View Larger MapBastille Day- We were up at about 07:20 hoping to get a relatively early start. We went to breakfast at the Toast Works Cafe attached to the Inn. We were thinking it might be our last chance for quality food before we hit Alaska (big mistake, the restaurant was cute with all the antique toasters, etc. but the food was horrible).
We checked our tire pressure and all four tires needed a little air to keep the tires at max pressure. We went to use our little 12 v. portable compressor and it didn't work (we later found out it was because Jennifer’s Powerlet – Cigarette adapter wasn’t making a good connection)!
We checked out of the hotel about 10:00 and rode over to Hyder to mail the postcards that we wrote to friends and family.
Hyder is in Alaska USA, therefore the price for postage is 27 cents, significantly less than the Stewart, B.C. international prices, which we were told costs 96 cents for a postcard. We were told that our mail would go out that day at 13:00 when a US postal service seaplane picks up the mail in Hyder. We also took some more pictures of Hyder while we were there.
Eric was sitting on his bike taking pictures at the only intersection in town on the potholed dirt road when he put his foot down and there was a pothole right where his foot was. That got the bike moving that direction and it kept going and fell on its side in the mud. No harm, but embarrassing. A helpful bystander tourist was there and helped us pick it up without unloading everything off the bike. With Eric's bike's rear side-bags and his added cheap Highway Pegs those were the only points that touched the mud and those wiped-off easily. 
On our way out of Stewart we stopped at the only gas station to fill our tires and our gas tanks. While Eric was filling his tank, he looked away for only a second and when he looked back, gas was overflowing from his tank because the auto shut off didn't work. Eric was able to walk his bike around the back and and take the time to wash it off and let it dry before starting it up.
We finally left town at about 11:30. 
After about an hour of riding we stopped at a rest stop, had a fruit bar and were swarmed by mosquitoes and flies. We got out of there as fast as we could. At the next chance in Bell we bought gas. Then in the town of Iskut we again bought gas. The weather was beautiful, sunny with occasional showers.
Along the way Eric saw a Wolverine climbing out of a lake near the road. A distinctly funny looking animal when all its hair is wet and matted down.
We went through several road construction sites. We were told that the flaggers let motorcycles go first, pilot vehicles or not, and it was nice not getting stuck behind slow monster RVs.
At about 16:30 we stopped at the gas station in Dease Lake right at the intersection where we turned for Telegraph Creek. The sign read 119 km to Telegraph Creek. Fortunately the road was not too muddy and thanks to Danny Walker and American Super Camps, Jennifer was able to handle the wet dirt road with Style! It was fun to watch her flat-track style ride her bike on the slippery road. 
It rained on and off during the ride and made it slippery as snot. At about 50 miles, we turned off at the rest stop. What a view of the Stikine river gorge! 
Just as Jennifer was about to mount her bike, she noticed that her rear tire was flat! Eric found the cause using his hydration pack and a water drip. He had to push the small embedded worn-off nail into the tire, cleaned-out the hole with the rasp in the kit and plugged the hole with the cool “stop and go” mushroom rubber plug We used all the CO2 canisters that we had and the tire was still not at its desired max pressure but it wasn't leaking anymore. Just a few miles on the gravel road further toward Telegraph Creek the tire was flat again. Eric plugged the tire again using the “stop and go” after cleaning out the hole even better with the little round rasp in the kit and pulled the plug further out before cutting off the extra. We had no choice so we tried our portable compressor again with Eric’s power adapter and it worked this time. Alleluia! We filled the tire and off we went.
We arrived in Telegraph Creek about 21:00 only to find that the office/cafe/store for the Lodge where we thought that we were staying was closed. 
Eric walked up the road a bit and asked some locals about our situation. They weren’t very talkative and just pointed down the road and told Eric that the owners live just past the lodge, to try there. 
We knocked on the door that looked most like a residence and called out, "Hello". A young lady who was a guest came down from her family’s room to help us out. Her entire family was very friendly and said that there is an open extra room and that we could just stay in and then pay in the morning. 
They were nice rooms with eating area and kitchen, but a shared toilet and shower. We moved-into the downstairs open room feeling a little strange. We prepared our freeze dried dinner with water using the kitchen tea kettle and made ourselves comfortable for the night.
