Ten minutes after waking up we heard some yelling on the road in the direction of our food bags. I quickly got out of my tent to see what was up and luckily Nathan was already up and had stopped someone from taking all our food bags. It would have been a disaster if someone had taken all our food and bags which was supposed to be another four days worth of food. Apparently someone in a pickup truck had stopped as he saw our bags, collected them into a pile, and was starting to put them in his truck when Nathan saw and started yelling "no" repeatedly while waving his hands. He got the guys attention and the guy drove off while leaving all our food. Thank you Nathan, but what kind off an (insert explicative) would steal a bunch of cyclists food?
With that averted we rode 25 miles to Liard hot springs. 10 miles into the ride we saw our first black bear of the trip grazing by the side of the road.
The springs were awesome, natural, and there were only 5-10 other people enjoying them.
We stayed in for about 2 hours, after which we dragged ourselves,out. We also met a couple there from Calgary who offered us a place to stay if we come through there, an appealing option which we'll probably do.
Immediately after leaving the springs we saw another grazing black bear at an even closer distance, a distance which we were all probably a title too comfortable with. Immediately after the bear was a pretty large buffalo right off the road which showed little fear or interest in us cyclists.
After a 2 mile climb we started riding through an unexpectedly gorgeous valley in the Rockies.
The setting sun and the mountains were beautiful, as was the lake we set up camp at. A good day, 60 miles, sun, hot springs, and mountains.
8/27
We woke up to a sunny morning with a beautiful lakeside view.
The peacefulness was only short lived because we had about 14km of dusty, uphill, rocky roads. It took us 2 hours to go this short distance because every time a truck drove by we were forced off the road due to the huge plume of dust that covered us. Unfortunately Arne got a flat tire in the middle of the stretch and somehow had the patience to fix his flat in the dust cloud.
By lunch time it was obvious that Katherines hand infection was quickly resurfacing and spreading fast. The decision was made that we would all try to hitchhike to the next town to see a doctor. We actually got to officially use the satellite phone to try to contact the doctor we all had to see in Whitehorse due to the outbreak of infected bug bites. Even though John looked awesome dialing, the doc was unavailable.
Katherine and Ken were very lucky to flag down two really nice brothers(Rob and Dan Healy) that had also been traveling the Alaska highway. They were so incredibly nice and very fun to drive with. They had lots of great stories of their summer fishing, hunting, hiking etc. They had caught a large number of salmon and trout, and with our poor fishing luck, they generously gave us 2 ready to eat trout they had caught. Lunch or dinner tomorrow...
Unfortunately, Arne and John were not as lucky in finding a ride to town. For the next few days we will have to ride separately until we can all join up again. After her visit to the ER, Katherine received a couple new prescriptions for more powerful antibiotics to treat the spreading infection.
-KSG
8/28
With John, Arne, and Nathan catching up in a few days Katherine and I were without a bike pump. This was a potential problem, as the next town was 230 miles away. Since it was Sunday, everyone we asked had a different opinion as to wether or not the sports store would be open or not, and of course the hours weren't posted on the store anywhere. While waiting for the bike shop to open, we filled Kat's prescriptions and ate a nice, large breakfast at the grocery store. Luckily the sports store did open a little after noon, so we picked up a pump and were on our way by 12:30. The ride was very peaceful, as the road was pretty quite with long flat sections with rolling hills dispersed.
Around dinner time we stopped, started a small fire, and cooked our trout in a foil packet.
The trout was absolutely delicious and fall-off-the-bone tender, thank you Rob and Dan!
After the meal we rode another 20 miles on similar terrain and set up camp for the night a a flat spot about 50 yards from the road. A good day, with a late start and a delicious meal. A fairly easy 70 mile day.
8/29
A rainy morning when we awoke at 7:30, however by 8:30 the rain was only a light drizzle. In picking up our food bags we discovered that some birds had scattered our trash and pecked a few holes in our tube of toothpaste. All the food stored in the odor proof bags was untouched luckily. The morning cleared up and primarily consisted of long rolling hills, which were somewhat steep at times. An early afternoon rain shower led to clear skies the rest of the day as we climbed up a couple hills/mountains.
We had one of our best meals of the trip at the Sasquatch crossing lodge, complete with a large salad bar with primarily homemade everything including dressings and smoked salmon, this complemented the fresh baked bread, soup, a beef stir fry dish, and garlic toast. Riding after the meal was tough, but we managed to get another 10 miles to make a 76 mile day, leaving around 87 miles into Fort St. John tomorrow. Katherine's hand has also not been responding to the new antibiotics, so if no improvement occurs well pick up the second antibiotic in Dawson Creek, which we'll really hope works.
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Location:Liard hot springs to , BC, Canada
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