Beijing

Customs was super fast!  The guy thought my passport photo looked chinese.  We were lucky enough to make it onto the bus towards our hostel with our bikes all boxed up.  Gosh are they heavy!!  We're staying at Kelly's Courtyard and it's really, really great!

Anchorage 9/20- 9/29

Most of this time has been well spent chilling at the Moxness residence.  There were a lot of things we had to prepare for to get ready for going abroad.  Anson's parents have been waaay too nice!  We took a ride out to a cabin and tried to go for a hike.  It was really wet and cold so we went into the woods and did some "nature art," Andrew Goldsworthy stuff instead.  Christopher impressed with his beans and greens, and I made a pretty good thai peanut noodle, and we'd be more than happy to share that recipe with anyone who cares.  

When we got to Seattle, on our 9/28 flight, we hung out with one of Christopher's Peace Corps. buddies, Braiden.  Then we stayed at the Green Dragon hostel (way too pricey...) and watched Adam's Family Values (one of the best movies ever!!).

In the morning we got up and went to the airport after looking around the open market in Seattle.  We'll be on the plane until tomorrow, so we'll start a new blog for our first night in Beijing when we get to it!

60 miles Sutton - Anchorage

Woke up to freezing rain.  Ugh... it wasn't easy.  We made it to a cafe and went in to warm up.  I thought I was going to lose my hands and feet for a little while!  Chris and I are both getting wet feet and hands.  our gloves and boot-covers don't seem to do the job that they're suppose to.  When we got back on the road we headed towards a Anson Moxness' old high school to meet him there.  He even duct taped the turn we needed to take!  He led us back to his house on some beautiful trails and saw a little moose family along the way.  His parents, Diana and Mike, are totally awesome.  Diana had a vegan pesto dinner waiting for us!!!  We were pleasantly surprised by a box from Reed, filled with cliff bars, and a "don't mess with texas" plastic bag.  and i got a letter from Kim with an anklet and some stickers.

Going to spend the next week here.  We're flying out on the 28th to Seattle and then to Beijing on the 29th.

89 miles Mendeltna - Sutton

Started the day off with a warm fire, hot tea, and "the view" on the tube.  We had the most beautiful tailwind today that got us up our "climb," as we were warned about the previous day by a passing cyclist.  The Eureka summit is the third highest point on any road in Alaska.  Didn't feel like a traditional mountain climb, since we've been climbing for the past several days.  After Eureka Summit we had some of the most incredible downhills ever.  Passed several glaciers.  This is our last night in bear country!!!  At the end of the day it started raining on us a little bit.  Had a weird camping site that resembled something of a junk yard made of sticks and stumps.  Anyway, I think we'll be in Anchorage tomorrow!!

55 miles Gacona - Mendltna

Saw some awesome and huge glaciers today!  Also, we've been hearing a lot of wolves as the sun starts to set.  again we had mostly uphill climbs today.  but at least it's nice to know that they will eventually have to pay off.  The winds got crazy as the sun began to set.  It was cold, but the real trouble was just the blasting wind.  It was coming from the East so it was sidetracking us.  We stopped at a lodge to get some tea and coffee but decided just to spend the night there since it was pretty cheap.  AND we got to watch monsters inc and toy story 2.  It's nice to be out of the tent for a bit now and then.  Maybell, the lady operating the lodge, talked some serious politics with us.  Whoa, Sarah Palin really gets under some people's skin up here!  She has a huge dog.  I don't remember his name, but i'm going to call him Duke.

72 miles Mentasta - Gacona

Rude awakening.  this morning a rest stop attendant spent an hour tidying up the place while listening to a really stupid repetitive techno song for over an hour.  "let this house be progressive!"  Had to pull the rain gear out today, and almost all of our ride felt like an uphill climb.  We stopped for free coffee and some cheap oreos.  Lady at the place told us about a woman who was pulled out of her tent and mauled by a grizzly at night.  what a lovely story... she also had an amusing anecdote about how to identify grizzly bear scat.  We continued to ride, mostly because we felt that a downhill was due, though it didn't come.  But we stopped at this cabin and asked if it would be alright if we set up our tent on the lawn and the lady there invited us to stay in her authentic teepee!  We had a fire and got to sleep on cots.  It was Awesome!!

