2016 - Park City to Alaska and back by Motorcycle
Park City to Touchet. 620 miles on the F800gs. 35 degree temperature change from Baker City to Pendleton. 90 degrees to 55 degrees. Rain last 40 miles.
Above: Breakfast table view from home of John Galt and Dagny Taggert. Touchet, WA. 09 June 2016.
Eastern Washington. Go Cougars.
Thick, fertile, loamy soil, washed down from pre-historic Idaho panhandle lake overflow, soil goes deep.
Produces wheat, vines and all manner of other stuff.
John Galt rider Earp sells irrigation systems.
John Galt rider Cal Poly is an agronomist who works for a fertilizer company.
Above: John Galt Riders belt buckle. Touchet, WA. 09 June 2016.
John Galt Riders start the ride north today.
Above: John Galt Riders and motorcycles. Convenience Store. Moses Lake, WA. 08 June 2016.
Earp: 2012 Suzuki V-Strom. Cal Poly: 2003 Harley Davidson Dyna Wide Glide. John Galt: 1993 BMW Paris Dakar. Bishop: 2012 BMW F800 GS.
Fertile farm fields.
Crops, hops.
Berry, cherry, dairy.
Vines, mines.
Potatoes (sic), tomatoes (sic).
Bishop
Above: Chief Joseph Dam. WA SR 17. 09 June 2016.
One of 60 dams in the Columbia River watershed.
Washington SR 17.
Soap Lake Canyon must be seen.
Prettier than Katniss Everdeen.
Ride slow and don't be mean.
Bishop
...terre de nos ailleux....
Day 2. Touchet, WA to Kamloops, BC. 460 miles. BMW F800 GS motorcycle.
Mileage to date: 1080.
Motorcyclists shift. Screen out poseurs
Bishop
Above: Nandi's Flavours of India, restaurant. Kamloops, BC. 09 June 2016.
Chicken Tikka Masala, Rogan Josh, Mutter Paneer and Aloo Gobi.
Addendum:
Enjoy ; be safe!
Mr. Z3,
Ojai, CA
Forgot to say I was pregnant.
TIMDT,
Park City, UT
Regarding Utah's passion for 18th-century energy and also the dirtiest energy on the planet next to Shale oil and the problems were having with our planet because of this dirty energy I'm shocked that this is the energy source that many of y'all think is the future. Wall Street is leading the way in dumping coal and moving out of oil. There seems to be worry about the birds just take a look at all the birds and animals that died because of Oil production and The lack of environmental responsibility on part of these oil producers. Remember the Exxon Valdez and the Gulf of Mexico disasters and the continuing disasters that still occur. Clean energy is a must if we're going to leave anything to our grandchildren and future generations.
ITYW,
San Angelo, TX
Day 3. Kamloops, BC to Grand Prairie, Alberta. 540 miles. 2012 BMW R800GS motorcycle. 10 June 2016.
Today's entry... a short Facebook check-in post from Cache Creek, Alberta.
Stephen D. Taylor checked in to Grand Cache, Alberta.
June 11 at 1:10am · Grande Cache, AB, Canada ·
Day 3.
Kamloops, BC to Grand Prairie, Alberta. 540 miles. 2012 BMW R800 GS motorcycle.
Big River. North Thompson.
Jasper National Park.
Folded granite peaks.
Timber.
Energy.
energy.
Pick-ups.
Bulldozers.
Grand Cache? Coal.
Ride: rain. Average 55 degree temps.
Grand Cache gas stop. Two Logan, UT motorcyclists on second day of riding. Iron Butt. 1500 miles.
Rode almost the limit of my fuel. Ran 37 miles on yellow warning. Typically, the light goes on when a gallon is left... I was riding at a speed where I might have been getting 42 miles per gallon... so I probably had no more than five miles left. I'm going to be more attentive on fuel for the rest of the trip. (Whew!)
Addendum:
Steve,
As you can imagine, The Fountainhead is my favorite book of all time, followed by Atlas Shrugged. I used to make my employees read TF.
Ride well!
Inventor,
Park City, UT
Shocked to hear that TIMDT is pregnant! That will definitely interfere with any travel plans.
Heat,
Miami, FL
Day 4. Grande Prairie, Alberta, to Liard River, BC. 580 miles. 2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle. We pick up the Alaska Highway, mile one, at Dawson Creek, BC.
Above: Wyatt Earp works on Galt's 93 BMW Paris Dakar motorcycle. Grande Prairie, AB. 11 June 2016.
Ignition problem. The bike's key wouldn't turn to ignition mode.
Oh... no, I thought. A month previously in Texas, I had had a problem with the hands free ignition and key fob on the Ducati Multistrada. I was able to use the failing, erratic emergency start code procedure to get the ignition on, whereupon I rode the bike 420 miles, never turning the ignition off, to PJ's, the Albuquerque Ducati dealer.
At the time I extolled to anyone who would listen the virtues of the traditional key ignition, and decried the high tech, unreliable hands free ignition on the Duc.
And, what? Here we have a real key problem on the beemer.
Galt and Earp took the bike apart and hot wired the ignition. We were delayed by an hour... but, were able to continue the trip. Forward progress, at least for Galt, looked grim for a while. Galt had organized the trip and had covered the territory ahead several times. The three of us could go ahead, but, in some respects, we would be flying blind.
Galt stopped up the road at a hardware store 80 miles up the road in Dawson Creek, BC, the start point of the Alaska Highway, to buy some parts. The parts would facilitate turning the ignition on and off without unwanted tinkering each time.
Hand it to Galt and Earp. Skilled guys in working the fix.
Girls like guys with skills.
Napoleon Dynamite
Above: Alaska Highway beyond Fort St. John, BC, mile 42 of the 1422 mile long Alaska Highway. 11 June 2016.
The highway is carved through boreal forest... a sea of green conifers visible to the horizon in any direction.
The setback from the trees is very wide in order to enable motorists to be aware of animals near the road.
Above: Galt donning rain gear. Summit Pass, circa 4000 feet elevation, mile 393, between Fort Nelson, BC and Toad River, BC on the Alaska Highway. 11 June 2016.
Above: Unnamed motorcyclist. Summit Pass, circa 4000 feet elevation, mile 393, between Fort Nelson, BC and Toad River, BC on the Alaska Highway. 11 June 2016.
The pictured motorcyclist rides a 2012 BMW F800 GS, which, coincidentally, is the same bike that I ride.
Henry Gibson?
Above: Alex. Toad River, BC. Mile 422, Alaska Highway. 11 June 2016.
