Day 1: Ride to Dawson City
The recaps below come from my Facebook page with some commentary around them as well.
This write-up will only cover the time up until I reach Dawson City. The next one will feature the ride from Dawson City to Tuk and back.
Both legs of the trip feature beauty and drama.
Day 1 of Ride to Dawson City is Done!
Approximately 1200 kms (745 miles) ridden from Airdrie to Smithers, BC!
The Ninja has been flawless, solid underneath a full load of my gear and myself, comfortable and attacked the road as if it owed it money.
We started the day off as the “frozen chosen” riding in 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) until we reached Jasper where things did warm up, thankfully.
Greg showed me a “secret” waterfall along the Icefield Parkway (Highway 93) that I took video of. It’s beautiful and frightening to look over the massive drop off all at once. My sense of self-preservation prevented me from standing on the ledge and looking down. Instead, I laid down on my stomach to capture it.
The Columbia Glacier deserved a photo with the H2 “SeXy” of course, and I’d like to come back with the family to see it on the tour after this ride to Tuk is over.
Mount Robson is the tallest peak in the Rockies. It really was an awesome sight to behold today. The photos I took can’t capture the true magnitude of it. It’s massive!
Three black bears and one grizzly bear sighted today. There was a tourist taking a selfie about 20 feet away from the huge grizzly! How do they not get attacked?
My new mission is to find and take a photo with a moose in the wild.
After passing through Prince George, British Columbia the drizzle started and the road stayed wet most of the way to Smithers, so the H2 SeXy isn’t so sexy now with road grime covering her. She’s still beautiful underneath though. The stock Bridgestone Battlax ST021 tires are sticking like glue to the drenched road. I’ve had zero traction issues giving me plenty of confidence in the new bike.
What an intoxicating mixture of long sweeping S curves mixed with the lovely aroma of pine, wet earth and clean air Northern British Columbia is. That and a ton of not-so-lovely road construction to slow us down. Smells are so much more pronounced on a motorcycle than in a car which is mostly a bonus.
I love the turquoise colored lakes and streams everywhere in the mountains. I don’t think there’s anywhere more beautiful on earth.
I hope the afterlife amounts to riding these highways forever with unlimited fuel.
No Camping Yet
Greg and I opted for a hotel room in Smithers, British Columbia to rest up and get out of the rain and cold in lieu of trying to find somewhere to camp. The forecast doesn’t look favorable either over the next few days where we’re heading.