We woke up to a nice day, which means: no rain Before heading out towards the seductions of Whitehorse, we decided to cycle around in Champagne, which appeared to be a ghost town. We spotted some good campsites near the community hall, wondering why our ‘hosts’ had not pointed these out. Just when we were turning around to start our trip towards Whitehorse, noticed some smoke coming out of a building. We checked it out and found a few ladies cooking in a large kitchen.

‘Do you want some breakfast?’ One asked.

Letmethink-yes!

‘Sit down, you can stay for the Potlatch.’

We had no idea what the Potlatch (often called Potluck) was, but we found out during this wonderful day. It was one year ago that one elder of the Champagne-Aishihik First nation had died. Now, one year later, a spirit house was built on her grave and all friends and family came together for the celebration of this occasion and to remember her.

So during the day a row of people came into the huge community hall, from very young to very old.. We were happy that we could help out during the day. I helped making al the tables and chairs ready for 200 persons and grilled several hundred of ‘Hooligans’: some small type of fish. Ivana helped serving the people, there were many courses. We got fed ourselves as well: from Moosejaw soup to fish eggs to salad and salmon. Ivana convinced teh shy children that she could turn them into animals by painting their faces. We talked with the elders as well as the younger generations. It was all great.

I spoke a while with Yoyo, one of the elders.

‘So you can tell your friends that you were with the Indians and that they all wore feathers and such’, Yoyo remarked.

I told him that that stereotype was not my impression of the First Nation people we had met so far. He looked at me, decided that I was good and started to talk about his past.

‘You know, the younger generation cannot speak our language anymore. I am one of the last ones to speak it. Our language is lower to the ground, closer to the earth. If I forgot my gloves near a tree in a big forest 60 miles away, I could explain a friend where to look for them in a few minutes. In the high speech, this is impossible’.

‘We were happy, but when the white people came, they took our children and put them in religious camps. They had to learn the bible and forget about all that our ancestors had taught them. Most came back broken, cut off from their traditions. Now slowly we get some rights back, but the connection with our past is gone forever…’

‘In our tradition, there is no hierarchy, no rich and poor. We share all things. Some people might have a better harvest, a better hunt or nowadays a better salary. We share all, so everybody can live well. This was forbidden in the Indian Act, as the missionaries said it was ‘non-Christian’  to have no ranks and to share everything…’

During the day the tables in the back were filled with all kinds of things: food, blankets, plastic stuff. It was a bit strange to see all that, but we found out that all items would be given away to the ‘Wolves’. The Indian ‘Band’ was divided in Crows (Ravens) and Wolves, an ancient way of preventing bloodlines to become too limited: a wolf can never marry another wolf etc.

One of the organizers, Ted, gave me a red ribbon and told me to wear it, I was an honorary wolf and therefore would participate in receiving gifts. One of the first things I received was a huge warm blanket. Very nice, but completely unpractical on a bike, so I asked if they could give it to somebody else who might need it more. One of the people in charge came to us and told us with a serious face that it was very impolite to refuse gifts at a potlatch. We got the hint and happily received heavy items, food and other things. In teh end we gave most of it away to some family members who seemed to need it more.

There was a young and very shy couple -of which I am not sure if their parents had kept to the Wolves/Crows code- that was incredible happy with all the gifts. At one point the young man and woman softly spoke a few words that for me summarizes a lot of the people  of Alaska and the Yukon: “Great, now I do not have to go hunting for a week!’. ‘And we can invite all our friends and share this with them’, his girlfriend replied cheerfully…

One of the interesting things is that most relatives donated money. The received amounts were read aloud: Mr x has donated $5. Mr Y and family have donated $250. All donations were received with applause and ranged from $5 to $750. At the end of the day, the money was used to pay off the kitchen staff, for any other costs that had been made, and for the gifts. What was left, was handed out to all people, where the elderly and poorest clearly got their share first. They even donated $10 to me and as I was not allowed to refuse, we came out ahead on this day, but in many more ways than just financially…

Some background information about the Aishihik First nation & Potlatches:

Champagne and Aishihik First Nations

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations is a First Nation in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Its original population centres were Champagne, Yukon and Aishihik, Yukon, but most of its citizens moved to Haines Junction, Yukon to take advantage of services offered there such as schools. The First Nation government has its main administrative offices there. Other settlements used included Klukshu, Yukon. Many also live in Whitehorse where the First Nation government has offices. The language originally spoken by the Champagne and Aishihik people was Southern Tutchone.

