Whitehorse and the Cassiar

Whitehorse, the vibrant historic city of the Klondike.   Remember you had to get to Whitehorse before you made it to Dawson. Whitehorse is the upper most sternwheeler navigation point on the Yukon.. above were rapids of the canyon and lakes beyond.

 

Whitehorse!

 

The Canyon, upper Yukon River.

 

                                     

 

The view point above.

 

 We departed Whitehorse and motored on to Watson Lake near the junction for the Cassiar Highway.

The next day we did not know our destination, just our route.. The Cassiar.  Gas stations were sparse and prices golden.  I filled the bike at the first stop of Dease Lake BC.  I gave the clerk a $20 and put in a bit more then 2.5 gallons the went to collect change of $.35.. Next station... Bell II, and even more remote..  When we arrived at Bell II, I was thinking about a soft bed... nope.. no rooms at the inn.. and no places for 200 miles of wild..  So I told Jack my support driver, I thought I could make it to the Highway Junction to Stewart with about 220 miles on the tank. The van was carrying spare gas for just this occasion.  The van has a long range tank.. so no problem with gas for the van.

On the way we passed a lot of new highway infrastructure projects to make BC a better place to live.
Highway improvement and electric transmission / power projects to get BC better situated to recover and develop the natural resources.  There is a  lot of effort going in the gas and oil industry as well as the mineral development industry.  Canada is seriously working at developing these resources for export through western terminals at Vancouver, Kitimat and Prince Rupert and maybe Kitsault.

Beautiful drive too, with little or no traffic.  Road way was rough chipnseal the first 100 miles and became progressively better maintained after Dease Lake.

 

Bear Glacier near Stewart BC

We made it to the Junction to Stewart BC and I was glad to add all 4 gallons of spare gas that had been carried since Haines, AK at the start of the journey.    Our trip was uneventful with exception of the most one day wild life viewing drive.. I counted 10 bears and 2 moose and numerous chipmunks trying to cross the road.  No collisions thankfully.
We arrived in Steward, after the longest day ride of the journey... no rain..either.  Sorry, no pics.
It was about making time before dark.

The next day we traveled on to Smithers to do some cabin projects and get Jack, the RFAR1 back to Prince Rupert and the ferry home to Ketchikan.   

So, that concludes 3000 miles over 6 week and 25 Rotary Club visits and some of the best of times with friends along the way.


I want to thanks my wife for her support and encouragement to do this project and the Rotary Clubs in Ketchikan for their support and the support of my special friends  Judith, Jack and Bruce for making the trip a success and allowing me to follow a dream.  Thank you all for following.

I am better for it. I think Rotary is too.

This is the end of the blog.

jrd

RFAR, Back to Whitehorse

We parked the bike in a secure place in Whitehorse above the highbanks of the Yukon River and headed for the driver switch in Skagway. 
Driver Judith was scheduled to catch a ferry and I was scheduled to pickup Jack for the final leg of the journey.  The drive to Skagway was in a word... the most spectacular scenery of the journey.
A little foggy in the pass and just some of the best travel scenery I have ever seen.

 

 

Upper reaches and headwaters of the Yukon River draining a big lake.

 

We arrived in Skagway and made the driver switch the drove back to Whitehorse.  The is was my final club visits for our Rotary District.  Rotary District 5010 is all of Alaska and Yukon, Canada.

 

I visited the three clubs at a group Saturday gathering picnic in the Rotary Peace Park.   I was the program speaker  at this social gathering of clubs.  We exchanged club banners and  I explained my mission and that this was the end of a personal project that started the winter of 2007 at a mountain ski cabin in Smithers BC.. which was our next destination by way of the Cassiar Highway.

 

Jack and I toured about Whitehorse and enjoyed the  history and culture of northern Canada.

 

Rotarians share the same goals across the District and World..

 

The mission of the Rotary Foundation:

 

ADVANCE WORLD UNDERSTANDING, GOODWILL, AND PEACE THROUGH THE IMPROVEMENT OF HEALTH, THE SUPPORT OF EDUCATION AND THE ALLEVIATION OF POVERTY.



