Sunday morning early, and I mean 5 AM the fast guys, either needing to be at work tomorrow morning in Iowa or starting on their own personal 48+, left in a rush of slamming doors and whooshing Oldwings. Juan was off at 6 to make the ferry back to Anchorage. I saw him off, then having no particular point to make or schedule to meet showered, packed, had breakfast, diddled awhile, and finally rolled out about 8.

The weather was cold. For the first fifteen miles. Then I was over the pass and the sun came out

 

 

Bear Glacier

I'd put on just about everything I was carrying in Stewart.

 

 

At a convenient rest area by a small lake  I did a slow strip-tease, since the warmest things to take off were also the deepest. A familiar Airhead R100 (that's a classic BMW) pulled up.

 

Last night, as a finale for Hyder Seek the famous Ron Ayers gave a speech where he mentioned once again the various people who helped him set a world record 48+, before the Guiness Book stopped recording such things.

One guy had ridden point clear through Ohio at 100 +, bear bait so Ron could fly without having to stop for tickets. Another had solved an insolvable equipment issue in time to keep the record attempt going. A third had met Ron at a gas station and was so excited by what he was doing he rode along for 1,000 miles, failing to go to work that morning and losing his job as a result. He spoke up from the audience: he found another job the day after he got back, no big deal. He'd do it again in a heartbeat.

It was the 3rd guy who pulled in. He likes to talk. And talk. I ate my lunch while he talked, then it took another 45 minutes to get away. At least he didn't tag along for 1,000 miles!

I'm back in country where it gets dark at night. Sunset is later than in Texas, but it does set. I

 

 

 

 

pitched camp last night at a provincial park near Frazer lake.  After setting up and eating supper (steak, potato and corn from a grocery a few hours ago) I packed up my kitchen and hung it in a tree, standard bear country camping procedure. Then I went in my tent and scribbled, because the mosquitos were annoying.

The park staff rolled up to collect the camping fee. This time it was a pair of teenage girls who could not complete a three word phrase without a cool or a wow followed by a giggle. They really liked my kitchen bucket in the tree, wow! Cool!(giggle). They thought my bike was cool (giggle) too, as was my tent and my trip.

Just after they left a raven discovered the bucket, and flew off with my next-to-last pack of ramen. At least he left me one!

Today was uneventful. Warm and sunny, but not too warm. Just about perfect really. The only real worry is my back tire. It was almost new last week! The roads in Alaska eat tires. Every morning at the pre-flight check there was less and less rubber back there. It's been to the wear bars in a couple of places since the day before Hyder, and there aren't any motorcycle tires in this part of the world. There aren't any motorcycle SHOPS in this part of the world. But, the rate of wear has dropped drastically since I crossed into Canada. I might make Seattle after all.