Our stay at Beats cottage in Haines Junction was extended day by day. 

On the one hand, we really enjoyed having our own home, cooking on a stove, eating from plates at a table, and watching movies on the couch. On the other hand, the weather wasn’t really sunny, and we were waiting for a longer fair-weather phase. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen, so we changed our plans at the last minute. Instead of taking the seemingly spectacular detour via Haines and Skagway, we followed the Alaska Highway directly to Whitehorse.

The small town (with 33’000 inhabitants) offers everything that travelers and locals from the Yukon Territory (with 47’000 inhabitants) need. Although there wasn’t much to see in Whitehorse, we enjoyed a leisurely coffee break before continuing our long journey.

Frequent rain showers, headwinds, and little variety made the 440-kilometer stretch between Whitehorse and Watson Lake not particularly appealing. The highlight was meeting Cam. In the morning, he handed us a Gatorade from his work car, and after a long, rainy day, he offered us a hot shower in his hotel room. What a treat, thank you Cam!

In Watson Lake, we were delighted to see Corine and Erwin from Wiedlisbach again, who have been cycling from Alaska southwards since their retirement. We stocked up on supplies in the well-stocked supermarkets and, in the warm information center, we struggled to choose a route for the next 1’300 kilometers.
Should we follow the busy Alaska Highway, like the many long-distance motorcyclists? Or should we head south on the narrow Cassiar Highway, like the majority of the numerous cyclists?  David finally provided the convincing argument: Cassiar Highway #37 is initially scenically interesting, but has little infrastructure. After that, the Yellowhead Highway #16 becomes more monotonous, but there are more villages and places to stop for refreshments. At least, that was our expectation😉. Satisfied with our decision, we returned to the Cassiar Highway junction that same evening. We rewarded ourselves with a Coke from the quirky lady in the food truck, who honored us each with a gold medal for cyclists.

After setting up our tent under the “Welcome to British Columbia” sign, David noticed that his case with the charger and spare batteries was missing. He must have left it at the Visitor Center in Watson Lake. So, our plan for the next day was set: 50 kilometers back to Watson Lake. Because two hours of hitchhiking on this quiet morning proved unsuccessful, we left our bags with the nice man at the run-down gas station and pedaled back to the village on our light bikes. As suspected, the charger was at the Visitor Center… phew! Reason enough to celebrate with coffee and muffins before returning to the intersection.
What hadn’t worked on the way there without bikes was easy on the way back with bikes: we were allowed to hoist our bikes onto the loading area of a construction worker’s truck and he drove us back to the familiar intersection. Yippee, we saved two hours of riding with lots of elevation gain and headwinds😊!

Now we finally headed south on the Cassiar Highway. The days were long and exhausting, the terrain hilly, headwinds and countless rain showers our most faithful companions. The beautiful mountain scenery we had hoped for was often shrouded in clouds, so we made our way from one small settlement to the next, more or less frustrated by the slow progress. Until the weather and wind finally improved after five days, microwave popcorn and the occasional bear on the side of the road were our highlights.
When the sun finally came out, everything became much easier. The bikes rolled smoothly, and our motivation, strength, and enthusiasm returned. Under these conditions, it was clear that we would take a detour to the village of Stewart at Meziadin Junction one day later.

The charming small town with fresh coffee and warm muffins at Trudy’s Bakery would have justified the extra kilometers on its own. But the surroundings offered much more… We were able to leave our extra luggage at the Visitor Center and cycle up to Salmon Glacier via the small village of Hyder located in the USA. Due to mining, the gravel road was well developed and the viewpoint at the top of the pass was even equipped with outhouses. Our overnight spot with a view of the glacier was fantastic and made up for all the effort it took to get here! Only the surprising number of mosquitoes spoiled the idyll a bit.

The next morning, we zoomed back down into the valley and headed straight for Trudy’s bakery😊. Apart from doing laundry and shopping, we had nothing planned for the day, as we had arranged to meet Renée, Kim, Don, and Ross at the campsite on the outskirts of the village in the evening. We had met the four of them a few days earlier while “wild camping” in a parking lot and had a great evening. Now we were invited to dinner with them. But first, there was another happy reunion. On the main road in Stewart, Salome and Dan suddenly rolled up to us. How nice to see them again😊! In the best of company, the afternoon and evening flew by.

Perhaps the night passed a little too quickly, because David woke up today feeling dizzy and had to lie down again before breakfast. While he lay next to me in his sleeping bag on the floor, I began to write this report. He is feeling better now, and we are sitting at Trudy’s again, enjoying another quiet day in Stewart…

This post was written on July 17, 2025 and published on July 24, 2025.