September in Alaska is freezing to ride a motorcycle Trip to Alaska Episode 52

All the trees around here are changing colors for the fall. It's really beautiful, but it's also a sign of impending cold, which I'm not too happy about. It should be pretty. It should be cold. It hopefully will not rain, but, I mean, this is all of our heated gear today because it's, yeah, it's going to be a cold one. Trying out our heated gloves. Tim was just feeling better. After this cold, this wetness, I was very concerned that Tim was going to relapse again or it was not going to be good for his recovery. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Surviving Blackflies. No Tears Frontiers. We travel the world together, husband and wife duo, on top of a KTM 1190 Adventure R. That's correct. We ride two up. We've been through the Americas, we've been through part of Africa, and now we are on our Alaska journey. And thank you so much for traveling along with us. In the last episode, Tim was not feeling so well. I was feeling awful. So well is true. Tim is sick with a fever, throwing up, chills, and we're stuck out here in McCarthy, Alaska. I was not feeling well at all. No, and we were in a pretty bad situation because we were so remote. Because we ride two up, I'm unable to take the motorcycle anywhere, so it's really all up to him. Well, it's not because we're two up. It's because you don't honor at a motorcycle. That's right, that's right. Yeah, I cannot ride a motorcycle, which has never been a problem before. No. And we don't have any more water. But we're a part of a campground. I'm sure someone here can help out. We were in a campground with people. We were walking distance to a town, so I was able to get supplies. But they weren't good supplies, and they were expensive, and it was cold outside. That was the main thing. You were sick, and it was cold. It's really cold and windy. The wind just hits you. Yeah, I was sick and tired. I was getting sick and tired and camping, and I wanted warmth and possibly a shower. Exactly. You had sweat through all of your clothes. We really wanted to get out of this remote place. Yeah. How are you feeling? A little better. I still feel a little poopy, but not as like death. Good. Russ is a good nurse. Oh, thank you. So we were in McCarthy, Alaska, which is smack dab in the middle of the largest national park in the United States called Wrangell-St. Elias. Yeah. This is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, and here we are, McCarthy, right in the middle. Everything else is wilderness. It also has, right there next to the town of McCarthy, a mine. In fact, that's the whole reason why the town of McCarthy was there. Yeah, and we could see it from across the river from where we were. Yeah. It was cool. It looked like an old mine building that was barnyard red and crawled up the side. It was huge. You could tell, even from a distance, like that is a massive building. And there was this little pedestrian bridge that linked the campground across the river to McCarthy and then onwards to this little red mine. I had to head out of here today because the weather has just turned really cold, windy, wet. The motorcycle can and does fit. Yeah. I didn't die. There's these little bumpers in between that you kind of have to make sure you don't hit. Exactly, because we are kind of wide. I was not feeling top spirits. That's true. But I did not bump the bumpers. Yes, which is excellent because we do have a lot of junk in the trunk when it comes to the motorcycle. Nobody. Yes, this is true. But we were able to make it across that bridge and to the other side where the Kennecott mine was. Yeah. We are here at Kennecott Copper Mine. Check that out. Kennecott Mine was the highest producing copper ore mine in the world at its time. It lasted until 1938 when they depleted all the ore and closed the mine pretty much overnight. People left their dishes on the dining room table. They just abandoned the entire town. It wasn't until more recently that people started to refurbish this area, turn it into a historic site, and also start a tourism industry in the Kennecott area. This mine was the most productive copper mine from 1911 to 1938 in the world. They got so much copper out of those mountains. I think it was $200 million worth of copper at that time. It was an incredible amount. Somebody said that the average ore percentage, not percentage, but the grain structure of it. I don't know my words, but it's like eight to nine somethings. The carrots of it? The carrots. The goodness of it was like eight to nine percent ore. Oh really? Wow. But this was like 90 plus concentrated awesome copper. Yes, and they processed all of the copper there as well. So it wasn't just a mine, but an entire processing plant. It's pretty remarkable to be standing in one of the buildings that they used during the time when this was an operational copper mine. It just feels really cool in here. I love all the wood. Now it has been turned into a museum. This bunkhouse housed up