The Rise Up Ride: Day 112, Haircut to Start Down the Alaska Highway
Date: 12 August 2021
Start Location: North Pole, Alaska
End Location: Harding Lake State Recreational Area
Distance: 50.8 km
Time: 2:50
Total elapsed: 4:58
Elevation: 106 m
Jackie at Shockwave Salon had a slot at 12:30, so I got a late but well groomed start riding down Alaska Route 2 to Delta Junction, the start of the Alcan Highway. I had a wonderful stay in North Pole at Pepper's WarmShowers home, where I'd done all the research for the process of successfully getting into Canada.
Here is my dilemma. I need to present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of crossing the border, 480 km (five days riding) away. I can't get my test in Fairbanks because I can't ride that fast. So, I spent the morning speaking with the public health clinics in the only two towns along the route and discovered that the one closest to the border, Tok, wasn't testing outsiders but that the Christian-run Interior Clinic in Delta Junction had appointments. But this still meant that I had a three-day window to cover 349 km down a remote, isolated lumpy rough road. I booked an appointment for Saturday and figured that I might have to hitch part of the distance to make it in time.
Thank you, Pepper, for being a great host. She was helpful with tips for the road ahead, shared stories of her own rides down the Alaska Highway, and welcomed me into her home like an old friend. By the time I left, I was.
My appointment at the clinic is scheduled for the day after tomorrow in Delta Junction, where I'll be staying with John Sloan, who I met on the Bitterroot Valley Trail back in June. He gave me a wooden nickel, good for a milkshake at his drive-in and said to stop by if I made it to Alaska. Tomorrow I'm cashing it in!
