Into the Fires of Hell

Photos = Vista, Pilot, Firefighter, Hunters
Haines Junction to Nugget City 370 miles

I'm not sure I mentioned that eversince Fairbanks we've been riding through a haze of smoke from the over eight hundred forest fires burning in the Yukon Territories and Northern Alaska. Most of the landscape photos have been less than stellar because of the smoke. Also many of our 20 riders have sore throats and red watery eyes. I haven't thought it was too bad but it got much worse today.
Mac and I got an early start 'half six'(six thirty) like we always do. It was just below freezing so we put on the electric gloves and jackets - umm toasty. But the smoke got much worse as we travelled South. It got so thick that I finally had to put on my warning flashers so that trucks could see me. It felt as though we were leaving Purgatory and finally travelling straight to Hell for all eternity. When I thought it would finally get too thick to ride safely we crossed over another mountain pass and the air became smoke-free. It felt like a miracle. I can see, I can see. This happened about 200 miles from today's destination. Those next miles were the very best so far. We floated along on an empty highway, on twisty mountains with one vista prettier than the last. If we'd stopped to shoot every amazing mountain, lake, or river view we'd still be out there finishing those 200 miles. I've had to be selective and I no longer carry my camera in my top box. That required getting off the bike, unlocking the box, taking a photo, then replacing the camera. Now I sling the camera around my neck and only have to stop the bike, shoot and go.

Today's highlight occurred when I pulled into a gravel driveway so I could get a look at Swan Lake. At about half a mile in there were cabins along the lake, and a herd of beautiful horses. As I pulled up and parked a young guy comes running out of one of the cabins saying 'the Owner's not here'. I guess he thought we wanted to rent a cabin. I explained the we only wanted to see the lake. He was intrigued by ou r motorcycles all decked out for long journeys, and asked if we'd like coffee. 'Sure!' He brought us into a large lakeside kitchen/dining room. there were others inside. They were a Canadian forest fire crew. He served us big cups of good coffee and introduced us to his boss, and to the float plane pilot. They all wanted to know about 17 motorcycles going 22,000 miles to Argentina. I wanted to know about fighting forest fires. We swapped stories. They were leaving soon in the float plane to water down a cabin on another lake in the next range. An 80 hectare fire was closing in on it. I asked if I could come along to help. I wish I could tell you they took me along. Alas, they couldn't. So I snapped their pictures, and some of the dining room's photos and we left. [The owner of the cabins is a hunting guide. He has 3 Europeans on a 14 day horseback hunting expedition. They paid $30,000 for two weeks of hunting big-horn sheep on horseback. He only charges $10,000 to hunt grizzly bear. A bargain by comparison!].