Day 22 - Camping at Marsh Lake

Distance: 40,29mi | Time: 4:12 | 1472 kcal | 1242ft

cooking-at-the-marsh-lake-yukonAfter the long day with 100mi we gave us a day in Whitehorse. This is the capital of Yukon with a population of about 25,000. This time we discovered the town per pedes, visited the museum at the riverfront about the Gold Rush and the Native Americans and ate dinner in the Gold Rush, a very nice bar in Yukon. We also tried the beer of the local brewery in Yukon, which tastes just great. Today we had an interview at the Whitehorse Star, the newspaper for Yukon. We are excited to read this article soon! Afterwards we rode until the Marsh Lake, where we built up our tent early since it had to dry a while from the last night of pouring rain. Currently we are sitting in front of our campfire, and listen to the noise of the waves which come in from the Marsh Lake...landscape-in-yukon-with-river

Day 23 - Teslin Lake

Distance: 77,28mi | Time: 6:29 | 2363 kcal | 2993ft

along-the-alaska-highway-yukonHow do you know, you are riding in the Yukon? You are on the road for about 500mi and the landscape stays completely the same. This is also now that we are currently riding east on the Alaskan Highway towards Watson Lake. Today we reached Teslin and the Teslin Lake, where we currently set up our tent. Since we are mainly riding in the forest these days, we try to do as much mileage as possible and due to up and downhill sections, we “only” made 77 mi. Our campground therefore is very romantic; we are staying directly at the shore of the Teslin Lake today. Unlike many other lakes in the Yukon, this one has a real shore with rocks and also soft gravel. Most of the lakes usually are not reachable, since they are in the woods and also surrounded by high grass and wet dirt.camping-at-the-shore-of-the-teslin-lake

Day 24 - Guess what we had today on our meal plan!

Distance: 67.24mi | Time: 6:40 | 2423kcal | 3028 vertical feet

130828-smart-riverLast night we had a clear view to the stars after a long time. We got up at one and we could really see them, the Polar Lights. It looked like thin clouds are passing by one a very high velocity. They were not very green as we expected them from the pictures. But it was also not absolutely dark outside. It was still spooky since the lights were moving so fast. Due to the clear view to the sky it was very cold during the night and therefore we left the camera outside taking more pictures and we got inside our sleeping bags again. Unfortunately the lens got foggy after a while… On the next morning we went to the Teslin Café to warm up again and have some Coffee with pancakes and hash browns. Afterwards it was another ride through forests and hills again… To get something else for dinner instead of noodles and rice we stopped at a large lake and got out the fishing line and the hook. After an hour we had four fish cooking over our camp fire. We ate them with some smashed potatoes. Yam! And who says you can’t get enough from noodles with spaghetti sauce is absolutely wrong!smart-river-fishing-yukonfresh-fish-dinner

Day 25 - Some extreme bicycling on the Alaskan Highway

Distance: 99.47mi | Time: 9:00 | 3708kcal | 4051 vertical feet

alaska-highway-before-watson-lake-bicycleToday we rode once more really long, and also long after sunset. Our goal for today was to reach Watson Lake which meant for us 100mi to ride. But what you have to know riding the Alaskan Highway for 100mi is not the same than any other road you would think of. Especially close to Watson Lake this Highway goes straight over many hills demanding the most from us and our muscles. Today was really one of the most exhausting days on this ride so far and we reached the campground late after 10PM. But we still saw some more wildlife, e.g. an eagle learning how to fly far up on an antenna or a mum and a baby moose bathing in one of the many lakes in this region. Thanks to our zoom lens we took some really cool pictures. At the end of this long day we got invited by a couple at the Watson Lake Government Campground for a few glasses of their good self-made wine and could also setup our tent next to theirs and warm up next to their fire. Thanks again! During the night we had a clear view to the sky and did not see this many stars before in our life. There are already so many stars when you look up in the Alps and here we saw even more, it was so amazing!stars-in-yukon-watson-lake

Day 26 - Rest and Relaxation in Watson Lake

Distance: 7.37mi | Time: 1:09 | 359 vertical feet

watson-lake-sign-post-ride-bicycleToday we had a nice and calm day in Watson Lake. The funniest thing here is the “Sign Post”. This is a forest of all kinds of signs from different visitors of this town, in total there are more than 72,000. It all started, when in 1942 a US Army G.I. Carl K. Lindley from Danville, working on the Alaskan Highway, erected the first sign, pointing towards his hometown with the distance. According to the signs, many Germans visit this town. We wonder how they managed, to get an official sign of a town like “München” or “Gernlinden”. Although we are so far away, we still felt a little home by walking through this park here. watson-lake-sign-post-forest