We woke up at 3am, packed up our expeds and sleeping bags, loaded up the bikes and disembarked the Matanuska at 3:45am. We hung out in the parking lot with our biker friends while we formulated the morning plan. Kev and I decided to ride the 4 miles into Haines to see what was open. We rode around the entire town when I saw an neon open sign out of the corner of my eye. We pulled into the parking lot and figured out it was a bar. We were warmly greeted by a couple of happy locals leaving through the back door who enthusiastically informed us that the bar was closing in 15, but, John would probably serve us. Out of the blue they then said "Here... have a couple of cold Pabst Blue Ribbons and welcome to Haines!" We chatted for 20 or so they gave us the info on the roads and beers, sorry that was meant to be bears, and recommended a good place for breakfast that opened at 6am. Yes we did open the beers an take a couple of swigs! Kev and I hung out in the dirt parking lot of the bar, watched a hitchhiker get dropped off, and a guy who was sleeping in his truck next to us wake up and then it was time to go to Brekky. We got back on the road around 6:45am, crossed into Canada once again, this time with no border hassles, and felt somewhat unprepared for the drastic drop in temperature. We hit rain, entered the Yukon, and the noise of our motorcycles saved a gracious bicyclist from a couple of curious juvenile black bears. As we worked our way to Haines Junction, we started to shiver. Around noon, we arrived at Haines Junction and checked in at the Cozy Corner Motel. Still feeling wonky from the boat, we pulled our wet and cold gear off, spread it out over the heating vents and then climbed into bed We were thankful to be out of the rain and in a clean room, even if the sloping floors didn't help our equilibrium... Lol.... Fantastic day!
Time to disembark!
Gathering in the parking lot off the ferry
We're in Alaska!
We rode out to the lake to see if we could catch some bears fishing...none there :(
Downtown Haines
Amazing scenery heading towards Haines Junction
We have reached the Yukon, Canada
We are going right!
Getting warm and dry at the Cozy Corner.