to 60 mill workers at any one time. The mine workers stayed in camps high up on the mountain near the entrances to the mines. Look, these are some of the dishes that they would use. Look at the Japanese. And because it's so remote, everyone had to live there. It was basically its own community. They had a whole cafeteria where they had breakfast three times, lunch three times, and dinner three times to accommodate all of the workers and their shifts. Every single day. Three shifts of workers meant serving three breakfasts, three lunches, and three dinners seven days a week in the mess hall. This was the mess hall. Amazing. This building also housed about 60 mill workers during its heyday. Just this building alone. And this isn't nearly the biggest one. There was a whole bunch of people that worked at the mine. But the mine itself and the little community, that was the mine. There was no liquor, there was no brothels, there was no bars. It was company property. It was the company store. It was. I owe my soul to the company store. That's right. He worked for that company. And then the centers at McCarthy were like, let us make brothels and bars. Okay, so I definitely want to go to the general store. Exactly. So that's what McCarthy did. That's it. It filled a void. It did. It had all the goodness that the little area of Kennecott did not have, the company area. So that was how that kind of all sprung up. But the wooden structure of that mining building, it was, for the time, the largest wooden structure on the planet. You can see it today as being absolutely massive. It goes right up the mountain. I love how they painted it red. You got to be Barnyard Red. Yeah. Or else, ooh, I wouldn't have even gone. The red is awesome. Yes. I was excited for the mine, but I was equally excited for the possibility of a short day because I was feeling like poo-poo platter, you know? Right. So to get from McCarthy to anywhere, it's a one-way road. It ends at McCarthy. You have to go out the same way you came in. There's no other roads around. There's planes. Yeah, you could take a plane. But it's a distance. And it's a dirt road. And we were really, really hoping for good weather because if it was going to rain and storm, we knew that road was going to turn into another version of the Dalton Highway. It was going to slush. Yeah, with a fever, crappy roads was not on my to-do list of things I wanted to accomplish that day. Exactly. But thankfully, the weather held out. There was just a little bit of rain, but for the most part, it was a clear day, but very, very cold. And we passed by the Gilahina Trestle, which we had seen on the way down, but this time we got a much closer look at it. This sounds like a dance. The Gilahina Trestle. This is how you trestle. This was rickety. Yeah, I think it's train tracks. It is train tracks. But it's like a high train track. It's like a big bridge. And they are jacked. We threw the drone up there to see it. It looked like that Great American Ride, the whatever eagle, American Eagle. Like a roller coaster? Gone extremely astray. It's like 200 years after mankind doesn't exist is what this thing looked like. It was like, whoa, that's all jacked. We had just come from a mine, and so it reminded me of the mine carts in Indiana Jones. Yeah. Is that like you jump, and you're like, oh no, Indy! And you land on more tracks like this or whatever. I'm eight, I believe it, and I was a full-grown adult. Actually, that wouldn't happen. But still awesome. Still awesome. And full-grown adult was quite loose. I took some pictures and some goodness of that. But yeah, it started to drizzle again. There's only one gas station in and out. And we pulled over there again, and there's this huge sign that says Motel. Yes, now this was Kenny Lake. Tiny town. I ran in and I asked how much the little hotel would be. And she said it was 90 bucks. Which for this area is pretty good. Now, it didn't have its own bathroom, shared bathroom, shared shower and everything. But that was totally fine by us. Two free movies, two free DVDs. Yeah, so this hotel room came with two free DVD rentals. Marissa's never seen Lethal Weapon. Right, I've never seen Lethal Weapon. Not as good as I remember it. I think they get progressively better, but 80s in a nutshell. It was interesting, yeah. Most of these DVDs that they had were pretty old and classic. So we kind of kept with that theme, watched a horror movie. We got a mystery. You know, it was kind of cool. It was a nice little feeling just to be recovering. We stayed two nights, because the next day I was like, there's more bad movies to be had. Yeah. This is nice. We stayed until you were really recovered. Because we were concerned at this point that Tim had COVID. We weren't able to test it at the time because there were no tests to be had around in the area. But we've camped to try to get away from people. We were already in a really secluded area. And you weren't seeing anybody. I was going and getting our little TV dinners. Yeah, we had little