Totem Poles and Prince of Wales Island

Today, I rode a few more miles away from Ketchikan to Totem Bight, a fantastic collection of totem poles in the forest by the ocean.





There was a longhouse, also.


I headed back to Ketchikan and caught the three hour ferry to Prince of Wales Island. One of the many Sitka deer stopped to gawk at my bike.


I tried my hand at some fly fishing and successfully hooked several alder bushes, along with my trophy catch of a cedar branch. I did get my casting down, sort of.


Sam, my bike was having trouble shifting so I did a bit of roadside adjustment. While I was fiddling, Stan, a Tsimshian elder came by to help. Later in the town of Klawock, I ran into Annette, his daughter. She lives right next to the ferry terminal so I asked her if I could camp in her yard the night before I had to catch the 8 AM ferry. She said sure, her house is the one with mailbox.

I stayed at a nice RV park that night and rode to Craig, the biggest town on the island in the morning. The ride was really pretty.


The downtown of Craig was cute.


More views on the ride.


I headed back toward the ferry keeping an eye out for the mailbox. I really felt good on the bike and seem to have found my biking legs. I easily rode up all the hills and even stopped to check if I had a tailwind helping me but it was completely calm. Sweet!

As I approached Hollis, at the ferry terminal, I got a bit nervous about finding Annette's mailbox. I shouldn't have worried.


She has a fantastic place right on the bay.


Here is her view.


She does a lot of fishing and stuffed me full of the most amazing smoked, canned, and barbequed salmon ever.



We drove over to meet her sister Alice, and her dad, Stan, who, it turns out, is a master carver, showed me an old Haida pictograph he has in his yard. As I followed the old gentleman through the soggy forest at twilight, I thought, it's for moments like this that I travel.
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Location:Prince of Wales Island

Ketchikan

The ferry to Ketchikan took about two days. It rained most of the second day and was kinda chilly though I slept very well on my deck chair.

I met Greg, an Alaskan who traveled a bunch with his bike when he was in the Navy. He really recommended riding Japan, something I've thought about for years.


This is the approach into Ketchikan. There were a bunch of float planes taking off as we were coming in.


The cruise ships are immense! I'd rather take the ferry.


Ketchikan has three main parts. There is the new town with a small mall and other businesses. There is the part that caters to the cruise ships, three of which can dock on the waterfront at a time. This brings around 10,000 tourists to town, many of whom, judging from the number of jewelry stores, have lots of money.

The really interesting part of town is the old red light district called Creek Street. It's built mostly on pilings along a creek. The old brothels are now gift shops.


I rode the funicular up to a nice restaurant at the top of a hill.


I went to an interesting museum where they keep old totem poles that they collected from old abandoned native villages.


I rode about ten miles out of town to an absolutely gorgeous campground by a pretty lake.


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Location:Ketchikan

Rearranging the deck chairs...

I got into Bellingham At around 9 pm and rode south a bit to a nice campground. I had a pretty good night in my new, slightly larger tent. I have a new Thermarest that I think I'll really like.
This morning, I packed up and was on the road in 30 minutes. I rode back to town and traded in my broken bike shoes for a new pair. I can't believe how easily this rather major problem was solved! I love the Internet and my iPhone. I was able to search for a bike shop that carries Specialized brand gear in Bellingham, get their number, call them to have them set aside shoes in my size, and find them on a map.



The mechanic also tweaked the shifting on my bike twice for free. What a great shop!
I hung out by the harbor all day and met these guys. They plan on spending a month canoeing around Ketchikan. See, I'm not as crazy as some other people!!



Here is the ferry.



I wonder If this is Mitt Romney, with his Michigan plates and a dog strapped to the roof of the car.



For all you dog lovers, no it wasn't Mitt since the car was too small and the kennel was for the dog once they got on the ferry. Plus, the dog rode in the car. Definitely not Mitt.
The ferry has a car elevator. I've never seen one on a ferry before.


I'll spend two nights on this boat and then will hang out in Ketchikan. Here is home for the trip.



I figured it was more comfortable than sitting in a tent.



It'll be nice to relax and read on my comfy deck chair on the solarium.
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Location:Alaska ferry

On the road again..

I'm finally on my way for another summer adventure. I'm currently on the train, heading for Bellingham. The bike has a posh spot. No box, no suitcase, just hand it up to the baggage car. This is how traveling should be!


No matter how often I do this, getting all my gear organized is always a bit daunting. I have a very detailed list that I check over and over again as I pack. Alaska and the Yukon are remote enough that any problem with my equipment turns into a major hassle. I try to keep my gear choices as simple as possible to minimize the number of things that can break. For example, I use an alcohol stove that has no moving parts at all. Flint and steel doesn't break, never runs out of fuel, and works when wet.

But stuff does break. As I was rolling my bike on the MAX about five miles from my house, I felt one of my brand new bike shoes go loose all of a sudden. The plastic ratchet strap broke off.


I called the manufacturer and was told that they have a lifetime warranty. I lucked out and found a bike dealer in Bellingham who has my size in stock. The ferry doesn't leave until 6:00 PM so I'll have plenty of time to get this taken care of. I was a little taken aback when I talked to customer service. They told me that these shoes weren't really designed for walking. Huh?