The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations was one of the first four First Nations to sign a land claims agreement in 1992. The First Nation is also pursuing a land claim in its traditional territory in the northwestern corner of British Columbia.

External links

• Champagne and Aishihik First Nations web site
• Government of Canada’s Department of Indian and Northern Affairs First Nation profile

From their website:

In 1993, after more than 20 years of negotiations, CAFN’s rights to the Yukon portion of its traditional lands and resources were finally confirmed with the signing of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations Final Agreement between CAFN, the Government of Canada and the Government of Yukon. Land claim negotiations concerning the portion of CAFN territory within BC are as yet incomplete, but in the interim, an innovative and precedentsetting agreement between the BC government and CAFN has been reached which provides for joint management authority of the newly created Tatshenshini-Alsek Park.

The road to the Yukon Land Claim Agreement was a long and difficult one. Many Champagne and Aishihik members, beginning with the late Elijah Smith, provided creative leadership in initiating and negotiating an Umbrella Yukon Land Claim Agreement. Elijah organized the Yukon Native Brotherhood and, in 1973, he presented Together Today for our Children Tomorrow, a position paper on the Yukon comprehensive claim, to then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. CAFN was one of the first four Yukon First Nations to conclude their final agreements.

CAFN’s Dave Joe was the Chief Negotiator for the Council for Yukon Indians (now the Council of Yukon First Nations) was instrumental in completing the Yukon Umbrella Final Agreement. The late Harry Allen and Dorothy Wabisca, along with Chief Paul Birckel, were also key players in the successful negotiation of these groundbreaking agreements. CAFN’s Land Claim Agreement provides for the ownership of some 2,427 square kilometers of land. It also continues to provide guaranteed access to fish and wildlife resources. Most importantly, the agreement establishes the CAFN government as co-managers of all natural and cultural resources in its traditional territory. CAFN is now a full partner on the Kluane National Park Management Board, the Alsek Renewable Resources Council and has representation on numerous other regional and territorial boards that make recommendations on heritage, educational, environmental and economic issues. In addition, the self-government agreement provides CAFN with the power to enact laws on a wide range of matters affecting the rights of its citizens.

On September 17, 1998 the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations made history by passing three acts: the Income Tax Act, Fish and Wildlife Act, and the Traditional Pursuits Act. These acts became effective on January 1, 1999. A variety of municipal services, (housing, roads, water and sewer) as well as social services (health, nutrition, employment and training) are fully administered by the First Nations’ government. The Department of Lands and Resources, which also includes Heritage and Economic Development, manages CAFN’s traditional lands and integrates education and training of its citizens. CAFN has undergone radical change in the last 100 years. Not long ago, the Southern Tutchone people of this region lived as part of the land. Today, they are working on the establishment of their own government and CAFN is becoming the steward of its homeland as it builds a sustainable economy.

Wikipedia: excerpt from Indian Act:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Act

1885: Amended to prohibit religious ceremonies (such as potlatches)^[6]

WikiPedia: Potlatch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch

A potlatch^[1][2][3] is a festival ceremony practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in North America, along Pacific Northwest coast of the United States and the Canadian province of British Columbia. This includes Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Tsimshian^[4], Nuu-chah-nulth,^[5] Kwakwaka’wakw^[6] and Coast Salish^[7] cultures. The word comes from the Chinook Jargon, meaning “to give away” or “a gift”. It is a vital part of indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest. It went through a history of rigorous ban by the Canadian government, and has been the study of many anthropologists.