crappy TV dinners. Because all we had was a microwave. That was it. So we had a lot of cup of noodles. Other nutrient-packed, flavorful things that would get you to feel better. In a packet. Exactly. Flavor crystals make the soul feel better. Those riboflavins. Riboflavins. That was really good for you to feel all better. And we were able to continue on. So from Kenny Lake, we headed on to Tok, which was going to be the last place that we were going to stay in. Well, I can't say that. Because we actually do go into Alaska again. But we don't stay there. That's right. So it was the last place that we were going to stay in Alaska. Unfortunately, the ride to Tok was pretty cold and pretty wet. Tim was just feeling better. This cold, this wetness. I was very concerned that Tim was going to relapse again. Or it was not going to be good for his recovery. And so once we got to Tok, we once again stayed in a hotel. It's cold and rainy and there's already tons of bugs just swarming around my face. I don't even know how they survive. We want to thank Temple of Modo for these wonderful opportunities that we had when we were in need. And we need a hotel room. For making me feel better on a sick, nasty day. I can thank Temple of Modo for mending my wounds. Temple of Modo has supported us throughout it all. Temple of Modo is a motorcycle touring company that goes all over to beautiful, beautiful national parks and natural areas. So it's really combining the love of motorcycles with the love of nature. And we rode with them around Yellowstone. They're really, really great. So if you're interested, check them out. For sure. We thank all of our supporters that have helped push this along. Much love. Good morning, everyone. We are in this lovely hotel here in Tok, Alaska. Thank you to Temple of Modo for helping us out with this hotel. It has been a wonderful, wonderful stay. As Tim has been recovering from his illness, he's feeling all better now. And we've been staying warm out of the frigid cold out there. Now, all of this cold weather was a really good test of our heated gear. I'm wearing my heated gear right now. And the jacket is first gear, which I've been loving. Yeah. I've been wearing it every day. And to stay warm and safe, either make some or distribute some. Oh, right. So first gear and warm and safe are now combined. And I wear mine. I wear mine as well. And then Marissa's got her little Spider-Man, Spider-Woman. I'm sorry. You do, too. Well, I don't. I'm not wearing them. Oh, very true. But those plug into little heated gloves. So this will be the first day that I'm trying out our heated gloves. Which will make your hands not freeze. But they're not as toasty as our jackets ourselves. No, they're not. But then again, you don't have your own little dial for the gloves. So it's almost good that it doesn't get too hot. Yeah, no, that's for sure. I just wish it was 50% hotter so that my fingers would feel warm. But at least they don't freeze off. Tim's tried his out before. It's like my hair. It's not bad, but it's not my best. So I'm going to try out our mediocre heated gloves and see how they work today. Still jacket A plus, gloves. My fingers don't freeze, so I have to give them an A. It's not, you know. Yeah, I feel very, very warm with my gloves. I like them more and more every day. So yeah, our heated gear has been essential and so wonderful for our time up in Alaska. And so we've been surviving throughout. We've been surviving, folks. Throughout the cold. I mean, without the heated gear, I don't know. And we would have lived. I would have lived. I don't think I would have lived. I would have told you the tale. I would have continued. I wouldn't have lived. She would not have lived. Nope. I'd be an icicle somewhere. This is true. All the trees around here are changing colors for the fall. It's really beautiful, but it's also a sign of the impending cold, which I'm not too happy about. Now, from Tok, this was going to be our last little stretch of Alaska to the Canadian border. We headed off in the morning. It was a bright, clear day. We're going to get into Canada today and head south from there on out. And we got to the border. Well, we got to the U.S. border. And, you know, you don't have to do anything when you're leaving the U.S. on these land borders to Canada. So we just kind of rode past it. And I'm like, where is the Canadian border? I kept looking and looking and looking. And it's like 20 miles away or something. Yeah, we're no man's land. Yeah, no man's land. So there's this whole stretch between the U.S. border customs and the Canadian border customs where it's no man's land in between the border. And finally, we see the Canadian border customs building in the distance. And we pull up and get our passports ready. And we're excited to enter Canada. Yay! So thank you so much for watching this video. I hope you liked it. If you did, please give us a big thumbs up and hit the subscribe button below. And we'll be seeing you next time. Stay safe, everybody. Bye. Peace.