Valdez, Alaska

Dave and I had just ridden into Anchorage, AK, soaked from our few days along the Kenai Peninsula. Our friends Kim and Joseph (2ridethewind.com) sent us a text to say their friend, Ronetta, a wildlife photographer they were staying with, had extended an invite for us to stay as well. We couldn’t have been happier to accept a dry place for the night and when we arrived, were even happier yet after smelling the caribou roast she was slow cooking on the stove.

Caribou Roast made by Ronetta in Anchorage, AK. Photo: Ronetta McConnell.

That we’d been invited sight-unseen was the first testament to this lovely lady’s big heart.

Ronetta’s husband had died within the past year. Shortly afterward, she had a severe case of back pain caused by her sciatic nerve. (In the good humour we would come to love about Ronetta, she called it her ‘psychotic’ nerve). Her back pain was so bad she was literally bed-bound for months. The joy in her life for things like cooking and taking photos had diminished completely. It was a very rough time for this self-sustained woman, who knows how to shoot a rifle and fend for herself.

The evening spent inside Ronetta’s home was warm and inviting. Five people shared stories while Starla and Cedar, Ronetta’s adorable and well-behaved Australian Shepherds, nuzzled our legs and licked any available skin. Ronetta cooked some amazing food that evening and while we ate, she listened from the kitchen to our tales with shining eyes, already on to making delicious things for breakfast the next morning.

Ronetta’s inviting home. Photo: Heather Lea

Kim, Joseph and Dave in Ronetta’s home in Anchorage, AK. Photo: Heather Lea

Ronetta’s Australian Shepherds were so great to have around. My parents have the same breed of dog and I miss him! Photo: Heather Lea

I could be wrong but it seemed right around the time Ronetta met Kim and Joseph in Denali National Park a week or so before we met her, which was Sept. 7, 2016, she was starting to get her life back. She was out photographing again creating beautiful shots for her gallery in the city (blueicealaska.com), and was taking Starla and Cedar for daily walks.

One of Ronetta’s best shots. Photo: Heather Lea

The next morning, as we were eating her delicious breakfast of slow-cooked biscuits and gravy and prepping our bikes to head to Valdez, Ronetta announced we’d inspired her to live her life free and without attachments and as such, she would be joining us for the day, despite any other scheduled plans. She loaded her Yukon SUV with her dogs and a cooler full of beer and elk sausage for all of us. It was seven days before Ronetta returned to her home. She travelled with the four of us plus our other riding friends, Katerina (Kate) and Frantisek (Frank) from Czech Republic, for two days and then everyone minus Dave and I for another four days before taking a loop over the Denali Highway back to her home in Anchorage. When Ronetta left her home with us that first day she hadn’t even packed a toothbrush. I’d say she’s well on her way to becoming a free spirit.

Packed and ready to leave Anchorage for Valdez with our posse. Photo: Ronetta McConnell

It was great to have a riding posse. We were seven people, five adventure bikes, one SUV and two dogs. We wrote “The Valdez Expo, ’16” on the back of Ronetta’s Yukon and she became our guide all the way to beautiful Valdez, Alaska, stopping at all the great spots along the way.

Ronetta’s Yukon full of beer, local game sausage and twins! Photo: Heather Lea

Kim on a new-to-her 1200 GSA, which she traded in her F700 for in Anchorage, AK. 2ridethewind.com  Photo: Heather Lea

Jospeh on his 1200 GSA. 2ridethewind.com Photo: Heather Lea

 

They don’t always look this tired 🙂 Kate and Frank, from Czech Republic, have already done a lot of round-the-world riding. wayaway.cz Photo: Heather Lea

That’s better 🙂 Photo: Heather Lea

We did not, however, have the best camping spot that night, through no fault of anyone except that we left Anchorage late and it started to get cold and dark before we could get all the way to Valdez. Our group was strung out along the highway in all directions doing U-turns trying to find roads leading to a camping spot but in the end, we could only find a place along an ATV track parallel to the highway. We parked bikes at both ends in case some ATV came barrelling along in the night, and got into fire and food-making mode.

