Sunday, July 12, 2009

AK '09 - Day 22

Today I was bound and determined that I was not going to be on the bike before 7am. It took some effort but I managed to almost make it. We were on the road by 6:57.

The planned route was 37 down to Hyder, Alaska. Since we left early we were going to eat along the way. The only problem with that plan was that on Sundays there really isn't anything open early in the morning. We did manage to find a great little Fred Motel/Restaurant in Istuk called the Iskut Motor Inn and Restaurant. We walked in and one of the owners told us the regular cook wasn't working but he could cook the basic stuff like eggs and toast. Just nothing fancy like french toast. Breakfast turned out to be really good. We visited with the owner and learned a lot about the area and his operation. His motel is the only one in the area with private showers, wi-fi and TVs in the room. Last summer he was closed to the public since a mining operation rented the whole place for the weekend. If you want to stay at this place it's probably best to call ahead when planning, 250-234-3141. The rates started at $60/night.

We resumed our ride and found some really great road surfaces south of the motel. Speeds picked up a little but so did the scenery. We sort of spread out and everyone stopped whenever they wanted to take a photo. This worked out well and I can't wait to see all the pictures. The ride down was so scenic, it's definitely a great ride.

We stopped to see Bear glacier and I was a little disappointed as tt was smaller than I expected. It was cool to see the water falls nearby though. I changed over to the mesh pants because it was getting a little warm. Then we continued into Hyder.

Woohoo!!! I made it to Hyder. Once I arrived I had an agenda. I started talking to the locals to find out where the big glacier was and they said it was up the road 21 miles. Since all the roads in Hyder are dirt, I was a little reluctant to go on the Spyder but I really wanted to see the glacier. So I took off and kept it slow. No one else wanted to ride on a dirt road for that distance.

It took about 45 minutes to get up to the overlook where I could see the entire glacier. Wow! It was huge. I was hoping to get to a point where I could touch the glacier but this wasn't possible. Maybe I'll find a route down to it the next time. I visited with some fellow motorcyclists and then decided to head back down the road. I stopped at the ranger station to get my park passport stamped and then headed into Stewart, BC to top off the tank.

I went back to the Sealaska and parked the bike. The next plan was to get Hyeder-ized. I checked with the guys and found they had already been to the bar and were done. So I went to the bar by myself and told the bartender I needed to get hyderized. She poored the shot and signed the card once I took the shot. Then I had 2 Coors Lights while visiting with 2 motorcyclists who were heading north.

After the shot and the beer, I was hungry so I wrangled up the guys. Jerry, John and I went to the Bus for seafood. Fred doesn't eat seafood so he and Dick went over to the Glacier Inn. I ordered the Dungeoness crab and an Alaskan Summer brew. The beer was good but the crab was great! I don't think it could get any fresher. I was still a little hungry so I tried to order some shrimp scampi but Diane (the owner/cook) said she was all out of shrimp. So we paid our bills and headed back to the hotel. But I wasn't done, I still wanted to try the Alaskan Amber brew so John and I went to the bar. After ordering the Amber, I found out there was also White and Oatmeal Stout brews. So I ordered the Stout and John ordered the White. The stout was great. The white was a heffevisen and the bartender served it with lemon. John remembered to keep the bottles for the pool hall.

Some time during the drinking Dick came down to get a better internet connection and sat with us. John settled up with the bartender and left to get some sleep. I still wanted to try the White so I ordered it while Dick worked on the computer. While talking to the bartender, I found out that she was from California and had a boyfriend from Hyder so she moved up here a year and a half ago. Her potential future mother-in-law is Diane over at the Bus. It is a very small town.

Well after trying all of the Alaskan beers they had, I decided to call it quits and go up to the room. Jerry and I ended up talking for a couple of hours until I finally wound down. What a great time in Hyder. I've gotta go back.

No comments: