was on his way into town. I had left messages that I was coming. My arrival was not unexpected. He told me Jimmy was in Edmonton helping develop a school curriculum for Ojibway children. He expected him back any time but that was over a week ago.

F So what are you going to do if you can't see Jimmy.

PR Well, it has happened that the person I intended to see was not the person I really needed to see. In this case I was able to get better acquainted with Rocky. Rocky is originally from Norway. He cares deeply about stewardship of the Earth and has been very active in a variety of environmental issues and groups over the years.

When I met him he was off to a meeting about trying to save a remnant population of mountain or woodland caribou. He is also a person grounded spiritually, influenced greatly by native American spirituality and its ties to the earth. He was very supportive of what I am trying to do in creating a Ride for the Planet Day and a big help.

I went to Jasper Park with Rocky and met his friend Art Jackson who has a guiding business there.

F Where to next?

PR Jasper Park. You know the really amazing thing?

F What?

PR My friend Don Laird had arranged for me to stay with Art in Jasper through other contacts. That's where I'm at now. I will leave here 11/27 for Tete Jaune Cache then hang a left southbound for Kamaloops.

I left for Jasper Park 11/24 with goodbye and thanks to Rocky for his generosity in hosting me at the Ranch. It was late in the day. I made it to within about a mile of the Park entrance and camped. The next day was rough, Chinook headwinds blowing in from the west. Most of the way to Jasper was hard cranking. There were several time that I was brought to a near standstill by gusts getting past Jasper Lake. The latter dries up in winter and the wind with dust blowing blowing over the road. Head down and crank away.

F But you made it?

PR Yeah, and I took the long way around into the town besides. I was in before dark, rubber legs and all and called Art. A little over 30 miles for the day. First time I have had to crouch over the handle bars to lower my profile and wind resistance.

F What do you think of Jasper Park?

PR Jasper is another world treasure. Elk and Big Horn Rams on the road near the town site on my way in, not overdeveloped like so many places. Great scenic beauty with mountains, lakes and rivers in stunning array. Not much snow yet at lower elevations and unusually warm temperatures.

The route west from here is one of the lowest if not the lowest pass through the Rocky Mtn. and mostly downhill into BC. Just by "coincidence."

Thanks to Don Laird I'm also getting more media exposure. Talked to two student groups here today and have other contacts ahead. It has been truly amazing to see how this is unfolding. I'm meeting the people who can help and are jazzed about what I'm trying to do in creating an International Ride for the Planet Day.

In the coming year, at least, the focus will be on climate change and the importance of bringing global emissions of CO2 down to safe limits for the planet (350ppm scientists tell us). I have mentioned this before.

It is going very well. Got to run. Happy Gobble, Gobble day to all!

A Little Further Down The Road

Peace Rider: Hey, Joe you out there? Where are you when I need you! I've got a story to tell.

Friend: Well, I'm still here what's up?

PR I headed out of Ft. St John on the morning of 11/14 from the home of Sandra Weibe and David Dyck, my generous Warm Showers Hosts, well rested and ready to hit the road.

F So no problems en route to Dawson Creek I assume?

PR No problems, a couple of killer grades beyond Taylor climbing out of the Peace River Valley and again south of the Kiskatinaw River crossing. I arrived in Dawson Creek the second day in late morning and headed for the Greyhound Bus station. I had a box of food forwarded to me via Greyhound from Watson Lake, with a note to hold for my arrival in Dawson Creek. No problem right?

F Right, so what happened?

PR When I got to the station it was closed on Sundays between ll:00 AM and 3:30 PM. Rats, I thought, not going to get out of town until late if at all. I had food to buy and time to kill which I did. I returned to the station a little before reopening. Tim the agent arrived a few minutes early to open up. Great, I'll get my box and hit the road. It didn't turn out that way. Herein is a tale.

F Let's hear it.

PR I handed Tim the receipt for my box of food only to be told Don Ross had picked up his box. You've got to be kidding, I said. He wasn't kidding. No phone number was on the box so they called the Don Ross listed in the phone book and he came and got my box. Now what are the chances of that?

