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Stuck in the Yukon!
The following E-mail was sent from
the local library in North Pole, Alaska
(credits: Ashley Wright)
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 12:02:40 -0800
OK, we have managed to log on again... we should
explain how these computers work.. To email we first have
to find a library and then using their computers we can
connect to a VERY slow internet server, and then only for
30 mins at a time. So, anyway, the last time most of you
heard from us we were in Juneau. Well, we left Juneau via
the Ferry, and cycled up to Haines Junction over the next
3 days. We were planning to hitchhike from Haines
Junction to Fairbanks along the famous Alcan (Alaska-Canada)
highway. This wasn't a very good plan - there were hardly
any cars going North up the Alcan, and none of them could
fit two bikers and their bikes in. So the next plan was
to take the bus, but this only went 3 times a week, and
the next bus was two days away. So, next option, cycle
some of the way up the highway and then take the bus. So
we managed to cycle through two VERY cold days of rain
and wind to another tiny town where the bus stopped. To
make sure we could get a seat on the bus we made
reservations and called up the company to confirm that
the bus would arrive at 10:30am. The next day we a re
waiting for the bus at 10am and one of the locals tells
us (with some glee I think) that the bus went by at 9am!!!
Over the next couple of hours it became obvious that he
was right - no bus came. So now we had spent 5 days in
the Yukon trying to get to alaska. All our canadian money
had run out, the food prices were astronomical (eg $6 for
a small packed of dusty crackers) and they didn't accept
credit cards. But the worst thing was that between us and
alaska was about 350km of road construction - they were
completely rebuilding the Alcan this year. Other cyclists
heading south told us horror stories about cycling over
bedrock and rocks. Oops the 30 min limit is almost up...
we will continue in a few minutes....
Haines highway
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Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 12:30:29 -0800 Subject:
the saga continues...
..well as I was saying, the road was being repaved and
we really didn't want to cycle North, especially as there
were not very many shops between us and Alaska. Anyhow in
the end we decided that we had no option but to continue
up the Alcan - we certainly didn't want to wait around in
the two-horse-town of Burwash Landing for the next bus (in
3 days time). I guess it wasn't all bad - but this time
the rain and cold had been replaced by a mixture of cold
showers and warm sunny weather. When it wasn't raining
the scenery was actually pretty good - at one stage we
had some great views of the highest mountain in Canada.
Anyhow we continued north with another cyclists we had
met earlier who was in a similar situation... a
schoolteacher from somewhere in Eastern Canada. That
night we camped by Donjek river and got an early start
the next morning, as we had to start tackling the road
construction. The canadian guy was a bit behind us, and
we had spent about 4 hours cycling through the mess they
were calling a road when who should pass us in the back
of a pickup truck but the canadian dude! Now we were mad
- we had spent ages (like 4 days) hitchhiking and this
guy got a ride in less than 4 hours. Time to get serious
- and i had a plan. No more passive waiting for the road
- I was going to actively solicit rides. We were
desperate - it had started raining again, the mosquitoes
had caught up to us and the road was turning to mush.
After telling our sad tale to a number of pickup drivers
I finally hit the jackpot - a ride in the back of a large
empty pickup all the way to Fairbanks! The ride was very
cold - we were in the back of the truck huddled together
with the wind screaming around our ears as the driver (a
nice guy from Florida) zoomed along the very bumpy Alcan
highway... ok gotta a go... same bat time, same bat
channel...
Alcan highway
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Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 13:00:07 -0800
Subject: the final chapter
Well, we are now sitting in the back of a pickup
heading towards the frozen north, being slowly frozen
solid ourselves. It is a long, cold ride, but eventually
we arrive at the US border. More trouble. We have both
entered the US two times in the last 3 months, and both
times neither of us have had any hassles. But here, in
the most remote outpost of American border protection,
they decide to give us the full works. Fist question -
how much cash do you have? I had the grand total of $35US
on me, and they were not impressed. But I have a VISA I
said, flashing the little hologram around. They were
still not impressed - the card could be empty they said.
It isn't, I told them, but they wanted me to prove it. WE
need to see some receipts they demanded, and now I was
getting really stressed out. The Florida couple in the
pickup were waiting for us, but they said that they
couldn't wait too long as they needed to get to Fairbanks
before it got too late. I had thrown al my receipts away,
but buy a huge stroke of luck I managed to find a credit
invoice from the Ferry that I had kept when I cancelled
one of my ferry bookings. I showed it to the man with the
big stick, hoping that he wouldn't look at it too closely.
He didn't, and finally we were released. My visions of
rotting in Alcatraz prison while the full details of my
credit record were investigated started to fade away as
we loaded the bikes back on the pickup truck/portable
human freezer machine. The next few hundred miles are a
bit of a blur, but eventually we stopped at a small diner
in another two horse town (Tok) and had a very late lunch.
The Florida couple must have seen how cold we were (maybe
it was the icicles hanging off my nose) and they made
enough room in the front so that we could sit inside for
the last few hours to Fairbanks. They dropped us off
where we are now - at a small suburb of Fairbanks called
North Pole (home of Santa Claus - yeah right! If Santy
lives here then there is no hope for the children of the
world - North Pole is sandwiched in by two huge oil
refineries connected to the Alaskan Oil pipeline). Ok we
will log in again soon.....
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Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 13:15:04 -0800 Subject:
epilogue
Well we will try and reply to all the message that you
have sent us, but unfortunately quite a few of them have
been deleted by the computer. We plan to spend a couple
of days here in Fairbanks before cycling down to Denali
National Park (the home of Mt McKinley - the highest
Mountain in North America - it rises from 300m to over
6000). We plan to camp in the park for a few days before
cycling to Valdez via the Denali and Richardson highways.
From Valdez the plan is to catch a ferry across Prince
William Sound to Seward, and from there cycle to
Anchorage, where we will both fly out of Alaska from. The
weather here is rainy and grey but it isn't as cold as it
was back in Canada. It is weird - even in the middle of
the night there is still enough light to read a book -
the sun goes down at about 11pm and rises at around 3am -
it never really sets. We are camping at a nice campground
in a city park which we have all to ourselves. I hope you
are all doing well and staying out of trouble. We will
email again in a few days, all going well.
Bye!
Ashley & Minko
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