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Location:On the Cascades Train

Labrador black flies and Basques

From Port au Choix, I rode north to St. Barbe to catch the ferry to Labrador. I had a fantastically strong tail wind and averaged over 15 mph for the day, impressive for a loaded touring bike. On some sections, I hardly pedaled as the wind pushed me along at over 20 mph.

The coastline was gorgeous and there was hardly any traffic. Life on the road doesn't get any better than this!








There was quite a back up at the ferry port since the two morning ferries didn't run because of the high wind. Being on a bike, I got a spot on the first boat out for the hour and a half trip.


It was quite a rough crossing and I felt a bit queasy but didn't get sick.

Labrador was the last major part of Canada I had left to ride so now I've biked in every Canadian province and territory except Nunavut since it doesn't have roads leading to it.


As I was riding along, I met this fellow out picking bakeapples.


Bakeapples also known as cloud berries are wild berries that grow in Newfoundland and Labrador.


They make jam out of them or put them in muffins. They're quite tasty. They are called bakeapples from the bastardization of the French question: baië q'apelle?, meaning what is this berry called.

Other wild berries are partridgeberries, crowberries, and wild blueberries. In most B and Bs, breakfast includes a nice selection of homemade jams. My favorite is partridgeberry which tastes a lot like cranberries.

I stayed in a motel near the harbor because the black flies were fierce and camping in that is absolutely horrifying. Thank goodness, we don't have black flies in the Pacific Northwest. They are much smaller than mosquitoes but bigger than midges. They come in swarms and have a vicious bite that turns into a nasty, itchy welt. They bite along my hairline, in my hair part, on my wrists, behind my ears, and under the helmet straps. Mosquito bites are a joy-filled pleasure compared to these beasties.

The next day I rode the 50 miles to Red Bay which used to be a whaling outpost for Basques in the 16th century.

I stopped by L'anse Amour along the way where a Paleo-Indian burial site dating from 5000 BC was found.


There was a neat road leading to a lighthouse on the point.





This section of road has been one I've wanted to ride for about 15 years so it was nice to translate a line on a map to reality. It was tough riding but quite lovely.





They've found several sunken Basque galleons from the 16th century in the harbor at Red Bay along with lots of other artifacts including a cemetery and the remains of try works where whale blubber was rendered into oil.

This was a boat that was used to hunt and harpoon whales.


This is a board from a galleon. It has a ship etched into it near the top of the board.


A model of a galleon based on one of the excavated wrecks.


The anchor and capstan.


A model of the try works.


A pot.


Clothing based on those found on skeletons in the cemetery.


The town from above the bay.


After spending time in the museum it was time to head back to the ferry. To save time, I decided to try to hitch a ride. The first truck that came along stopped and gave me and the bike a ride. This is Rick, an electrician who works in Labrador City and was heading back to Newfoundland for a few weeks of vacation.


I caught the three thirty ferry across to Newfoundland and continued riding north.

Location:Labrador

Moose in a bottle and other adventures

I took a huge ferry to get Newfoundland.


I've been on lots of boats but never one with a helicopter pad.


We arrived in Port aux Basques in a heavy fog.


Parking the ferry was amazing. The engines pushed the ship sideways up to the dock! I've never seen anything like it.


It's official! I'm in Newfoundland.


I camped in a lovely campground near this beach.


I was invited to dinner by my neighbors and was introduced to some traditional foods including salt meat and bakeapples (more on that later). As I had been warned, Newfoundlanders have a strange accent so I had a tough time understanding my hosts. They were offering me all sorts of goodies but it took a few tries for me to understand the offer of 'moose in a bottle' since she pronounced 'bottle' as 'baa-a'. It was a rather large bottle so I politely declined being uncertain as what to do with it.

I really lucked out because the wind shifted to the southwest giving me a nice push past the windiest spot on the island, Wreckhouse.


When big storms come in, the wind is strong enough to tip over big semis and even the train that used to run up the island.

This museum display is all that's left of the train line on Newfoundland. Instead of a smooth rails to trails like in PEI, the old line is pretty torn up by ATVs.


On the top of a hill in Corner Brook is a marker describing Captain Cook's exploration of Newfoundland. He did a great job mapping the coastline.



I camped near Corner Brook. I have no idea what serviced laundry and unserviced showers mean.


I was in a bit of a grouchy mood. Navigating around Corner Brook had been annoying, the girl at the information center said the Captain Cook memorial was a must see so I crawled up the ridiculously steep hill for what was a rather disappointing spot, and I was just tired. So, at the campground I asked for a nice quiet site. They said they had a good one for me so off I went to set up camp.


Well, one neighbor had a huge snarling, barking pitbull from hell. He then started blasting obscenity laced rap. Then the neighbor on the other side came back and turned on country western really loud. So, my quiet campsite went something like this (extreme liberties taken with lyrics): mf ho, ya mf mf.... Bark, bark, snarl, bark.... My girlfriend just left me, woe is me... Snarl, bark... My dog died, life is so sad... Snarl, snarl... Waaaaaaaa (a kid on a bike screaming because the dog scared him).

Ahh, camping can be so restful!

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Newfoundland