My alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. Oh, this bed feels so good. It’s almost like a bed covered with memory foam. You just sink in and it feels so good. God, I've got to get going. I took a shower, packed up everything, loaded my bike, ate a continental breakfast, went upstairs to put on my riding gear and left town at 7:30 a.m. This is going to be a long tough ride. The driving force behind my early departure is that Monday the 24th is supposed to be a rainy day and I don’t want to ride the Dempster Hwy in the rain. I must keep moving. It was a beautiful sunny day when I left Inuvik. For some reason the road didn’t seem as threatening as when I came up. I pretty much rode 50/62 mph/80/100 kph, sometimes faster. The guys at Midnight Mechanical said that was pretty slow for the local people. What scared me the most was driving the loose gravel. It was like driving on marbles. I especially feared going into a curve with wash board covered in loose gravel. I didn’t feel I had the skill to control the bike as it tried to wash out from under me at that speed. In the straight-away driving the loose gravel and marbles weren’t so bad. I was hoping when I arrived at the MacKenzie River Ferry landing I wouldn’t have to wait more than 30 minutes. I got real lucky here. The Ferry "Louis Cardinal – Edmonton" was just arriving at the landing when I pulled up. A young couple from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory started talking to me at the landing. They told me they saw three grizzly bears eating alongside the road: the mother and two cubs. They also told me somebody dressed out a caribou and left all the blood in one of the campsites where they camped last night. They said they roped it off so no one would accidentally set up camp there, thus preventing them from having unexpected bears paying their tent a visit. The bears could probably smell the blood a mile away. I don’t know that but I wouldn’t be surprised. I drove onto the ferry and took a few pictures of it. The ferry provided a scraper with a sponge and squeegee to wash your vehicle windows if you wanted to during the river crossing. This ferry only operates during the summer months and it’s an ice crossing during the winter months. I took a few more pictures after I disembarked and then pressed on down the road. The next stop: Fort McPherson for gasoline. All the road construction that seemed difficult on the way up to Fort McPherson was just uneventful on the way back. I fueled up and it was back on the road to Eagle Plains, another 114 miles/183 kilometers. I waited about ten minutes for the ferry to cross the Peel River. That ferry only has two landings and follows a cable from one side of the river to the other. My next photo stop: the Northwest and Yukon Territories Border. A guy and his family were taking pictures at the sign so I asked him if he would take a picture of me. He did and I thanked him. Continuing on I will cross the Arctic Circle and then reach Eagle Plains. I filled up with gas and bought something to eat. I was getting extremely hungry. While I was eating, three young guys approached and wanted to know more about my motorcycle and what it was like to drive from Minnesota to Inuvik. I told them you just get on your motorcycle and ride it until you get where you want to stop. I asked them how long it takes to get to Dawson City from Eagle Plains. They said about four or five hours. That’s a 250 mile drive. It was now 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon. I jumped on my motorcycle and took off. I want to be off this road before sundown. Sometime after the first 50 miles/80 kilometers I started getting tired. I recognized the signs. I probably ate too much and it was making me sleepy. I pulled into a rest area, got off my bike and walked around probably for 15 minutes. I took some pictures of fire weed to show you all what fire weed looks like when it drops it petals/fauna. Then back on my bike for the remainder of the highway. Periodically I would stop along the way and take landscape pictures to show everyone what the Arctic looks like. Also up here the leaves are changing colors and it is Autumn. As the afternoon progressed, the sun disappeared and the sky turned gray. At the 150 mile/241 kilometer mark it started raining. I pulled into a rest area to put on my rain gloves. I already had my rainsuit on to keep me warm and the dust out of my red riding suit. Moments later the guy that took my picture at Yukon Territory sign pulled in behind me. One thing I failed to mention is that the dust created by the semi-trucks is unbelievable. I would need to pull over and let the dust clear before continuing on. I couldn’t see inside the cloud of dust. It was like you were in a sandstorm. Some of the drivers would slow down realizing how much dust they were creating. Others just kept barreling down the road. The rain started slowly and continued to get heavier. It last for about 70 miles/112 kilometers. I knew it wouldn’t last forever because I could see blue on the horizon. Two things happened while it was raining. First a semi–truck met me and covered me with flying brown mud. I had to wipe my helmet visor off to continue driving. It was a bath of mud water and mud. Then a car passed me and then pulled directly in front of me. Another mud bath until I slowed down, putting some distance between me and the car. I cursed the idiot in the car. I drove pretty much 40/45 mph/65/72 kph in the rain. Just before I was back on pavement again the sun came out. I had a whole new outlook on the day. I was happy and I was off the gravel. I pulled into the gas station at the end of the Dempster Hwy and saw a guy standing by his van. I asked him if he would take a picture of me by the Dempster Hwy sign. He said he would. I pulled up on the mound in front of the sign and he took three pictures. I think he was from England because he called me mate. I took a few more pictures of the bike because it was so muddy. I want to send a couple of them to Ken Landry to show him all his hard work went down the drain. Then I drove it down to the car wash, got some dollars, sprayed myself off and then sprayed off the bike until it was de-mudded. I poured the two gallons of gas into the tank. This gas station is also a hotel, RV park and campground. One of the people who works at the gas station has a trailer in the RV park with a dog. The dog was barking and barking and barking. The dog belonged to a woman who also lives in the trailer. They tried to shut the dog up. The dog wasn’t having any of it. Bark bark bark bark and on it went. I finally told the dog if you don’t stop you’re going to be in big trouble. He didn’t listen and kept up the barking. Finally someone from the hotel came out and talked to the guy in the trailer. He told him to shut the dog up because the customers were complaining. He was very mad. He was red in the face from the shoulders up. The departing words of the guy from the hotel were if the dog doesn’t shut up he will be dead in the morning, and he left steaming under the collar. I got out of there because I didn’t want to be any part of that. I drove into Dawson City looking for a hotel to stay in. I was driving around town and saw the same guy that took my picture by the Yukon Territory sign. I asked him where he was staying and what the price of a room was. He said in The Eldorado Hotel and the price was somewhere under $100. I checked it out and it looked good enough for me. I paid for my room, drove my bike over to it and unloaded it. It just started raining again. I ditched all my clothes and then went looking for some food. I stopped in at Diamond Tooth Gerties. They have a snack bar where I bought some pizza and water for supper. I watched the remainder of the show that was in progress and then went to bed.
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