Picto Diary - 11, 12 June 2017 - Down time in Tok. Alaska

Above: Two images. Road direction signs. Tok, AK. 11/12 June 2017.

Images taken while out for a walk. Chilly and rainy for these two days, slaking a draught around these here parts.

The temperature changes in this region have been off the charts. Day before yesterday, in Dawson, it was 84 degrees. When I checked the weather, there advisories warning of high water at rivers and streams as a result of extra runoff due to the warm weather. Today in Tok, however, the high was 48 degrees.

Last year I spent two nights in Tok. From Tok, I rode the BMW F800 GS motorcycle to Delta Junction and back to Tok to complete the entire distance of the Alaska Highway, and to link with the point of a 2010 ride on a Kawasaki KLR 650 from Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay) returning to Anchorage via Delta Junction. So, I could say I had ridden a motorcycle the length of the Alaska Highway, from Dawson Creek, BC and beyond, to, crossing the Arctic Circle, Deadhorse, AK.

This year, I had also planned to spend two nights in Tok. Ahn Rhee, from Larkspur, CA, was supposed to be with me (bike breakdown kept him home). We wanted to have the flexibility, to, say, ride to Fairbanks, or Valdez, and back to Tok, each four hundred mile round trips, before continuing on our way to Haines, AK I'd ridden to Fairbank's before, but, had never been to Valdez, terminus of the Alaska Pipeline.

On arriving in Tok alone, the night of 10 June 2017, when I contemplated the extra day open to me (the 11th) I felt, deep down, that the likelihood of a four hundred mile ride would probably have less appeal than a well deserved day off.

So, in Tok, alone, I decided to take the day off 11 June 2017. Besides, there was weather.

It started raining as I was riding from Chicken to Tok on 10 June 2017. Next day, "my day off," there was constant light rain all day long.

My plan called for me to ride from Tok to Haines, AK on 12 June 2017, the next day. I checked the weather and it wasn't going to stop raining in either Tok or stops along the way south to Haines, until the 13th.

I had planned, also, two nights days in Haines: 12th and 13th. So, there was flexibility for me to arrive in Haines a day later than planned, and still connect with the Alaska Maritime Highway System ferry on the 14th, which I had booked to take me to Prince Rupert, BC.

Dilemma. Should I ride the 12th in constant rain for 440 miles, or stay a third night in Tok and ride in the expected better weather the next day?

Riding in the rain would mean no scenery. There are some great vistas on the way down to Haines looking rider's right, southwest, to the Wrangell St. Elias mountains in Alaska, and further down the road, into Canada's Kluane National Park, part of the same coastal mountain system as Wrangell St. Elias.

I opted to stay a third night, 12 June 2017, in Tok. I got some reading done, updated my diary, went for some extended walks, and took my meals at the iconic Fast Eddy's.

Addendum:

The reason the town is called Chicken is interesting. When the founding folks decided to officially register the town the original name was going to be Ptarmigan. As the discussion heated over the proper spelling of the proposed name, there was a frustrated call for a vote and the alternate name was Chicken.

John Galt,
Walla Walla, WA


You are an inspiration. And a grandfather no less! The bar has been set.

Inventor,
Park City, UT
Tell that to TIMDT. :-)


Wonderful travelogue and wonderful pictures - thanks very much.

Nathans,
Massapequa, NY


Quite the adventure! I love the daily travel logs so that I can enjoy your travels vicariously. Be careful especially on the wet roads.

Captain Kirk,
Park City, UT


Amazing scenery- keep the pictures coming
Read a review on a Book you may enjoy “The Long Haul” a truckers tale of life on the road by Finn Murphy.

Montage, Marina del Rey, CA