A 500-km motorcycle day on the Alaska Highway
I fired up the V-Star yesterday and hit the road for the first time in two years. I headed west, with Kluane Lake far to the west in my mind but not firmly locked in as the destination.
I posted this first photo, shot on the Alaska Highway just west of Whitehorse, on Facebook with the simple comment “Whoohoo – road trip on the noisy bike finally!”
In the next photo, the Km 1528 post can be seen to the right – from home, I get onto the highway at about Km 1407.6. About ten minutes before, I had seen a lone bison grazing along the highway – the first wildlife of the day.
The historic Canyon Creek Bridge at Km 1547.5 is now closed and is going to be demolished, so I stopped to get a record of its current state.
Casual trails to good viewing spots are well-worn, showing the high level of interest in the bridge.
The estimates the government is tossing out to justify not rebuilding the bridge are absurd, in my opinion. Unless it costs $1 million to build a simple log cabin now, and that seems unlikely.
I often stop for photos, including selfies like this, at the Kluane Range Rest Area at Km 1466.
A closer look at the highway from that spot. I got into a lengthy conversation here with a couple of American tourists about their trip, and offered some suggestions for modifications and additions to it. They thought that both a Mount Logan glacier landing and a detour through Dawson City were excellent ideas, and I’m hoping – almost expecting – that the glacier flight will be taking place today.
I made a fuel stop at Haines Junction, then my next stop was at my favourite pullout and beach on Kluane Lake, at Km 1642.1.
I had hoped to take a walk on the beach, but there was a screaming cold wind coming down the Slims River valley from the massive icefields back there, so that didn’t happen.
I love this view of Sheep Mountain, and to the left you can see the sand being picked up by the wind. I hoped I could hit a few of the calmer seconds to cross the bridge where the blowing sand is usually the worst.
I turned around at the viewpoint at Km 1650.8, just past Parks Canada’s Sheep Mountain interpretive centre. High above the Soldiers Summit Trail across the road I could see a small band of thinhorn sheep (formerly known as Dall sheep).
With the little Powershot SX740 maxed out at 960mm, I could see 7 ewes and 7 babies!
The view across to Fish Heart Island shows how bad the dust storm was at times. It actually isn’t an island since the lake water level dropped dramatically in 2016 due to the headwaters of the Slims River taking a different route when the Kaskawulsh Glacier retreated far enough to open a new channel.
Looking back down the highway from the viewpoint.
On the ride home, I decided to do a photo update of Silver City, the largest ghost town in the Yukon. It’s about 3.4 kilometers down this gravel road that heads north towards Kluane Lake from Km 1635.8 of the highway.
The first three photos show the largest residence in the community. It’s very sad to see it disappearing. It’s privately owned – by a family in Fairbanks, I believe. A few decades ago when many of the buildings were in pretty decent shape it was going to be restored as a theme park, but that never happened.
Some of the buildings that housed foxes in the 1920s are in the best condition, though still falling down.
The wreckage of a windmill that can be seen clearly in this 1944 photo, between the main residence and the fox farm.
A tight grouping of log cabins with an old delivery truck used to be a notable feature of the ghost town, but is less impressive now.
I had decided to stop for an early dinner at Haines Junction, so after topping up my fuel again, rode across to the Mile 1016 Pub. I was very pleased to find my new American friends there, as I had recommended it as a great dinner spot. I took the table next to them, and we continued a very enjoyable conversation. The food and service were excellent as always (that’s a mushroom Swiss burger with my favourite beer, Ice Fog, brewed in Whitehorse).
This was now a celebration ride, and I enjoyed even the two hours from Haines Junction home, which can sometimes feel like a slog. The reason I hadn’t been on the bike since May 2023 is that one of the ongoing symptoms of my brain injury made getting on two-wheelers or high ladders a very bad idea – I couldn’t even ride the e-bike for a very long time. My osteopath, though, has been working on that and it has now been resolved.
When I pulled into the garage at home, the odometer read 509.7 km – I’m very pleased 🙂
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