A few weeks before the trip started, I picked up a pair of Vibram FiveFingers, the “barefoot” shoes with the individual toe pockets.  I’m not a runner, so my purchase was driven primarily by novelty.  Yeah, I was that guy.

My FiveFingers on my feet. Kind of like gloves, eh?

Happily, I’ve found my brown leather KSO Treks to be quite comfortable and functional as traveling shoes.  They have been great for driving — over 7000 miles so far — largely because of the excellent pedal feel they provide.  I haven’t brought them backpacking, since I like a bit more protection on the trail, but I have been using them while walking around town.

I have had to adjust my walking gait slightly while wearing the FiveFingers. The strong heel strike in my normal walking gait made my knees a bit sore after more than a few miles of walking on concrete in cities, so I experimented a bit and found a solution.  It’s simple enough: I just focus on performing a more uniform foot strike rather than a hard heel-first strike.  Kind of like the change necessary for running in them.

While in Denali, I tried using them for a very small bit of trail running, less than a mile, the day before we started our backcountry trek.  That led to some sore calves later during the backpacking, but the actual running felt fantastic.  It was like I was bouncing down the trail on springs.  Perhaps I’ll have to give them some more running use.

In short, they’ve been functionally satisfying.  That alone would have been enough, but they’ve also managed another useful trick: they’re great icebreakers.

FiveFingers have been on the market for a couple of years now, but it seems that many people are still unaware of their existence.  That has led to numerous situations where people have struck up conversations with me to ask about about my shoes.  “What are those?” and “Where did you get them?” have been the two most common questions.  One lady even took a photo of my feet (awkward!).

I suspect that my experience with the FiveFingers drawing attention has not been unique.  Tyler also had a pair with him in Alaska, and he was wearing them around Denali NP after we got done backpacking (I was wearing sandals at the time).  He, too, had a stranger come up to him and ask him about his shoes.

Now if only they could somehow get me more inbound links…

Last night was the 34th of the trip, so I thought it would be good to put together a few notes on the trip so far:

Driving:

• Total miles driven: 6900
• Most expensive gas: CDN$1.439 per liter in the Yukon (US$5.74 per gallon)
• Most beautiful drive: Highway 99 between Cache Creek, BC and Whistler, BC
• Most beautiful drive runner-up: Highway 37A into Stewart, BC
• Animals observed along the road: Moose, bison, elk, caribou, marmots, black bears (many, many black bears), deer (or were they more elk?), big-horned sheep, and mountain goats
• Number of major chips in Sam’s windshield: 2 (grrr…)

Lodging:

• Nights spent in hotels and AirBnB: 17
• Nights spent camping: 10
• Nights spent in hostels: 7
• Cheapest hotel: Bayview Hotel in Stewart, BC ($55/night)

Hockey:

• Times skated: 5
• Time skates sharpened: 2
• Save percentage: Bad?

Food:

• Cinnamon rolls sampled: 10
• Cinnamon rolls that were so bad I couldn’t finish them: 2
• Most expensive grocery-store medium banana: CDN$0.55 (at a little store about halfway between Watson Lake, YT and Stewart, BC)
• Times eaten fast food: 2 (Once at Taco Bell for the sake of getting hot sauce packets, and once at McDonalds [just a large fries] for the sake of using their internet)
• Cups of coffee consumed: Excluding the time in Denali, probably at least a few a day
• Worst coffee: the gas station at the intersection of the Cassiar Highway and the Alaska Highway in the Yukon.  (At least it was free!)
• Worst chain coffee: Tim Hortons.  Why is it so popular? The coffee is bad, the donuts are bad, the atmosphere is cheap.  What’s the appeal?

Money:

• Amount over budget: Surprisingly, I’m about on budget, owing mostly to my use of hostels and infrequent meals at restaurants
• Amount earned from the trip: $0.  I’d love to change this; maybe I should commit to writing an ebook and put a pre-sale link up?  I have a bunch of content that I haven’t bothered to write up on the ol’ blog…

Back when I got Sam’s bulging tire replaced in Whitehorse, the guy doing the work, Art, strongly suggested that I visit Hyder, Alaska on my way down to Washington.  “Why not?” I thought.  And so I found myself in Hyder a few days ago.

Here are all the things you need to know about Hyder:

First, all of the good stuff is in neighboring Stewart, BC.  By “good stuff” I mean hotels, stores, gas stations, paved roads… you know, things other than a US Post Office and a bar.  Which brings us to…

Second, the bar there sells shots of Everclear, which is something that can’t be sold in bars in British Columbia.  If you do the shot and keep it down, then you’ve been “hyderized.”  I did not do this.  Why?  Not because of the foul taste.  Rather, it’s because they were using the milder 151-proof Everclear, not the more manly 190-proof variety (which may or may not be legal in Alaska).  I mean, only 75% a.b.v.?  Pfff.  But speaking of legal matters…

Third, you can enter Hyder, Alaska from Canada without a passport.  In fact, there is no US Customs presence whatsoever, nor is there a reporting phone like you might find at some other unstaffed land crossings.  You’re probably technically supposed to report to the nearest customs office, but there are no clear instructions on how to do that.  Going back into Canada, you do need to stop at the Canadian customs house.  I’ve never had a more low-key, relaxed interaction with a customs officer.   An easy re-entry was fine, because earlier I’d had some excitement while…

Entering Hyder, AK. Hard to see: the transition from nicely paved road to severely potholed gravel road.

