Well, its been a few days since I last updated this blog. The last I wrote, I was in Watson Lake, departing in the rain for Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. What I didn’t report was that I had blown out the rear suspension on the bike the day before. This caused the rear wheel supports to ride directly on the frame so the ride became quite hard and slow. I had to travel this way for the next 900 miles or so until I got to Anchorage where I found what I needed to fix the bike. The roads were in pretty bad shape most of the way. My lesson from all of this? I hope I never see another pothole or frost heave for the rest of my life!
After getting the bike fixed, I decided to go out to Homer for a little halibut fishing. I left yesterday, Saturday, at about 6am under a leaden sky. Since Seward was just an hour out of my way, I headed that way when the road forked. About 20 minutes later, the skies opened into the heaviest rain I have ever ridden in. I was drenched in minutes. To cap it off, the temperature dropped to the mid thirties. More cold and wet! Well, it didn’t take long before I started to feel the signs of hyperthermia. I was feeling so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open and my handling of the bike was really degrading. I couldn’t find any shelter I could get under so I put up my tent, crawled out of my wet clothes and climbed into my sleeping bag. I made a couple of servings of oatmeal with my Jetboil stove and settled in. The shakes stopped after an hour or so and the rain about an hour after that.
I scrapped Seward after that and headed for Homer. It started to rain again shortly after I arrived.
Today, I got up at about 4:30 and went Halibut fishing. Since there is a limit of two fish I only went for a half day. We cruised out of Homer for about an hour, dropped anchor and started fishing. During the next hour, I caught 9 Halibut, selecting and keeping the two I was allowed. The boat was crewed by a young lady named Sarah who had just finished High School in Homer. I have placed a few pictures of her here. She was by far the prettiest deck hand I have ever fished with! This is her summer job before she heads off the University of Alaska in the fall. On the way back in, after everyone limited out, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day.
This is the furthest west I will go so after a short trip (of about 1000 miles!) north to the Arctic Circle, my direction will be towards home. I’m getting a little road weary and lonesome so this is good news to me. Tomorrow, I head to Talkeetna which is the gateway to Denali, the highest mountain in North America. Hopefully, the weather will hold and I can get a glimpse. After that, I go to Fairbanks and then Deadhorse.
After getting the bike fixed, I decided to go out to Homer for a little halibut fishing. I left yesterday, Saturday, at about 6am under a leaden sky. Since Seward was just an hour out of my way, I headed that way when the road forked. About 20 minutes later, the skies opened into the heaviest rain I have ever ridden in. I was drenched in minutes. To cap it off, the temperature dropped to the mid thirties. More cold and wet! Well, it didn’t take long before I started to feel the signs of hyperthermia. I was feeling so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open and my handling of the bike was really degrading. I couldn’t find any shelter I could get under so I put up my tent, crawled out of my wet clothes and climbed into my sleeping bag. I made a couple of servings of oatmeal with my Jetboil stove and settled in. The shakes stopped after an hour or so and the rain about an hour after that.
I scrapped Seward after that and headed for Homer. It started to rain again shortly after I arrived.
Today, I got up at about 4:30 and went Halibut fishing. Since there is a limit of two fish I only went for a half day. We cruised out of Homer for about an hour, dropped anchor and started fishing. During the next hour, I caught 9 Halibut, selecting and keeping the two I was allowed. The boat was crewed by a young lady named Sarah who had just finished High School in Homer. I have placed a few pictures of her here. She was by far the prettiest deck hand I have ever fished with! This is her summer job before she heads off the University of Alaska in the fall. On the way back in, after everyone limited out, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day.
This is the furthest west I will go so after a short trip (of about 1000 miles!) north to the Arctic Circle, my direction will be towards home. I’m getting a little road weary and lonesome so this is good news to me. Tomorrow, I head to Talkeetna which is the gateway to Denali, the highest mountain in North America. Hopefully, the weather will hold and I can get a glimpse. After that, I go to Fairbanks and then Deadhorse.
1 comment:
Hi Jay
I'm really enjoying your trip. On some days sounds like I may be enjoying it more than you are. There nothing worse than being wet and cold at the same time. The trade off seems worth it though. Such beautiful scenery!
Hope your bike is back in shape!
I had a nice lunch with Ms Aimee this week. She's a jewel, but you already know that.
Take care and keep us updated
Vicki
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