Five miles before reaching Toad River, we noticed a BMW F800 GS (like my bike) parked at the right side of the road. The bike was missing its rear wheel. Its drive chain was hanging to the ground.
The disabled bike belonged to Alex. Alex, a German, approached me at the gas pump and asked me how I liked my bike. He noted that he had been in Toad River for three days waiting for a new tire for his disabled motorcycle. Yes... that was his bike, parked back up the road.
Alex, on his way to the Dust to Dawson motorcycle rally, said he had had three flats and couldn't fix his old tire. His new Hidenau tire, flown into Whitehorse, Yukon, would be delivered tomorrow.
If you are in the middle of nowhere and run into some uber tourists, my experience says there's a 75% chance they will be Germans.
Above: Alaska Highway. Mile 480, near Muncho Lake, BC, between Muncho Lake and Liard River. 11 June 2016.
Motorcyclist near the end of the road, in image, is Cal Poly on his Harley Dyna Wide Glide motorcycle.
We are riding down a valley carved out by a glacier during the most recent ice age, circa 20 thousand years ago. Periodically, we ride past the glacial moraines coming from smaller, lateral valleys on either side of the road.
There have been five ice ages on earth in the last million years. The last ice age more or less ended ten thousand years ago, though today's northern hemisphere glaciers are residual from that earlier period.
Ice ages are primarily a northern hemisphere phenomenon. Best guess as to how they start is that earth is radically cooled in response to massive volcanic eruptions where ash is so prevalent that it blocks the sun and cools the surface.... or, a comet collision with the earth creates atmospheric dust.
There is less speculation about how the ice ages end.
As I ride down the valley pictured here, I wonder when/if the next ice age will come. In anticipation, it would probably make sense to keep a modest position in earth warming fossil fuels. Put your in a multi generational trust, just in case the next ice age doesn't start next week.
As much is made of ongoing receding northern glaciers, many southern hemisphere glaciers accrete. Voire, Moreno Glacier in Patagonian Argentina pushes out.
Also, Antarctica, location of over 90% of the world's water, grows by millions of tons of ice every year.
Above: Bison. Roadside. Liard River. BC. Alaska Highway mile 496. 11 June 2016.
Word to the wise. Stay away. Mama bison don't (sic) like outsiders playing with the calves.
Yellowstone, eat your heart out.
Above: Cal Poly, Wyatt Earp, and John Galt pose in front of Liard River bridge. 11 June 2016. Liard River, BC. Alaska Highway mile 496.
Bridge spars are from the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, "Galloping Gertie," destroyed by a harmonic convergence in 1939.
Laird River flows 15 million acre feet annually... slightly more than the Colorado River. Rivers and water everywhere. The Liard drains into the Mackenzie River in Northwest Territories. The Mackenzie flows to the Beaufort Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean.
There was no restaurant at this stop, so we snacked on crackers and nuts. Galt and Earp tried out the hot spring while Cal Poly and Mwah (sic) jabbered with Ed (see below).
Above: Liard River gas pumps. Liard River, BC. Mile 496, Alaska, Highway. 11 June 2016.
Fuel at far north gas stations is often held in above ground tanks.
My 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle is in the foreground.
Above: John Galt, returning from a Liard Hot Springs session, poses with Alaska Highway motorcycle tourer, Ed, from Anchorage. Liard River, BC. 11 June 2016.
Ed riding to Utah on a beemer F800GS (like mine) before heading west to California and north to home.
There are a lot of touring motorcyclists on the Alaska Highway. There is a great comradery amongst riders on the Alaska Highway. All the riders seem to know that riding the ALCAN (old name) is a special ride...in a special place... not frequented, because of its difficulty to access, by most motorcyclists.
Addendum:
Wow! Saw the comment from Heat about TMDT being pregnant so, I went back a few blogs to find out where & when I missed the announcement 🎈wow🎈
Safe journey
Spago🍼
Marina del Rey, CA
Day 5. Alaska Highway. Liard River, BC to Whitehorse, Yukon. 460 miles. 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle.
Above: Prepping to leave in Coal River, BC. Mile 539. 12 June 2016.
We had just had breakfast in the Coal River cafe, 50 miles or so up the highway from our hotel in Liard River, where there was no food.
Inside the cafe was the highway line painting crew that manned the trucks beyond the bikes and riders in the image.
Above: Coal River cafe. Coal River, BC. 12 June 2016.
In the rear of the image is seated a couple who had ridden their Indian motorcycle from Anchorage. They were headed home to Calgary, AB.
Two line painting guys are in the reflector jackets.
One line painting guy, from Vancouver, BC... the guy on the right... explained to us the technology of highway line painting. He said TV's and lasers were used to insure highway line painting accuracy.
When his supervisor came in a few minutes after this image was captured, he said. "That's my supervisor. He watches TV all day. Same show... over and over." And, then, he broke out laughing.
Above: Brown bear cub alongside the Alaska highway. Circa 9:30 AM. Circa mile 560.
I was riding sweep when I saw this bear. The cub was on the opposite side of the road, so I was over 60 feet away from the bear, with the roadway separating us.
I was a bit fearful.... I shut down the motorcycle engine. I hustled to get my camera out... pointed it and zoomed a bit... put the camera away and then got out of there.
My companions had slowed, allowing me to catch up. Galt, Earp, and Cal Poly are very attentive riders in tracking riders behind them. Sometimes, in a group, if you're riding sweep, you wonder if anyone will ever come back for you if you disappear from their rear view mirrors. Not these guys. Kudos.
Later, when I described my bear photo shoot to Galt, he said, "well Steve, you used up one of your nine lives. He went on to say that where there was a cub brown bear, there was a mama grizzlie near by. Had the cub showed the least bit of anxiety, the mama grizzlie would have been all over me in seconds.
Its one thing stopping to see a bear in a car... another, on a motorcycle.... I guess.
Above: Motorcycle tourer futzes with BMW R1200 GS motorcycle. Johnson's Crossing. Mile 837 Alaska Highway. 12 June 2016.
Bike is outfitted for hard core touring. These riders are campers. They carry tents, sleeping bags and other camping paraphernalia.
This rider, and his female companion, riding pillion, had met up with us at Teslin Lake, some 70 miles back. He need gas at Teslin lake and the pumps there wouldn't work because of a power outage. He was able to buy a gallon of gas from another rider, but was unsure of his ability to make to Johnson's Crossing. He asked if he could ride with our group to Johnson's crossing. In the event he ran out of gas... we would be able to help...perhaps by siphoning some of our own gas... or by riding to the gas pump and returning him some gas.
