The Duncan Domain - Your Digital Guide to Alternate Realities
 
ODMC Alaska Adventure 2005

Day 15 - Smelling the barn
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Wednesday
, July 6
Williams Lake, BC to Seattle, WA
429 miles

We pack the bikes, eat breakfast and come back out to the parking lot to find it raining. Off we go and we finally get to do some twisty, mountain riding as we head down the Frasier River valley. We stop in a lovely little BC town called Hope and Hell's Gate is very scenic. We ride into another storm and the rainfall is so heavy that visibility is seriously impaired. We get stuck behind a couple of logging trucks and the spray from their rigs creates the equivalent of riding through a car wash. It takes some very intense riding to pass them.

As we head toward Vancouver on Highway 1, an Interstate-style road at this point, we spot reader boards advising drivers stuck in rush hour traffic to "Breathe" and "Chill". Another sign says, "All those who hate speeding tickets, raise your right foot." We turn off and cross into Washington at Sumas.

We have a very uneventful border crossing back into the US and as we ride past signs indicating nearby Bellingham, Washington, the site of the ferry terminal we departed 12 days ago, it dawns on me that we've just completed a huge loop. The enormity of this ride becomes clear and it is truly mind boggling.

We pass through one more rain storm for good measure as we head toward Seattle and our Arizonan brothers get to experience some rush hour traffic on I-5, Seattle-style, clearly a shock to the system after what we've ridden through. We roll into my driveway, dirty and a bit tired, and we Seattle riders are happy to be home. Paul and Jeff still have to ride to LA to reach their truck and trailer at Eric's house.

Click here for Day Sixteen/Seventeen: Superslabbing & Post Ride Ruminations

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