47 miles Tok - Mentasta

Spent the morning in town and went to "Fast Eddy's."  We got a double order of oatmeal and hashbrowns for the price of 1!  Chris has an "ankle complication" so we're going to try to not push it too hard until it gets better.  Saw a beaver today.  The wind was against us at first, but as predicted the winds have started to shift.  We set up camp at a rest stop so we can go to the bathroom in style in the morning.  oh!  and we haven't been eaten by bears yet!!

80 miles U.S. Border - Tok

It was a long flat day.  Wind is starting to get a little shifty on us, but it wasn't that bad.  We did manage to make it to Tok though.  Maybe get some warm breakfast in the morning.  As for tonight we've just set up our tent behind a rest stop.  I'm betting that the winds will shift in our favor soon.  We've been really, really lucky.  Met some cyclists that told us about their friends that biked the highway this summer.  It rained on 48 out of the 50 days of their journey.  We've definitely been luckier than that!

50 miles Beaver Creek - U.S. Border

There was a creepy guy at the gas station we stopped at.  It had laundry, which we did, and showers, which we took.  well, when I went in to take a shower he came into the bathroom and started asking me if we would stay with him for the night in his apartment.  creepy?  maybe.  or maybe it's just because he lives in Beaver Creek, Yukon and nobody else does.  Wished my brother a happy b-day.  got a little flack from the border patrol people.  Luckily I made it through.  hmph... i am an american so i can't imagine them having giving me too much trouble.  Hoping to make it to Tok tomorrow, which will be our northern most destination in Alaska.

85 miles Burwash Landing - Beaver Creek

Had the poor man's shower this morning (scrubbing in the sink).  When Chris and I stopped for lunch today there were some funny birds that came and perched next to us trying to get a bite.  These birds were really getting into it, and were very brave.  One bit Chris on the finger!  I think we'll get back into Alaska tomorrow.  The trees here look like they've come straight from a dr. seuss book.  we're actually camping at a rest stop some 23 miles south of Beaver Creek.  Went into a cabin along the way with an old couple "old buzzard, and cute little chick."  the sign had been there for some 40 years.  they sure did like to bicker with each other and the prices on the canned and jarred goods were really low so i think they haven't a notion about inflation, which works for us!  It's really hit or miss now.  Peanut butter is one of the most expensive things out here.  I guess it's just a supply and demand thing.  grocery stores are spaced out by around 100 miles or more... and we get desperate after a while.

70 miles Haines Junction - Burwash Landing

Today was absolutely beautiful.  Saw a coyote today, and they get pretty big up here.  We passed a lone cyclist from Japan.  He didn't speak much english at all, but when we rang his bear bells and pulled back to cry out an ominous "bear" he got the idea!!  all he did was go "OOOHHH!"  it was hilarious, but maybe you needed to be there.  I think his name was "Kerring," or at least that's what it sounded like.  We passed Lake Kluane.  It was so clear and peaceful and everything was so blue.  We had to catch a ride for 7 k with a construction worker named Clarrisa.  At Burwash Landing there was a huge taxidermy bear that Chris and I will forever refer to as Eugene Bear.  "I'm telling you, you've got to go with scope surgery.  just look at my bipass scar!" "now seriously guys, the salmon was this big, no kidding!" "hold on now, just hold on a second.  have you seen your brother's retainer."  okay, i think that's enough.  we're camping near a cabin tonight that we can run into if there is a bear.  we've also got a dog camping nearby.  but it sure is getting cold at night!

oh!  and not to forget "no camping.  bear in area."

65 miles Yukon Border - Haines Junction

Woke up to FREEZING RAIN.  rode for about 1/2 hour in frosbite-conditions.  Fortunately the sky cleared up and it turned out to be a beautiful day.  Met a kid from Fairbanks, Toby, who was biking down to Colorado since he graduated high school.  We actually saw our first grizzly bear today!  Fortunately we saw him with a car dividing us and we had a downhill.  The bear was enjoying berries and such anyway, but he did look up at us as we passed by.  Tonight I set up a perimeter around our tent with fallen tree branches.  The color of the leaves has really changed quickly.  Autumn has really creeped up on us.  Or maybe it is the other way around.