In these far wilderness areas... there is an unwritten rule that calls for people helping one another out when possible. Sometimes, its hard to help people who are unprepared for the rigors of hard core motorcycle touring, but, this guy was legitimately stymied by a gas shortage due to power outage.
On the other hand, most riders you see up in this area, carry auxiliary gas supplements. I carry a half gallon. Also, I bought a gallon insurance in Teslin Lake from a kind Tennessee Harley rider... who seeing my anguish about not being able to fill up, offered the assistance. He didn't want money. I paid, though.
I take back my long voiced criticism of Harley riders as mostly using their bikes as garage jewelry. There are quite a few hard core Harley motorcycle touring riders riding the Alaska highway.... including Cal Poly, who is riding with our group.
Above: Yuri, Helga and the Bishop. Motorcycle tourers. Miles Canyon. Mile 894. Alaska Highway. 12 June 2016.
Yuri, from Serbia and Helga, from Lithuania, are now residents of Toronto. They are riding the Alaska Highway pillion on a Kawasaki KLR.
Seeing my Utah tag, Yuri asked if I'd been to Provo. "It's my home town," I said, surprised at his question.
Yuri said he used to work for Novell and was frequently at Novell's Provo facility.... fifteen years ago.
Meeting fellow motorcycle tourers along the road!
Above: Bishop. Miles Canyon. Yukon River. Whitehorse, Yukon.
sung to the tune of.....
Bishop rode to Touchet in the year of naught 16.
Joined Galt and Cal Poly, with Wyatt Earp riding in between.
They reached the Yukon River on the great Alaska Road.
Below that old white mountain, quite a bit northwest of Toad.
Where the road, she is windin', big scenes they are findin',
North... to Alaska, the moto rush is on.
North... to Alaska, the moto rush is on.
Way up north...
North to Alaska...
Way up North...
North to Alaska...
North to Alaska, the moto rush is on.
Above: John Galt approves of message in barbershop window. Whitehorse, Yukon. 12 June 2016. Mile 898 Alaska Highway.
We had not pre-booked a room in Whitehorse. We almost didn't find one. It appears that a 300 full plane load of German tourists had just flown in on a direct flight from Frankfurt.
We learned that Lufthansa flies twice a week to Whitehorse during the summer.
See what I mean about the intrepid German tourists?
Above: Cal Poly, server Toddy, and John Galt. Wheelhouse Restaurant. Whitehorse, Yukon. 12 June 2016.
Give this tattooed millenial server credit. She out bantered us all and rendered superior service to boot. Came to Whitehorse from Ontario as a nanny 4 years ago. Loves it in Whitehorse.
Really good fine dining... Malbec in Yukon? Who'd a thunk?
Wheelhouse. Go!
North to Alaska. The moto rush is on.
On King. On you huskies.
Day 6. Whitehorse, Yukon to Tok, Alaska. 390 miles. 2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle.
Above: Bishop. Border crossing, Yukon to Alaska.
Day 6. Whitehorse, Yukon to Tok, Alaska. 390 miles. 2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle.
Intermittent rain. 40 miles tedious construction. Washboard. Slick hard pack. Pay attention. Minimal torque or slip slide and go down.
Unimaginable vistas, including cloud combinations, all directions.
So many bears along side the road it's starting to tire. Today, a grizzly mama, cub pair. Considering John Galt's warning about brown bear mamas with cubs, I slow down to watch, but don't stop.
Alone on this stint as I'm trying to close the loop on Park City to Deadhorse motorcycle ride. Did the Delta Junction (where I'm headed tomorrow) Deadhorse segment 5 years back.
I'll rejoin my friends in Haines, AK a couple of days hence.
Above: 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle. Tok, AK. 13 June 2016.
As seen through the door of my motel room at Fast Eddie's, Tok, AK.
Tomorrow... the assault on Delta Junction.
Addendum:
Hi Steve:
Your Alaska adventure sounds like fun, I'm kind of jealous, just wandering around down here in Wyoming and Montana for 10 days.
Four Photos attached:
100 yards or so as you start up the Dalton Highway (you'll be on pavement) there is a sign on the right for The Dalton Highway (see pic 1).
In 2004 (first pic) the sign was a virgin, so I decided to place one of my personal stickers on it, defacing public property like a good AMA rider should :-)
In 2005 I was headed back up to Deadhorse again, and noticed others had decided to copy me, adding their stickers, but I had to sticker it again because the winter freezes the plastic stickers (or Highway Department scrapes them off) and they crack and blow off or some internet troll scrapes them off.
In June of 2009 I found my old sticker still there, but with more added.
Last pic I took was 2010, when the sign was fully stickered!
Maybe you could take a pic for me this year, show me if I need to go back up (trip up/down Dalton Highway #11) and re-sticker the route, kind of like a big dog marking trees.
I had also stickered the back of the Arctic Circle sign, several times, but the Highway Department got real aggressive there: scraped and repainted it one year, then next year cut out a new backing piece of plywood and covered all the old stickers. The new backing I re-stickered with a lamenated sticker and thumb tacks. I suspect those are all gone.
John Logan (Big Dog) and his wife are headed up towards you, starting from Colo Springs tomorrow. BMW1200, two-up. Maybe you Dogs will pass on the road.
Best,
Dr. G
Chief, World Adventure Affairs Desk, CITY BIKE Magazine
Day 7. Tok, AK to Delta Junction, AK and back to Tok. 220 miles. 14 June 2016. 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle.
Above: Bishop at Delta Junction. Terminus of Alaska Highway. 14 June 2016.
Today's short ride completes the 1422 miles of the Alaska Highway, by 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle, from Dawson Creek, AG, 11 June 2016, to Delta Junction, AK, 14 June 2016.
Also, today's ride closes the gap necessary for me to claim having motorcycled, at different junctures, circa 5000 miles of continuous pavement, from Marathon, FL to Deadhorse, AK (via Park City, UT.)
Above: Alaska Highway between Tok, AK and Delta Junction, AK. Direction Tok. 14 June 2016.
I was struck by the atmospheric clarity of the distant ranges as I rode. I stopped to capture the impression.