The potlatch is a festival or ceremony practiced among Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. At these gatherings a family or hereditary leader hosts guests in their family’s house and hold a feast for their guests. The main purpose of the potlatch is the re-distribution and reciprocity of wealth.

During the event, different events take place, like either singing and dances, sometimes with masks or regalia, the barter of wealth through gifts, such as dried foods, sugar, flour, or other material things, and sometimes money. For many potlatches, spiritual ceremonies take place for different occasions. This is either through material wealth like foods and goods or immaterial things like songs, dances and such. For some cultures, like Kwakwaka’wakw, elaborate and theatrical dances are performed reflecting the hosts genealogy and cultural wealth they possess. Many of these dances are also sacred ceremonies of secret societies like the hamatsa, or display of family origin from supernatural creatures like the dzunukwa. Typically the potlatching is practiced more in the winter seasons as historically the warmer months were for procuring wealth for the family, clan, or village, then coming home and sharing that with neighbors and friends.

Within it, hierarchical relations within and between clans, villages, and nations, are observed and reinforced through the distribution or sometimes destruction of wealth, dance performances, and other ceremonies. The status of any given family is raised not by who has the most resources, but by who distributes the most resources. The hosts demonstrate their wealth and prominence through giving away goods. Chief O’wax̱a̱laga̱lis of the Kwagu’ł describes the potlatch in his famous speech to anthropologist Franz Boas, “We will dance when our laws command us to dance, and we will feast when our hearts desire to feast. Do we ask the white man, ‘Do as the Indian does?’ It is a strict law that bids us dance. It is a strict law that bids us distribute our property among our friends and neighbors. It is a good law. Let the white man observe his law; we shall observe ours. And now, if you come to forbid us dance, be gone. If not, you will be welcome to us.”

Celebration of births, rites of passages, weddings, funerals, namings, and honoring of the deceased are some of the many forms the potlatch occurs under. Although protocol differs among the Indigenous nations, the potlatch will usually involve a feast, with music, dance, theatricality and spiritual ceremonies. The most sacred ceremonies are usually observed in the winter.

It is important to note the differences and uniqueness among the different cultural groups and nations along the coast. Each nation, tribe, and sometimes clan has its own way of practicing the potlatch so as to present a very diverse presentation and meaning. The potlatch, as an overarching term, is quite general, since some cultures have many words in their language for all different specific types of gatherings. Nonetheless, the main purpose has and still is the redistribution of wealth procured by families.

History

Before the arrival of the Europeans, gifts included storable food (oolichan [candle fish] oil or dried food), canoes, and slaves among the very wealthy, but otherwise not income-generating assets such as resource rights. The influx of manufactured trade goods such as blankets and sheet copper into the Pacific Northwest caused inflation in the potlatch in the late eighteenth and earlier nineteenth centuries. Some groups, such as the Kwakwaka’wakw, used the potlatch as an arena in which highly competitive contests of status took place. In rare cases, goods were actually destroyed after being received. The catastrophic mortalities due to introduced diseases laid many inherited ranks vacant or open to remote or dubious claim—providing they could be validated—with a suitable potlatch.^[8]

The potlatch was a cultural practice much studied by ethnographers. “Potlatch is a festive event within a regional exchange system among tribes of the North pacific Coast of North America, including the Salish and Kwakiutl of Washington and British Columbia.”^{[citation needed]} Sponsors of a potlatch give away many useful items such as food, blankets, worked ornamental mediums of exchange called “coppers”, and many other various items. In return, they earned prestige. To give a potlatch enhanced one’s reputation and validated social rank, the rank and requisite potlatch being proportional, both for the host and for the recipients by the gifts exchanged. Prestige increased with the lavishness of the potlatch, the value of the goods given away in it.

