We are on the way to Tok, B and me. B is going to bike from Tok to Haines, and that stings a little. I can see my bike on the roof of the Oto, new tires, new break pads and fresh oil on the chain, ready to go and so am I. But Tok to Haines is not really appealing to me. How can I convince him to do something else and drag me along.
“Iris, you go to Dawson City in Canada, right? Can I come along and then we do something together?" Sure!
That evening we sit in Dawson City with maps, books and folders around us. We can bike north or south from here. The thing however is that Dawson City is situated on the shore of the mighty Yukon and float trips are offered in town. Biking or floating? I am never so good in making choices when I want to do both. One more look on the map, one more time going through the folders. -Rent a canoe in Dawson and leave it in Eagle- But that’s it, we rent a canoe in Dawson, float down the Yukon to Eagle, leave the canoe behind and bike back to Dawson. We just do both, float and bike, thats it. 
Packing for a luxury float trip and a light weight bike trip is a challenge, but we figure it out and all fits nicely in the canoe.
The Yukon river is 2880 km long and one of the last great uncontrolled rivers in the world. We are only going to float 165km of it, but do feel the respect this mighty river deserves. Upstream the glacier fed White River has dumped its sediment loaded water into the Yukon, making us unable to see even 1 cm into the water. When we float we can hear the sediment softly polishing our canoe and we float a lot. The GPS tells us that we go with 7 km/h when we float and 10 km/h when we paddle, not much purpose for paddling. 
On the other hand confined in a small boat with a stranger is a challenge. Both speaking our second language doesn't make the conversation very fluent either. And then its good that there is the option to just paddle.
Fortunately there is also the scenery, which makes us relax and enjoy each others company again after some tense minutes. And I have to admit, having B as a travel partner, who has massage and physiotherapy as a profession helps too. 
In total it takes us 3 days to float down. We get our water from little streams as we camp on islands in the middle of the river. On day 3 we float back into Alaska, without seeing any customs at the boarder. 
In the early evening we arrive at Eagle and I am very happy to be here. A while ago I was reading the book of John McPhee, Coming into the country, which describes life in 1976 in Eagle and its surrounding. I think its one of the master pieces about the Alaskan life and I read it in one breath. I passed the turn off to Eagle a couple days ago, but Eagle was partly destroyed this year by the Yukon spring ice break up and it made no sense to drive the 97 km dirt road to the village. With 138% of normal ice thickness this year and an early warm period melting the snow upstream fast, the water below the ice swelled up to break the ice with more violence then other years. Resulting in a major ice jam just below Eagle blocking the water and iceberg to move along and flooding a good part of the little village. 
But now we are here, and its an depressing sight. The native Eagle village nearby is totally gone, the local bed&breakfast is pushed of its foundations, the local store is gone, the bar is destroyed and the customs are left without a building. Despite this fact, we find the next morning the custom officer in high spirit. The most friendly USA border crossing I have ever experienced. "Hey, you guys camped out on the airfield last night, right? I thought I will catch up with you somewhere in time. How was the float? You are biking back to Dawson, have a nice trip and good luck." Why can they not all be like that. And then its time to mount our bikes. It feels so good to travel by bike again, instead of driving a car. This is so my thing and it feels so natural. Honestly I don't think North-America is a bike friendly continent and I don't regret that I have the Oto with me. But next time Beijing-Amsterdam, 3 years by bike, who knows... Now its only 3 days by bike and it starts of with a big climb. B has to wait for me here and there and when I catch my breath back I can just say: "Bear!". A black bear popped out of the woods and watches us for a while. Where is the bear spray?
The road climbs more and more and we finally end up above the tree line. Where ever we look we see fireweed, a weed spreading through burned down forest and covering the hills in a beautiful purple blanket. 
The last part of the trip goes over the Top of the world highway. We cross the border back into Canada and continue the continuously raising and falling road on top of a long ridge. We camp high on the ridge and our water supply is getting low. With millions of mosquitoes aggressively attacking me, I loose my temper when making my morning coffee. B has learned quick in the last few days, before morning coffee, you better walk away because otherwise...Making the best of the situation, B tries to stop cars to get some more water. When he comes back and tells me that no car even slowed down, I have to laugh. Before me is standing a long hair, bearded, dirty man with a pot of potatoes in his hand. Without a tent in sight or any form of transporation around, even I would have totally sped up. Its good to have coffee and a laugh. The rest of the day we have an amazing ride with a well deserved 13km downhill back to the Oto. 
Dag,
Iris (Dawson City, 10130 miles)