Addendum:
I remember a Black Bear sighting while staying at the Post hotel which included mother and child. They were both crossing the railroad tracks, don't remember if you were around. We also stopped in Yellowstone and saw a baby up in a tree. Just want to see if your memory still works-:)
Mr. Z3
Ojai, CA
No memory. You were with someone else. I remember one time at the Post Hotel in Lake Louise, AB riding with you, losing my wedding ring in the room we shared. The hotel manager called me two or three days later when we were riding in John Day, OR, saying they had "found" my ring. Apparently they gave a room cleaner the third degree to get it.
What a fun adventure; I personally always enjoyed the BC area. I have to look it up on the map but I think I have been to Whitehorse. Why didn't U ride the Ducati -:)
Mr. Z3
Ojai, CA
As far as I know you have not been to Whitehorse. Its way up there in the Yukon.... as far from Lake Louise is going north as it is to Park City, from Lake Louise, going south.
Dear Steve,
Thanks for the memories re: Alaska Highway travel.
The first time I drove it was in 1973, when my younger daughter was only 5 months old and the older one was not quite two years old, in a VW microbus- which was rather like driving inside a snare drum as the road was not paved in Canada beginning about 20 miles north of Dawson Creek, B.C. (with the exception of a ten mile stretch at Whitehorse, Yukon). What a relief to reach the Alaskan border where the pavement started! The paving of the Canadian section of the road has sure opened up that area for development and I see from your photos that they still cut back the trees to allow the weak sun to melt as much snow as quickly as possible. All in all, a great trip.
If you are so inclined, I would recommend your riding the Cassiar Highway, route 37, on your way south- it is paved and rather scenic- and riding that way south and then riding the Yellowhead Highway east to Prince George, B.C. is about 200 kilometers shorter than the Alaska Highway to Dawson Creek thence to Prince George.
Enjoy the riding in such magnificent country.
Ahn Rhee, Larkspur, CA
Cassier for another ride.
And yet quite another on foot :-)
Jack Aroon, Mahwah, NJ
Sounds like big fun - have you seen any of our Eagle friends 😎
Mr. Z3, Ojai, CA
Not yet.
Day 8. 15 June 2016. Tok, AK to Haines, AK. 460 miles. 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle. Return to join my mates in Haines, AK after having completed gap closing segment to claim a continuous motorcycle ride from Park City, UT to Prudhoe Bay, AK.
Today's ride was a "top ten" ride in my motorcycling experience... for reasons both good... and less good.
Above: Terrain south of Alaska Highway 50 miles south of Tok. 15 June 2016. Image looks southwest.
The Wrangell Mountains, seen here, are part of the Pacific coastal ranges of North America. Further on (southwest) these mountains are eclipsed by a larger coastal range, the St. Elias Mountains.
These ranges will always be to my right as I ride south, across the US border back into The Yukon (Canada) and then back into the United States one hundred miles down the Haines Highway from Haines Junction, Yukon.
Further on, the massive coastal ranges include several 16 to 18 thousand foot peaks in the United States (Alaska) and Mt. Logan, Canada's highest mountain, at more than 17 thousand feet.
The ranges form part of one of America's largest national park. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Canada has created Kluane National Park adjacent, and together the two National Heritage Site parks form the largest protected area in the world.
I will just skirt by Wrangell-St. Elias, Kluane as I ride towards Haines. I won't likely have the opportunity to go deep into the parks during my life's remaining years. Only when you think that you are a real traveler do you come to realize how much more out there there is to see that you will never see. Most of Kluane and Wrangell-St. Elias will only ever bee seen by bears in any case.
Geographical specifics only dimly understood come to life when you are "really there." My mind's map takes shape quickly riding in this area.
Heretofore I had thought of the main part of Alaska and the inside passage (panhandle, marine highway) part of Alaska as being more or less two separate geographies, connected by land, yes, but really only reachable, one to the other, by water. But, today I find myself riding the road link between the two Alaska segments: Tok, AK to Haines, AK. From Haines I'll rejoin my mates and we will, on 16 June 2016, take an Alaskan Maritime Highway ferry, Matanuska, down the inside passage to Prince Rupert, BC... back, again, into Canada.
Above: Construction notice. Alaska Highway. Forty seven miles of dirt between Beaver Creek, Yukon and Destruction Bay, Yukon. 15 June 2016.
There were two one way segments, each one four or five miles long, with a pilot car guiding the caravan of one way vehicles.
No other motorcycles were in my piloted chain of about 15 vehicles. I didn't see any oncoming motorcycles for the entire forty seven segment. Maybe riders had heard about the horrendous condition of this road due to recent rains and decided to postpone their ride through.
I rode up through this segment of the Alaska Highway day before yesterday. My 2012 BMW F800 GS dual sport motorcycle is a pretty good bike for riding this type of terrain. Washboard. some ruts... stages of hard pan morphing to deep gravel, and back. The bike sits high of the road surface and has a wide band suspension rebound.
The ride up, two days ago, was not too bad. It had just started to rain when I reached the construction section... but, the underlying road was dry and pretty stable. In fact, the new rain contributed to minimizing the dust while not having been present long enough to muddy up the road.
Not so today.
Throughout the long construction section, the road surface was saturated.
I was wearing rain gear. The woman clerk at the convenience/gas station at Beaver Creek, in response to my query about the weather further on, said, "rain, rain, rain... for the last three days." It was not raining as I rode through the construction zone, but, it was clear that the road had been saturated by a huge amount rain before I arrived.
All the wet dirt riding hazards were there. Slick as snot, grease surfaces and freshly graded soft, wet... trending to mud... dirt. When I hit these hazardous conditions, I'd do the best I could to minimize the torque of the bike. A slipping wheel could easily spin the bike to the ground. A piece of dry dirt which I might ride in third gear at 5000 rpm, I would ride wet in fourth gear at 2000 rpm... almost to the point of lugging.
Not all of the wet, dirt road was super bad. Where there was gravel... or where the dirt was less clay like, the riding was more sure.
I was glad when I arrived at pavement.
Above: Mud coated 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle. Kluane Lake. South of Destruction Bay, Alaska Highway, Yukon. 15 June 2016.
Is this Patagonia or the Yukon? I'm confused.
Patagonia and Yukon/Alaska are at similar latitudes on opposite ends of the globe. It is not surprising that the terrain is similar.
Now, on to Haines Junction, and the Haines Highway... 50 miles distant where I will be Alaska Highway for the first time since Dawson Creek, Alberta, five days ago.
Above: Kluane Range mountains, opposite Kluane Lake. South of Destruction Bay, Alaska Highway, Yukon. 15 June 2016.
This is new snow and testament to the fact that there was a lot of moisture in this area over the last three days.