Potlatch ban

Potlatching was made illegal in Canada in 1885^[9] and the United States in the late nineteenth century, largely at the urging of missionaries and government agents who considered it “a worse than useless custom”^{[citation needed]} that was seen as wasteful, unproductive which was not part of “civilized” values.^[10]

The potlatch was seen as a key target in assimilation policies and agendas. Missionary William Duncan wrote in 1875 that the potlatch was “by far the most formidable of all obstacles in the way of Indians becoming Christians, or even civilized.”^[11] Thus in 1885, the Indian Act was revised to include clauses banning the potlatch and making it illegal to practice. The official legislation read, “Every Indian or other person who engages in or assists in celebrating the Indian festival known as the “Potlatch” or the Indian dance known as the “Tamanawas” is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not more than six nor less than two months in a jail or other place of confinement; and, any Indian or other person who encourages, either directly or indirectly an Indian or Indians to get up such a festival or dance, or to celebrate the same, or who shall assist in the celebration of same is guilty of a like offence, and shall be liable to the same punishment.”

Eventually it became amended to be more inclusive as earlier discharged on technicalities. Legislation was then expanded to include guest who participated in the ceremony. The indigenous people were too large to police, and enforce. Duncan Campbell Scott convinced Parliament to change the offense from criminal to summary, which meant ‘the agents, as justice of the peace, could try a case, convict, and sentence.”^[12]

Continuation

Sustaining the customs and culture of their ancestors, indigenous people now openly hold potlatch to commit to the restoring of their ancestors’ ways. Potlatch now occur frequently and increasingly more over the years as families reclaim their birthright.

See also

• Koha, a related concept among the Māori
• Kula ring, a similar concept in the Trobriand Islands (Oceania)
• Moka, another similar concept in Papua New Guinea
• Sepik Coast exchange, yet another similar concept in Papua New Guinea
• Guy Debord, French Situationist writer on the subject of potlatch and commodity reification.
• Gift economy

We took a rest day in Beaver Creek. It was still raining most of the day and we could use the Wifi Internet at the 1202 motel for free, so we could update the website and do some work. The next day we were off and found that the wind was almost blowing in our backs, hurray! The wind is maybe the biketraveller’s biggest friend or foe. It makes such a difference if the downhills can be done without any pedaling, it makes the following uphill look a lot easier, saving physical and mental strength.

When we stopped at a campground for some lunch we were almost attacked by a very persistent squirrel. He used all possible ways to get on our table and to try to steal our food and when chased away, made angry sounds from the top of a nearby tree! Guess he was also getting ready for winter, as it was still getting colder every day..

A little

down the road we spotted 2 big moose. It is still hard to imagine how tall they actually are; as we stay at a safe distance, we never get the chance to check if they really are about 2 meters (6-7 feet) at the shoulders and fortunately our bikes also do not have to test if they are really about 700 kilos each..

We were warned by the lady in the Beaver Creek tourist office not to stop at the White River lodge, apparently they had been very rude to travellers. When we arrived there, the rainclouds were just about to engulf us with full force, so we stopped to put on our rain pants. Immediately a guy came outside and told us to continue, as the owner apparently hates cyclists!

The rain was unavoidable, so we headed right in and got totally wet in about 10 minutes, when we arrived at a small diner and gas station, called Cook’s. The office slash ‘restaurant’ was a complete mess, filled with all kinds of junk, rocks, canned foods and miscellaneous items. We got off on a wrong start when I paid for the can of Irish Stew and a big 1 kilo package of cookies.

‘Ah, she had coffee as well? That is $1 more.’

‘But your wife invited us for a coffee?! We thought it was free!’. A discussion started about free coffee (everywhere in Alaska), but soon the conversation warmed up a bit. They told us about their life and the hard winters; in the end Mr Cook came out with a roll of tape to try to fix Ivana’s rainpants. It did not work, but we appreciated the gesture. Meanwhile a couple came in, totally amazed about two motorcyclists they had talked to outside. They were going all the way to Argentina! I casually remarked that we were doing the same, but on bicycles and their eyes opened even wider. The man wrote for a local newspaper and wanted to interview us outside.

