“It is hard to describe just how wild this wilderness is,” said retired teacher Kathy Whiting of sleeping in a tiny wooden shack in the heart of bear country, in the remote Canadian wilderness.” I now look back on this as an absolutely magical time – so quiet, so vast, so alone.”
While some retirees plump for a slower pace of life and perhaps a gentle cruise around the Caribbean, Kathy and partner John Caton from Cambridge embarked on a challenging six weeks’ cycling adventure, travelling from Canada to Alaska and back – pedalling through bear country and sleeping in remote locations.
After spending a month planning their trip of a lifetime, they boxed up their bikes and boarded a flight at London Heathrow, flying to Vancouver, Canada. They then travelled over 2,000 miles – 400 of those in the saddle – with bear spray on their handlebars and carrying everything they needed for their marathon adventure, including clothes, tent, stove, food and water.
Having ignited their passion for cycling 36 years ago, they’ve collected many stamps in their passport, with other overseas trips including cycling from London to Paris, along the Loire valley in France, around the Netherlands, the Canal de Midi and Pyrenees in southern France and along the entire coast of Portugal – their longest trip to date being eight weeks, cycling from Cambridge to Switzerland.
It was a friend who told them that the greatest cycling route he’d ever done was in Gold Rush country – the descent from the Golden Circle, in the Yukon and Alaska, in the USA. Mac, a friend of someone they met on another cycling trip, offered them a bed en route – and they decided to take him up on that offer.
Travelling mindfully and savouring the experience of meeting new people, and the freedom that cycle touring provides, the couple encountered bears, eagles, moose, bison, whales, wild horses, ptarmigan, dolphins, porpoises and wolves on their wilderness travels. They managed to dodge coyotes and cougars, which also inhabit the regions they passed through.
It’s no surprise that Kathy, a former teacher, admits to having felt scared at times! Here’s Kathy and John’s marathon Canadian/Alaskan travel diary:
27th May: Heathrow to Vancouver, Canada
Here we go! Flying to Vancouver tomorrow. We’re off to Canada and Alaska, hoping to cycle up into The Yukon.
3rd June: Vancouver to Bellingham, Alaska, USA
We’ve spent the last few days sleeping, eating, buying equipment and doing some fun, touristy things. Tomorrow we’ll cycle south towards the US border, on our way to Bellingham, where we will stay with Mac, ready to get the ferry which will take us 800 miles north, up the Inner Passage towards Haines, Alaska, and the Mighty Yukon.
Everything in Vancouver is big! Big roads. Big buildings. Big trucks. The mountains behind Vancouver come in and out of view as the weather changes. They really are a splendid backdrop to the built up, high rise city.
We were told we must cycle round Stanley Park Seawall – at 9km, apparently it is the longest uninterrupted waterfront path in the world. It was terrific. Everyone has to cycle anti-clockwise, which is just as well as it was very busy. Not one person went the wrong way!
We learned about the Squamish people who lived in this area for thousands of years. They were forced to abandon their homes so the city of Vancouver could expand.
Every time I see a view like this (above) it takes my breath away. We had just come out from the Sky Train and saw that view straight ahead of us. The snow on the mountain tops was clearly visible today. The air feels crisp and clear.
Leaving Vancouver, we were feeling ready to get on the road. After a bit of heavy traffic and big highways, it was great to finally cycle along some calm, greenways.
We cycled south towards the US border, staying a night in Douglas. After crossing the border, we met up with Mac and cycled together down the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route. Two fantastic (and completely contrasting) days of cycling.
We cycled up this cycle path (above), pedalling like crazy to get up the hill (in fact I pushed for the last bit) and when we looked back we were totally wowed by this view.
At last! A signpost for America. It was rather exciting to be cycling south towards the US border.
This is the actual International Border (below). It is situated in a beautiful park (The Peace Park) overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is a sort of ‘no man’s land’, between the two huge official border controls. We were wandering around enjoying the views, when we were approached by an armed guard who said the park was closing and we should leave!