Fourth, the US Forest Service runs a great grizzly viewing deck just north of Hyder.  The deck is built along a creek that salmon use for spawning.  When the salmon are running, it’s grizzly bear central.  The salmon are late this year, so there haven’t been many bears near the creek.  Still, a mother and her cub showed up to eat some vegetation while I was there.  They were looking quite thin; for their sake, I hope the salmon run starts soon.  Of course, even without the bears, there was plenty to see because…

Mama Grizzly, looking a bit thin and probably wondering where all the salmon are

Grizzly cub scratches an itch

Fifth, the drive into Stewart (and thus Hyder) is one of the most beautiful I’ve experienced.  Smooth, twisty pavement. Countless waterfalls.  Spectacular mountains.  Trees galore.  And plenty of glaciers.

Part of the Bear Glacier near Stewart, BC

Was it worth the detour to visit Stewart and Hyder?  Absolutely.

While we were in Anchorage, Tyler and I happened upon an outdoor market, where the vendors were selling (among other things) cinnamon rolls.  We committed (for science?) to try the available rolls.  The really short reviews are:

• House of Bread cinnamon roll: not good
• The Perfect Cookie cinnamon roll: good

A cinnamon roll from The Perfect Cookie: recommended

Tyler flew back to New York later that day, and the day after that found me back on the road.  Since the route to British Columbia passed through the Yukon, I got another opportunity to taste one of the cinnamon rolls that I had raved about a few weeks ago.  I’m happy to report that the roll from the unnamed bakery/creperie was just as good the second time as it was the first.  Still not my favorite, but excellent nonetheless.

In addition to trying the roll again, I took the opportunity to sample one of the bakery/creperie’s crepes.  It was flavorful, expertly prepared, and thoughtfully presented.  And at under $10, it must be one of the best bargains on the Alaska Highway.

The best little restaurant on the Alaska Highway

Even better news: I found out that the place actually does have a name.  The new proprietors chose to stick with the old name: The Pine Valley Lodge.  It’s located at km 1783 on the Alaska Highway in the Yukon Territory, technically in the town of Beaver Creek, YT but about 40 miles southeast of that town’s city center.  If you’re passing that way, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t stop there.  Arguable the best little restaurant on the highway.

Tyler was working his way along the rock face when he suddenly snapped his head back around the corner. He looked at me, eyes wide and face in a state of shock, and stuttered out a warning.

“B- B- Bears!”

I was a few feet behind on the narrow rock terrace that served as a pass between the sheer face and the raging Toklat River.  We had been backpacking in the Denali National Park backcountry for a few days and were heading down the river towards the park road, still six miles distant.  A strong wind was blowing upriver, making it unlikely that any bears around the bend would be able to smell us in our current positions.

“How close?” I asked as Tyler somehow passed me going the other way.

“Really close.  See that gravel bar in the river?”

I saw a gravel bar, but it was just yards away.  Surely that wasn’t what he meant.

“But that’s only…” was all I could vocalize before I saw an image that will be forever burned into my memory: the head of a golden-brown grizzly bear poking around the corner, a stark contrast to the gray water and the black rock.  It was no more than 20 feet from me.

“Oh crap!” I said, and I quickly followed Tyler away from the bears.

One by one, three grizzlies sauntered around the rock face by wading through the rushing water.  Clearly, they were not concerned about being swept downstream.  It was a mother and two cubs.

Tyler and I continued our retreat while waving our hands above our heads and yelling, “Hey bear!”  The knowledge that most of Denali National Park’s grizzly bears were vegetarian provided little reassurance, as a physical encounter in our situation would have been about a mother protecting her offspring rather than predation.

Since the bears seemed to be set on going up the bank of the river, and we couldn’t cross the river’s narrow, fast channel, our only option was to scramble up a steep talus slope.  We managed to put about 50 feet between us and the river — and thus, between us and the bears.

Grizzlies! Much closer than the ones at Banff.

Fortunately, the bears appeared to be as uninterested in us as they were in moving quickly.  They took their time wallowing up the bank, pausing for long intervals to sniff various interesting rocks and shrubs.  We continued to wave our hands and yell.

Me taking a photo of the bears. See how I'm not using a big telephoto lens? (Credit: Tyler)

Ten minutes after it started, our close encounter with one of North America’s most powerful animals came to an end.  The bears moved out of sight upriver.  Tyler and I breathed sighs of relief and continued our downriver trek.