Tag: Glacier

Matanuska Glacier

The highlight of today’s ride from Anchorage to Tok, Alaska, was the Matanuska Glacier and Jeannies Java.

Brent and I were up early as usual to make our escape from Anchorage while the weather was good – also known as cloudy. Both of us like to ride for a hour before having breakfast. This really works well in populated regions. But here in Alaska you could be in the middle of no where. A hour into our ride we hit two cafes. Both were not open until 9. We would have to wait an hour. We were told the next place to stop to eat was 100 miles away. It looked like we would be going hungry for awhile!

We forgot all about food when we arrived at the Matanuska Glacier. The Glacier is 27 miles long and you can see the end of it from the road. It is something you can’t stop staring at.

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After our stop we continued our search for food. Not much further up the road we ran into a great place to eat and we didn’t have to go 100 miles to get to it either.

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Jeannies Java

When we got to the Tok Cutoff we stopped off for a snack at Jeannies Java.

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Now it just so happens that both Brent and I are big fans of Oisin Hughes. He has an awesome video series on YouTube of his motorcycle travels around the world. And Oisin Hughes stopped here too! See the resemblance 🙂

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Tok

Our final destination was Tok, Alaska. Tok is a funny place in that there is nothing here. What it is though is the crossroads for travelers coming to Alaska. As a result there are lots of places to stay for the night to continue your journey the next day. Brent had stayed at a newly opened hotel on the way up for only $89 US for no matter how many beds. The only issue is that there was no TV and the only Wi-Fi was in the lobby. So for only $45 US for the night this was a bargain for me in Alaska. Splitting the costs was one of the advantages of riding with a partner.

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This was to be the last day for Brent and I to be riding together.

Spectacular Stewart, British Columbia, Canada

I was happy with my choice to stay in a hotel in Prince George and get out of the rain. When I woke up it looked like I wasn’t the only one seeking refuge from the rain. Pretty cool seeing them. Obviously I am not the only one doing this.

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There are two routes from Prince George to head up to Alaska. One is up the Fort St. John, Fort Nelson and along Hwy 1. I decided to take the other route along Hwy 16 and up Hwy 37 to Hwy 1. I’ll take the other route on the way back.

I love reading the blogs of other motorcycle adventurers. Along this route was a place recommended by many of them – Hyder, Alaska, and Stewart, British Columbia.

The ride was pretty uneventful until the end of the day when I needed to find a place to stay. I was close to Stewart but would have to head 61 km down a dead end road in hopes that I would find a place to stay. I decided to go for it. I suppose I could always bush camp. I always say that but haven’t done it yet.

I don’t know about you, but when I get excite about something I get a huge grin on my face that I can’t stop. It wasn’t long down the road to Stewart I got that grin on my face. I love places that constantly have me saying, “WOW!” And this was one of these places – towering snow capped mountains, long ribboned waterfalls, a turquoise colored river, and best of all a glacier! Tomorrow I would take better photos.

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As I entered Stewart I saw a campground sign for Rainey’s. Bonus. A $15 Cdn camping spot with hot showers. See my review of the campground.

The campground attendant said to go to the Glacier Inn in Hyder for dinner.

Hyder is a weird little place. There is only one way in and out, and that is through Canada. Despite this, Hyder has it’s own little time zone and is one hour behind Stewart. Go figure.

I got to the Glacier Inn and no one was there. Huuuummmmm. I drove around town for a bit and it looked like most buildings were either boarded up or closed. Then I saw a sign saying, “The Friendliest Ghost Town in Alaska.” Now that explains it all.

Going into the town there is no US customs. But leaving Hyder there is Canadian Customs. Now I thought given the situation it would be more or less a wave through. But no. The Custom’s officer would not accept my enhanced drivers license and wanted proof of citizenship. He then wanted to know how long I had been there, where I had been, what I was bringing back and question my responses. At least he didn’t search my bike.

After dinner at the King Edward Hotel it was back to my campsite and a good night sleep. Couldn’t wait to look at the sites again when I leave the next morning.

Here was the day’s route for July 5, 2016.

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