After the interview I went back in to say goodbye to the Cooks.

‘What are you having for dinner?’ Mr Cook asked me.

‘Spaghetti probably, like every night. But tonight we have this Irish Stew to mix with it!’ I replied.

‘Do you like Moose meat?’

I told that that I wouldn’t know as I had never tried it. ‘Wait a minute.’, e said and stumbled out the back.  A few moments later he came out with a pound of moose minced meat.

‘We shot it a while ago, I just grounded the meat. Here, take it and have a safe trip!’

It was great to see how an irritated discussion turned to sharing food and stories within one hour… (See their picture here on the ’1000 Americans’ category).

Just an hour ahead we stopped at a government campsite. As we are on a budget, we asked the first couple we saw if we could share their spot. We could and we had a pleasant evening with them, sitting around the fire, sharing moosemeat, our travel stories and knowledge of foreign cultures and their life in Alaska and Northern Canada.

The next morning David and Karen even made us pancakes, but I had to take care when eating them as the hungry squirrels were even smarter over here, see this video that Ivana took:

The rain stopped and it turned out to be quite a nice day. The wind was in our back and the hills not too bad. We passed quite a few empty lodges, either deserted for the season and some seemed just totally abandoned. This makes it a lot easier to find a shelter to camp in, but the food and water planning does need a lot more careful planning now as this situation will not change as the season is ending..

We ended up along the shores of Kluane Lake. The friendly owner of the Talbot Arm motel let us camp for free behind the Motel and we could use the Wifi and power to do some more writing.

The ending season is also very visible in nature: some hills look like it has been desaturated in Photoshop: dark green trees turn light green, before they become bright yellow. As different trees are in different stages, a nice colourful palette is created.

The next day we found out that it was good we had not continued a bit to the next camprground as there was a big sign that tenting was not allowed due to bear danger! So where are all those bears, we still had not seen anything…

Just a bit further down the road we got a free ride of 7 km, on the back of a truck. Not that we had asked for it, but we had no choice. At the end of Kluane lake, they were redoing the road and as they were blasting rocks, we we forced to take a break. Unfortunately they did not take us up the long steep hill that followed…

The day was nice though and the evening was actually very sunny, while we were cycling next to the gorgeous Kluane national park, home of Mt Logan, Canada’s highest peak (and 2nd highest of North America, after Denali). We didn’t know if we could make it all the way to Haines Junction though as we had been on the road for long. Also another Biketraveller we met told us that the next 7 km would be uphill. In fact it turned out to be almost 10km of slowly ascending, but then we got a 10km downhill as a reward!. Totally unexpected we zoomed a few hundred vertical meters down, without pedaling once and we arrived in one of the few junctions on the Alaska Highway and the first traffic light since Denali Park…

We stayed at the actual junction, camped behind the Shell station. The next morning we visited the famous bakery. The bread was actually not as nice as anticipated, but the cozy room with free Wifi was very much appreciated! We spend all morning there and after a needed visit to the first Supermarket since Tok, Alaska, it was already quite late before we hit the road..

Before we even reached the airport, located 2km out of town, I noticed something moving in the corner of my eye. A huge wolf was walking besides the road in the same direction as me. I proved that I am a better fiancee than a photographer, by grabbing the can of bearspray and not my camera and waited for Ivana, who was 100m behind me. The wolf looked at me, he was beautiful, different shades of grey with big piercing eyes. Before Ivana reached me, a truck passed, stopped and turned back to see -or maybe shoot- the wolf and the gracious animal smartly ran into the bush, Ivana never saw it.. Suddenly we were reminded of the wild we were in. The thin line calledd the Alaska Highway was just a small but deep scar in the huge wilderness where animals and native people had been living side by side for centuries..

