Fort Nelson, BC 1750 Miles from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

The bikers arrived in Fort Nelson mid afternoon on Wednesday. They stopped for laundry and restocking food and water. They planned to bike a little farther before setting up camp. I will write some good stories about rain, mud, mountain goats, fishing and camping tomorrow morning. For now scroll down to view new photos and a map to Dawson Creek.

Photos from Alaska and the Yukon

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Fort Nelson, BC to Dawson Creek, BC 281 Miles

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The Bikers arrived in Fort Nelson on Wednesday afternoon. After some stops for laundry , food and checking email they planned to bike a few miles past town maybe to Prophet River. I will write about their adventures .. later tonight.

News from Friends along the Alaskan Highway

We got a very welcome phone call from Lu and Charlie Taylor from Cincinnati who met up with Eric and Matthew a little west of Fort Nelson, BC. These very kind people said the bikers were doing "Fantastic" and they had talked with them this morning. The Taylors with their three children have been traveling the Alcan and earlier saw Matthew and Eric back in Coldfoot, Alaska . Today they met again and in the words of Lu "we loaded them up with protein, sandwiches and a bunch of food. They should have plenty of energy." After the Taylors left the bikers they drove 328 miles to near Dawson Creek before they got cell phone service and got a hold of us. We are grateful that they were kind enough to call and say nice things about our boys. Along the AT they call this "trail magic" I guess we could call this Alaska Highway magic.
The great news about this whole story is that just a few days ago MaryKay met three bicyclists on a cross country trip. They had camped out next to her workplace and were on their way west. Mary Kay thought of Eric and Matthew and just had to do something for these bikers. She gave them some folding $$ to buy lunch and then went to Walmart for groceries. She ended up driving out on the highway until she found them and loaded them up with some protein. As they graciously thanked her she said, " That's okay, maybe some kind person will do the same for my boys as they are biking many many miles." Sure enough it happened and we are glad for the kindness.
The Taylors also said the bright orange vests that Mary Kay bought for the boys are working great and they were able to spot the guys from "a mile away." That is comforting to know.

Some Stories from Amanda

Here are some stories that I heard on Saturday for the blog... Matthew was looking for a Yukon license plate and searched in a car dump for one. Out of about 50 cars, the first car he looked at had the plate he was looking for. Later, he found two more plates by the road - from Yukon and Manitoba, which he picked up for future trading. Now he's got a Canadian plate on his bike trailer, so I guess he'll try not to break too many speed limits. They passed by a mama bear and her two cubs. At first the cubs looked nervous, but the mama bear took a look at Matthew and Eric and decided they weren't any trouble, so the bears didn't run off. Maybe she recognized them as twins like her cubs.Hopefully the packages make it to the next stop in time. I've heard from Eleanor that the Canadian postal system is notoriously inefficient. Amanda

Watson Lake, Yukon

We got a call from Watson Lake as the bikers had pedaled extra hard to get to the post office before it closed at noon. They made it but the Canadian postal system is slower than promised and the mail for them had not arrived. The next plan is for Watson Lake to forward it to Dawson Creek which is a week away or 600 miles. The bikes have been doing fine with daily maintanence. This time the problem was Matthew's trailer It seems it started to make squeeking noises and the ball bearings were all worn out. The "agonizing squeek" lasted for about three days before it could be fixed in Watson Lake. Now where could he find a small wheel in the Yukon?? Well it so happens he found a kids bike out on a sidewalk and on sale for $ 5. The wheel was the perfect size and with a couple of washers it did the job as a replacement and should be good for many more miles on the Al-Can Highway.
The fisherman were especially dissapointed that the hoped for fishing gear did not arrive as they are finding good streams but their fishing line and lures are getting tangled up.
They spotted another black bear and even told Mary Kay about it this time. Watson Lake is home of the world famous sign post forest. They stopped there and had lunch. They have seen license plates from 43 states and talked to people from all over the place. People are curious about bicyclists pulling supplies in a trailer and biking for thousads of miles.

Watson Lake, Yukon to Fort Nelson, BC 319 Miles

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