July 28 Eagle Plains campground to Rock River Yukon Gov't campground
78 kms
We started the day with a long downhill followed by an equally long uphill and then another uphill and another until we reached the Artic Circle. The sign was a bit disappointing because it was run down and had graffiti on it but I took pictures of all sides to read later.
Not too long after we left the Arctic Circle a motorhome slowed down to inform us that they had spotted a mother grizzly and her cubs back about five miles. They had been on the side of the road eating what looked like road kill but had wandered off a distance up the meadow to take a nap. As we pedaled along we wondered if "a distance" would look the same from a bicycle as it did from the motorhome. We did see bear scat but never spotted the kill or the grizzlies so after we had covered what we felt was a good distance we stopped and made some lunch.
The elevation map showed downhill from the Arctic Circle to the end of the day but we had one of the most interesting hills yet. I braked until almost the bottom but as soon as I let go near the bottom I accelerated from 30 to 50 in a blink of an eye - quite terrifying on the gravel but the far side of the hill looked steep and I wanted a good run at it. When I got to the top you could see that it was mostly downhill until the campground another 15 kms away.
Once at the campground, we got the mosquito coils going in the kitchen and tried to make a spot where we could relax without being eaten. The tops of my feet are extremely itchy as I would look down and be able to squish five mosquitos with one slap.
The cycling family showed up awhile after us and have set up camp in the kitchen but they've had to put their tent up to prevent being eaten alive after the coils go out, which won't be much longer. I'm sitting in the kitchen and new campers, with an English bulldog named Guiness are coming in to cook their dinner.
If the weather holds we should be in Inuvik by Monday night. That gives me four days to get home for the pig roast.
We started the day with a long downhill followed by an equally long uphill and then another uphill and another until we reached the Artic Circle. The sign was a bit disappointing because it was run down and had graffiti on it but I took pictures of all sides to read later.
Not too long after we left the Arctic Circle a motorhome slowed down to inform us that they had spotted a mother grizzly and her cubs back about five miles. They had been on the side of the road eating what looked like road kill but had wandered off a distance up the meadow to take a nap. As we pedaled along we wondered if "a distance" would look the same from a bicycle as it did from the motorhome. We did see bear scat but never spotted the kill or the grizzlies so after we had covered what we felt was a good distance we stopped and made some lunch.The elevation map showed downhill from the Arctic Circle to the end of the day but we had one of the most interesting hills yet. I braked until almost the bottom but as soon as I let go near the bottom I accelerated from 30 to 50 in a blink of an eye - quite terrifying on the gravel but the far side of the hill looked steep and I wanted a good run at it. When I got to the top you could see that it was mostly downhill until the campground another 15 kms away.
Once at the campground, we got the mosquito coils going in the kitchen and tried to make a spot where we could relax without being eaten. The tops of my feet are extremely itchy as I would look down and be able to squish five mosquitos with one slap.
The cycling family showed up awhile after us and have set up camp in the kitchen but they've had to put their tent up to prevent being eaten alive after the coils go out, which won't be much longer. I'm sitting in the kitchen and new campers, with an English bulldog named Guiness are coming in to cook their dinner.
If the weather holds we should be in Inuvik by Monday night. That gives me four days to get home for the pig roast.
posted by Diego at 11:38 a.m.
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