Tok to Glennallen

Leaving Tok we have ridden some very pleasant, rolling terrain following meandering rivers going through lush green forests of Aspen, Birch, Willows and Spruce as we came into the famous Copper River Valley (known for its Salmon). We did get a peek at the Wrangell Mountains but the views have been somewhat limited, as we have experienced some rainy days and nights. We didn't see too many animals in this section but we did see a moose, trumpeter swans, snow geese, snowshoe hares, and grouse as well as chatting with fellow travelers and Alaskans. We rented a tiny cabin for the night, in Glennallen, so we can dry out after a cold and wet ride into town.We have hit over 650 miles now!!! The picture below is what Glennallen should look like...

Kluane Lake to Tok, AK

In the past 17 days we have seen 11 bears, 2 moose, a mad mama grouse, baby owl, numerous bald eagles, and many other bikers headed to South America. We have had amazing weather, with today getting our first biking rain storm. We had to warmup in the porto potty together because the rain was coming down horizontally. The last 100 miles of Canada were pretty rough roads with course asphalt, no shoulders, and a-hole semi drivers. Alaska welcomed us with a nice paved road and a quaint little lodge at Border City. Between the border and Tok were clouds, bogs, permafrost, Tetlin Wildlife Reserve, many many lakes, and the backside of the Wrangell St-Elias mountains. We can see mountains for miles in both directions. We have meet the most amazing people along the way. Many bikers headed South and many retired RV'ers who think we are "strong and courageous" for doing the Alcan on bicycles. Unfortunately we do not have access to the pictures on our camera, so we will have to upload them later. We are in Tok for tonight to do laundry, get caught up on calories, and hang out for the solstice!

Grizzlies, glaciers and lakes

We have now biked from Haines to Kluane National Park in the Yukon, right next to Canada's highest peak, the Yukon's largest lake and the highest density of Grizzlies in the world. We are really enjoying the biking and the mountain views are just awe inspiring. Every day new snow covered mountains with glaciers come into and out of view as we ride. We saw 4 grizzlies yesterday, all of which were too close for comfort. One walked by our picnic pavilion as we were eating dinner and we didn't even notice it until someone yelled "bear" and we looked up and it was 10ft away from the pavilion! When I made noise he looked straight at me! Another one, Chels would have hit if she didn't brake as it crossed the road! Two others were on the shoulder so we crossed to the other side of the road and snuck by. It seems scary but they could are less about us, they just want to eat flowers and grass. The weather has been great and we have had a tailwind pushing us the entire way.

Haines to Haines jct

After 4 days of riding in the most spectacular mountains ever, we made it to Haines junction. The mountains are covered in snow and glaciers (we basically rode on the backside of glacier bay national park). We rode from the ocean through the river valleys up a couple of passes and into lake country. Words cannot describe how awesome te mountains are. Haines jct is quite small with no grocery store. We sent 8 days of food from home and good thing we did!! While we took a little rest, we climbed a hill side to stare at the mountains, 100 yards up the road we saw a Sow and her cub cross the road. We have been having a wonderful time! Pictures to come due to technical errors.

The map of our trip