I was not at all happy with this turn of events as you might imagine and said so. But I didn't get angry or any of those other possible emotions that can rise to the surface.. Well, Tim said he'd call Don and try to recover my wayward parcel of food. He did that and Skye-Ann his daughter answered the phone. Don was out so she took the message. Nothing for me to do but wait. Forget about leaving Dawson Creek this day. It was starting to get dark by this time.

Sometime later Don calls back and talks to Tim. He has my box and said he'd bring it in. Wonderful! But his place was a 45 minute drive north of town. More waiting. In the meantime I'm thinking I need a place to stay for the night. I'll ask Don if I can camp out in his yard for the night. Don arrived with my box and I talked to him. Sure he says you can stay at my place you don't need to camp out. Great!

F So why didn't he just return the box when he discovered it wasn't his.

PR It turns out as Don explained that his dad's name is Dan and he drives a truck up and down the Alaska Highway for Lynden Transport. So Don didn't catch the name difference and thought it was a box his dad had sent him. He called his dad but he was out of town driving so didn't catch up with him until a few days before I showed up in Dawson Creek. He thought then to wait until his dad came through town and they could maybe figure it out together.

F. But then you showed up and the puzzle was solved, right?

PR Right, I got my box, and had a place to stay for the night. Don dropped me at the Greyhound Bus station on his way to work early the next morning. He also made some valuable suggestion for routes into the States.

But you know there is a reason for everything even though it may not be readily apparent. I didn't know in the midst of things why I was being delayed in Dawson Creek through some very unusual circumstances. That evening it started to snow which continued through the night. By morning the roads were covered in 8 to 10 inches of new snow, the shoulders unplowed.

If I had left town when I had planned I would have been caught out on the road in a snow storm. Being delayed saved me from that. I decided again to take the bus south and get to where I could safely cycle again which put me into Whitecourt late that day.

F So you're in Edson, eh?

PR Yeah, and that's an interesting story in itself. I had just turned onto Highway 32 to Edson from Whitecourt when up ahead I see a Halliburton facility on my right. And I thought about Dick Cheney, ex CEO of Halliburton and how lacking in understanding he was in believing the end justifies the means. The means and end are one. It is why Jesus said turn the other cheek. He understood that violence only leads to more of the same because at a fundamental level we are all connected. He was also mistaken in believing that power over is greater than power with. All things including ourselves are connected. This is not well appreciated.

F. So then what?

PR No sooner had those thought come and gone than just off to the side of the Halliburton gate a car pulls over and a man gets out waiting for me to cycle up. Don Laird introduces himself and wants to know what I'm up to. I explain and it doesn't escape me that in front of Dick Cheney's former employer, Halliburton, I'm telling Don that my motivation for this ride is the Way of Peace which is the Way of Love. Don said he planned to make a coast to coast cycling trip next summer and peppered me with questions.

At the end of it Don says look him up when I get to Edson if I need a place to stay. The timing worked out. I called Don and I'm now at his place in Edson after a day and a half on the road from Whitecourt. Lots of good food, generous hospitality and just as important conversation about ways of building momentum for creating a Ride for the Planet day in the spring.

F So it sounds like you are pretty pleased with all these developments. Where to next?

PR You bet, one of the joys of this trip is meeting people and making new friends. Next stop is Exchange Ranch just outside Hinton and after that Jasper Park.

I am stopping at Exchange Range to meet several people there suggested by Connie Friend whom I met in Tok, Alaska. It's the reason I planned my route to pass by Hinton.

More on that down the road. Ciao!

On the Road from Fort Saint John: more conversation

11/14/09 Ft. St. John, BC, AM

Peace Rider: Hey Joe, fancy meeting up with you again. You dogg'in my heels, keeping track of my whereabouts?

Friend: Yeah, something like that, want to see you get down the Highway safely. It's late to be making like a snow bunny.

PR I know. There have been times I've asked myself if I can really pull this off especially at the end of the day when it's all I can do to put one foot in front of the other. But then I remind myself it's just one day at a time, sometimes just one hill at a time. I'll keep on crank'in awhile yet.

F. So you took the bus from Watson Lake after all?

PR Boy am I glad I did that as it turned out. The Highway between Watson Lake and Ft. Nelson was not well plowed off.