Note: As I edit this piece on 20 June 2016, I learned from another rider met en route that the road from Whitehorse, Yukon to Dawson, Yukon, was washed out in over 20 places rendering it impassible. I wonder how many of the "Dust to Dawson" motorcycle rally riders were stranded in Dawson? These Dawson rains are the same rains that muddied up the construction route along the Alaska Highway I took on 15 June 2016.
Above: Bishop and bike, 2012 BMW R800 GS, at overlook, Kluane National Park, Yukon Canada. Haines Highway. Yukon. 15 June 2016.
Stunning.
I've ridden 50 or so miles of the 160 mile long Haines Highway, from a pit stop at Haines Junction, to get to this point. In 20 or so miles, I'll re-enter British Columbia, and then, 70 miles before Haines, cross the US border back into Alaska.
There have been less than a dozen oncoming vehicles since I left Haines Junction, Yukon. I haven't come up on any vehicle moving my direction, nor has any vehicle come to overtake me.
The feeling is one of stark, isolated, beauty. How can such a beautiful spot not have more visitors?
Then, I realize how far this place is away from every place else. Forget Salt Lake City... this spot is over 1600 miles from "nearby" Edmonton, BC.
Still, I wonder how may Alaska Highway diehards know about the spectacular beauty of this Haines deviation. How many of them take it?
Yogi Berra: When you come to the fork in the road, take it.
Above: Tatshenshinni area of Kluane National Park. 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle. Haines Highway. 15 June 2016.
According to nearby story boards, this area was home to the Tatshenshinni Indians. It is also home to the highest concentration of brown bear (grizzlies) in the Yukon.
Words don't do justice as I look out over this expanse. Breathtaking.
Above: Mountains. Haines Highway. Ninety miles north of Haines, AK. 15 June 2016.
One of hundreds of pictures I could have taken. Every turn of the road over 160 miles offered a vista as spectacular as this one.
Nobody on the road. High speed, well engineered, sweeping curves.
Of course, "nobody" on the road also means, nobody will find you if you run off the road... except perhaps a brown bear.
I kept speed below 75 MPH, but, the sweeping curved road lent itself to faster speeds should a rider want to push the envelope.
I think back. When have I ridden such a spectacular mountain motorcycle road... one which combined vistas and road conditions at exceptional levels?
Military Highway over the Caucusus from North Ossetia to Georgia? Admittedly great views... but road surface irregular and quite a bit of traffic.
Million Dollar Highway between Silverton, CO and Euray, CO? Vistas a nine compared to Haines Highway 10. Also, more traffic, and lower quality highway surface.
Tail of the Dragon between North Carolina and Tennessee? Iconic. But, not even close.
Altiplano highway from Ayacucho to Abancay (Peru)? Nuh Uh.
The Atlas range road from Ouarzozale to Marakkesh (Morocco)? Beautiful, but not like this. Also, the road surface was irregular.
Ride this road to motorcycle riding Nirvana. Trust me.
Above: Moose barbeque at home of Fran and Roger. Haines, AK. 15 June 2016.
Moose, taken by Roger up the river, was terrific. A meal like this has more meaning when you know your host had to put in some work... shooting... hauling... dressing... storing... to render the meal.
The moose was excellent. Moist. Tasty. Ambiance including meeting Galt's old friends was fun.
The scenery (as can be seen in the above image), however, left something to be desired.
Addendum:
Try our back yard! (bear)
Teeth and Energizer Bunny,
Basalt, CO
The hotel looks particularly inviting.
TIMDT,
Park City, UT
Day 9. Overnight ferry south from Haines on Alaska Maritime Highway ferry, Matanuska. Matanuska, will make stops at Juneau, Petersburg, Will, and Ketchikan before reaching its terminus at Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Over 500 miles, taking 40 hours. We arrive at Prince Rupert, 2:30 AM, Day 11, 18 June 2016.
Above: Jim, John Gallt, and Wautosh. Bamboo, Cafe. Haines, AK. 16 June 2016.
Breakfast. Haines equivalent of LSDM... except these characters are not philosophers. Talk is bear hunt, salmon run and mountain goats.
Galt t-shirt says, "Atlas Shrugged. Now non fiction."
Above: Breakfast. Bamboo Cafe. Haines, AK. 16 June 2016.
Corn beef hash and potatoes crispy please.
Above: Road Kill and Galt discuss prospective salmon run on adjacent Chillcoot River. Haines, AK. 16 June 2016.
Galt took me on a post ferry registration ride around the sites of Haines.
Galt lived in Haines for 20 years. He knows everybody. Road kill works for the Alaska Wildlife and Fisheries department and monitors the salmon population during the run,
Sign on nearby weir indicates 436 salmon had passed the weir to date. According to Road Kill, a high day during the run is 10,000 salmon and an average day is 6,000 to 7,000.
Bears show up in the area when the salmon are running.
Above: Bald Eagles. Chilcoot Lake. Haines, AK. 16 June 2016.
Haines bills itself as "Bald Eagle Capital of the World."
It's appropriate that I got this shot, then! 20x telephoto zoom on the Panisonic Lumix.
Above: Matanuska, Alaska Marine Highway System ferry, plys into Haines ferry terminal. Haines, AK. 16 June 2016.
Above: Bikes awaiting ferry loading. Alaska Maritime Highway Ferry terminal. Haines, AK. 16 June 2016.
Above: House built by John Galt. Haines, AK. 16 June 2016.
On seeing the house from the Matanuska deck, I told Galt, "Galt, you're the real deal. You found your own Galt's Gulch." Galt replied that his private air field, outside his house in eastern Washington, is now his "Galt's Gulch."
Galt and Dagny Taggart lived in Haines for 20 years.
Above: Eldred Rock Lighthouse. Near Haines, AK. Alaska Maritime Highway. 16 June 2016.
Built in 1905, Eldred Rock Lighthouse is the oldest original lighthouse in Alaska and the only remaining octagonal frame lighthouse of those built between 1902 and 1905. It was established because of the many shipwrecks nearby especially during the 1898 Gold Rush, when Lynn Canal was in heavy use.
Above: Hunter Glacier. Alaska Maritime Highway, north of Juneau, AK. 16 June 2016.
Image captured from deck of Alaska Maritime Highway System ferry, Matanuska.
Addendum
"The feeling is one of stark, isolated, beauty. How can such a beautiful spot not have more visitors?"
If it did have more visitors, then there wouldn't be "the feeling . . . of stark, isolated beauty."
*********
Thanks for sharing your adventure.
