Crossing into Canada with my Motorcycle
Entering Canada - Update 40 (August 2023)
Montana to Dawson City, Canada
A short cruise up the highway and I was at the Coutts, Alberta border entry. It was all drive through with a short line.
Unlike every other country so far I did not formerly depart my current country. My first and last interaction was with a Canadian border official, no US officials. She did remark that I was the most unusual visitor she had come across, having come so far as an Australian solo rider, on an Australian motorcycle.
Like the US there was no administration for the motorcycle. As long as I don’t sell or leave it here they don’t care, although I don’t know how they would even be aware of it staying, bigger fish to fry I assume. I did have my US third party liability insurance, that covers Canada as well. But there were no questions about insurance at the border and ever since. It was all over in 5-10 minutes and I was in Canada.
I stopped at Georgie’s Cafe in the town of Nanton for lunch. Canadian smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel.
My focus upon arriving in Canada was on motorbike chores again. Since Rexburg in Idaho I had been riding without any rear brakes pads and just using the front, carefully. So I made a beeline for Calgary.
A thorough effort by including the boom gate.
The countryside continued to be all about crop farming. A couple of hawks, or are they falcons?
A photo of power generation, rail transport, farming, food production (honey), all taken from a roadside. Bleeding the land dry? Yes, I know riding around on a motorcycle is part of the problem.
Calgary was a nice enough city. I didn’t do anything touristy. Although I did see a fair amount of the city while riding around trying to find motorcycle parts. I also needed a new chain and sprockets (after 50,000km, which is a good effort considering the roads in South America). As per the current post Covid 19 times it was hard to find the right parts for the bike. Eventually I found some brake pads in stock and someone else to fit them. I should have changed the rear brake rotor also but I didn’t have the patience to wait 4-5 days for the part.
I did visit a cannabis store while I was waiting for the brake pads to be fitted. They seem to set up in the industrial parts of town, rather than high profile retail. You have to be at least 19 to enter. I was curious and chatted to the owner for a while. I am not sure how good an investment such a business is. If I have it right, one gram was about 35CAD. I have seen many stores as I pass through towns and don’t notice customers in them. Maybe most sales are online?
After Calgary I was being hit by some strong winds and storms. I have ridden in a lot of strong cross winds. Normally I just slow down a little and counter steer into the wind and put up with it. The bike will lean into the wind and hopefully you keep going along your chosen path.
This time I was just leaving a town and still in a 60kmh area. A storm hit. Suddenly there was a very strong gust of wind from my right. It didn’t push me over, it just shoved me about 2 metres across into the next lane. It was the strangest thing. The bike remained perfectly upright and within an instance I had moved from one lane to the next. It was like a huge hand just decided to shove me across. Maybe there was oil on the wet road and it just provided a slippery surface? Luckily there was no one next to me and I kept riding, as the adrenaline subsided.
I began to get out of the farming areas and into typical Canadian forest.
It was starting to become obvious just how far I had come from south to north. Above is the view from my Fort St John hotel room at 10pm and still quite light. Summer is almost over. The wind is still going flat out as you can see by the flag.
They like their “trucks” up here, which actually seems like a very sensible choice given what it would be like here in winter. A lot of the hotel accommodation up here is taken up by seasonal workers, be it forestry, mining or roadworks.
Fort St John is a latitude of 56° North. When I was at the bottom of South America in Ushuaia I was at around 55° South. And I still have a long way north to go.
The countryside was very picturesque and it was easy riding. I was now on the Alaska Highway, which as you would guess takes you through to Alaska. The rivers are amazing. Most have beautiful clear water.
This is the Alaska Highway going through Fort Nelson. About 50km south of Fort Nelson I pulled over for a break. When I remember, I like to have a quick look over my bike before taking off again. This time around I realised my chain was in worse shape than I knew (not unexpectedly, as it had taken me 50,000km since I started in Santiago, Chile about ten months previous). It was basically falling apart. Around 10% of the rollers had broken off, leaving just the link holding it in place. If I kept riding, the chain was likely to break, which could end badly, depending on where it went when it broke off. At best with some 300km between towns I’d be stuck in the middle of nowhere. I’d be stupid to continue any further.
Maybe I should have been more patient and waited for the parts in Calgary, but in many ways it was nicer to wait out the time in Fort Nelson and spend my money in a small town.
Luckily there was a business that sold and fixed anything with a small engine called Northern Metallic. After a stuff up with the delivery at the Calgary end, I ended up staying in Fort Nelson for a week. It was actually good. I needed a break after pushing along, pretty much since entering Mexico. I bought some winter clothes at the clothing store, got up to date on a couple of vaccinations, sent some unwanted gear back to Australia, watched some movies and just relaxed.
But this just got me back on the road. The bike needed way more love if I was going to continue north into more isolated areas. So I booked into the Yamaha dealer at Whitehorse about a 1,000km further north for more work.
Many of the bridges up here use these metal grills on the surface. Maybe it is better during winter and causes less ice problems. It is interesting on a motorbike. They have special warning signs for motorcyclists. Although in the end it is pretty much just like riding on gravel, where you just need to relax, keep up a reasonable pace and let the bike find its way.
I was now in the Northern Rockies, in British Columbia. So far my route north was pretty vague. Autumn was about to begin and I’d heard stories that Autumn can be very short at this end of the world. So I was really taking my route days at a time, keeping an eye on the weather. As it turned out, it was cold but not that cold.
As I approached Whitehorse I decided to continue north as far as I could. I had two choices. Head for Alaska and up the Dalton Highway, or stay in Canada and complete the Dempster Highway. Both can take you pretty much as far north as you can go by road. I decided to stay in Canada and do the Dempster. I had met a Canadian couple at the bottom of South America in Punta Arenas, Chile. He had said the Dempster Highway was the more adventurous of the two, so I took guidance from that.
The area between Fort Nelson and Watson Lake was extra special. It took in Muncho Lake and was the peak of my wildlife spotting in Canada. And that happened in my north and south journeys through the area.
Folded Mountain.
Muncho Lake on a calm day. The water is pristine.
I finally came across some bison. Quite a few were tagged. They are big majestic animals.
This one had found a perfect spot for a belly rub on the concrete barrier.
The Muncho Lake area was also my first proper interaction with bears. I went from seeing nothing to four in one day. The first black bear was in the morning by the edge of the road. It stopped and watched me as I rode up, I slowed down to about 20kmh and went past, it crossed the road behind me, and we both went about our day.
The black bear below was in the afternoon. The sun was out and it was a nice 22 degrees celcius. It seems the clover flowers that are out are a favourite. I saw two others along the roadside that day. One youngster snoozing in the sun and another feeding on plants by the road.
I was wary not to upset the bear. It didn’t seem bothered by me and kept eating. I didn’t hang around too long.
The town of Whitehorse was okay. The bike got new tyres, new sprockets and some general care. The mechanic was good for a sense check about going up the Demspter at this time of the year. I still had a little time before the snow and ice would start. I found some more warm clothes and a container for extra fuel. At this point I was pretty sure that where ever I was going after Canada was going to be in the northern hemisphere, so I figured the warm clothes would come to good use.
I made my way to Dawson City which grew from the Klondike gold rush. I picked up a few more supplies and got my head around riding up to the Arctic Ocean.
Signs that Autumn is here.
Mexico in to the United States
Update 39 (July 2023)
The Dempster Highway, Canada
Update 41 (August 2023)