Dease Lake to Watson Lake Yukon Territory

Packing up for a cold day from Dease Lake, BC to Watson Lake.

Accomplished daily is a 30 minute ritual of cleaning windshields, helmets, packing
up, and strapping our gear onto the horses for another day’s work.

 

Getting gas was often an interesting throwback to days gone by as we used pumps without card readers, no signs warning that you must “pay inside first!” and only regular gas available, which Mary’s BMW was fine with, but I’d have to poor in my auxiliary stash of premium gas from the aux tanks on the back of our bikes to up the octane to keep the Ducati redhead from back-talking!

 

The road often seemed deserted until you came up to a modern facility busy with activity and a good diner.  Gas over five bucks a gallon and a country omelet for $13… the going rate.  Remoteness is expensive!

Breaking away from the crowd and back on the Cassier Highway and a half day of dirt riding…but! “the Cassier is paved the whole length”…alas, not so.  We were grateful and comfortable on our sure footed Adventure Bikes which are at home in the dirt or on the pavement.

If you are on this remote highway and you come across someone else, one must participate in the grand ritual of “Great day, eh?” “Yaa, you betcha”  “where you from?”…it’s a true joy and in this case this is Libby and Jens from Switzerland.

Gasoline and services are few and far between, but the remarkable thing about Canada is that they cherish a good roadside toilet!  Every 50-60 miles there would be a beautiful roadside “rest area” always by the water.  Gotta love the Canucks; They have their priorities straight!

 

So as you are riding along enjoying the intense remoteness and you stumble onto a roadside stop with all these people parked, so of course we have to see what the hoopla is and it is in fact Jade City, BC.  A family owned Jade mining and jewelry company that does pretty cool stuff with the abundance of Jade in this region.

Below is a cutting cable that takes days to make one saw cut in this giant pure jade boulder!

 

 

 

 

As we entered the Yukon region we became mesmerized with the beauty and clarity of the lakes and rivers.

 

With all our planning and childlike anticipation of great hordes of wildlife…well, we’ve seen a black bear and a brown bear and lots of crows…oh, and a sign to watch out for said hords…

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trek north, with its hypnotic vistas and its time warping enjoyment surprised us at the ease and satisfaction of attaining a milestone along the way.

 

 

Thousands and thousands of signs at the Sign Post Forest at Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.

This huge forest of signs would not have a lot of meaning to a local or someone looking at the pictures, but as a trekker, the sign has a much deeper spirit of camaraderie.  We know that every sign has a story much like ours, a spirit of adventure, long planning days, scrapping together resources for an expensive quest, and now you are here.  I get it now…