FeeNix,
Phoenix, AZ
What a great ride! I saw Alaska from a bus and a ship but not on the open road. Keep on trucking.
Bridge,
Palm Beach, FL
While looking at "opportunities" in Alaska on June 14, did you reflect back 21 years to the last shareholder meeting of American Savings of Florida, FSB, on - appropriately - Flag Day? :-) Below is my favorite definition or sentiment related to opportunity.
Tom
__________________________________________
In the days before modern harbors, a ship had to wait for the flood tide before it could make it to port. The term for this situation in Latin was ob portu, that is, a ship standing over off a port, waiting for the moment when it could ride the turn of the tide to harbor.
The English word opportunity is derived from this original meaning. The captain and the crew were ready and waiting for that one moment, for they knew that if they missed it, they would have to wait for another tide to come in. Shakespeare turned this background of the exact meaning of opportunity into one of his most famous passages. It’s from Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3:
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
As usual your photographs and commentary are great. As a solo rider I've noticed that I have an abundance of pictures of my motorcycle in beautiful places. These pictures are just missing one thing me so... A $20 selfie stick remedies that issue.
ITYW,
San Angelo, TX
Or a long arm.
Day 9. PM. 16 June 2016. South on Lynn Canal via ferry Matanuska, Alaska Maritime Highway System. Four hour stop in Juneau... sufficient time to take a helicopter tour of the Juneau Ice Field and the Hunter Glacier.
Above: Bishop. Chopper. On Hunter Glacier, Juneau Ice Field. Alaska. 16 June 2016.
Above: Juneau Ice Field as seen from Coastal Helicopter, helicopter.
Juneau, Alaska 16 June 2016.
Above: Juneau ice field. From Coastal Helicopter helicopter. 16 June 2016.
Above: Lateral Moraine on Hunter Glacier. From Coastal Helicopter helicopter. Juneau, AK. 16 June 2016.
Above: Bishop and Wyatt Earp. Standing on Hunter Glacier with Coastal Helicopter helicopter in background. 16 June 2016. Juneau, AK.
Above: Coastal Helicopter on Hunter Glacier. 16 June 2016. Juneau, AK.
Above: Bishop and Wyatt Earp at Hunter Glacier chasm. 16 June 2016, Juneau, AK.
Above: Bishop drinks from Hunter Glacier melt. 16 June 2016. Juneau, AK.
No cows upstream.
Above: Moran. Hunter Glacier. 16 June 2016. Juneau, AK.
Water rushes down through the moran hole and exits down glacier.
Above: Coastal Helicopter pilot Scott brings Wyatt Earp, Mwah (sic) and two other passengers back to Juneau airport from Hunter Glacier excursion. 16 June 2016. Juneau, AK.
Above: Mendenhall Glacier. Juneau, AK. 16 June 2016.
Image captured from rear observation deck of Matanuska ferry as she departs Juneau.
Day 10. Ferry Matanuska. Alaska Maritime Highway System. Sailing Alaska's Inside Passage. 17 June 2016.
Stops today in Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan... Ketchikan giving enough time (just) to dine off the boat at Landings Restaurant.
Above: Bishop. Petersburg, AK. 17 June 2016.
Taking a short morning walk.
Above: Purse seiner fishing boat. Petersburg, AK. 17 June 2016.
Above: Bishop looks up Main Street, Wrangell, AK. Alaska Marine Highway. 17 June 2016.
"Don't Tread on Me" flag. Must be a bunch of right wing subversives up here looking to overturn the paradisiacal new world order of guaranteed equal outcomes for all.
Above: Sun deck. Ferry Matanuska. Alaska Maritime Highway System ferry. Alaska Inside Passage 17 June 2016.
Wyatt Earp, and John Galt enjoy Coca Colas on the alcohol verboten ferry. At least that's what their cups say.
Above: Bush sea plane flies out of Ketchikan. Ketchikan, AK. 17 June 2016.
Image taken from observation lounge. Ferry Matanuska. Alaska Maritime Highway System.
Bush planes and Alaska pretty much go together, particularly in this maritime section where settlements cannot be reached by land.
Above: Bald Eagle. Ketchikan, AK. 8:00 PM. 17 June 2016.
Alaskan sparrow.
Image captured near Alaska Maritime Ferry Terminal, Ketchikan, AK.
Above: Celebrity cruise ship "Infinity." Ketchikan, AK 27 June 2016.
Ship undergoes repairs after crashing into a dock on a very windy Ketchikan day, 04 June 2016.
Addendum:
Spectacular photos - I have glacier/helicopter envy. Next on my list!!
Mrs. Driggs,
Salt Lake City, UT
For the record it is spelled moulin and your glacier was the Herbert Glacier. Thanks for being the group scribe. Until next time.
GALT
Touchet, WA
Whoops. I was able to correct the Facebook version. Your post will have to suffice as correction for the email version.
Dear Steve,
You obviously were wowed by the scenery on your ride to Haines. I would be interested to see how you compare that to the scenery of the Alaska Marine Ferry ride to Prince Rupert, B.C.
In 1973, when our kids were .5 years and < than 2, we rode that route and were blessed by sunny weather all the way- spectacular!
Enjoy your ride.
Ahn Rhee, Larkspur, CA
My favorite ocean voyage. Second favorite is the Chilean inside passage.
Reno,
Reno, NV
Love the long wearing Heidenau tires you recommended for the F800 GS.
I found Mendenhall to be awesome.
Jack Aroon,
Mahwah, NJ
Once again, wonderful pictures of beautiful scenery, and great commentary. How many of you are there on this trip. Continue having fun. Looks like another great trip,
Bea,
Livermore, CA
great photos
Frotz,
Park City, UT
OBVIOUS QUESTION # 1 - Where are your friggin’ skis???
Inventor,
Park City, UT
Bishop
You guys are tough. I’m enjoying your trip.
Semper Fi…….
General,
Park City, UT
Day 11. 540 miles. Prince Rupert, BC to Quesnel, BC. 2012 BMW GS motorcycle. 18 June 2016.
Above: Canadian Customs. Prince Rupert, BC. 18 June 2016.
Early... 3:00 AM ferry disembarkation. We go to a Tim Horton's for some coffee and bagel, after which time dawn shows its face. We start for Quesnel, BC about 4:30 AM
About 150 miles of Highway 16, The Yellowhead Highway, which follows the Skeena River, is new to me. When The Yellowhead reaches the junction with Highway 37, the south end of The Cassier Highway, the terrain looks familiar. I'd ridden the section of the Yellowhead beyond Prince George and up the Cassier Highway about 50 miles on a ride some years ago with Elk, Joe and His Highness. It was on that ride that I first set foot in Alaska... in Hyder. You can ride to Hyder, but you can't ride into other parts of Alaska from there.