Border successfully crossed. Mugshots and fingerprints taken. Time for a celebratory coffee! We met up with Mac and set off on a stunning ride south along the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route which I believe goes from Vancouver all the way down to Mexico. The ride south had a surreal quality to it, following the coast and stopping for breaks on various beaches.
4th June: Bellingham to Haines, Alaska
Yesterday we completed the 800-mile ferry journey up the Inner Passage to get to Alaska (three nights, four days). We travelled via the incredible Alaska Marine Highway which connects very remote communities. In equal parts it was surreal, magical and other-worldly, gliding peacefully north. We are now in Haines, Alaska, ready to start cycling tomorrow.
Upon boarding, we had been told it was important to dash up to the solarium, where we would be sleeping, in order to get a good spot. So, I left john to tie up the bikes on the car deck and ran up to the top. We got an excellent front row position on the deck to set up our beds. We had considered pitching our tent, but it just looked too implausible (they were being secured with gaffer tape!)
It is hard to explain how mesmerising it was, just to lie on your bed, tucked up in your sleeping bag, and watch the sea and sky just drifting by, always moving steadily north.The colours and light are always changing. The water is just beautiful and so calm. The Inner Passage is very protected, so it is a very peaceful journey.
We watched the sunset over the tents. As the days went on, most of these tents came down, but there was one man who stuck it out the whole trip. One night it got very flappy out there!
The camaraderie on the solarium deck was great. So friendly. One evening we discovered the ferry had a cocktail lounge (everything on the boat has a delightfully 1970s vibe).
Bedding down for the night. The heaters that were on ALL the time. It was ridiculously hot in there sometimes. My favourite view was the end of my sleeping bag. I was just lying there watching the moon over the water.
Some of the small settlements we docked in had a very Norwegian feel to them and the town of Petersburg was founded by Norwegian immigrant Peter Buschmann in the late 1890s, who built a cannery, sawmill and dock.
Such stunning scenery as we entered the final part of the journey, getting close to Haines. We saw four glaciers and watched bald eagles and spotted whales too.
This journey has been so special – much more than we ever dreamed it could be. This is John packing up our little area.
It was pretty tricky getting the bikes off the ferry as we were completely blocked in by huge RVs. In the end, the staff (who were so helpful) lifted out our bikes (unfortunately kicking over the poop trays that had been left out as this is also the pet deck, where people came down to walk their cats and dogs).
We are now back on dry land. Haines just has one main street and a handful of shops. It really does feel like a frontier town. We set off on our bikes towards the tiny town of Haines, looking for our Warm Showers hosts. En route, we got out our bear spray and attached it to our handle bars!
Arriving at our Warm Showers hosts’ house, were met by Gina and her grandson William. Gina’s partner, Dan, is a carpenter and he built this place. It is gorgeous. While we were eating our tea, John noticed a hummingbird on the bird feeder, feeding on sugar water.
Warm Showers is an excellent organisation…a free bed, a shower, a meal and great chat. We also host people when we are back home in Cambridge.
John has been wanting to try the local breakfast ever since we got here. He finally got to sample biscuits and gravy at the delightful Rusty Compass Coffee House. Biscuits and gravy is actually sausage, cream, butter and scone. It’s very rich and very tasty!
I loved it in the cafe, especially the music. They were playing Country Roads by John Denver, Copperhead Road by Steve Earle and something by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
The Hammer Museum was a most unusual and unexpected delight! John was fascinated by this place. For $7, we were given a personal tour of the host’s favourite hammers and told us his favourite hammer stories!
11th June: Haines to Million Dollar Falls
We are having such an incredible time, meeting wonderful people, enjoying jaw-dropping scenery and so far spotting one moose, one porcupine, one grizzly bear and lots of ptarmigan.