We were not quite sure where we wanted to go, but somewhere halfway to Whitehorse, 160km away. Like often, we would just go and see what we would meet on our way. We had noticed that there was a small town called Champagne, which was on the old Alaksa Highway, cut off when the highway was redone a few decades ago. We decided to take the only possible road less traveled and ended up in Champagne. What we saw and experienced there was very special, so special it deserves its own post, so stay tuned to www.worldonabike.com for updates…

Meanwhile here is a picture of a very weird place in the town:

Kowalski! Status report!

The tailwind definitely helped our average speed, which was about 3-4km per hour higher than the headwind days. It made a few days of 100km possible, even when still climbing at least 500m per day, sometimes more. Kowalski & Greeny are still in top shape, Santos rules

We woke up late, still exhausted from the previous 2 days. It was nice to relax again, while catching up on some work, emails and laundry. In the afternoon we checked out the visitor centres at the beginning of the only road into the park. The Denali park road (not to be confused with the Denali Highway, which we will cycle the next week), is a dead-end road that goes on for about 90 miles. It is forbidden for regular vehicles (cars, RV’s) after mile 15, but cyclists are allowed, as long as they pay the park fees. There are special camper buses that can take two bicycles as well as a lot of backpackers and it is actually cheaper to take that bus to the end of the road than a regular tourbus.

We decided that we would catch the Camper Bus into the park and then cycle back down the road. There are two options to camp along the road: you can reserve a paid spot on one of the 3 or 4 official campsites or you can go ‘backcountry camping’: The wilderness areas next to the road is divided into different sections and you can get a free permit to hike and camp in one of the sections, as long as there are still spaces, as they limit the impact on nature.

This is a great way to see the park, you can meet bears and caribou on every corner. The sections where there are known families of wildlife, like bears with cubs or a fox-den, are closed off for camping and hiking. We reserved the bus out and two sectors for backcountry camping, so we could stay in the park for 3 days.

Then it was time to go to the park headquarters where we could see the official husky demonstration. It was great to see the few dozen dogs, anxious to get picked for the demonstration. They all wanted to run so badly, but only a few were put into the ‘team’ that pulled a sled over gravel (!) in front of an excited audience, while the rangers explained all about the dogs. Yes, we were tourists, but we enjoyed it. As the rest of the crowd had to catch their bus back and we were on our bikes, we could stay longer and chat with the rangers and spend some time with the great dogs. Will be wonderful to come back here one day in winter..

When we stopped into the Visitors center’s bookshop, I was hapy to notice a healthy pile of my Denali Pocket Summit guidebook. When i told the staff i wrote it, they had me sign all 30 copies they had in stock and placed a nice ‘signed by author’ sticker on all of them

3rd August: Into the park: to Wonder Lake

We had to wake up at 5 in the morning to be able to catch the first Camper bus. We would only be gone for a few days, so we could leave most of our gear at Eugene’s place, nice to cycle with half the weight! The busdriver resembled Mrs Crabtree from South Park, who apparently was not informed by the reservations office that 2 bikes were coming. Good we had the reservations tickets to prove it; in the end she warmed up a bit and even stopped for some wildlife. There was not much, some caribou and foxes, but suddenly we noticed some wolves coming up the road behind us. They were aiming straight for our bus, but just when they were getting a bit closer, some other bus came up the road and chased them into the thick underbrush and we did not see them again. Still it was great to see a small pack of wolves strolling around in the wild..

Just before reaching Wonder Lake, we saw a big grizzly walking around, just a few hundred meters from the campsite. It was too far to make a decent photo, but we could feel the power of this magnificent king of the tundra..

Wonder lake is the end of the road and though we were planning to ride back about 20 miles, we liked the place so much that we asked some Dutch campers (that were doing the same trip but with a car they bought in Alaska) if we could share their spot. Actually, they left the next morning before we could pay them their $8, so if you are reading this, Guus & friends, let us know! We spend the rest of the day relaxing in the warm sun. Ivana picked a bag full of blueberries, which she turned into a great jam later and I just played patient photographer, lying on my back in the grass, waiting for Denali / Mt McKinley to finally appear from behind the clouds. She almost did, but the view of the rest of the Alaskan range was already breathtaking..