Hyder became somewhat well known amongst iron butt motorcycle types as it was the nearest Alaska destination to which you could ride from the lower 48. To reach Skagway or Haines by road would have entailed an additional 600 or 700 miles of riding. To reach the border of Alaska on the Alaska highway would have mean 850 more miles of riding. So, shorten the ride. Ride to Hyder, Alaska!
Above: Alaska riders. Bishop, Galt, Earp, and Chief. Ulysses Restaurant. Quesnel, BC. 18 June 2016.
Greek restaurant. Above expectation considering timber town location. souvlaki, calamari, ouzo, and saganaki.
Addendum:
Steve
Looks like you had a great ride to Alaska. Congrats.
This week Kathy and I went to Ruth Chris and our server was Adam B. A young guy with an FJR 1300 who expressed his desire and passion for longer distance rides. I told him I would introduce you guys so you could share some of your exploits. His phone in case I lose my note is 612-zzz zzzz.
Let me know when you are back in town and I will set up a meet.
Thanks
Charles Atlas,
Park City, UT
Lets meet up.
Steve, Every time I send you an email or a post it shows up as "Bea ..... Don't know how Kay turns into Bea??????
Bea,
Livermore, CA
Golden girls. Bea Arthur.
Kevin H and his wife say hello. Currently we're in Fairbanks headed back to Anchorage from Prudhoe Bay...
We're almost in the same neighborhood.
Keith, Queens, NYC, NY
Your Alaska trip is becoming very compelling, downright envious. I'm curious about your choice of rides, why no duc? Also, would this ride destroy my K 1200 GT?Great to see your smiling face in these pictures.
ITYW,
San Angelo, TX
You could take GT... many comparable bikes up there. Even lots of Road Kings. Potential unreliability of Duc in those far flung locations dissuaded me from taking it. Also, I have friends who use the F800GS as a long trip adventure bike.
Raises the issue of tires too. In the wilds, it would be better to have a flat with a tube bike than a tubeless. With a tube, though the process of repair is more tedious, you can return to square one. With a plug in a tubeless, you have a weaker tire with no place to get it fixed.
Day 12. 430 miles. Quesnel, BC to Tonasket, WA. 2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle. Wyatt Earp and The chief left Quesnel, BC hyper early to make the direct 675 mile run from Quesnel, BC to Touchet, WA. Today's ride was just Galt and Mwah (sic). Back to lower 48.
Above: Galt, on 1993 BMW Paris Dakar motorcycle, parked at vista of Highland Valley copper/molybdenum mine. BC route 5. British Columbia. 19 June 2016.
Highland Valley is located 60 miles southwest of Kamloops, BC. The giant Valley pit has yielded more than 1.1 billion tons of ore in its lifetime.
Post Quesnel we enjoyed riding south on curvy, low traffic secondary roads.
Above: Logs. Quesnel, BC. 19 June 2016.
Timber and mining operations are pervasive as we descend British Columbia towards the United States. We noted significant oil and gas presence when we were in Alberta, near Grande Prarie a week ago.
25% of Canada's economic output oil and gas related.
Above: Bishop and Galt. Horstings Farm Market. Cache Creek, BC. 19 June 2016.
A good place to stop. Deli sandwiches and homemade pies. Ma and Pa farm store.
Above: 1993 BMW Paris Dakar (Galt bike) and 2012 BMW F800GS (Bishop bike) in front of Red Apple Motel room, Tonasket, WA.
A tisket... Tonasket... a red and yellow basket...
Motel selection was based on "Where would TIMDT never, ever stay... even for free."
Had a good shower. Real nice, non water saver fixture, jet of hot water. You don't have to stay in the shower twice as long. That's 50% of any hotel room evaluation.
Above: Cocktail hour. NBA championship game. Red Apple Motel
room. Tonasket, WA. 19 June 2016. Good game. I had no dog in
the hunt. Looks like a pretty good story for LeBron James.
Above: Stephen D. Taylor eating Mexican food at Rancho Chico Mexican Restaurant. Tonasket, WA. 19 June 2016.
We knew this place would be good as there was a bevy of, twenty year old plus, beat up looking pick-ups parked in front.
Addendum:
Eagle, Steve I think that is the eagle that we looked at when it was born in the nest I can tell by the White Head !!!!~
Mr. Z3,
Ojai, CA
Thanks Steve for another great travel log and commentary,
Hoops,
Pelham, NY
Spectacular photos - I have glacier/helicopter envy. Next on my list!!
Mrs. Driggs,
Salt Lake City, UT
Day 13. 20 June 2016. 450 miles. Parting of the ways. Bishop and Galt at Grand Coulee Dam, Columbia River, Eastern Washington. Galt rode south to Touchet, WA. Bishop rode southeast, across Washington's Palouse region, via Lewiston, ID to McCall, ID. 2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle. Galt's experience in Alaska and western Canada central to a fantastic motorcycle trip to Alaska.
Above: Bishop and Galt. Grand Coulee Dam. 20 June 2016.
Parting of the ways. Galt south to Touchet, WA. Bishop southeast, across the Palouse, via Lewiston, ID to McCall, ID.
Galt's experience in Alaska and western Canada central to a fantastic motorcycle trip to Alaska.
Above: Grand Coulee Dam. Grand Coulee, WA. 20 June 2016.
Haines, AK to Prince Rupert, BC ferry ticket still taped to windscreen of 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle.
Above: Bishop observes food storage unit. St. John, WA. "The Palouse." 20 June 2016.
The strange people who live here cling to their bibles and guns.
Young woman clerk, alone in the convenience store, left of giant food storage buildings, had no need to receive my credit card before activating the gas pump. "Just pump your gas," she said. "Come in and pay later."
There is an English word, not in current usage, to describe the young girl's strange behavior. TRUST.
Above: Beebee and pellet air rifle sales exhibit in convenience store. St. John, WA "The Palouse." 20 June 2016.
Teaching young children gun usage with these air guns is considered essential to good parenting in St. John. The kids get a real gun at age 12.
Above: . St. John food making machine beyond my 2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle. St. John, WA. "The Palouse." 20 June 2016.
The St. John food makers make our food in machines such as the one pictured.
It is best not to criticize the strange habits (operating on trust and good parenting) of the St. John, Palouse farmers. We don't want to piss these people off, lest they stop providing us with food.