When I retired, I said I wanted new experiences, well this trip is certainly providing loads of those! I have most definitely been well outside of my comfort zone many times in the last week.
We left beautiful, sunny Haines and set off up the Haines Highway, only to run into road works which we weren’t allowed to cycle through. I thoroughly enjoyed getting a lift in a truck.
The scenery and weather were just stunning on our first day. This trip has required more planning than any other we have undertaken. Many, many times John and I looked at the proposed route, trying to work out places we could stay. We looked at a delightfully named place, 33 Roadhouse, at Mile 33, so many times, so it was great to actually stop there for a coffee.
More breath-taking views, on our way to Mile 38 and our second Warm Showers host. We were blown away by the sheer beauty of Mardell and Diz’s house, which they built. Funnily, when we first heard about this route, The Golden Triangle, we looked for videos on YouTube and found one of Mardell cycling this herself. So it was great to meet her in person. We felt so lucky.
The weather had just begun to turn as we left Mardell and Diz. Shortly after this, we crossed back into Canada. The border guards were so friendly but did warn us that there was a grizzly bear up ahead, sighted in the ditch. They called her Jolene. We tried to make a lot of noise on this stretch (singing Jolene loudly), feeling nervous. Bear spray was always attached to our handle bars.
We had been told about the famous 11-mile uphill ride to get to the pass. My goodness me, it was the longest uphill ride I’ve ever done, but I was so pleased with myself as it wasn’t as hard as I’d anticipated. Plus, no bears sighted.
Just before this section, a very large moose wandered onto the road in front of us. We sounded our air horn and waited for it to leave. It looked at us, we looked at it and finally it moved off. Crumbs, they are big in real life!
Finally got to the pass and to Haines Highway Summit 1070m. Still no bears.
We were so, so happy to reach The Green Shack (above), our home for the night. Gina and Dan had told us it was a free cabin, anyone could use. We were cold and tired when we arrived, and overjoyed to see not only a wood stove, but loads of wood.
The Green Shack is tiny, with room enough for two. It was so warm and gave us a bunk for the night. We could hear the ptarmigan making their eerie calls to each other and suddenly fluttering out of the bushes. The night never really came. It felt like the land of the midnight sun.
To get water we had to go to the creek, fill our bottles and then use water purification tablets and our filter. I was very nervous the whole time we were there, clutching my bear spray every time we went out, but we didn’t see any bears (thankfully).
And at last, a bear! Just as we left The Green Shack, we saw a car pulled over, looking at something. The driver waved to us and said there was a grizzly bear in the ditch, digging about in the gravel. It must have been Jolene and only a kilometre or so, from our shack. She was very calm and peaceful and not at all interested in us. We kept our distance and then moved off. I was relieved to have finally seen one.
We stopped at another shack, but just to get out our stove and brew a coffee (and finish the rhubarb cake Mardell had given us).The ride up into the Mighty Yukon is breath-taking.
We arrived at Million Dollar Falls campground and enjoyed the walk out to the falls. It was very impressive and so loud, with so much water. The Canadian camp sites are amazing, with so much space. You also get free fire wood.
After so much rain we were thrilled to arrive at Haines Junction and book into a delightfully downbeat motel. As the smoke cleared we realised we could see the mountains again.
15th June: Haines Junction to Whitehorse
Here is the next part of our Yukon cycle trip. We have been out here for almost a month. It continues to be an incredible cycle tour.
The Alaskan Highway is much busier than the previous road we were on. Some of those trucks and massive motor homes made a lot of noise as they thunder by. Luckily, this part was a cycle path, but mostly we’ve been on a very wide hard shoulder.
There are so few shops out here, you have to carry enough food to last for days. One night, all the had was tomato soup and peanuts. We also discovered that some campgrounds had no taps and no creek. Luckily, a fellow swimmer gave us a massive bottle of water from his truck.
When you are in a tent you are aware of how light it is all night. With the evening sunshine, you can sit out on the pontoon on the lake. The sun didn’t set at all as we were so close to the solstice.