4th august: Wonder lake to Sanctuary Campground

The next day it was raining and as we were on a break, we took the easy way out and took the camper bus out until about halfway of the road. We were smart enough to get dropped at the highest point, the Sabre Pass (also called Highway pass). It was still raining a lot and cold and windy, but we got very warm immediately as we had spotted 3 bears alongside the park road! A big grizzly mom and her two cubs were feasting on the berries and did not seem to notice us, just about 75m away. We stayed a while and then went on a wonderful downhill, stopping only at the Igloo Campground where we had a rainy spaghetti lunch, shared with a nice family from Canada. Then a small hill and another downhill took us to another campground. We had planned to leave our bikes and food there and then to camp just behind as we had a backcountry permit for this section. But as the campground was almost empty, there was little point in going in to even wetter ground and we just pitched our tent in one of the empty spots.

We met some very nice people from Palo Alto, California. They were taking care of some less-fortunate kids from East-Palo Alto, so show them what The Wild really looked like. Not sure if the kids were really getting any feeling for nature conservation as they were freezing and wet, but it was nice to talk with them.

The leader, Lena, gave me a great gift: a book called “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (Paperback) by William McDonough & Michael Braungart. It is a great book about recycling vs what they call ‘downcycling’. It is a new way of thinking to make the world greener, healthier and less polluting. Check out this link and read more about it. One of the great things is that the book is not made of paper, but of a new type of material, which is not only recyclable, but also waterproof! So I can have this book on the outside of my bags and whenever i have to stop and wait for a few minutes for Ivan, I can read a bit. Mud, water etc, can just be wiped off

. The nice thing was that before I even noticed the book on the table, she already had written that the book belonged to her, or that it should be passed on to an ‘extraordinary individual’. Thanks Lena, I will surely do so.

5th August: back to Denali Park Village & 1000 Americans: Eugene

The next morning we plowed up yet another hill through the muddy road, but then it was mostly downhill all the way to the park gate. The last 15 miles are paved, so we zoomed down the hill. Ivana suddenly noticed that her bike was very comfortable, which of course it shouldn’t be as we are tough biketravellers. We soon found out what caused it: her back tire was half empty! After more than 1200km we had our first flat. We were close to the visitor centre, here I could find the culprit: a shiny new nail of about 2cm long had sneaked past the defenses of our Schwalbe marathon XR…

We waited until Eugene got off work and joined him for a few pitchers of beer in the Salmon Bake bar. he had worked until midnight and had to work again on the breakfast shift, which started at about 4 in the morning, so he thought it would be best if he just drank some beer and stayed awake instead of taking a short nap. Besides, we were occupying his bed! We had a great time, relaxing in the bar filled with all kinds of outcasts that seemed perfectly in place in Alaska, so we fit right in. We talked about travelling, the thing that makes Eugene happy as well..

August 6: To Cantwell

The next morning we were still packing when he came back from work. We continued working as we could use one of many free Wifi networks in Alaska. When he woke up, he took us to the place where all Denali Park employees can eat for a low fixed fee per month. They dd not ask us for any pass, so we could feast on large slices of pizza and a great salad!

Then it was time to give Eugene back his house and we headed out to Cantwell, another 40km down the road. The George parks Highway is beautiful here and we spotted a few moose. Some were at a safe distance, another one we scared off the road (and he almost did vice versa) as cyclists make a lot less noise than the 36+ft RV’s that normally pass..

We had been in contact with Tori, another Couchsurfer, but she was out that day. Also her husband Ben had to go out, but he introduced us to his dog Scout, who became a new friend almost immediately. We pitched our tent, ready for the next adventure: cycling the Denali Highway, more hills and loose gravel, combined with rain, cold and wildlife…. And maybe we would finally find our new friend that the two polarbears in Fairbanks had told us about?….