After Anchorage.. North to Canada!

Judith McQuerry a longtime friend flew in to Anchorage on an afternoon flight and we joined up and headed out.  We took a break in Palmer and met up with Eric Christianson a former Rotary youth exchange student to Japan in years back.. now we share re builds of classic BMW Motorcycles.. He has just completed a Cafe Project.  Looks and sounds great Eric.
Our driving objective was to get to Whitehorse by Wednesday.  Sunday night we rode up a wet and cold Richardson Highway for a night stop at Glenn Allen, Alaska for dinner and a rest.

Stuffed Wolf at Glenn Allen

My second support driver.

In the morning we pushed on with the objective of getting to Beaver Creek on Monday nite.. then on to Whitehorse on Tuesday.  When we arrived in Whitehorse, the accommodations were sparse and I was able to get Judith into a 8X8 trapper cabin.  The pictures are on facebook.   It worked and so we were off the next day to Skagway and to meet up with Jack Hovden.    The drive to Skagway was spectacular.

This lake was an prehistoric sea bed.  Small sea shells form the sand on the bottom of the lake. This area of Canada is about  60 miles from  Whitehorse on the highway to Skagway.

Cariboo Crossing Anglican Church.

Anchorage Gateway Club #22

Anchorage is all covered with RFAR.  I have visited and met so many kind and friendly Rotarians.  This morning at the Gateway Club they were talking about a Rotary Water project for Kalskag Alaska and partnering with other Rotary Clubs to provide clean drinking water to a  community on the Kuskokwim River.  One of the sponsors from the Gateway Club is a cousin with origins in Aniak, Alaska.  What a great surprise to be connected to a cousin Rotarian.

I was able to present a 1st City Rotary banner and  make a presentation on the RFAR Project.  The club meets at Denny's on Debarr Road on Friday's at noon.   Very much a fun club, and they did not claim it either.

This is the last of the Anchorage clubs.. Have visited and presented at 22 Rotary meetings in the last 31 days.  Seriously, into Rotary!

The Tourist.

Here are some pictures of places around Anchorage.  Alyeska the Ski Resort.

Anchorage II

There are a lot of Rotary Clubs in Anchorage..

Wednesday I visited Anchorage East... sorry... the pictures did not turn out.  The program was on  the new news station in Anchorage.. and all the biggies from Channel 11 News were there and presented a very interesting program..  I did get my opportunity to present the the Club Banner and  talk about the Foundation and my trip.  This club is also pretty big and is really active.  Was able to touch base with a couple of members that I have worked with in the past.  Ventus Plumme from the old days of Youth Exchange and Paul McGuire the M/C at past conferences.  Also saw PDG Caroline Jones.

Wednesday evening I met up with the Mid-Town Club at Chilkoot Charlies... interesting place to have a meeting.. the club is small and informal.  Here is a picture.  I was invited to do the program.

Next, I headed for Girdwood Rotary, they meet in the Alyeska Hotel.  Nice digs..
Small group and an interesting program on a south Sudan Health Clinic Rotary partners project.

Banner Exchange with Girdwood.

Girdwood makes the 21 club visits on the Alaska Campaign.   Every Rotary Club has been welcoming and warm and all clubs have given me time to expain what I am doing and allowing me time to campaign for the Rotary Foundation.
Today at the Anchorage South meeting  Rotarians were presented to  program on the Providence Hospital Services and Health System.  The morning meeting had a program on Club Membership and Retention.
Today was a full day with three club visits.   I visit my last Anchorage Club tomorrow at the Gateway Club.

I have had a chance to explore the Anchorage area.. I must say it is a very easy town to navigate.  Wide street and many one way with lots of parks and parking is pretty easy and acessable.

Sunny Ride to the Beach

Had some spare time, so I took a ride to the beach.

                                                                First were tall buildings..

Then the Anchorage beach.. looking  West.

Then looking East up Turnagain Arm.

Bird Point Lookout.

The Ski Hill.. Aleyeska.