2009 Alaska Motorcycle Trip

We have a late dinner in Coldfoot we walk in and are asked restaurant or saloon so we eat in the saloon later to find out it is the farthest northern saloon in north America if you need a bar farther north you have to go to Russia (probably have to ship bikes for that ride). Early the next moring we pack up and head in to Deahorse  as you climb the mountain get more spectacular at every corner and taking pictures becomes more of a chore as the road gets worse. Remember 98 percent of the pictures are taken on the fly and as the gravel gets deeper the pictures get harder to take. I still managed to take 1.75 gig of pictures of the three day event. That will all be available on DVD for those of you making all those great posts(we do in joy reading them at the end of the day). At about 150 miles short of Deadhore we pass a grader then a truck as I go passed the truck I hit a hole so deep I wasn’t sure I would make it out well I did make it out only to lose all power on the bike ( oh f***) not again . This time I new it was probably under the seat. I pull the bag off the back take you seat off see the my powercomander had moved from ware I had remounted it and it was totaled out so I pulled it out (now remember the grader I past is coming) I get it almost done JV is waching the grader. The grader driver fly’s up next to me stops and asks if we need a hand told us there camp was a mile away and would pull me over if we needed. I told him I had it almost fixed and he turned around and graded back the other way (wow I thought he might just bury us there).  From there on in had no more drama but the road did go from  ok to good to great then to sh** in a hurry but we were warned my our master to expect this and the last 60 miles after little sleep and riding all day really took  a toll on you but we arived safe and made our goal. After checking in I when to find gas and to see about getting the hole in my fender covered the gas station was very interesting to big tanks with a hose coming out (sorry no pics. Forgot camera). He called his maintains guy who met me the I followed him to his shop and he fixed me up with an old mud flap. Nice hole plugged and ready to go. By the way JV is a little under the weather after our square dancing and quilting party no really I think it was the bus ride from hell out of 30 on the bus 20 of them seem to be sick and it got him so we’ve slowed a bit but still on the move .

Dean Here!  Back to real time.  Yesterday, the boyz rode from Anchorage to Tok, arriving a little after 8PM.  They had no internet service in Tok.  They sent me photos via iPhone but I’m having problems upload to the blog.  I keep getting some sort of HTTP error.

The bad news is they may be coming down with colds.  Probably the results of riding in a small, jam packed tour bus for 6+ hours in Denali.  Seems the entire bus load of tourists were hackin’, coughin’, sneeeezin’, and droolin’.   JimmyV was not feeling 100% the last couple days and yesterday reports a sore throat and head cold symptoms.  This morning he’s hackin’ up green stuff.  So they’re not moving very fast.

Their goal today is Whitehorse, 387 miles, where they have reservations at the Best Western (which has internet).  Whitehorse is also the nearest pharmacy/drug store.

(Just to add more confusion)

So the Dalton Hwy. Has been known to eat up cars trucks and of course motorcycles for years but its one of those things that if you get a taste of you just have to do it. So we leave the Yukon camp we are all jacked up ( me on monster and JV on starbucks double shots) the weather it great the bikes are running awesome it can’t get much better then this. So we are riding up this steeeep grade we pass a slow move truck I hit a dip in the road and bottom out bike still runs but at I crest the hill it feels like I ‘m pulling a trailer (no power) I pull in the clutch to see if the bike is rolling ok (no problem there) then the oil light comes on and the motor is making this noise that can only be described as something ain’t right. There is a big pull off there (looks like the truckers use it to pull off and rest) I pull in and park. . So after doing some miner road side dignotics I am p*** off and frustrated thinking our trip has come to an end. So I send Jimmy back to Yukon camp to try and arrange a ride send out a help message via spot and the drama unfolds.
After JV leaves I go to work on a pile of gravel that is in the pull off area its to steep for a ramp but but all I can think of if a truck comes to a stop for help I want to be able to get it loaded I find some wood and use it as a shovel I move the gravel enough to make a nice ramp I run up and down it to pack it down. Then I start to lighten up the bike I unload my bags that are strapped on. I now am ready if some one stops with a truck.

