where is deryk?

My first glimpse of the Rockies on my way west out of Edmonton.

Crossing into British Columbia.

I saw plenty of wildlife along the highway though Jasper National Park.

We found this great free unorganized camp site just off highway 99.

Our camp site was right next to this river.

When in BC, drink as the local drink. That's Kokanee.

Sitting around the campfire.

We had this visitor in our camp site when we stopped in Quesnel, BC.

Here we are stopped before heading north up the beautiful Stewart-Cassiar highway.

The highway to Stewart features glaciers and snow topped mountains. It was a wonderful ride.

Riding along the Stewart-Cassiar highway.

Riding north of the 60th parallel into the Yukon Territory.

Christoph and I are at the University in Fairbanks for the night. Tomorrow we are heading up the Haul Road to Prudhoe Bay. We’ve made it an early evening to get ready for the big ride so I finally have a chance to update on the trip.

When I last left off I was in Edmonton awaiting a new rear wheel. I did some research and the rear bearing is an issue with quite a few other F800GS riders. It sounds like it may be an issue with over-torquing the rear axle. I’ve been checking my bearings and they are holding up fine.

I left Edmonton in a hurry trying to make up for lost time. Christoph had his holidays booked from the 3rd of July so I wanted to get there right when they started. After a few hundred kms on the road, I caught my first glimse of the mountains in the distance.

Even though I was in a rush, I forced myself to stop and get a shot at the BC border. There is plenty of wildlife to be seen when riding though Jasper park. I saw mountian goats, caribou, and deer.

I rode until 10pm that afternoon and stopped in Kamloops for the night. I hung out with a fellow Ontarian working for a cable company in BC. They fly him in to work for a few weeks and then he gets a few off. Since the company gives him so much money a day for food, he had ordered a feast and shared it with me. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture with him, but it was a great evening.

The next morning I rode in to Vancouver and met up with my friend Christoph. He is living in BC but is from Ontario. I got a new set of Anakees installed and we set off right away. His room mate Mike joined us for the first day of riding.

We headed up highway 99 (the Sea to Sky) through Whistler. BC has plenty of free unorganaized camping off the highway. When night started o fall we pulled over to find one of the nicest camping spots I have ever seen. It had loads of trees to set up under. We were right beside a river and there was a nice fire pit with log benches.

After a great night under the stars Mike headed back to Vancouver and we kept going north. Somewhere around Prince George we met up with a rider from Wisconsin. He was on a VStrom 650 headed to Prudhoe Bay via the Cassiar Highway just like us. After chatting for a while we realised we all got along well and he joined us.

There is plenty of amazing scenery along the Cassiar highway. It’s mostly paved these days, so it’s not as peaceful as it once was, but it is still a great ride. The ride in to Stewart from the Cassiar was especially scenic with glaciers beside the road. We saw a black bear on the way in. It always reminds me to slow down a bit. Especially when the trees are cut so close to the road.

After camping for a night 100m from the highway, we continued on to the 60th parallel into the Yukon Territory. The sun was out in full force and pictures weren’t turning out, but it’s hard to complain about such great weather.

The Yukon is a great place to travel. People are friendly, camping and fishing are dirt cheap, and everything we saw was well maintained. A camp site was $15 with free firewood. Certainly the best deal we’ve had so far.

In Whitehorse Christoph and I met up with a school friend who is working there. In the Yukon (or at least at the bar we went to) a shot is 1.5oz. Matt and I had a great meal at the Mexican restuarant and packed it in to prepare for Alaska.

This is where my pictures end for now. I have pictures of our week in Alaska so far, but when I went to transfer them to my netbook there was an error and I didn’t realise. The memory card with those pictures on them is with Jen who is flying back to Timmins tomorrow. I’ll try to see if I can get the pictures from her in an email or something and continue with updates.

At the border crossing into Sakatchewan.

Making my way into Alberta.

This is what classifies as a secondary highway in Alberta.

Watching chariot races at the Ponoka Stampede.

It rained and hailed during the rodeo and this was the result.

The bearing went on my rear tire. I had to call road side assistance.

After my stay in Riding Mountain I headed towards Saskatchewan. When I set out I intended on riding to Saskatoon and stopping there for the night. It rained all morning but in the afternoon the sun came out and it warmed up to 29 degrees. I decided it was too nice to stop and I ended up riding all the way to Ponoka where fellow GPSAT member CMMahy lives. I spent 16 hours on the road and it was wonderful. I took a lot of breaks and covered 1060km.

A few hours into the ride I hit Saksatchewan. I was so into riding mode that I didn’tstop (except for gas) until I hit the Alberta border. When I was at the Alberta border, the ground was soft and sloped. I came very close to dropping the bike while setting up for a shot. I had to take all the luggage off the bike to keep it upright.

Alberta classifies gravel roads in the farmlands as secondary highways, so my GPS kept mapping routes down them. I didn’t mind, it was nice to hit some gravel for a change. The sun was setting and there was great light. I thought it would be worth while to hop off the bike and setup for a shot. There was nobody in sight for miles.

At about 10pm Alberta time I finally pulled in to Carl’s house. We chatted for a few hours then packed it in for the night. The next day we did an oil change on my bike and visited the Red Deer Harley dealership. I’ll stick with what I have.

This week is the annual Ponoka Rodeo. During the rodeo the town grows to 400% it’s normal population. It was quite the thing to see. As we got to the stampede grounds a lady asked us if we wanted her extra tickets for free. Good timing! The events were pretty wild. A lot of Albertans take their rodeo very seriously. It rained and hailed during the event which led to the amazing rainbow in the picture on the right.

I left Ponoka this morning to head to Jasper. My ride was going great until a bearing in my rear wheel disintegrated. Luckily my bike came with one year of BMW road side service. After about an hour a tow truck arrived and brought me to the dealership in Edmonton.

I’m currently waiting for a new bearing and some sealing rings. Because tomorrow is Canada Day the shop won’t get the parts in time to do the job when they get back to work on Friday. The service manager said he would call BMW and ask them if he could take the parts off a bike on the showroom floor to get me back on the road Friday. If not, I’m in Edmonton until Monday.

I’m staying with a university friend. The plus side to this is that instead of spending Canada Day alone in my tent, I’ll be out with him and his friends.

Have a good Canada Day everyone!

Crossing the border into Manitoba.

Stopping to put on the rain gear.

A Deer on the way into Rising Mountain National Park.

For some reason my update was lost. Anyhow, I rode from Dryden to Riding Mountain on Day 3. It rained a bit but was otherwise a nice day. I took the east gate entrance into the park which was an amazing gravel road that wound up through the mountain. The shot of the deer was captured on that road.

A burnt forest that I crossed on the way to Wawa.

An interesting hill on the way into Wawa.

Once I hit Wawa the terrain became more interesting.

Crossing into Central Time.

I’ve just stopped after my second day on the road. I was up bright and early (around 7) and set out almost right away. Last night I stayed at White River Provincial Park and tonight I’m at some place outside Dryden.

I covered about 500km the first day and 800km today. The riding has been great. It’s been cool in the morning but beautiful in the afternoon. All my camping gear is working well and it surprisingly all fits in the panniers.

Today I crossed into Central Time. It finally feels like I’m getting somewhere. Ontario is too large. I’ll be in Manitoba some time tomorrow morning, though. I can’t wait to get to Alberta to visit Carl and Jen. Unless someone made the trip that I don’t know about, I’ll be proud to say I’m the first non-family member to make the trek to their house.

Supper beckons. More pictures to come as I take them!

See you all in August. Check this site for pictures. I’ll be posting updates as I find free WiFi.