This morning dawned with rain expected, so we used Brian's truck to run around town. Ken and Wayne each had parts to pick up at the BMW shop, then we met with Keith and Lisa for lunch. They are friends of Dave and Bob and Cindy's from Bend. They also went to Dawson City, but because they had to start the trip later than us, they actually rode in 4 days of heavy rain. Funny, we didn't have that much, yet they were just a day behind us when they pulled in. They are much more comfortable with 500 miles days than I will ever be!! But now they are in Fairbanks, about to fly home, planning on coming back up to get the bikes at a later date. After lunch we ran some more errands and then drove by the Universities research farm.
Caribou in the distance
The large brown critter is a muskox, never did see any in the wild
The afternoon was spent doing bike maintenance, then it was time to settle down with a beer before going out to the Turtle Club for dinner. Check out the wood work inside Brian's house. His sister painted several murals like the northern lights behind Wayne.
Last room to get finished will be the kitchen, not quite there yet
This little cabin is where Brian lived for 17 years as he worked on the other buildings, including the big shop with his house inside. This is basically a one room cabin with a loft, which Wayne and I shared with Bob and Cindy. It has no running water or indoor plumbing. I can't imagine an outhouse at 40 below. Burrr!!
This is the shop, with the left end of the building finished inside as his house. Although he now has 2 bathrooms and a kitchen, the water still has to be transported in because the water in this area is really nasty!!
This is the Gun Hut, where Lyon will sleep when he arrives. Brian does a lot of hunting and does his own reloading. He didn't want it in the house, so he built this little shed. Behind it is a green house that had more use in years gone by.
Brian uses a lot of wood in the winter. This is his wood shed. When we arrived there was a huge pile of split wood waiting to be stacked, so when Wayne had some down time, he stacked it for him.
On Tuesday we woke to more rain. Dave and I took the truck into town to run errands including a grocery run to pick up stuff for home made dinners. We are all tired of eating out or eating freeze dried food. About 3 pm the other half of our group arrived. We put a batch of Dirt biker Chili on the stove, heated up the cornbread and enjoyed the good company.
Wednesday was more maintenance, this time for the newcomers. Once they got oil changed and chains dealt with, we went for a short ride around the town. Then it was time to put the Lasagna in!
Thursday saw us up and headed to breakfast by 7:30. The Hill Top Truck stop located on the Haul Road has great food, a nice way to start the day. Then it was off on the Steese Highway to Circle.
Wayne and Cindy getting educated
The first pass we crossed was 12 Mile Summit, at 3000 Ft. Dave, Lyon and Wayne check it out
Bob headed back to the bikes
Eagle Summit at 3700 FT was the second pass
Ken, with his extra gas cans
Our destination was the city of Circle AK. 160 miles northeast of Fairbanks it was named by miners in the late 1800's who believed they were on the Arctic Circle, but they were off by about 50 miles. The town began as a point to unload supplies that had come up the Yukon River from the Berng Sea. They then went overland to the various mines.
Bikes along the Yukon River.
While there we met a man that we had heard about when we were in Dawson City. He is swimming the Yukon River. He began in Atlin Lake in BC and swims for several days, then spends several days on land to keep the strength in his bones and muscles. We hear about this guy several times during our trip. The Yukon River is 1,980 miles long, I think he is nuts myself.
The road to Circle is paved for about 70 miles, then dirt the rest of the way. We had all kinds of conditions on the dirt section; good, bad, gravel, mud and dust. But it was a beautiful day, and we all enjoyed it.
Critter Count: 1 fox
317 miles
On Friday, after doing laundry in town with Lyon and Cindy, Bob, Cindy, Lyon, Dave and I went to Cheena Hot Springs. Ken has decided to go to Denali Park a day ahead of us and Wayne can't go in the springs right now as his skin is protesting.
It is a developed spring, but very nicely done. I highly recommend it. Definitely better than Tahkini.
154 miles
When we returned we took Brian out for dinner at the local brewery, Silver Gulch. Wayne gave the stout a BIG thumbs up! We will split up again tomorrow, so it was nice to spend the evening together. Bob and Cindy will spend some time with their kids in Wasilla and Dave will stay and catch up with more of his friends. We will miss Brian, what a great guy, to open his house to a bunch of strangers. We hope we aren't strangers any longer and that he'll come down to the lower 48 this fall.
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