It was an "eye opener," literally, a red eye special via Greyhound. The passing hills and valleys were bathed in the soft light of a full moon under crystal clear sky - when I cracked an eyelid to look.

The bus pulled a freight trailer behind it, a different wrinkle. The driver dropped me 20 miles south of Ft. Nelson and John Brucker met me at the Highway at 4 AM. Both very much appreciated.

It was great to reconnect again after an eight years lapse. I also met Vi for Violet for the first time. Both are widowers. She and her husband lived for many years on a trap line near the mouth of the Liard and Ft. Nelson Rivers.

John raises about 100 head of cattle on roughly 2000 acres with help from his son. But as only he can colorfully put it, it's not a money making proposition. His son works in the oil patch to make a go of it. Likes to hunt and is off to Iran, maybe about now to hunt sheep.

As I mentioned before we met more than 40 years ago when they were living in a cabin at the mouth of the South Nahanni R. I stopped there in a Folbot on my first long boating adventure in the North.

F So when did you leave Ft. Nelson?

PR I left John and Vi's place mid-day on Thursday 11/5/09. With me was a weeks worth of brownies made from scratch, my very favorite. Vi baked them up for me just before I left. They were worth waiting for, a nice treat. I ran out just short of Ft. Saint John where I'm at now. I also had about 10 days worth of food to make the roughly 260 mile trip.

F You've been in Ft. Saint John for some time?

PR No, I just arrived yesterday, after a week on the road. I'm staying with another Warm Showers host family who graciously opened their door for me. I'm the first cyclist they've hosted. Sandra and Dave just moved here in June but have also done long distance cycling . She's in residency training at the local hospital and Dave is a stay at home dad taking care of their two children. Another is on the way.

F How was your week on the road from Ft. Nelson?

PR In some ways this was my toughest stretch yet with many up and downs to negotiate. A 30 mile day was a good one for me. The terrain gradually rises from Ft. Nelson then falls away again to the Peace R. plateau but with few flat stretches in between. You don't think much about it in a car but it's huge on a bicycle. The distant mountains also receded to a memory.

The Sikanni Chief grade south of the river was especially challenging. I walked a portion but I'm not at all certain it's any easier, just different. Crank 40 revs, stop, rest, four breaths, crank 40, stop, rest etc. until on top. Over 40 stops on this one not including the on foot portion. One in the Yukon was close to this long and steep as well. No one stopped to offer me a Granola bar this time.

There was also a lot more truck traffic on the road, logging truck and trucks servicing the oil patch gas field developments common along this stretch of highway.

Road conditions were not too bad however. I was three days on studded tires then switched to touring tires with the Highway dry and snow free. Shoulders were patchy ice covered to dry.

I didn't see much wildlife on this stretch but what I did see was different than further north, four whitetailed deer in different places and two cow elk. Many tracks of caribou, a few moose and a couple of wolves along the road but nothing standing therein.

F Anything else you have to report?

PR Yeah, sometimes it's the little things that turn out to be those special grace filled moments. Etched in time and memory but not fully appreciated or savored except in reflection.

F. Tell me about it.

PR Water in a non-solid state had become a problem so I was stopping during the day where I could to fill my gallon jug before the light faded away and I made camp.

A couple of days out of Ft. St. John I stopped at the Wonowon gas station, motel and grocery for water. I usually try to find a place to lean my bike against rather than laying it over. In this case there was a huge backhoe in front with its bucket on the ground that made for a perfect rest while I went inside. I noticed a black cat resting on its haunches in front of the bucket as I approached. It scurried off as I got closer. I didn't think much more about it. A fleeting thought came. My grandmother would have said don't let that black cat cross your path.

Inside with water in hand I paused before going outside again when one of the men seated nearby said it looks like your bicycle has been invaded by cats. Say what?

There in a rare unposable moment were three black cats all sitting atop my bicycle. Two were kittens, perhaps half grown, one straddling the handle bars and one on the frame with mom crouched on my seat. I shooed them away. But you know, if I'd had the presence of mind I'd have paused to savor the specialness of that happening. It was the highlight of my week on the road as I look back.