Above: Lawn. St. John "Palouse" , WA. 20 June 2016.
It seems like such a waste of space to have such enormous lawns. The Palouse lawns go on for miles. I would urge the Palouse food makers to not waste so much water by watering their vast lawns. Rather, I would suggest that they xeriscape.
Image taken from the seat of my 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle.
Above: Salmon River and US Highway 95 South. 20 miles north of Riggins, ID. 20 June 2016.
Image taken from the seat of my 2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle.
Day 14. McCall, ID to Salt Lake City, UT. 445 miles. 2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle. Solo ride today. Nice 100 mile ride along the raging, white water, Payette River from McCall to Boise, the rest I slabbed I 84 and I 15.
Above. Bishop at Subway/Chevron convenience store. Burley, ID. 21 June 2016.
My first overnight stop on a motorcycle trip....1998.. was at this Best Western motel, seen over my shoulder from my seat at the Subway at the Burley ID Chevron.
I was on my way to get my new, 1998 BMW R1100 GS motorcycle a 600 mile service at Big Twin Motorcycles in Boise. I stopped the ride early in Burley as, un prepared for riding in the rain, I got soaked.
BMW of SL couldn't fit me in for a service for over a month...and, I wanted to ride.
Above: Windscreen and head lamp of 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle. Maverick convenience store. Ogden, UT. 21 June 2016.
2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle.
Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, and Alaska bugs.
Above: Bishop and 2012 BMW F800GS motorcycle. Harrison Eurosport Motorcycles. Salt Lake City. 21 June 2016.
4600 total ridden miles. 600 miles by Alaska Maritime Highway ferry. Park City, UT to Delta Junction, AK and return.
Alaska Trip Observations.
Harley. After panning Harley riders for so many years, I have to back off a bit. There were quite a few serious, hard core, Harley riders on the Alaska highway. Most rode Road King like touring bikes. The Chief, on our ride, rode a Dyna... the only one of those that I saw. Kudos to all Harley riders on the Alaska Highway.
Distances. From Park City to Delta Junction and back. About 4600 road miles. 500 ferry miles. Riding to Delta Junction and back would be like riding to New York City and back. You look out over the expansive forests, wide fast flowing rivers, and mountains you see and wonder, "has anyone actually explored in depth those places?" Along the Alaska highway, nothing (settlement, gas etc.) is within 100 miles of anything else.
Gas. The range of my 2012 BMW F800 GS motorcycle is, all things being equal, about 180 miles. That number could go lower with headwinds or sustained high speed riding. There are enough gas stops along the way to accommodate this range... but... gas availability is no sure thing. At one stop on the trip, power was out and gas pumps weren't working. Most riders carry auxiliary cans of gas. This is a good thing to do. I carried two liters extra gas (30 more miles at 60 mph) in my pannier... I didn't have to use it.
Bike knowledge. The F800 GS has tube tires. You should really know how to fix a flat if you take off into the wilds. That means, dismounting the wheel, extracting the tube, putting a new tube in if you carry one, or patching the punctured tube, using C02 cartridges or emergency pumps powered by the bikes battery, to get the tire inflated, and then, remounting the wheel. I don't know how to do this. My mates could have helped. But, I rode seven hundred miles alone in remote country. Had I had a flat while riding alone.... The bigger adventure bikes have tubeless tires. I know how to plug a puncture on a tubeless tire... but, the resultant fix is short term and unreliable for longer distances. The German rider we met at Toad River, in BC on the Alaska Highway had had a flat on his F800 GS and was in his third day of waiting, at Toad River, for a new tire replacement flown in to Whitehorse, 200 miles away. I was lucky.
Tires. The Hidenau tires I was riding wore well and had plenty of tread left on my arrival back home.
Accommodations. Most Alaska motorcycle adventure tourers are campers. Not us. I've tried motorcycle camping a few times... but, its not for me. Too hard to get up in the night and too many snoring people nearby. There are motels along the way on the Alaska Highway. Sometimes we booked in advance. Sometimes we didn't. Galt's judgement, having ridden the road several times, played a role in our accommodation decision making. Our one iffy time of potentially not having accommodation was in Whitehorse, Yukon...... a town of over 10,000 and several motels, including a Best Western. Because of our expectation of room availability, we hadn't pre-booked. We learned on arrival in Whitehorse that a Lufthansa jet had just brought in 300 German tourists. Rooms at our desired hotels were booked. We were lucky to get the last two rooms at a Ma and Pa motel. Best to book the day before since booking well in advance reduces flexibility.
Weather. On the Alaska highway we rode mostly in 50 to 55 degree temperatures, often in intermittent rain. The ride from Whitehorse to Haines Junction, 120 miles, was accomplished in sustained light to medium rain in 45 degree to 50 degree temperatures. I kept warm throughout with my KLIM, medium weight, Goretex riding jacket and a down liner/jacket worn underneath. I had a Gerbing heated jacket along, but, I didn't use it as I hadn't had experience using it with the smaller engine F800GS and didn't want battery problems. I'll test the Gerbing on the F800GS when I'm near home. In sustained rains I would wear waterproof pants over my kevlar MotoPort riding pants. I wore thin, deer skin, gloves the whole trip, which I couldn't have done without the magnificent heated grips of the F800GS. In sustained rains I wore waterproof mitts over the deer skin gloves. In hindsight, I feel I was well prepared for the inclement weather.
Alaska! I love being in Alaska. This trip was my fourth visit to Alaska in the last 8 years. Three of those trips were motorcycle related. The first, I joined a MotoQuest tour and rode a KLR from Anchorage to Prudhoe Bay and back... about 1800 miles. The second, accompanied by Mr. Z3, I rented,a KLR in Anchorage and we rode a self guided tour of the Kenai Peninsula. Finally, a couple of years ago, TIMDT and Mwah (sic) joined FeeBee's family on an Alaska cruise. Distances, scenery, wildlife in Alaska are all outsized in every respect. The feeling, in Alaska, of being away from the hum drum, noisy, chaotic, "civilization" where most of us live is exhilarating.
Addendum:
Is this the dam we visited that he had a display area on how the dam was built etc..? We placed tires on Friday ended up getting almost 11,000 miles and the front wheel, probably had another 25% left. Tech commented that the tires were worn properly as I drive on the sides as much as the middle, you spend so much time on the highway it is difficult to achieve this on your bikes. Glad you had some interesting rides.
Mr. Z3
Ojai, CA
thanks Steve.