The Original Women's Mountain Bike

Words by // Laura Battista

camping.jpg

Squamish to Whitehorse is 2,309km and we had 11 days of holiday to make the return trip. My boyfriend (Curtis) and I decided to drive so we could bring our dog, Luna, sleep in our truck tent, and see some Northern BC sites along the way.

sunset.jpg

"Golden hour was five hours long, I think that's every mountain bikers dream" -Ruby Morrissey

The first few nights the camping theme was to get up high. The aim of this was to soak up the Yukon sunsets - and that we did. We embraced the magnificent northern sky and hours of never-ending waning light, whilst cooking on the tailgate and swigging beers. Not bad for an impromptu setup!

Each day we picked a trail zone or two to explore and with only 5 days total in the Yukon we didn't have time for them all. Our motivation was high and we gave it our best effort to get after it!

Day 1: Grey Mountain

A Whitehorse classic. “Money shot” was top of the list so we wasted no time. This wide-open alpine trail has 360-degree views, and rock slabs for days! It was so amazing we rode it twice.

yukon_bikes_.jpg

Riders: Laura Battista, Megan O’Brien, Ruby Morrisey, Angie McKirdy

megan.jpg

Rider - Megan O’Brien

Day 2: Mt McIntyre and Haekel Hill

We found a beautiful camping spot right on top of some open rolling hills above town. Lured again to the top of the hill for the views we unfortunately paid for it with howling winds all through the night with restless sleeping. The first trail the following morning should have maybe been an indication...

For our first trail of the day we dropped into “Blown Away” which gives glimpses of rolling single track as far as the eye can see. There were beautiful open meadows with lakes to the left and panoramic views of Whitehorse to the right. Our lap down was Blown Away, Starbucks Revenge, to Upper/ Lower Goat and finishing on Kid Vicious for the win! Don’t let the 496m of trail length deter you, this axle-deep dirt-surfin ribbon of loam will eat you up and spit you out. At the bottom there wasn’t a single person without a smile from ear to ear!

After we retrieved the rest of our vehicles and had some lunch, we loaded up again and headed over to Haekel Hill for some afternoon laps.

"My favorite trail was Haekel Hill DH. It had a mix of everything from awkward jank, loam, high speed fall line, steep gnar and a few jumps. It was challenging enough to stay focused but not so hard that it wasn't doable. It was one of those trails I wanted to ride over and over again." - Jo Peter's

Day 3: Grey Mountain and Mt. Sima Bike Park

We were informed of a new trail being built called "The Dream." It’s a huge, multi-year project so we wanted to check it out (while keeping in line with good trail etiquette of course). We started out at the bottom parking and traversed through the lower Grey Mountain trail network through a series of intertwined multi-directional trails. We eventually went up Mother T which turned into more of a hike-a-bike kind of trail although I couldn’t stop thinking it would have been an amazing descent. Along the way I heard some buzzing and quickly realized I disturbed a wasp nest which motivated our pace. Finally once we started breaking through the treeline we took in the sights and saw a trail crew further up the ridge hard at work. The next section looked pretty fresh so we dropped our bikes and walked up to say hi and thank them for their efforts. They were all very welcoming and stoked to see Squamish folk enjoying their trail work and invited us up to ride some of their newer work.

“My favorite trail was probably “The Dream” for the amount of work/design that went into that hand-built trail” - Curtis Bennett

Check out this link for more information

Prior to starting the trip a lot of people we’d spoken to had recommended heading to Mt. Sima Bike park. Everyone dreams of a chairlift resort with fresh trails, awesome people and short lines and that's exactly what you get. I didn't believe it would actually live up to the hype that I’d heard but it did.

The park is only open on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings through the summer. You have to make sure you book a spot for the park at least 48 hours in advance. Stopping in at the Winterlong brewing co afterwards on the way home for beer and local pepperoni is a must.

===== IMAGE GRID 1 goes here ===== Day 4: The Caribou trail

This trail was recommended to us as an epic out and back adventure. It turned out to be well worth the effort even though it was around 2.5 hrs up and 20 mins back down.

hike_a_bike.jpg

"The Caribou Mountain Trail is what you'd get if you ordered an alpine epic in a drive-through. Big mountain riding with huge views, moody skies, and long, fast, surfy descents. And that's exactly what you get, straight out of the car." - Ruby Morrisey

A more accurate description would be that it’s more of a goat track and not a bike specific trail. The trail is also popular with hikers and there’s lots of wildlife in the area so remember to watch your speed on the fast and loose descents. Also remember to take layers and food because the weather changes quickly up top.

===== IMAGE GRID 2 goes here ===== Day 5 Carcross

We were lucky enough to get one short lap in before hitting the road. We rode Upper Wolverine, Goat, Wolf, and Grizzly Bear. They were great trails with a variety of speed, tech and granite slabs. We will have to be back to explore many more trails.

I was blown away by what this small, extremely remote town unveiled day after day with the highest quality biking. Not many places can rival my home area (the Sea to Sky) in quality and quantity of trails, but to my surprise, the Yukon kept surprising me again and again.

All good things had to come to an end and we had to get on the long windy drive home. Fortunately it entailed it’s own excitement with a surprising number of bears and occasional herds of wild bison just chilling along the highway. We made one more stop for a quick ride in Quesnel down Rockasaurus to break up the drive. I regrettably took a small tumble when I blew a corner at speed and had to be a passenger for the rest of the journey home. I will definitely be planning another trip back to this wonderful part of the world.