Then there was the red backed vole that scurried across the snow from its hole headed my way as I stood beside my bike for a roadside snack break, changed it's mind when it saw the "incredible hulk" looming, reversed course and galloped back to dive in its hole again.

How many moments do we miss in life that are really special when we're too preoccupied with other concerns and not fully living in the moment? It was a good reminder for me to savor the time at hand as it comes. It's often the small things that make life worthwhile.

F What next for you?

PR I leave this morning for Dawson Creek then on to Grand Prairie and Hinton. I certainly have enjoyed my time with Sandra Weibe and David Dyck, young Greta and Ruben. The rest was welcome and needed, their kindness and gracious hospitality much appreciated.

Ate a proxima vez!

From Watson Lake - More Conversation

10/31/09 Watson Lake Update

Wow! The snow is falling heavy here this AM but it's not as windy. My host family is away caribou hunting. This is the last day of the season.

I found a snow shovel but I'm considering I may need to get down the road a little faster and ahead of full blown winter so may take the bus at least to Ft. Nelson and see how it is from there.

11/1/09 Watson Lake

Snow stopped and even a little sunshine this afternoon. My hosts are away getting swine flu shots. Decided I will take the bus to Ft. Nelson after all and spent a few days with my friend John Brucker. I leave tomorrow evening.

When I first met him and his young family they were living in a cabin at the mouth of the South Nahanni R. I wanted to see, if possible, this "Dangerous River," that R. M. Patterson described and I had read about. I chose a route beginning near Ft. Nelson that would at least take me by the mouth of the South Nahanni R. on the way to the Mackenzie. At that time there was no road connecting the AK Highway with Ft. Simpson that passes near the mouth of the South Nahanni R.

I ended up staying with them a few days. As it turned out he helped me and several other river travelers I met there find a river boat we could use that would get us up the South Nahanni to Virginia Falls.

This was my first BIG river adventure in the north by kayak, a Folbot as it was called. We made it but walked the last eight miles to the Falls. The river was still running high from breakup. The whitewater at Hell's Gate was impressive and intimidating. We elected to walk from there.

Later the Bruckers moved from the Nahanni to Ft. Nelson. I've visited them several times since. His wife Marge has passed. He lives alone now but one of his sons lives nearby.

Friend You know you we were going to have a conversation about the boat that shows up in your blog and your bike gear.

Peace Rider Let's do it, I have some time. Usually when I hit town I'm really tired and need to rest. Then I need to round up more food and sometimes fuel for my alcohol stove which doesn't leave a lot of spare time to just kick back.

PR How about bicycle gear first.

F Okay!

PR My bike is nothing special, a 24 speed Giant Mountain bike with disc brakes. In Homer I got a good deal on a used B.O.B (trailer) with a rear shock absorber from Cycle Logistics. The B.O.B comes with a waterproof carrying bag which is big enough for food, tent, collapsible stove and fuel.

On top of that I carry lighter weight gear like sleeping bag and winter coat in another waterproof bag. In all between 60 and 70 pounds in the B.O.B with more winter clothing in side panniers hanging from a rear bike rack. On top of that, In a day pack behind the seat I carry miscellaneous gear plus two quart water bottles in insulate sleeves filled with hot water, actually boiled in the AM for the days run.

Even getting up at 5:30 AM it takes me three hours to get ready, packed up and ready to go when there is enough daylight to cycle. I can cook on the wood stove but to boil enough water I usually have to use the alcohol stove for the final temperature rise.

I have a pair of Schwalbe Marathon XR touring tires and a pair of studded tires with extra tubes.

F You've talked about your tipi tent before, what's that like?

PR My tent is great. It is a four man, floor less tipi tent made by Kifaru, the smallest tipi tent they make. But it's big enough for me and all my gear including bicycle and B.O.B. I added a small ground cloth for laying my sleeping bag and air mattress on. The best feature is a fireproof ring near the top for a stovepipe from a cleverly designed collapsible stainless steel stove. I added a frost liner and a collapsible hand saw for the stove. Tent and stove are in the 10 to 15 pound range.

I wouldn't have attempted a trip this late in the year without it. I've cold camped enough to know it can be rough.

