The guys have had some communications challenges. Tonight I've received posts that are late, but I think worthy of sharing because it captures what they have experienced and have been feeling. So, hopefully you can make sense of these and enjoy them for what they offer. Here we go:
Day 27
We are on our way home! Below is the final count of walking and riding for the entire trip. We left Hyder, Alaska, at 7:30 AM and ended the day in Smithers, BC, at 7:15 PM. 650 miles. The first hour we made 36 miles. That’s how mountainous it is. At the end we thought we were going to run out of gas. We were going from Prince George to McBride (approximately 94 miles). There was one gas station in between and the gas was $8.00 per gallon. They suggested we just get what we need to get to McBride which they said was 74 miles away. It turned out to be 94 miles away and we were close to running out. One gas gauge does not work on the motor home and the other is inaccurate!! The last tank of gas we figured we got about 3-4 MPG…guess it was the way the driver was driving (wasn’t me). The 10 gallons we put in at $8.00 per gallon gave us 7.2 MPG…better (I was driving). The normal price us here is about $5.60 per gallon and the further south we go the lower the price becomes. We quickly set up camp and tried to get football on the radio (Sirius) or my computer. We were somewhat successful and got to follow one game - A winner by the way!
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| One the way out of Hyder |
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| We are in awe of the beauty |
We hit the hay early and looking for a big day tomorrow. We were unable to communicate so we have to apologize for all the info and the pictures you haven’t received yet. They are amazing, however, agreed?
Day Walk Ride Total
(8/2 Sat.) 7.5 55 62.52
(8/3 Sun.) 1 60 613
(8/4 Mon.) 5 52 574
(8/5 Tue) 4 14.8 18.85
(8/6 Wed) 8 60 686
(8/7 Thur) 8 47.1 55.17
(8/8 Fri) 12.5 60.2 72.78
(8/9 Sat) 28 35.2 63.29
(8/10 Sun) 7 30 3710
(8/11 Mon) 16 53.9 69.911
(8/12 Tue) 4 57 6112
(8/13 Wed) 18 50.4 68.413
(8/14 Thur) 11 49.4 60.414
(8/15 Fri) 14 61.1 75.115
(8/16 Sat) 15 55 7016
(8/17 Sun) 6 62.6 68.617
(8/18 Mon) 16 60.2 76.218
(8/19 Tue) 17 64 8119
(8/20 Wed) 2 60.5 62.520
(8/21 Thur) 11.5 50 61.521
(8/22 Fri) 16.6 52.6 69.222
(8/23 Sat) 2 75 7723
(8/24 Sun) 7 80.6 87.624
(8/25 Mon) 8 88.9 96.925
(8/26 Tue) 10 72.4 82.426
(8/27 Wed) 3 66 69
TOTAL 258.1 1473.9 1732
Day 26
Good News:
No, GREAT NEWS! We are in Alaska!!!! Hyder, Alaska! I have to tell you this is beyond belief. I promise you that this is something like I’ve never seen before. Now, I know I’ve said that before (like in Jasper, and I meant it) but this is beyond a picture, beyond a description. It brought tears to my eyes. I can tell you this - if you take a vacation and come to Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska, you must drive up 37 and over on 37A and it will be the most incredible experience you’ll ever have. (check out the pictures)!
Bad News:
Another accident/fall. We went out to where you view the bears eating the fish and I was walking along on some wood timbers and took a nose dive onto the asphalt parking lot, face first. My face got the worse of it, but both hands and one knee were also bleeding. I had onlookers that came forth to help. I was very fortunate that I missed my eye by fractions of an inch. Quite a bit of blood, and some ouches that will hurt more tomorrow. Maybe even a black eye?
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| No pain, no gain! |
More Good News:
Today in Hyder we went 20 miles up a gravel road (awful) to see the Salmon Glacier (along with 20 more). It was the worse road trip in a long time. The 20 miles took 1 hour to complete. BUT it was worth it (see the pictures)
Even Better News:
After the Glacier viewing we went back to the salmon stream where the bear frequent. It is run by the US National Parks. Turned out it cost $5 each to walk out the boardwalk down the stream. The ranger told us it was real iffy this late in the season that we’d see bear. We left and talked about it and Mike said if I was at the casino I’d make the $5 bet and not think twice. We went back to pay our way in and the ranger said “What is the Grace Fund?” We told him yes and low and behold he let us in free. We waited for awhile (with lots of other people) and then BOOM! someone called out BEAR! He was way down the stream. My camera wouldn’t pick him up, but sure enough he walked up the stream and I got some fabulous pictures of this huge grizzly eating salmon. WOW WOW WOW or how about OMG (better Paula?). Hopefully the pictures will tell the story better. My trip was complete. We got back to the campsite about 7:30 PM and we are getting to bed early and heading south tomorrow.