The lake at Pine Lake campground was delightful to have a swim, with such a gorgeous view. Every time we stopped for a snack break, we were wowed by the views all over again.
We’d been told we might see bison grazing right next to the highway, so were thrilled to see three males so close to the road. There are wild flowers everywhere. I think that once the summer starts in the Yukon, everything blooms with great enthusiasm, speed and colour.
After a tremendous 60km ride, we turned off the Alaskan Highway, in search of a campground called Long Ago People’s Site, in the Champagne and Aishihik area. At last, we found our campsite for the night and what a treat, a magical experience it turned out to be.
Meta, the camp ground owner, welcomed us so beautifully. We were the only people staying, so she and her two dogs showed us around. She spent hours with us, telling us about her life and the stories of her ancestors. She runs her First Nation site as an educational and cultural centre and has taught/inspired many school children, politicians, business people and environmentalists. We felt so honoured to spend so much time listening to her. A very wise woman indeed.
The view from our tent across the camp ground (above). Notice antlers on the building. Our host, covered bear poo with sticks so we didn’t stand on it, partly because she said she wishes to be respectful to the bears and partly so it stays there so they can show it to the school children when they next visit. She explained that in her culture they revere the bears, and call them ‘grandfather’.
We knew there were wild horses on this section on the Highway and were really chuffed that they chose to cross as we were cycling by.
We experienced all temperatures on our Alaskan adventure. We had 80km to ride, so I was very, very pleased to finally make it to Whitehorse, where we’d booked an Airbnb to get out of the heat.
We had a touristy day in Whitehorse, where we enjoyed visiting the museum and learning about the Klondike Gold Rush – a migration by an estimated 100,000 hopeful prospectors to the Klondike region of Yukon in north-western Canada, between 1896 and 1899.
Gold was discovered there by local miners on 16th August, 1896. When news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain.
We visited the Indigenous People’s Day festival in Whitehorse which is held on the summer solstice every year. How lucky that we were here on that very day.
At the opening ceremony, everyone sat around a fire, speeches were made by ‘elders’, drums were played and a young man walked around the circle, offering to ‘smudge’ you. He held this bunch of tightly bound, smoking sage and wafted it over us. It’s meant to be cleansing. We were then invited to dance around the fire. The whole thing was fantastic.
There were lots of dance shows at the festival. A father and son had us all (100s of people), holding hands and dancing in a big circle around the room. I loved it! At the festival, there was a demonstration of how to dry animal hides (moose and caribou). The last (and possibly best part of the festival) was the jigging contest. It was absolutely joyful!
John and I walked up river along the Millennium Trail until we came to the Salmon Fish Ladder. It is the longest fish ladder in the world. The salmon make their incredible journey upstream using this ladder, in order to spawn, just south of Whitehorse. I wish we had seen some salmon, but they only get here in late summer. I had a paddle a bit further downstream in the Yukon River. It was lovely.
Whitehorse has a frontier feel to it. False front building facades create the illusion of larger, more elaborate buildings. The Alaskan Highway has mile markers (and km when you are in Canada). This is the first mile marker, on display at The McBride museum. They are very useful when cycling.
19th June: Whitehorse to Skagway
Week five on bikes in The Yukon!
Oh my gosh, this place is spectacular! The wilderness is immense, on a scale us Brits/Europeans find hard to understand. We’ve now cycled the last leg of the Golden Triangle, from Whitehorse to Skagway. It has been the best part, just so remote, so scary, so wild, but so exciting.
Looking down towards Miles Canyon (above). We walked across that little bridge you can see in the distance. This place is famous because it was such a huge challenge to gold-seekers heading to the Klondike Gold Rush, where we got ‘provisioned up’. There are very few places to get food as we head south down the Klondike Highway.
