Day 8: The kindness of strangers

Skagway, AK >> Haines, AK (via ferry) >> Destruction Bay, YT
240 miles ridden/6 hours (+1.5-hour ferry)

My motorcycle was running lean last night and I was thinking I might have to go to Juneau from Skagway/Haines to have it looked at, but while walking back to the hostel from breakfast, I ran into a mechanic(!) from New York riding a Honda 650. He and his travel mate had reservations at the same hostel I was staying at but were at the wrong address. (For such small towns, the signage/general quality of directions this far north is a bit lacking… Perhaps this is a prank locals pull on out-of-towners?)

He said it’s nothing to worry about; I simply need to start adding carb cleaning/fuel injector fluid to every tank of gas. Considering his pedigree and the fact that he was sporting an Iron Butt rally cap, I had faith in his diagnosis, so I’ll be off to Haines Junction, YT, and possibly Beaver Creek, YT, today. While it’s only 360 miles, I’ve heard nothing but horror stories about this part of the ALCAN, so we’ll see how it goes.

Spectacular views abound on the Haines Highway in Alaska.
Spectacular views abound on the Haines Highway in Alaska
The M/V Matanuska, which transported me and my 1995 Honda Shadow VT1100 motorcycle from Skagway, Alaska to Haines, Alaska
The M/V Matanuska, which transported me and my 1995 Honda Shadow VT1100 motorcycle from Skagway, Alaska to Haines, Alaska
Which is rustier: My 1995 Honda Shadow VT1100 motorcycle or this bridge?
Which is rustier: My 1995 Honda Shadow VT1100 motorcycle or this bridge?

Cold cut comrades

North of Haines, the British Columbia border guard made a crack about the weather (naturally, it’s overcast and rainy): “The Haines Highway is a great road if you can see it.”

After shooting some photos a bit further down the road, I pulled into a rest area for a quick snack. I was only a few bites into my Clif bar when a tour guide from a rafting group lunching in the parking lot came over and offered to have me join them.

We swapped stories over sandwiches; they told me how they had to bring their passports overland to all the border crossings (YT, BC & the U.S.) before taking to the water for their ride down the Klehini River through Canada to Alaska, where it becomes Jarvis Creek. That the passport-checking process took longer than the river cruise would last didn’t dissuade them.

And glancing around, it was clear their trip would be worth it. Even this far south, the scenery was breathtaking. The best way I’ve thought to describe it is if you stuffed Colorado into Vermont: mountain ranges crammed together crowding the horizon yet soaring to the sky. Tonight I decided to camp at Destruction Bay on the edge of Kluane Lake, because with a name like that, how could I pass it up?

Self-portrait with my 1995 Honda Shadow VT1100 motorcycle cruising along the Haines Highway
Self-portrait with my 1995 Honda Shadow VT1100 motorcycle cruising along the Haines Highway