Day 23 - Ride to Valdez

This post is a continuation of my Alaska trip in 2012 for anyone reading my blog for the first time.

I left Copper Center early in the morning, planning on riding to Valdez, about 150 miles, and have breakfast or lunch there.  I will then turn around and head north passing Copper Center again on the way north to Tok, another 255 miles.  There's only one road to Valdez, the Richardson Highway, but it's one of the most beautiful rides in Alaska.  The views are stunning, the snow capped mountains surround you most of the way and there's a constant fog. Valdez is a small city of about 4000 inhabitants but has one of the most important ports in Alaska.  It is also the end of the oil pipeline that starts in Prudhoe Bay, the place I had been just a few days earlier.

The vistas are stunning along the Thompson Pass, it's mid July but the mountains are still topped with snow and the fog is a constant along the way, it made for a very cold ride.  I had my scarf wrapped around my neck, had to put and extra layer under the jacket and the grip heaters were on maximum setting.

About 30 miles before Valdez you pass the Worthington Glacier.  I stopped at the state recreation site but did not walk all the way to the glacier.  The sign said it's unsafe to walk on glaciers without special equipment due to the danger of falling in a crevasse, the last thing I wanted after having ridden over 6000 miles so far on this trip was to break a leg by falling through a crevasse.

As you get closer to Valdez you go through Keystone Canyon, carved by the Lowe River, where you get to see lots of beautiful waterfalls.  It's a narrow Canyon and I encounter almost no traffic, at one point I stop the bike and I'm able to stand in the middle of the road to capture a few pictures.

The air was cold, mid 40's, colder than when I was further north and colder than Prudhoe Bay but I was enjoying myself just admiring the beautiful scenery and the low fog.

I arrive in Valdez, located at the head of a fjord on the eastern side of Prince William Sound, head straight to the ferry terminal and ride my bike onto the pier, luckily for me the ferry was not in and there was no one at the terminal.  I had envisioned this moment multiple times in my head and found a perfect spot on the empty pier.  Right across from where my bike is parked is the oil loading terminal.  No one is allowed to go near but I didn't need to, the view from this side was amazing, I stood there for a while simply enjoying life.

Below you can see an oil tanker on the other side.  These two guys were leisurely going by on their canoe.

Valdez is also a fishing port, I head next over to the fishing area and find the port full of all kinds of fishing boats, commercial and for sport fishing.  You can read all about Valdez here

These guys were having fun picking the bones of leftovers from the fishing boats and seeing them eating remind me that I needed to eat too, I tend to forget when I'm having fun.

I find the perfect place for breakfast at the Totem Inn Restaurant.  The place was packed and that's a good indication the food is good.  I look through the menu looking for the typical, two eggs and bacon but instead find two eggs and "reindeer" sausage.  I had never had reindeer sausage and didn't even know they existed.  I ask the young waiter if they are good and she tells me they are the specialty of the house, that was enough for me, I'm always ready to try anything.  I can attest they were really good.

The view from outside the restaurant.

I couldn't leave Valdez without one last stop by the pier.  I pull out the zoom and manage to get a closer view of the oil terminal.  Since I was there, might as well get another photo of the bike.

With one last look, I turn around and head out of Valdez and back on to the Richardson Highway.

On the way out I stop at the old railroad tunnel, cut by hand into the solid rock, never completed because the workers from competing mines fought a gun battle which interrupted progress and the tunnel was never finished.

I continue my return to Tok where I plan on spending the night at a famous motorcycle campsite.

Luckily there's only one route to follow back to Tok because my WorldNav GPS was having problems locating itself.  I never figured out what the problem was, it had the maps for Alaska and had been working fine further north.

To be continued.....

Day 17 - Top of the World - Part 3

This post is a continuation of my Alaska trip in 2012 for anyone reading my blog for the first time.

After making a right from the Top of the World Highway and start heading north on the Alaska Highway for about 12 miles you reach an important junction in Alaska. The town of TOK is located at the junction of the Alaska Highway with the Glenn Highway.  It seems all roads to Alaska go through Tok.  From Tok you can continue north to Fairbanks or head south on the Glenn Highway to either Valdez or Anchorage.
Saw this guy pedaling north.

I didn't waste too much time in Tok, stopped for gas and a snack and continued north.  I wanted to reach Fairbanks before it got too dark and my plan was for on the way back from Alaska to stop in Tok and spend the night at a famous campsite.  About 110 miles later I reach another milestone, the end of the Alaska Highway at the Delta Junction.  At the junction of the Alaska Highway and the Richardson Highway is a monument with the 1422 mile mark and end of the highway.  The lady inside the office said I could bring the bike up and park it in front of the monument for the picture.  I propped my camera on a ledge and got my picture.

Nearby are two important items that I'm sure I will be seeing more as I head north.  The "Pig" as it's known, is a device that travels down the pipeline to conduct a variety of functions.

The majority of pipeline maintenance is done by pipeline pigs, mechanical devices sent through the pipeline to perform a variety of functions.  The most common pig is the scraper pig which removes wax that precipitates out of the oil and collects on the walls of the pipeline. Wiki

The other shows the three different pipes used in the pipeline over the years.  The big one is currently used from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, the other two much smaller are no longer used.  The smaller is 3" in diameter, the second is 8" and the current pipe is 48", four feet in diameter.

Nearby are two huge mosquito's, the buggers I would encounter by the thousands further up north, an omen of things to come.

Nearby is a house from the gold rush and pipeline construction era with lots of period items.  I spent some time reading and educating myself on the difficult life these earlier adventurers must have had.

I leave Delta Junction and continue north now on the Richardson Highway heading towards my next destination, North Pole where Santa lives.

I first stop at the North Pole visitor center hoping to find Santa but he was busy somewhere else, probably tending to his reindeer.  Coffee was free so I helped myself to a cup.

There is a Santa Claus Lane in town, obviously, I point my GPS to it and head there.  I had to get a picture with Santa but the best I could do was this statue of Santa near a store that would put the Christmas Store to shame.

I head to the store and after perusing through thousands of Christmas items, I end up buying two little ornaments, one for my wife and the other for my daughter.  They love decorating the Christmas tree.  Since I don't have any empty space left on my bike, I had to buy things that wouldn't break so I could shove them in a corner of a pannier.

An igloo with an extension cord coming out the window, I wondered if little elf's were inside busy making more ornaments.

I didn't find Santa but did find some of his reindeer nearby.  They looked a little tired.

This poor fella looked tired and his coat a little disheveled.  I kind of felt sorry for him, having to fly around the world with that fat bas..., Santa I mean.

After a while I had enough of North Pole and all the consumer trappings, I left town and headed to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, about 15 miles up the road.  I get to the front office, young college interns, almost all beautiful ladies, something I hadn't seen in a long time and ask for a room.  Of course they have rooms, it's summer and most students have left for the summer.  A beautiful young lady shows me the place, shows me where I can get snacks, where the laundry room is and gives me the key to my room.  I cart my stuff upstairs to the 3rd floor, grab the dirty clothes and after picking up some detergent put my clothes washing.  Next I head to the shower where I spend a considerable amount of time enjoying the fast running warm water, something I hadn't experienced in a while.
After skyping with my wife using the free wi-fi, I hit the bed and slept like a baby.

Tomorrow I leave for what will be the most difficult and dangerous part of the trip.  I will head north to the start of the Dalton Highway, make a stop in Coldfoot for fuel and then continue to Prudhoe Bay.

More to come....