It was nice to wake up not dead, and, sporting all my studly appendages. No wolves attacked despite the call to the pack. No bears chewed our heads as we slept and the morning air was cold with blue skies and sunshine.
After a quick breakfast we rolled out with Fanda and Katchka for Deadman Lake. Hmmm, Destruction Bay to Deadman Lake... They had said they would enjoy traveling together since we had the same basic itinerary. We had a great time together camping and it sounded good to us. Besides, having two additional folks when camping with bears increases the likelihood of survival by at least 50% the way I figure it, even more when I tie their shoelaces together unbeknownst to them.
The terrain going north was far less dramatic than previous days so we stopped less for photos. At a gas stop we found showers behind the store and after a snack lunch we all cleaned up and showered. The cool weather has been great and we've been chasing blue each day. The rainy weather that has been plaguing the state seems to have broken and we've been a day behind the rain, riding through wet patches occasionally but generally in sunshine with blue skies.
The fall colors and cool air have made riding a real pleasure, though the nights have been pretty dang cold. So cold, in fact, that The Iron Butterfly picked up a heavier sleeping bag and I've doubled up in the two 35º bags at night. But I digress.
After washing up, we burned it for a campground somewhere around Deadman Lake. After the wolf incident, I think none of us were really ready for another night of the same, and though unspoken, the mindset was to find a spot a little less edgy. As the day began its end, we saw a sign for a campground on the lake, but pulled in to find a large "No Tents" warning sign screwed over the main sign. I read the fine print that said the area was heavy with bears due to a concentration of soap berries so tent camping was not allowed.
We motored on and found another site on a different lake, but it was uninhabited and we felt some unease and motored on for Tok. A mile or two before town we spotted another campground along the river and pulled in, this one having a few campers, water and some good sites. We rode the bikes into the bushes and got tents and a rain fly hung for the night.
It was interesting watching a few campers roll in, all paling in measure to a huge German expedition vehicle that parked across the road from us. After a while the driver walked over to share our fire and we got acquainted. He and his wife were from Germany, having just retired as CEO of a meat company. They were circumnavigating the globe and heading south from Alaska to Ushuaia. He was very nice and fun to talk with.
We'd run low for water and had seen a hand pump in the campground, but Kim and a stranger had not been able to get water from it. I went back up and finally got some water out but it was cloudy and dirty looking. I filled a couple bottles anyway but saw a man and wife walking past. They warned me the camp host had said not to drink the water as it was contaminated. Dambit! No warning sign posted and I'd just contaminated our drinking bottles.
I got the MSR gravity filter out to save the day again, but was beginning to wonder if any of the water in the state wasn't contaminated. Sheesh. Kim had been battling an ongoing ear infection from wearing plugs all day for weeks now and oral antibiotics haven't kicked it, so Kascka suggested cloves in vodka, allowing the cloves to saturate the alcohol and using it as an antibiotic as they do in the Czech Republic. I rode to Tok to beat the grocery store closing hour and found some cloves in the seasoning section, then returned and we filled a small bottle with alcohol and cloves. Though weak in solution she tried it in her ear and it seemed to help. After a good meal and campfire we all slept well.
The next morning we had no rain again and after breakfast we saw the German couple outside the panzer wagon. He invited us to come inside and check it out. His wife was very sweet and tolerated our peering around inside. She said they'd had many camper vans but this one she loved and felt safe in anywhere. I was envious. Fanda was envious. Kim was envious. Kascka was even envious.
The owner had told us the beast used about 22 liters per 100 km which is a little over 10 mpg. Not bad. Better yet he said the tank range was 3000 km... dude that's 2000 miles! As Fanda said, they could cross the Sahara in it.
The Butterfly said as cool as it was, it still looked like a garbage truck and she wouldn't want to be seen in it. I’d have no problem wearing a set of garbage man coveralls if I owned it. We exchanged info and web addresses, his wife saying they would follow us and we could meet for a beer in Argentina since we were all doing the same route.
They watched and waved as we rode out for Fairbanks and further adventures north.
Lots of conversations with flaggers on this trip
It seemed to be a long day on the road, though it was only a couple hundred miles or so. We were highly entertained by the North Pole community on the way. Stoopid selfies by the sign of course...
The sun was out as we entered Fairbanks, F&K peeling off to locate their couch surfing host while we looked for a cheap motel. We hadn't signed up for surfing and hadn't had time to locate someone. Looking for a coffee shop and wifi to search for accommodations we stumbled across Big Daddy's BBQ and chowed down on the best BBQ outside of Texas we've found. A small motel was located and we crashed for the night. The next day I needed to get Kim's bike serviced, brake shoes and some issues checked out.