So now I start checking over the bike more I remove the seat and  find that the tire ripped the bottom of my fender out and that was were some of my electrical components were it broke a wire I fixed it tried to start it up and it ran perfect and the oil presure light did not come on. I repack the bike send a ok message via spot hoping JV would get the word from Dean that I was ok.

I head back to Yukon to find him I’m looking in all the cars as they pass me to make sure he doesn’t go past me and as I am with in 1/4 mile of the camp I see him in a truck he  sees me also so as I slow down I see them turn I continue to the camp. We high 5 gas up and head up towards Coldfoot for the night.

This is getting kinda confusing.  JV & BS are riding along a huge bay, Gomperz Channel/Cook Inlet, heading to Homer but they just got through posting about the first 150 miles of the Dalton Hwy/Haul road, Day 8, Part 1, June 19.

I think the Midnight Sun finally got to them.  That combined with the kick awesome, mind wringing Anchorage square dance & quilting club they’ve been hanging around.

The following images were sent via iPhone.

The ride to Homer is amazing!

BIg Steve taking pics.

We start off on the Dalton Highway after our photos, and the road turns to a tree lined hard pack dirt road. Off to the right you can see the pipeline appear and disappear as we start to climb the hills. The weather starts to clear and the road is dry, making this just a great dirt road.

We end up crossing over the pipeline several times. We continue to climb and at the crest of the hills we get glimpse of the vista’s ahead of us. We past through several areas where you visible notice that the trees are smaller, or what look like trees. They are 2 to 5 feet tall sticks with what looks like some green fuzz/sticks growing from them, but they don’t really look healthy. We find out later they are evergreen trees that are growing on top of the permafrost, so they only have about 18″ to 24″ of dirt before they have to spread their roots sideways.

Alaska is vast and each vista shows it. This is the only road here! After about 35miles of dirt road, the road becomes paved with a chip seal surface. Although it is nice to have a smooth surface, the frost heaves on the road become somewhat of a challenge as you tend to “whoop” through them. My bike is stock,but Steve’s bike had been lowered by the previous owner and his “whoops” caused him more negotiating. This continues for a while, with us finding ourselves being launched from our seats from the frost heaves.

At this point, we have had only a few trucks pass us by, all going slowly enough when we past, and no one has over taken us from behind.

Back to dirt the road turns as we head towards our first milestone, the Yukon River Crossing. There should be gas here, which would mean we won’t be tapping into our reserves (gas cans strapped to our seats).

We approach the crossing, take some pics, then cross the wooden bridge and turn off at the camp located on the other side. We stop and get gas, check out the store and accommodations (these are just modular trailers put together) and then head out.

Next sign indicates Arctic Circle is 60 miles, Coldfoot Camp 120. Thirty five miles later I come up to a crest on a hill and see this is a great place to stop – the sun is out and it is pretty clear out – should be a great ride into Coldfoot.

I wait for Steve at this crest (as he follows back further to not eat my dust) and as he approaches and stops next to me he mutters “I just lost some power on that last dip on coming up the hill”

to be continued….

Ok, need to back up a bit and talk about our trip on the Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay.

Again, Dean did an excellent job keeping everyone up to date and filling in the information about the road, what we were probably experiencing, and keeping the drama alive. Now we can give some pics and some additional info to supplement that.

The breakdown was a fake, we just wanted to add drama to the ride….. lol

(No – it happended)

On Friday we headed to the local dealer to swap out our road tires for some knobbies. Steve did all the work of taking the tires off in the parking lot and we just rolled them in to have them mount the new tires. By the time we took care of that and loaded up our bikes (we left some gear in storage at the hotel to lighten our load) and headed on our first park, it was noon when we left the hotel (local time). It was over cast and sprinkels as we headed to the junction to get the Dalton Highway.

We get to the junction where the sign is and pull over for some pics. It is a light drizzle with high humidity, but still cool weather (mid 60’s). The mesquitoes we out so we applied lotion and spray and took our photos of the bikes for a before shot. While doing this a couple from Germany were just coming off the road riding two up. They swung in to talk to us and give us some info about the road.

to be continued………..