Our camp along the highway to Valdez. Photo borrowed from 2ridethewind.com

As you can imagine, trying to coordinate seven people with their own modes of transport and only three bikes that had intercoms, was a challenge. We tried to stay close but there was a lot of stop-and-go and we had an accidental separation the next day. At one highway stop, we’d all pulled off to put on rain gear (can you imagine it was raining again?). I was freezing and wanted to keep moving so as soon as I thought we were all set, I rode off in the lead, happy to be plugged back into my heated jacket. I passed a turn-off for a glacier viewpoint and kept going, checking my mirrors to see where the others were. I rode about five minutes before it became clear no one was following me. I did a U-turn and passed K and F head-on. I pulled over to start another U-turn as it stood to reason the rest of the group was behind them but as I waited for cars to pass, I saw no one else after K and F so I kept going in the direction back to where we stopped and opposite of where K and F were going. There was no one along the highway as far as I could see so I figured they’d all gone into the glacier viewpoint, which is where I found them. I told them K and F had passed me and would now be well ahead and confused but everyone decided we’d all catch up in Valdez, which wasn’t too far away.

A glacier view just a few metres off the highway to Valdez. Photo: Dave Sears

We stopped again only about another five minutes down the road so Starla and Cedar could get a good run around in the hills. It was a gorgeous spot and Dave and I rode off-road to the edge to get an even better view. We were above the highway as it dropped considerably to the valley and Valdez below and in the distance.

A little off-road riding near Valdez, AK. Photo: Joseph Savant

Photo: Joseph Savant

Photo: Joseph Savant

We found K and F in town and after a cheap but delicious fish and chips lunch, we decided to press on, sad not to stay longer in Valdez. The weather was socked in and we didn’t see much of the town famous for its extreme heli-skiing—or boarding or whatever have you—films.

Valdez, AK. Photo: Dave Sears

We wanted to get some more miles under us and maybe even a little dry weather at best. Ronetta was sleeping in her SUV and Kate was pretty cold on the back of the bike with Frank. No one wanted to camp in this weather and hotels were expensive in these parts. We rode back out of Valdez and had a gorgeous ride.

Photo: Ronetta McConnell.

Riding near Valdez, AK. Photo: Heather Lea

Waterfalls along the highway to Valdez, Ak. Photo: Ronetta McConnell

Waterfalls along the highway to Valdez, Ak. Photo: Dave Sears

Photo: Heather Lea

Photo: Dave Sears

Photo: Dave Sears

Photo: Dave Sears

A few hours later we had a camping spot in a campground off the highway that would take Dave and I into McCarthy, AK and Kennecott mine the next day.

The Claw reaching out to pet Cedar. Photo: Ronetta McConnell

The ever-giving Ronetta brought out food from the Yukon and piled everything on the picnic table telling us to eat it all. She had literally fed us non-stop for two days now. A couple of people drove up the highway to get some shots of the sun setting.

Photo: Dave Sears

Photo: Dave Sears

Photo: Heather Lea

Ronetta’s birthday was coming up but some of us were splitting up from here the next day so Joseph walked over to the campground store with its minimal amenities and came back with a “birthday cake.” It was two chocolate Ding-Dongs layered on top of each other with a match stuck in it.

Alaskan culinary delights. Photos: Heather Lea and Ronetta McConnell.

Ronetta laughed while Joseph lit the candle and we all took her photo. She seemed very happy and I swallowed a little choke in my throat thinking about this kind woman losing her husband so early in life. She told me later it was hard to see all of us working together with our partners as a team as she had done with her husband but said being around all of us was bringing her and her dogs a lot of joy and helping her heal.

Photo: Heather Lea

I bought a photograph Ronetta took of a moose silhouetted against a sunset. It is an incredible shot and I asked if she could blow it up larger and send it to me as a souvenir so I could find it when I returned and remember her and Alaska. I still haven’t been able to see it as it went to Dave’s dad’s house in Washington but when I contacted her to send the money, she said she wanted us to have it and was proud to be part of our trip in this way.

Ronetta, you’re the best and I hope we meet again someday.

 

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