August 8
54mi/87km (plus 5mi/8km in a pilot car)
2000ft/610m elevation gain
As expected, rumors of the road ahead were greatly exaggerated. For ten miles (16 km), the road was indeed very dusty and washboarded with loose gravel. However, it was not that bad, and since we did it early there weren’t too many cars passing us to kick up the dust. The following 20 miles (32 km) were paved and in great condition. The woman who insisted this would be the worst section of road we’ve seen has clearly not ridden the Taylor Highway, or the Dalton Highway, despite her insistence that Canadian roads are worse than Alaskan roads.
At 30 miles (48km) we were stopped for a construction zone with a pilot car. We were warned about this part as well, and that it was long so we’d likely have to load the bikes into the pilot car. This was true, and unlike all the pilot cars we rode in Alaska, this one took us up what was supposed to be the biggest climb of the day, with steep grades. The construction was impressive. I don’t think I’ve seen so much and such large heavy machinery at work except maybe at the Morenci mine in Arizona, which is massive. As always, our driver was very friendly and told us all about his work.
The section immediately after the pilot car was probably the worst of the day – still under construction, bumpy, rocky, and muddy for about two miles. But certainly not the worst we’ve seen.
We ate lunch at the end of this section before heading down to Pelly Crossing. We knew there was a free campground here, and although we made it to town by 4pm, we got the very last site available. Aside from one motorcyclist, everyone else here is in vans and RVs, and we’ve watched about ten more roll through looking for a spot. We got here just in time.
The grocery store left a lot to be desired, but we got a few things to get us to Carmacks in a day and a half. No new birds today, but more flocks of White-winged Crossbills, some Spruce Grouse, and as always the Ravens. We got a quick spurt of rain right after dinner, fortunately everything was set up so we fled to the tent. Sunset is at 10:35pm tonight!