Day 4, Watson Lake-Whitehorse
We left Watson Lake, after 12 hours of cold, wet riding, for Ross River, at 7:00am. I think I speak for everyone that a few more hours sleep would have been welcome, but we had another long day ahead, 450 miles , almost exclusively unpaved. After the morning TSD in Watson Lake, it was dirt up to Ross River, the halfway point of the day. It rained on and off, which helped to keep the dust down. This section was a dirt highway, and most were able to keep speeds in the 70s over much of the miles.
Jamie Gleason, Who runs Artic Motorcycle tours out for Whitehorse, met us with a hot lunch up at a campground just outside or Ross River, which from the looks of the town is very sparsely populated. We then headed south to Whitehorse via the Canol Road. This twists and turns its way for over 300km, through some of the most unbelievable country yet seen. It did make for a ong day, and since the rain ha stopped, a dusty one as it is entirely unpaved. Great fun though! Another 100 miles of highway led us to Whitehorse, The Capitol of the Yukon.
I had a disastrous TSD in the second day, racked up over 50 points, and have made several mistakes since then to compound things. The standings as of the end of yesterday are as follows:
Gary Orr, 42pts; Jim Robertson, 73pts; Jeff Brisendine, 112pts, Chris Witzgall, 135pts, Michael O'Keefe, 233pts.
#5, Michael Stram on the other KTM 640Adv R, broke down just after he exited the Canol Road. After taking it to the local shop, a burnt valve or broken cam chain is the likely culprit, so his bike is out. He was able to rent a KLR from Jamie, so he rode the tsd this morning, and will be able to ride the Enduro into the mountains this afternoon.