One of our favourite campgrounds was called Wolf Creek, where we took an evening walk to look down on the mighty Yukon. The views are incredible. There are jaw-dropping moments round every corner. While walking from our site, we spotted a wolf way across the river.
The Klondike Highway (love that name), is much quieter than the Alaskan Highway. There are still a few trucks, but it’s much more pleasant to ride. Mostly, we see other tourists in camper vans/RVs. There are not many cycle tourists out here. It’s lovely when we meet one, though. We always stop and chat to each other. We met a man from Leeds in the UK who was cycling from Argentina to The Arctic!
We arrived at Emerald Lake, where it was so peaceful and serene … and then a host of tour buses and coaches arrived, bringing the cruise liner tourists up from Skagway. It was surreal, being suddenly surrounded by 100s of people!
We cycled into the tiny town of Carcross (so named because this is where the Caribou Cross), passing by Carcross Desert, apparently the smallest desert in the world. We just loved it here.
Once again, our campsite didn’t have any water or any creek/river etc, but we found a notice saying you could fill your jug at the local water outlet (a mile down the road). These remote places have their water brought in by huge trucks and we saw the water truck as we were filling up.
I said I wanted new experiences. This was another. It made me laugh out loud! When you have a limited water supply it really makes you think carefully about how you are using it.
Pretty soon, we were back on the Klondike Highway, stopping to admire the views. Our arrival at our little campsite at Conrad was very exciting. We had been told there was a special place for walk-in campers, so we were looking for the way in. We bumped into a man (Drew, from Church Stretton in the UK), who explained you walk a long way through the trees, down towards the lake, where you will find five raised decks. It was absolutely gorgeous. But again, there was no water and we were advised that the lake water had arsenic in it. Luckily, Drew had a car and a huge water container.
For our final ride, to get down to Skagway and complete The Golden Circle, we decided to get up at 3am to help avoid the afternoon headwinds and give us the best chance of successfully completing the 90km we had to ride (up over the pass – a 1000m climb).
That last morning on The Klondike Highway, at dawn, was magical. There were no vehicles for the first two hours. We saw the sun come up as we headed south to complete our ride of The Golden Circle.
One of the benefits of getting up so early on our last day was that we saw a moose with two babies and then a black bear, also with babies. She was on one side of the road, and her babies on the other, and we know you must never come between a mother and her cubs, so we stopped and we watched and waited. She slowly crossed the road, and so we carried on our way, thrilled to have seen them.
We could hear a great loud booming horn miles away and then the White Pass and Yukon Railway crossed the road. No barriers, no flashing lights, just a lot of noise! At last, we made it to the top. Even though everything was misty, it was a joy to finally get there.
Having been quite nervous about whether I would manage the 90km ride to Skagway, I was pleased to know that the final 14-mile stretch would be a near continuous descent, and a pretty steep one at that. It was exhilarating. As we free-wheeled down, hanging onto our brakes for dear life, I felt all overcome with emotion and teary. We’d done it! We’d made it to the top and were on our way back down. It also felt sad to be leaving what felt like such a special time up there in Yukon. All those amazing people we met and stories we heard
2nd July: Skagway, Alaska, to Vancouver, Canada
We are now slowly making our way home after our incredible journey up into Alaska. What a fantastic trip this has proved to be. We have just under one week left.
We spent a few days in Skagway, where the sidewalks are all made of wood. It is a fascinating town. It celebrated its 125-year anniversary while we were there. Of course, indigenous people were here 1,000s of years before that, but that’s when the goldrush made it such a popular arrival point. The town coped with the arrival of thousands of eager prospectors. Now it copes with the same number of eager tourists, arriving daily on the enormous cruise ships.
We stayed in this place on the first floor (below). We loved the views from our window, watching the masses of tourists arriving, visiting Grizzly Stores opposite and then, by tea time, the place emptied out and all was silent again.
The view from our window of Grizzly General Store. They didn’t have much food though. Apparently stocks were low because they were waiting for the next supply boat to arrive!
