Camping wasn’t horrible. The salvation from H.O.T. (Hell’s Own Tent) was an MEC sleeping bag and ground mat. Despite developing a bad list overnight, the H.O.T. did keep the mosquitoes out. No mean feat, at one point at night I woke up from a dream wondering why there was group of sportbikes running the highway at night. Only to realize the sound was masses of mosquitoes bumping against the mesh.

At Kismet, the junction of highways 16 and 37, I have a moment of doubt and nearly turn back.  There’s no strong game plan here, just an urge to press northwards.  The sign here in Kismet reads “North to Alaska” conveying the enormity of North’s possible meaning.  Originally the title was tied to riding Northern…

It’s a moment ripped from Northern Exposure, walking into the Wells Hotel for breakfast everyone already seems to know who the guy on the “big orange bike” is and where he’s come from. More mysteriously they have a fair idea where I’m heading.

Here’s an early birthday gift, somewhere behind me is a Honda Accord with all the KTM’s overstuffed luggage and then some. Admittedly having a well-used front-wheel drive as a sag wagon diminishes the adventure a of riding from Wildwood to Barkerville, BC the “back way”, but it’s giving me a taste of what this bike can really do. Oh, dear gawd, it’s bloody dirt-road ambrosia with a chaser of complete hoonery thrown in.

Tyax Lodge, outside of Gold Bridge, B.C., feels deserted.  A fabulous location, picturesque to the point of overload, Tyax should be bustling at the seams with tourists.  Instead it’s quiet to the point of being our private lodge.  There’s no menu for breakfast, the Chef simply prepares what you ask for free form. The ride…

In the history of slow starts this has been epic. Hannibal had an easier time wrestling up some elephants and infantry, than my getting out on the road the past few days. Yet, sitting here at Tyax lodge I’m hard pressed to be more satisfied with the first day of “North: The KTM Summer of Adventure”.