Little did we know how large was the no-man’s land between the two border posts. In fact, around 30km separates the US customs from the Canadian customs
It was under a cold rain that we crossed our first border with our bicycles. I entered easily, but Juan’s pass seemed longer than necessary. The officer asked him if he has ever been before in Canada. ‘No’ Juan answered. ‘Are you sure ?’ Insisted the agent. The customs officer then explained Juan’s name and date of birth has been flagged, matching the profile of a man wanted by Canadian justice. He therefore invited him to sit in the office for an identity check. It only took him few minutes to confirm that Juanito was not a wanted criminal. Phew!
That’s how we entered Canada!
Beaver Creek is a tiny town on the doorstep of the Yukon. So small, that there is not even a decent grocery store. The bad and cold weather was persistent, so we decided to spend the night in a motel and found the less expensive one. I was feeling a little bit sicky and was happy to be able to rest in a warm place.
We left, optimistic, under blue sky. Clouds, however, piled up sneakily on the horizon. The mountain gradually disappeared under a thick fog. In few hours we were surrounded. The dark clouds suddenly bursted above our heads in a violent hail, bouncing and crunching under our tires. With altitude, hail became snow. It was so cold. Our wet gloves did not protect us anymore. We were 5km from the camp when I breakdown (again). I was frozen and exhausted, I could not move anymore. Juan as well, but he was definitely better than I was in controlling himself. At that moment, I could not handle it anymore and asked him : ‘But what is it to like about biketouring ?? What is enjoyable ? Explain to me because I don’t see it !!’ Then I bite my tongue. We were both in the same boat. We arrived somehow at our destination and chose to spend the night under one of the wall tents of the campsite. A kind lady took off my gloves with pity and started rubbing my fingers energetically to bring back the blood that has gone away. While we settled in our comfy shelter, her husband prepared us a warm camp fire.
We slipped into our feather duvets and hug each other to warm off the freezing cold.
The next day, the sun was finally back. We discovered the Yukon in a very different light. The road, surrounded by sumptuous mountains, the bubbling rivers, the deep blue lakes on which lazy swans and ducks swam, the forests of pines stretching to infinity … everything dazzled us. Following the recommendations of wikicamp, That day we set up our wild camp in a secret corner, on the banks of the Donjek river. The sight was breathtaking. We were getting ready for diner when a little familiar blue car appeared … The 2CV of Carine and Quentin parked a few meters from our tent. We were super happy to see them again!! We chatted around a delicious coffee. I was also secretly relieved that we do not have to sleep alone in this beautiful place obviously also frequented by bears.
The next morning, Quentin offered me a good coffee that I could not resist, and a small grid perfect for toasting my bread on a camp fire. We watched their little car drive away and we started cycling in direction of Destruction Bay, 70km away.
The road was mild uphill. We pedaled along a endless gentle slope, with the sensation of not moving forward. Indeed, a terrible cold headwind had risen and I discovered a new enemy. Each turn of the wheel was a battle against an invisible force. Terrible! The landscape however, was still incredibly amazing.
We arrived totally exhausted after this hard day. Destruction Bay was a cute little town on the edge of Kluane Lake. Hungry, as always, we sat on a table of a roadhouse and decided to fill our stomachs before deciding where to settle for the night. Elena, the waitress from Madrid, talked about the region. She, too, had biketouring with her girlfriend. They felt in love with the Yukon and decided to settle there.
She came back soon with our meal and told us, mysteriously: ‘Your dinner has been paid and you have a roof where to sleep tonight if you wish’ And to put in front of us a handwritten note. Very surprised, we read the few lines: a young woman, the nurse of the village, explained to us she had traveled a lot and knew how good was to have some help. She wanted to return the favor, by paying our meal and offering us a room in the big house she was living at. We were free to accept or not her offer. We could not believe it. I felt tears of gratitude tingling my eyes.
We presented ourselves at the address indicated and the nurse, a young woman placed to work in the Yukon area, opened her door and installed us comfortably.
We slept happily in a warm and comfy bed. When we got up, Lindsay was already left to work and we stopped by the clinic to say goodbye and thank her again for her kindness that meant so much to us!
We had a wonderful day. We rode along Kluane Lake under a beautiful sun. The wind had fallen. The turquoise blue lake sparkled and the air smelt like wet grass. On a snack break, we used the binocular in search of mountain goats and spotted several herds grazing peacefully in an alpine landscape. Also met a nice woman from British Columbia with her dog, who was traveling through the area, and got I think our first photo taken by someone in the road.
We were moving fast and well. In the evening, we searched a place where to establish our camp. We located a small path along the road, sinking into the forest and followed the narrow and chaotic route that eventually lead us to a small platform with two floors, overlooking the valley. The view on the range was sublime. The place was perfect. To avoid any unexpected visit of a bear, we decided to leave bags and bicycles on the high part of the plateau and carefully chose the perfect place to pitch our tent below.
The air was slowly cooling off as the sun went down behind the mountains. We collected wood and soon a happy campfire was burning in the middle of our improvised “kitchen”. Sitting on the floor, warmed by the crackling fire, we devoured our pasta in front of the stunning show of the sunset coloring in pink the summits. A carpet of small white flowers, soft as cotton, spreaded around us. Juan looked at me and says, “You can not say I never take you in nice places.” And in fact, at this point I was sure no five-star restaurant in the world could match this view.
We finally slipped into our tent, tired and ready for a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, my bear paranoia woke up. We were in the middle of nowhere, alone … and if we were attacked? The story of this young French guy recently killed in the Yukon by a grizzly came back to my mind. I felt a little stupid but could not help but think that the place was very isolated. Juanito, determined to calm my imaginary anxieties, seized the bear repellant, and said “If this can reassure you, I will withdraw the security lever, to be ready faster”. He had practiced this game several times as advised on the product. This time was an big error though!!! A light (very light) “psshhhit” escaped from the can. We first started to laugh like kids. Then everything went super fast. I saw Juan becoming red, opened the tent as fast as possible and threw himself outside. 1 second later, it was my turn: suddenly, I was suffocating, my nose was burning and I could not breathe. I almost jumped outside of the tent and tried in vain to catch my breath. My eyes cried, the air refused to penetrate my lungs, my throat was completely blocked. My first instinct was to panic, but very quickly, I calmed down and tried to relax this terrible knot that prevented me from breathing. Suddenly, the knot disappeared and the air finally entered my chest. My throat, my eyes, my nose were burning but I did not suffocate anymore. I look at Juan, who was in the same state. Crying and coughing, we started giggling …
We had to wait several hours before being able to return inside the tent. Juan had product on his hand, which burned his skin. We tried to wash the damage with our water supply. He also felt a little bit dizzy. Worried, I watched him and refused to sleep until I was sure everything was fine.
Tires squealed on the gravel and lights suddenly illuminated the interior of our tent. We went out to meet two French girls, Flo and Pauline, who explained us to be on a several month road trip around Canada and the United States. They installed their van near our bikes. We finally managed to fall asleep, still a bit agitated.
When we woke up the next morning, a light layer of frost covered the tent and our panniers, left outside for the night. It was -5ºC. We started the fire and prepared a nice breakfast. The early morning light glided gently down the mountain and finally melted the thin layer of frost. In a ritual ballet, we packed our stuff. As I was chatting with Pauline and Flo, Juan battled with one of the poles of our tent, pitched deep in a root that refused to release its prey.
A little tired by our hectic night, we got back to the road, to cycle the last 45km before the city of Haines Junction.