Alaska

Alaska

July 6-19, 2017

Our annual summer trip is to ALASKA! 

Well, at least to the closest point in Alaska – Hyder, AK, which is near Stewart, British Columbia, Canada. The plan is to ride over to the California coast, ride up the coast as long as we can, then cross into Canada. Prince George, BC is the last big town, then we head northwest to Stewart, BC. Hyder is on a dead-end road about a mile from Stewart. 

On the way back we will go through the Columbia Icefields and the Banff and Lake Louise area. We will ride the Beartooth Highway, see Yellowstone and the Tetons. 

The group is Rick & Cyndy Johnson, Mack & Tammy Sorensen, Roland & Adrienne Smith, and Me & Laurie. 

This should be a spectacular trip of about two weeks and 5,000 miles. Thursday, July 6, left with the Johnsons and the Sorensen at their rental bike and they will meet us in Reno. They got to Reno at 2:30 am on Friday. 

Our route to Reno was Veyo, Beryl Junction, Crystal Springs, Rachel, the Extraterrestrial Highway, Tonapah, Mizpah Hotel for breakfast, Lee Vining, Bridgeport, and Mono Lake. It started raining hard in the mountains and stopped in Markleeville at the general store to get out of the rain. Then it was on to South Lake Tahoe and the hotel in Reno, LaQuinta. Dinner was at Denny’s. 

We thought the ride “day” would be hot, but since we took the high road the temps were not too bad. The Smith’ didn’t leave Overton until 3:30 pm and it was 118 degrees. They had a hot ride. 

Friday, July 7, we left Reno at 9:15 am, stopped in Doyle for gas. The route took us through Horey Lakes, Susanville, Highway 36 had views of Mt Lassen and Mt Shasta and we stopped in Old Station for a break. Redding was hotter than hell! Stooped for lunch and to cool off at Carl’s Jr. It was a miserable ride for about 100 miles till we got closer to Arcada. Stay at the Ramada and had dinner in Carmela’s Mexican Restaurant. 

Saturday, July 8, Pacific Coast Highway (Redwood Highway) to Crescent City for a break. Crossed into Oregon and the first store is a “weed” shop! Stopped in Gold Beach at the Chowder House for lunch and had great chowder. Stopped again at Face Rock beach. New Port was the end stop, Day’s Inn, and dinner at Yummy Bowl Chinese Food. 

Sunday, July 9, we continued up the coast on nice windy roads to Tillamook cheese plant for a stop. On to Seaside and Astoria where we crossed the bridge in Washington, a very cool bridge. The windy roads continue to South Bend – the oyster capital of the world, “Raymond on the Wallapa River.” Lunch at Slaters Diner. The route continued to be windy for a distance then we took Highway 12 and I-5 to Olympia where traffic sucked. I got off I-5 at Lakewood for a break and then back on past Seatle-Tacoma and switched to the I-405 and the I-5 to Burlington. Stayed at the Holiday Inn and dinner at McDonald's. Mt Rainier and the Cascades in the distance. 

Monday, July 10, left the hotel and headed north on Highway 9, a very curvy, scenic road to Sumas (break at the duty-free store) and crossed the border into Canada at Abbottsford. Route 7 took us along Fraser River, stopped alongside the river for a break, and found out the road was closed ahead due to forest fires. We had to backtrack to Route 1 and then to Route 5 the Coquihalla Highway toward Kamloops. Stopped in Merrit for lunch at Subway. Rick had dropped his wallet in the parking lot and a man brought it into Subway, nothing was missing, yay for honest people. Subway is Lynn’s least favorite place to eat, but not today. A cute granola type girl came in wearing a bib, she thought it was a shirt, but it exposed her boobs to all around. Lynn got his desert today! As we got closer to Kamloops the smoke got from the fires got very thick. We must take another route to Prince George as many of the roads are closed; it will be about 60 miles further. We went to the laundromat downtown and dinner at “All you can eat” Sushi Restaurant. 

Tuesday, July 11, the route through Clearwater (gas), Yellowknife, and Valemount where we stopped for gas and lunch at the A&W. After lunch we lots of trees, rivers, an awesome waterfall then got onto Highway 16 – Trans-Canadian Highway. Saw lots of wildlife today, black bears with cubs, two wolves (one was white), and I saw a cougar – Lynn said it was a tabby cat (it was). Went to Prince George Harley then to the hotel in downtown, Day’s Inn. We walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner, Cima’s Mediterranean Grill. 

Wednesday, July 12, we went back to the Harley store, Mack, broke the spring on his kickstand. Stopped in Vanderhoof for a break, lunch at Burns Lake at Alternate Grounds. Stopped in Smithers, Harley Davidson, and got gas. We got to see lots of wildlife, 13 bears, momma and cubs, an eagle, and a fox. Scenery if glaciers and waterfalls. The last part of the ride lots of rain, about 45 miles, into Stewart scenery was awesome. Stayed at Ripley’s Inn, a bunch of separate buildings made into separate rooms and common areas. We had dinner at Silverado Café. 

Thursday, July 13, we slept in and had breakfast at Toaster Museum Café. It was overcast and light rain, we rode about a mile to cross the border into Alaska. Hyder is right across the border and we stopped at a gift shop and had some fudge and bought a t-shirt. Rode through Hyder and continued on a dirt road that took us to Salmon Glacier. It's huge! The lookout point looks down onto the glacier. Saw two wolverines, marmots and a black bear. We had lunch at “The Bus” in Hyder, the food was yummy. I came back to the hotel and relaxed then we went to the grocery store-bought a sweatshirt and diet cokes. We went back to Hyder in the evening to a wildlife viewing area, only saw a momma duck and 4 ducklings and two beavers. Right before we got there some people saw a grizzly. We saw another bald eagle on the way back. Stopped in Stewart and had ice cream. Rick got a ticket for riding his bike a block without a helmet! 

Friday, July 14, left Stewart and headed back to Prince George. 440 miles all beautiful scenery. Stopped for lunch at KFC in Smithers, stay at Ramada Inn in Prince George. Dinner was at Crossroads – pizza, ribs, cream of tomato soup. The hotel rooms were interesting…they had a glass wall between the bathroom and the beds! So when you turned the light on and shut the door the glass would turn opaque otherwise it was clear. 

Saturday, July 15, left the hotel and had to go to Tim Hortons for breakfast. The new route today, Trans-Canadian Highway to Mount Robinson (the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies) then onto Jasper – had lunch at “Jasper Pizza”. Cyndy and Tami added to their collection of magnets. Headed toward, Banff and entered Banff National Park and Alberta province. It was raining on and off. The sun was breaking through the clouds and mountains and it was an incredible sight. Entered the Columbia Icefields. I and Lynn and Roland and Adrianne got separated from the others, we went to the icefields visitor center and they continued and went to Lake Louise. We all met up at the hotel in Banff. 

We stayed at High Country Inn with the Johnsons and the others stayed at a cabin at another location. We went to the local IGA grocery store and got some food, tried to find a restaurant but they were all too expensive, went back to the room, and ate. Cyndy and I stay up till 1:30 am doing laundry. 

Sunday, July 16, left the hotel and got gas, then had to wait about 15 minutes for a train! Mack and Tami left early to get to Pincher Creek to go to church with people Mack had baptized on his mission. The rest of us would meet them for lunch in Pincher Creek. We rode through Kananaskis Provincial Park, stopped at a corner store in Longview, bought treats with the last of our Canadian money. Lots of bikers stopped there to get gas while we were taking a break. Found out later, the show “Heartland” was filmed near there. 

From Longview to Pincher Creek the wind was horrible. Met up with Mack & Tami at the church. Lenny & Kelvin (Mack’s friends) took us over to another member’s home where we had great dinner. We heard stories and testimonies from friends and people Mack had baptized. Mack told the story of  his time there and how he had interacted with the people of Pincher Creek. It was an amazing afternoon. We headed for the border crossing at Chief Mountain by Waterton National Park and Glacier National Park. We stopped at Logan’s Pass and saw mountain goats in the parking lot. Rode the “Going to the Sun” road and into Kalispell where we stayed at the Econolodge. The guys went across the street to Burger King and brought dinner back to the hotel. 

It is so nice to be back in the USA – Canada was beautiful but I am grateful to live in America. 

Monday, July 17, left Kalispell – headed to Big Timber – more pretty scenery. Stopped in Avon for lunch, very small place but had yummy food and small-town atmosphere. Wallisa for a break and treats and a t-shirt. Headed out of town – it’s looking pretty dark and stormy, then it starts to rain and hail. We look back and the rest of our party is nowhere to be seen. So, we wait about 10 minutes then go back to town. Rick’s shifter has stripped, and he can’t shift. He pulled into a shop and they let him use some tools and get it working enough so we can proceed. We get to Livingston and went to an ACE Hardware store, got some tools, and then onto Big Timber – Super 8 hotel. Dinner at the “Timber Bar,” very yummy food! Washed the bike at the car wash. 

Tuesday, July 18, head toward Red Lodge, and the Beartooth Pass. Rick decided to get his bike fixed and headed to Billings to the Harley dealership. The rest of us went on to Red Lodge to wait there. We walked around town, Lynn got a t-shirt from Bone Daddy’s Motorcycle Shop. 

We rode the Beartooth Pass, it was amazing. We stopped at the “Top of the World Gift Shop” and then into Cooke City for lunch where Rick and Cyndy caught up with us. 

We went through Yellowstone, Tetons, and stopped at Bubba’s in Jackson for dinner, then onto Montpelier for the night. It was 9:45 pm when we left. We stopped in Star Valley and took pictures of the new LDS temple there. We reached the motel at 12:30 pm. 

Wednesday, July 19, Roland and Ade left at 9 am for home and to visit family, the rest of us left at 10 am. We stopped in Garden City for a shake at LaBeau’s. We stopped in Logan to visit family and the Johnsons and Sorensens went on to Salt Lake. Great trip, unbelievable scenery, and incredible friends. 

Laurie Nelson