After last nights breakfast at Denny’s that was an hour wait and not shut eye till 2:00 am, we did get up early to start to pack and try a post, only to discover that it went down in the hotel a few minutes after we logged on.

Dean to the rescue. We emailed him some photos and presto – he whipped up a post and figured out where we were.

we went to Danalitoday and took a six hour tour, which is the shortest tour you can take. 3 hours in to mile marker 52, then 3 hours out. It started at 5:30 pm and we got our of the park at 12:00 am. Not exactly our cup of tea, but it is the only way to get into the park beside camping.

This place is special and we will only post a few pics – we did not get to see Mt. Mckinley – the clouds and not too many people get to see it.It is a vast, large park with some spectacular scenery and wildlife.

Tomorrow it is off to Anchorage and hopefully stay there a couple of days. I’ll try and get caught up on ome post…

But enjoy some of Danali:

Well dang.  I’m back for a while.  JimmyV reports he could not access the internet at the Fairbanks Super 8.  So I’ll continue with two photos he sent to me via iPhone.

This was taken this morning at 1:32AM in Fairbanks.  Notice that the sky is still dusk.  The “south bound 2” just finished dinner … at least that’s what they tried to tell me.  I know better!  I know these two miscreants.  They were celebrating their successful Dalton Hwy / Deadhorse / Prudhoe Bay ride at either a Fairbanks Disco, a lonely miner’s 99-cents Taxi Dance club, or a sleezy Midnight Sun stripper joint!!

Today JV & BS start traveling carrying their second set of tires.  They will keep the knobbies on till they see cord or have no tread then switch to their street tires.  JimmyV said, “We got some tips from the Beveryly Hillbillies.”

Where’s the rocking chair??

12:53 PM: The “Southbound 2” departed from the Super-8 and head towards Anchorage.

2:53 PM:  The boyz stopped in Healy for the night.  They are rushing to unpack and get on a tour of Denali.  BS will “OK/Check” the SPOT to finish today’s ride then issue a new OK/Check to start the Danali tour.

At least I think it is day 11.

Our internet has been down all morning here at the hotel.

Dean, AWESOME job covering. When we came back last night and read the post and comments, it was fantastic and great to relive the “drama”. Even sounded better that the ride at times :).

I thing everyone now knows why we call you the Master Stromboli/Grand Pooba(sp?)/Sen say, ect…

Dean filled in all the details and gave great updates, along with being the point man on this part. He had dones the same route just 2 weeks earlier and we learned a lot from him and were well prepared because of the master. He made it easy for us – Way too many thanks Dean! BS and I also decieded to have you just keep doing the blog :).

The days are long here so when we do finaly call it quits, it is late but very light outside, so you end up doing a lot more in the evening – a lot more!

We have to pack up and check out now, and maybe tonight we will post. We plan on stopping in Denali, maybe stay in that area, or keep heading to Anchorage (or maybe head there tonight after seeing Danali?)

As you can see, no plans.

Again, thanks a lot Dean, we would have never been so well prepared if we didn’t have you around to get the advice or find out were to get it.

3:12 PM:  SPOT shows them at Coldfoot Camp.  They made great time!!!

4:23 PM:  The decision is made!!  They fueled up, probably had lunch, a little R&R then mounted up to continue to Fairbanks!  It’s 175 miles to Junction and another 84 miles to Fairbanks.

8:33 PM: Junction – End of Dalton Hwy.  They are on the Elliott Hwy, 84 miles to Fairbanks.

10:20 PM: Just got off the phone with JV & BS.  They are at a Fairbanks car wash cleaning all the mud from their radiator and oil coolers.  They’re back to hard liquor, beer, cigars, fast food, fast women, the Suzuki dealership, wireless internet and a 30 degree average temperature increase.

Hope everyone had a great Fathers Day!

It’s been fun!  I’m signing off to become a regular blog reader/subscriber.  Later this evening, after the guys check in, clean up, get some chow, this blog will return to it’s two adventure riders … JimmyV and Big Steve.

ND – Notorious Dean