What else? Winter clothing and sleeping bag of course but one of my best investments was an air mattress with a built in hand pump. Pat and Kathy suggested I get one. It's Swiss made, I think, but rolls into a small relatively light weight bundle that is really comfortable when your body needs a good rest. No moisture gets inside with the built in hand pump. An A + for this one although one of the tubes has now partially separated under continuous use.

A Black Diamond head lamp with two intensities and battery pack is another valuable addition. I usually wake up in the dark and go to bed in the dark. To save battery power I also use a candle.

F How about your boat?

PR Do you want the long or the short spiel?

F Let's try for the shorter version. I know this is one of your passions.

PR Okay, I'll try. The photo you see is of me leaving the Homer boat harbor in early June in Wave Dancer, a homemade dory I made several years before over several winters. My friends Tom Irons and Jean Aspen saw me off and took the photo.

F So what's it made of.

PR The hull is 1/4," 5 ply marine grade plywood covered with epoxy coated fiberglass inside and out. It's a few inches shy of 20 feet.

I had built several river dories before and knew that in general it's a very seaworthy design.

I found this Ed Davis designed "Camp Cruising Surf Dory" in a WoodenBoat magazine article. I bought a set of plans from him. I modified the design further at his suggestion adding a narrow deck around the gunwales and a motor well. The latter was my idea after I figured out a way to sleep aboard on a collapsible wooden bench suspended between the three seats.

Sorry, this may be more than you care to hear about but there may be some boat aficionados out there who may be interested.

Over the open part of the boat I made a tent canopy supported by three rigid aluminum tent frames, bent to shape, that come apart, held together by bungee cords similar to a backpacking tent. The bottom of the tent canopy fastens with snaps to a raised coaming along the deck edge.

F Enough already, so where did you go?

PR I was headed for Seward around the outer coast of the Kenai Peninsula. It was my first long solo trip in Wave Dancer. I was a bit apprehensive about it all. But it was also a kind of vision quest for me. What is it I'm supposed to do with he rest of my life kind of thing?

Peace Rider was already in the back of my mind.

F You obviously made it, so how was it?

PR You know it turned out to be one of the best trips I've ever taken all all levels, spectacular scenery, seals, sea otters, whales, Dall porpoise and sea birds of many kinds. Thrown in were some really challenging sea conditions rounding the three outer capes en route. I was weathered in in three different places waiting for sea and wind conditions to moderate.

I also discovered that once you round the bottom end of the Peninsula and head northeast again you leave the big boat fishing traffic out of Homer behind. With gas prices high it gets expensive the further you go.

My boat may be slow, at 4 1/2 knots with a 5 hp, 4 stroke Honda but it's also very economical plus I was able to sail when wind conditions were right, roughly 1/3 of the time as it turned out.

From there past Gore Point and much closer to Seward the coast is wild and little visited. Much of it is in protected land status. It was great!

F Weren't you afraid being out there by yourself?

PR You know the dory design is just incredible. It may be a small open boat but it's amazingly seaworthy being double ended and round bottomed. Even under the roughest conditions when I was getting bashed about I never felt in danger of capsize.

My experience of the boat was much the same as designer Ed Davis who sailed his "Tropic Bird" in the Bahamas.

You know I also felt cared for on this journey as well. Looking back now I can see this was also happening at a younger age when I was less appreciative and aware.

F What did you mean when you said it was the best trip on all levels?

PR I'll share one experience I've shared with some others that was really special. I was heading east just out of Thunder Bay after being weathered in there for several days. This part of the coast is exposed to the open ocean and of heart rending beauty, shear rock walls rising out of the sea a thousand feet and more, I judged. Cliffs that sea birds just love. The sea had flattened and puffins and others paddled out of the way as I motored slowly by these bird rich cliffs.

Up ahead, high, I noticed two donut ring contrails separated by some distance. Hmm, holding patterns of some sort, at least 29,000 feet I knew from prior experience. Odd, it was a long way from Anchorage air traffic, still... It was a bit of a puzzle.

When I looked up again the two patterns had merged edge to edge forming a figure eight laying on its side. Curious. More hmm. The it came to me, the sign for infinity, that which is everlasting and eternal, a reflection again of that which is unnameable and indescribable, the Great Mystery.