Not-So-Funny Story:
When we checked into an RV park in Hyder, Alaska, we asked the lady where the salmon stream was that the bears frequent? Told her we might just ride our bikes up there. She said, “NO NO NO NO! You will not do that...that’s called meals on wheels.”
We met another local who told us about Gordy who was eaten by a Grizzly several years ago. Said he was a cook across the street (seafood restaurant) and after cooking all day he left to go home (smelling like fish) and didn’t make it across the street. They have no police in Hyder so they had to call the game warden.
There was a wager made whether there’d be a Tim Horton’s and/or Subway in Stewart or Hyder. There was neither, nor was there any other kind of fast food. In fact there was one gas station in Stewart and none in Hyder. At the border there was a guard station going into Canada and everyone had to stop but NOTHING going into the USA. Hmmmmmmm, interesting.
PS: It’s COLD here and my body really hurts.
~Chuck
Day 22
What a Saturday. We had to hustle today - need to make tracks with Tim back in the saddle. He is finally health wise ok…obviously a 24 hour bug? Today the temperature was cold. When we went out to take off on our bikes we had to go back in and put on sweatshirts/jackets our caps, etc. before we took off. That’s a first for us (with the extra clothing). You can see us adorned in our cold weather gear in one of the pictures for today. WE will make Burns Lake today. The smoke and the hills/mountains are back. Hopefully the pictures will tell the story.
I want to update you on our physical condition: I’ll start with the worst - ME!
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| Mike (AKA "Sleeping Beauty") |
As you know I'm 66 and feel much closer to 86. My whole body aches, but let’s get to the specifics. My cut knee is healing nicely. I have a big scab about they size of a silver dollar and just as hard. My left should still hurts big time if I try to raise my left arm. Other than that it’s not bad. For some reason I don’t seem to have much strength in my fingers, I tried again to cut my fingernails with a fingernail clipper and can’t squeeze hard enough to cut them. Even tough cutting a fried egg this morning with a fork - can’t push hard enough. My right knee hurts after we’ve ridden over 20 miles in a day. My eczema is flaring and I want a MASSAGE IN THE WORSE WAY! Other than that I’m fine! Mike: He said he’s getting tired of the ride day in and day out. Starting to take a toll on him. Said his body is numb! Two nights ago he fell asleep at 8PM and slept until after 6AM. We know he was asleep cause we heard the snoring. He is the youngest of the group at 62 so he shouldn’t have too much to complain about.
Tim: He is the OLDEST of the group at 66 (one month older than me). He claims he’s getting stronger every day (other than his cold setback). He takes arthritis medicine and states that he could hardly walk 50 feet a couple years ago. I do have to say he’s one of the best dancers I’ve every seen (just kidding Nancy).
Now let’s talk appearances: Tim: No change. Mike: A little slimmer in the middle.
They both shave and shower almost daily so no appearance changes or bad odors. Chuck: Slimmer (but I think you’ll still recognize me Sandi and kids). My beard is longer — maybe keep it this way? My hair is also longer: matts down during the night.
We met a guy yesterday, Jerry Woods, who stopped us on our bikes and asked where we were going, etc. He was a very nice guy and incredibly he is 76 years old and had triple by pass last summer and hopes to be climbing mountains next year. We told him we might go to Stewart. He said you have to see the grizzly bears down at the creek scooping the salmon out of the water. We said; really? He said yeah it’s incredible. That makes our decision much easier and I think we’ll head to Stewart and then over to Hyder, Alaska. If we see what he tells us we will for sure get pictures Mike said he’d even snuggle up close for a picture!
Special note: Monster Cookies.
Mike and DEBBIE made 5 dozen monster cookies for our trip? These are made with oatmeal, M&M’s, corn syrup, butter, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and pasteurized milk. They are AWESOME! You can’t eat too many (the are monsters in size) and we STILL have a couple dozen left. Debbie, you may want to send the receipe. I strongly recommend and endorse them. Thanks DEBBIE (and Mike).
~Chuck
Here is the picture Linda Olds took and will probably put in the paper.
