No sleep til Brookland! (technically Edgewood)
Thanks to everyone for all of your encouragement! Now it’s laundry time. And time to get used to having more than one outfit! We’ll probably send out an update once our pics and videos are finalized… but no more trip updates for now!
Trip totals:
3,842 miles driven
2,727 miles pedaled
One amazing adventure!
The road trip continues!
We’re spending the night in Petoskey, Michigan. We should be home Friday!
We had a complicated plan to camp in Badlands National Park with multiple contingencies if the campground was full but it all went out the window once we stepped out of the car and realized it was over 100 degrees here and the area in which we had hoped to set up our tent was closed due to a wildfire started by lightning the prior day. So we found an air conditioned motel in Wall instead! A no-frills Econo Lodge still feels ultra-luxe to us. (Indoor plumbing! Fresh towels! Hot water!)
We’ve crossed into the central time zone and are steadily moving east!
We spent a few days in Custer State Park in South Dakota. It was an awesome combination of wildlife viewing and striking rock formations.
Next up: Badlands National Park!
We’re headed back east!
We spent a lot of time bikepacking and backpacking in Montana on prior trips so we raced east to explore South Dakota! We’ll spend a few days in Custer State Park and then (after possibly soaking in another hot springs!) heading to Badlands National Park!
Road trip so far:
1,224 miles driven
Zero second breakfasts (so far)
We made it to Seattle! We’re off the bikes!
We had a great trip on the Alaska ferry!
We had a great ride on the two Washington state ferries we took to get here!
Monday we’ll rent a car and start driving back home. Pass along any ideas for places we should stop along the way, just try not to get offended if we don’t follow your advice 😀
Final numbers!
2,727 miles pedaled
114,625 feet climbed
Final verdict: an amazing bike adventure!
We are set to sail from Haines to Bellingham aboard the MV Kennicott. The trip will take three days. No wifi or cell signal, so you won’t hear much from us until we’re ashore on Friday!
They let us back in!
But first, everyone will be relieved to know that Mr. Shaggytop got a haircut! Now he’ll almost fit in when we’re in polite society.
We’ve had a very strong headwind the past few days so it’s been tough riding. But it’s been beautiful and encouraged us to take lots of breaks.
There was a landslide on the road into Skagway a few weeks ago and the road is still a mess. Everyone needs to wait for a pilot vehicle to lead them through the work zone. We rode behind our own private pilot truck that guided us past all the heavy machinery!
We’re feeling a bit conflicted because it’s good to be off the bikes after a few hard days of riding against the wind, but we’re also sad because we’re almost done with the biking portion of our trip. Tomorrow we’ll take a ferry to Haines, Alaska. Then on Tuesday we’ll take the US Bicycle Route from Alaska to Bellingham in Washington State. Except that bicycle route is actually a boat! The ferry will take three days and then we’ll bike from Bellingham to Seattle. Then we’ll probably drive home from Seattle.
Which means we probably only have two days of biking left. Hard to believe.
Updated totals:
2,607 miles pedaled
110,005 feet climbed
We stopped at the Braeburn Lodge for an amazing meal Monday. Everything was suitably sized for bikepackers: Giselle had a 4x sized cheeseburger and Bill had a 4-fried egg sandwich. And we followed it up with a humongous cinnamon roll!
We spent Monday night at Fox Lake, which was beautiful! We were very proud of our secluded tent-only spot next to a little stream.
And finally, we spent many hours Tuesday afternoon/evening lazing around at the Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs just north of Whitehorse!
Giselle has been waiting (im)patiently all summer to get to the hot springs and we finally made it!! The naturally heated pools were up to 111 degrees, and there was a cool plunge (44 degrees) that only one of us braved and he was only in for about 2 seconds.
Now we’re doing laundry in Whitehorse, Yukon. It’s the biggest city we’ve been in since Anchorage! Tomorrow we’ll take a rest day before crossing back into the US on our way to Skagway!
Updated totals:
2,493 miles pedaled
104,022 feet climbed
Replacement pants purchased: one pair (Giselle thought two holes in the butt of her pants were enough)
One of the best ways to wake up: “Uh, Giselle, I think I’m looking at northern lights…”
We have really been missing seeing the night sky, but now that we’re far enough south and it’s getting later in the season, it actually gets dark! And while we had hoped to see northern lights, we didn’t want to be too sad if it stayed cloudy. Clambering out of the tent to pee is more exciting when there’s a chance you’ll see this:
These pics were from last night’s informal campsite on the side of the road just south of Pelly Crossing, Yukon. Now we’re in Carmacks, Yukon. Eating in a restaurant next to a grocery store! Luxury!
One more pic because why not?
Updated totals:
2,369 miles pedaled
100,998 feet climbed
Foxes seen today: 2