Then as I continued my path and the symbol merged. It seemed to me then and now that it was an affirmation of our essential Oneness with that which is greater than self and known by many names. Wow, words fail at such moments!

When I awoke the next day in Crater Lake Cove it was to a gorgeous crystal clear and dead calm morning. A seal head popped into view and disappeared. I was unfastening my tent when I looked up and saw contrails from a military tanker. Behind it were four fighters closing in to hook up for refueling. This was the likely source of the donut hole contrails the day before. Tankers often set up a circular holding pattern somewhere expected to wait for their "customers."

Yet that which is eternal and everlasting had used what we consider power in human terms, but impermanent, to show where true and everlasting power lies, so it seemed to me.

It wasn't the only event of this kind but as I said before it's there if we have eyes to see and look deeper than form.

PR This is already overlong so let's bring this to a close and give readers a break.

F Sure!

PR Before I go though, I wanted to give a special thanks to Barry and Susan Drury (see the photo at the start of this post) in Watson Lake for hosting me, a place of peace and rest in the midst of a literal storm.

Until next time.

A Continuing Conversation - Part 3

Friend I passed you in a snow storm heading into Watson Lake yesterday. Are you crazy?

Peace Rider What can I say. Early winter finally caught up with me. Somewhere along the way it was bound to happen.

It was clouding over late the day before. A front passed in the night, wind and snow coming with it. I had two choices, stay in camp and possibly be snow bound or hit the road while I still could. Another consideration, my food supply was dwindling. In the AM the road was still passable so I hit the road with about 30 miles to go. I switched back to studded tires. The road was mostly snow free and good going on faster touring tires to this point.

F So where are you hanging out in Watson Lake?

PR My Whitehorse friends Ken and Wendy helped me find a "Warm Showers" family in Watson Lake that host cyclists like myself. I'm the oldest and probably latest to show up. I called Susan and Barry Drury from Teslin and left a message that I was coming. I did not want to show up unexpectedly. I was profoundly grateful to have a place to rest.

You know I feel really cared for and looked after on this journey.

F How so?

PR I was just a few kilometers down the road from camp when who should pass and stop but Susan and Barry. They were out caribou hunting and introduced themselves as my host family. They had gotten my message. They were going to be out a few more hours and said they would catch up with me later and give me a ride into Watson Lake. Just short of the junction with the Cassiar Highway Susan caught up with me again. I was still 13 miles from town.

Barry had stayed with another friend to continue hunting. At Susan's suggestion I gave her my heaviest gear which freed me to pedal the remaining distance less encumbered. More snow was accumulating on the road too. It was a BIG help. The last two pitches between the Liard R. crossing to Watson Lake were really long, steep and draining. As usual, plenty tired by the time I topped the hill and hit WL.

F You know there aren't many folks of your vintage on a winter camping trip by bicycle.

PR Vintage, true, but you know our bodies are amazing and will do what we ask if we take care of them. But I also realize to make it I need to take periodic breaks especially after a week on the road with 30 and 40 mile days.

F So it took you a week to make it from Whitehorse to Watson Lake?

PR Yeah, I got a late start from Whitehorse when I left on Thursday with a photo op at the Klondike River boat thanks to Ken and Wendy. I made it about eight miles out of town that day and had another day when I ran into rain and mixed rain and snow when I literally got stopped in my tracks.

F How so?

PR There's more to the leaving Whitehorse story.

F. Okay?

PR You remember I mentioned in my last blog of meeting John Harding at Goodies Gas stop on the outskirts of Whitehorse?

F Vaguely.

PR Well, he had been kind enough to call Beez Kneez Hostel for me from there to find out if they were open for business. They were and I needed a place to stay. As it turned out there was a place for me at the Whitehorse Oblate Center with Father Veyrat my old French priest friend from Ross River. I didn't know it until I stopped there to see him.

F Then what?

