Day 11

I think I really effed up!!

This morning was great. I woke up at 6AM which is like 8AM philly time. I think Im still on philly time. though as I am typing this Im in pacific time. I honestly have no freaking idea what time it is. Well I do, but give or take an hour. Who knew you could have motorcycle-lag.

I loaded up the bike and the couldnt get out of the motel parking lot. Remember a few blogs back i was talking about old men and how they LOVE to strike up a convo with me and the bike? well this morning was 3 different men. All nice mind you. but all just asking questions about my journey and then adding in their own 2 cents. The real kicker is. Each one ALWAYS loves to tell you a story about how a friend of family member got killed or almost got killed on a motorbike years ago.. like i REALLY need to hear that???? sheesh!

sigh..I REALLY need a massage. my shoulder blades are killing me.

So, i had a great ride this morning. all sun. a little cold, but warmed up perfectly by noon..or maybe it was 1PM. Could have been only 11Am... who knows? Soon enough plains became hills. Hills became mountains. actually I hit the town of Fort nelson...and SHOULD have stayed there in a motel. but really wanted to push on to Muncho lake to camp. Well.... that never happened. I almost made it, but was lucky I wound up in Toad river.

It was lunchtime, late lunch, like 3:30PM ( i think ) and I just had this feeling to push on. So i punched in Muncho lake into the GPS, and it said 110 miles. about 2 hours. I can do that!!!! so I pushed on.

shortly there after, I was like THE only one on the Hwy. THe mountains and landsacpes i started to see were literally breathtaking! I tried to take few pics and vids, and will try to up them later, but the connection here sux, so we'll see...

anywayz, problem #1: there were patches of loose gravel EVERYWHERE for miles on the alaskan hwy. for those of you non -bikers. loose gravel + motorbike = slip and fall and crash. obviously didnt want that. so for all these miles I had to slow it down, and try to avoid the gravel or ride super slow through it. It was freaking hard to say the least/ so that turned my lil trip into 2.5 hours easy

problem #2: gas! I wasnt sweating yet, but was 90 miles into this section, and KNEW i couldnt turn around now. but there were NO signs of any gas station, or really anything. no electricity, no houses, nothing!

problem #3: sunlight. Ok, so its light out till like 9:30PM here, but with the mountains in the way, that changed really fast.

Problem #4: lodging. I couldnt find a hotel or campsite anywhere. I honestly thought I might be shacking it up off the side of the road somewhere, and that scared the s*** out of me!

problem #5: animals. OK though cool as s***, there were Elk, and moose and caribou all over the place. most right on the hwy, and they dont move for cars and such. so that made riding slow. btw, i really wanted to take pics of them , but all i could think was...I really have to find gas and lodging or i am SCREWED!!!!

so, at this point, Im thinking. " have I really f***ed up? did i bite off more then i can chew?" this is the real wilderness out here. I'm not cut out for this!!! what was I thinking?

I'll admit. I was scared s***less. Not too much frightens me in this world, but I was seriously scared of getting stranded out here in the middle of nowhere.

So...while i was trying to replay any bear grills or survivorman episodes in my head of what and what not to do in a survival situation. I saw a sign...like a beacon. Toad river, 9 Kilometers. with a little picture of a gas pump and a stick figure sleeping on a bed.

could it be true? the last 2 signs like that, both places were hollowed out shells of places that once probably existed at some point but were now barren.

Obviously i made it here, and got the last available room to boot! thank god!!!!!!

I am definitely going to learn from todays mistake of trying to push on too late in the day, and take it slower up here. the roads are rougher and the terrain is too. I guess i was used to piling on 400+ miles a day on flat plain lands. so now, its time to ride with what nature throws at me.

Tomorrow I wont be as haphazard

I'll be more careful. It seriously is some insane wilderness out here to the likes that Ive never seen. And one thing Ive learned..if you f*** ith mother nature..she'll always win.

489 miles today

6 days ahead of schedule

3,752 total miles

Ps: the bike is back to getting good MPG!!! wont get the oil leak checkd till fairbanks or anchorage. it will be overdue for an oilchange then anyway

i miss all you guys, A LOT! Some days its really hard to not turn around and bag this whole trip. today was definitely one of them. But Im still pushing on and hope I make it through. there's really not to much up here in terms of civilization. on a bike, everything is right there, you're in the mix so to speak, not hidden in a shell of a car. you're part of everything. the animals are so close you can reach out and touch them...though im sure shouldnt.

ok im babbling. need sleep. body hurts.

miss u everyone

wish me luck. its gods country up here