Saturday, August 2

All roads lead to Tok.

August 1...
The morning finds the weather the same...gray after day!
In an unusual turn of events we have actually called ahead to Valdez and booked accommodations and a boat tour.
The 800+ km distance will be covered in a casual 2 days.
Tok will be the half way stop.
We make a short stop off the highway at a place called Silver City.
At one time, this community housed workers for a local silver mine around beginning of the 1900's.
Now, all that is left are a group of tumbled down log cabins,animal shelters and utility shed.
These guys must have been one tough bunch.
The only heat to bee seen was the stove in the cook house and no other stoves could be seen in the other dwellings.
I guess yo ate well, worked hard and hoped you didn't get sick.
The Alaska Highway around the lake was under construction but didn't pose any difficulty as it was hard packed dirt.
An uneventful hour or so found us having a soup and sandwich at a gas station/cafe.
We struck up a conversation with a Belgian couple who had their camper shipped to Baltimore and were part way through a year long tour of North America starting at the east coast of Canada and continuing down through the "lower 48" and back to where they started.
Some trip!
He did say the road ahead was a bit rough but how bad could it be?
Riiiiiigt!
Later, along the route, a sign announcing..."construction next 47 miles" made it clear.
Peachey...
If we thought the last construction zone was a challenge, this one was the test.
The road surface was gone and replaced by a thick ,wet mat of mud that provided the most challenging bike control I have ever experienced.
The convoy of pickups, trailers and cars slipped, slided and pushed it's way through the muck.
Only the tracks of the preceding vehicle left a small , negotiable right of way but to stray even a few inches would result in a mud fest.
Constant concentration and tweaking and jinking the bike was required to keep it upright.
I watched Kat's headlight in my mirror and was distressed to see it veer off the track!
Thoughts of running back through the mud were quickly dismissed as the light began to move closer.
While Kat had been captured by the ankle deep mud, she had maintained control of the bike and kept it upright despite the added weight of the gear.
A testament to the skill she has acquired over the thousands of km's of travel.
Dinner time found is in Tok and we managed to get the last Cabin at the Burnt Paw Resort.
Very nice!

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