81 miles Haines - Yukon Border

What a great day of riding!  In the morning we passed through the Chilkat Valley, which is famous for the thousands of bald eagles that come in the cold winter months to compete for fish.  After passing the border station we had a very long ride ahead of us.  We got to see a bunch of glaciers all day on our way to the summit of Haines Pass (3,500 feet).  Oh, and my pepper spray was confiscated by border patrol.  It was freezing up at the top, but we were really, really lucky, and have been for a while to have the wind on our side.  When we stopped for dinner the wind and cold were really biting at us.  Getting jumpy about bears.  I heard an RV today and thought the motor was the growl of a bear.  As I recall, Chris and I both thought the same thing and were freaked out for a moment.  Earlier in the day we met 3 hitch hikers from Australia, England, and Scotland.  "Representing the Commonwealth."  We had to camp at a really high altitude since the road sort of plateaued after the summit.

5 miles Haines

Spent the whole day in town getting ready for our ride to Anchorage.  We both sent out some postcards and made some phone calls.  Right next to the library was a market with some yummy organic foods.  Haines is a really beautiful little town.  As we rode into it this morning we came around a corner and the grey clouds opened up letting the light come down on the little homes that were cradled by snow-capped mountains.  Didn't have any choice getting out of town, there's only one road.  We set up tent next to the river and started a fire.  We know that we're not suppose to camp by rivers but there was no other place tonight.  Very late in the night I heard some noises outside of the tent.  At first it was the sound of something moving through the brush, then it was a splashing in the water.  Then it was the blood-curdling roar of a grizzly!  I woke up Chris and he said that he heard it too but thought he had dreamt it.  We stayed awake for a little while, listening, and the roar came again.  I was up all night, with a bike wrench and bear spray, and chris succeeded in getting back to sleep. 

Juneau- Haines (ferry)

When the ferry pulled into Juneau Chris and I rode to the capital.  Not extremely impressive.  Downtown Juneau was nice, but for a day of not touring we put quite a few miles on.  The capital building was 15 miles from port, so a 30 mile round trip.  Oh, and it rained on us the whole time!  Got to Haines at night and set up camp about a mile from port, right on the side of the road next to a camper.  I'm not sleeping well because i've got the "bear terrors."  I think Chris is doing a better job than me.

Prince Rupert - Juneau (ferry)

Nothing much.  Back on the ferry.  We played monopoly with a couple on their way to work and live in Anchorage.  Going to Sleep on the ferry tonight under the stars!  We'll make it the rest of the way to Juneau by the morning.  Just a few more humpback whales today.

Port Hardy - Prince Rupert (ferry)

We got on the boat, so that means that we didn't oversleep.  saw harbor porpoises on the way out.  I saw a humpback whale from the port-side of the ship, ran to get chris, but by the time we got back the whale was gone.  luckily we saw 8 other humpbacks and all of them breached repeatedly.  Got to Prince Rupert pretty late at night.  Set up the tent at a fork in the road.  After about half an hour in the tent I heard some pitter patter on the pavement and thought it was maybe some deers.  When I opened the tent flap I saw a big black wolf and the rest of his pack!!  We waited a few minutes in the tent, then I ran out to the bikes to get our pepper spray and a bike wrench.  When I got back chris was breaking the cardinal rule of sleeping in the wilderness.  He was eating in the tent!  It was just a Cliff Bar, but still... I mean we just had a pack of wolves outside of our tent.  Anyway, we both lived to die another day.  Hopefully no problems getting on the ferry again seeing that I have no passport.

30 miles Port McNeil - Port Hardy

Just a short ride today.  When we woke up in the morning Chris hitched a ride back to Woss to get our missing tent stakes which he retrieved successfully!  When we got to Port Hardy did laundry again since a lot of our clothes were wet and we didn't want them to mold.  Met an American-Canadian draft dodger from Vietnam who was registering to vote for the first time in his life for our election.  So far it seems that lots of the people we encounter on our way are very excited about this election.  Oh!  And I saw a bear today!  He was a black bear, really close to the edge of the road, but was much more concerned with eating grass and berries than bothering with cyclists.  Set up camp right next to the ferry.  Already got our tickets so we just have to wake up in time!