July 25 - Fairbanks, AK to Beaver Creek, Yukon - 325 miles

We really hated to leave the main body of Alaska, since we enjoyed it so much.  We thought about calling our wives to tell them that we were just going to stay in Alaska, but when we thought about getting a job on a fishing boat to make ends meet, we decided we'd just ride South.

This was a day of riding in the interior of Alaska, with the more coastal ranges of mountains to the west.  Our riding day was mostly overcast, with some sunshine holes in the clouds at times, but the scenery again was incomparable.  It was different as we came south, with more Aspens and Red Spruce (which grows with relatively large diameter skirts), but in places with Black Spruce (the "skinny" spruce which seems to populate the more difficult and colder terrain).

We stopped at a "tourist trap" which had all manner of things made out of "Red Spruce knobs" or "Red Spruce burls".

The route was again mountainous, with large rounded mountains and some very large valleys.  All of this was heavily forested and just beautiful.  There was one very large "flat plain" (maybe 25 miles in diameter) with creeks, lakes, and maybe a river or two, and again forested heavily around the water.  This was very impressive from high on a hill.

We also saw the Alaska Pipe Line again today, as it made its way toward the terminal at Valdez.

We stopped to see the monument to the official Alaska end of the Alaska Highway, at Delta Junction.

We were surprised not to see any wildlife, but later heard reports of a man being bitten by a bear, so we weren't ready for any more "up close and personal" encounters.

We've been meaning to tell about the "30-wheelers" that we continually see in both Alaska and Canada.  These are BIG tank trucks, which we assume are carrying petroleum products of some kind (no name or advertising on the trucks).  They are equipped with two trailers, and the number of wheels on the ground is surprising.  Between the truck driving wheels and the two trailer's wheels, there are 7 axles with 4 wheels each.  Add the truck's front wheels, and that gives you a "30-wheeler".  Sometimes we meet them on a "repair" section of the road, with gravel on it, and then we give them a wide berth.  They make "18-wheelers" seem small.

Tomorrow we head for Haines (in Alaska again) on the coast.

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