PR As I was setting up camp about a mile from the turnoff to Skagway who should drive down the unmarked road just as I was setting up camp but John Harding. It turns out he was driving south on the Highway when he spotted what looked like a briefcase. He turned around only to find it was a pillow. He saw this road and decided to explore where it went. Most roads he told me are private drives. He said he had looked for me at the Hostel but I wasn't there and was left wondering what happened to me.

This was a kindness repaid in a special way.

F You were going to tell me about getting stopped.

PR Yeah, I was a couple of days out of Whitehorse when it started to rain then mixed rain and snow. I still had touring tires on and was trying to push my bike up a steep hill through slush. It balled up on the front disc brakes then froze. The front wheel literally wouldn't turn and it was also slipping. I took the hint. I was wet. It was time to stop. I got the wheel unstuck and reluctantly headed back down to look for a camp site.

At the bottom I found a snow free place barely big enough for my tent to fit in between the spruce trees. I walked downhill on the north side of the road to find water plus dry firewood. I was in the tent starting to get dried out early in the afternoon. That day I only made 12 miles. A heated tent is a life saver under these conditions.

F How was the road after that?

PR I switched over to studded tires before breaking camp the next day. I can do this inside my tent which is a huge plus.

I made it up and over the icy grade where I was stopped the day before. But in a few miles I had a mostly snow free road again. I didn't stop to switch tires but did so the day after with the road mostly clear.

F How was this leg compared to the one into Whitehorse?

PR Definitely more demanding, more hills to get up and over with conditions turning more wintry. Luckily I was able to do most of it on touring tires. There was also more snow on the ground after I crossed the Continental Divide.

The kindness of strangers is a reoccurring theme, welcome and very gratifying. Kamil Skurka from Anchorage stopped. He was headed to Cleveland to live closer to his daughter. Wanted to know what I was doing and took photos. He said he had paid off his debts in two years and was going south with money in the pocket and a waiting job with good pay.

Two hunters, Wolf and Terry, on their way back home at Marsh Lake stopped when I was on a long grade with gifts of juice, granola bars and conversation. They had gotten a caribou from the Little Rancheria herd, saw me on the way down.

You know the road is so much different now than when I first drove down it on a motorcycle a long time ago. I still had a full head of hair and it was red in those days. The road was still mostly unpaved then, not as straight or even of grade and a dust bowl. Some of the charm and adventure of it all are gone.

But one thing hasn't changed much over the years and that's the wild beauty of the country flanking the road. It's still a stunningly beautiful setting to immerse oneself in day after day.

Just as I was breaking camp one day about half way down Teslin Lake a skein of tundra swans flew over, back lit, just as the sun broke the horizon, calling. Special moments. Getting out of the country ahead of the snow. I was a bit envious.

I heard swans calling from another camp by Swan Lake still unfrozen. I think it was the same day I also saw three trumpeter swans still on a lake. They are the last to leave ahead of freeze up, late in coming this year. Their young cygnets mature late.

The same day I'm pedalling up a not so steep grade when a white van pulls off on the shoulder ahead of me and stops. Then it moves on up to the top of the hill. Considerate I thought. A man gets out carrying a bottle of water. When I get closer he yells can you use a drink of water. Sure, I say. He says he never passes up a cyclist without stopping to offer something. He said he tries to make a long distance cycling tour every year somewhere.

He gave me a couple of web sites that will be helpful in route planning in the States, Adventure Cycling being one of them and Guy On a Bike the other. It was John Harris from Anchorage, a 27 year retired AK State Trooper as it turned out. He was on his way to Whistler, BC for a singing engagement of some sort then to Bellingham, WA.

But here's the remarkable part. He knew and was also friends of Pat and Kathy from freespirtwear in Homer and found so helpful with my trip planning. He'd been in Pat's Anchorage bike shop and got to know them before Pat sold his business. I also learned that Pat had an illness that compelled him to sell. I was sad to hear that.

Here I am on the road a long way from anywhere, meeting up with a stranger only to find we have mutual friends and learn of something I was not aware of before. So it has been since I assumed the mantle of Peace Rider.

There is a harmony to events that seems to come when your life aligns with divine intention.

F So what are your plans now?

PR It looks like I will end up staying put for at least another day until the snow stops and the road gets plowed off. I'm also in the market for a light weight snow shovel. Got to git.