What critter posed the biggest threat to Jason Hill at the beginning of his 19,000-mile bicycle ride? The bear.
What critter actually has caused the most problems? The mosquito.
The 34-year-old cyclist, shown here at the Arctic Circle in June, is pedaling from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego. He expects the trip will take him two years. While most bicycle tourists worry about dogs, it's all about the bears and mosquitoes in Alaska where Hill started his tour.
As campers and acquaintances warn him about the bears, Hill rides off armed with a .44-caliber handgun through Alaska. Because handguns aren't allowed in Canada, he's packing a shotgun for bear protection when he crosses the border. He also takes the nightly precautions of hanging his food in trees.
But it's the pesky mosquitoes that swarm around Hill and bother him day in and day out. He mentions them continually in his blog he started in June. For instance, near Cold Foot:
“Immediately after I got off the bike they came from out of nowhere: mosquitoes by the hundreds crowded the air and swarmed my body. They were the size of flies and with a voracious appetite for blood.”
But they're not keeping him from making his journey.
According to his website, Tour Para Bien Estar (tour for well-being), Hill plans to meet youths along the way to share goal-setting skills, promote youth issues and encourage community involvement.
“This ride is a wonderful way to show young people that anything is possible.”
Hill has been a volunteer at the Covenant House Alaska in Anchorage for several years. It's a place where homeless and runaway youths can go.
A solo bicyclist, Hill is making the most of his tour. His blog is filled with people he's met and experiences he's had along the way. He started out riding hundreds of miles on the gravel Dalton Highway that runs from Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks. His next major stop was Denali National Park, where he hiked and camped, and later helped out at a lodge where he got free room and board. He also spent a day on a boat fishing for salmon on the Kenai River.
Along the way, he's been taking pictures of caribou, moose, foxes, mountain goats and other animals. No bears, though.
Hill crossed into Canada's Yukon Territory recently, after riding 2,000 miles through Alaska. His plan is to get back into the US before winter hits.
I've put Hill's touring blog over at the “On the Road Bicycle Tour Blogs” section of this website. His entries have been been entertaining, as well as instructive to anyone considering cycling in the Great White North. It should be worth many visits in the upcoming couple of years as he heads south.
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