Just outside Skagway is a lovely waterfall called Lower Reid Falls. It is a small walk from the Gold Rush Cemetery. We had spent the last few weeks in very solitary places and this place was soooo busy. It was tricky to get a picture with just us!
The Goldrush Cemetary, Skagway. Many of the famous Gold Rush characters are here including local kingpin Jefferson ‘Soapy’ Smith and early tourism promoter Martin Itjen and his world’s largest gold nugget. We also saw quite a few graves for babies who died of disease and poor sanitation.
We were sad to leave Skagway. We had a really lovely few days there, being tourists and sleeping lots too. On our final morning, we got up at 2am, as we had a very early ferry to catch. The streets of Skagway were deserted. It was a wonderful ride down to catch the ferry.
At 4am, we were back on board the fabulous Marine Alaskan Highway ferry – The Columbia. We had three nights and four days ahead of us, as we began the slow, gentle 900-mile journey back south to Bellingham. This ferry journey is magical. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
On the journey north I hadn’t seen much wildlife (I wasn’t paying enough attention), so I promised myself I would spend more time just watching, and my goodness we were rewarded. We saw a humpback whale, a pod of orcas and eagles.
We settled in and got comfy. This became our little nest for three nights. We met so many great people on this journey. Sleeping out on deck, in the solarium means you see every sunset and every sunrise. Absolutely magical.
Watching the sky, the mountains and the water was mesmerising. The colours and shapes changed constantly. Time seemed to slow down on the long voyage south, when you have 900 miles and the steady hum of the engines. You have lots of time to stop, observe, chat, eat and doze.
On our last morning on the ferry, I was up at 4am and got to see the beautiful colours of dawn over the sea. After a terrific journey south, we disembarked in Bellingham. We had a jolly send off from people we had met on the way.
We were lucky to arrive at Birch Bay on July 4th, so got to see all the celebrations. It was fantastic. Such a great atmosphere, loads and loads of people on chairs and blankets, lining the beach, waiting for the fireworks.
We felt very sad on our last day of cycling, when we set off towards the US/Canadian border. We have loved our time in America. The American people we met have been warm hearted, kind and generous. Many of them have expressed concern about the politics of the country. Some have spoken loudly, passionately and sometimes angrily, others have whispered in quiet defiance and concern.
Yesterday, an old lady stopped us and said: “Thank you for coming to our country in our time of distress, I am still protesting this stuff.”
6th July: Vancouver
One of the last jobs we needed to do before leaving Vancouver was hand in our bear spray. The police department had a bear spray locker with its own special padlock. Apparently, bear spray counts as a dangerous weapon and since you have to give passport details when buying it, we thought we better hand it in responsibly. We never had to use our sprays, but we were mighty glad to have them. In fact, I lived with mine attached to my waist on some days!
The Vancouver transport system includes a fantastic Sea Bus, which went over to see North Vancouver. The public transport system is cheap, efficient and fast. All included in a day pass for $11.
Sadly, just outside the Sky Train station, we witnessed a case of what we now know to be ‘Fentanyl fold’ (where drug users are literally bent double, with their hands scraping at the floor). It is very disturbing to see.
On the map, we had seen a place called Wreck Beach, so we set off to find it. We had to go down 100s of steps to reach it. Part way down we saw a small sign saying ‘Clothing optional at this beach’. The water was lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed my swim.
11th July: Vancouver to London Heathrow
Vancouver airport, two bike boxes, four panniers, ready to fly.
We’ve checked in bikes many times now, but never before have we been handed a Stanley knife and asked to open up the boxes to have them drug tested. We then had to seal them back up with a special ‘approved’ tape.
Sad to leave, but what a trip!
Kathy and John’s next trip is cycling from Murcia in Spain to the French border, travelling along the Spanish coast.
Kathy and John’s entire adventure cost them approx £3,000 each, including flights.
