Day 18 - Leaving Fairbanks

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

Today is the day I make my final push north to the final destination of my trip.  By tomorrow if everything goes well I will have turned around and start heading home.  I'm now 4300 miles away from home with a mere 500 miles to go to the end of the road in Prudhoe Bay, aka, Deadhorse.
I get up early and start carting my stuff downstairs, a bit of a pain having to bring all my equipment from the 3rd floor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, but in no time I have my bike packed and ready to go.
Just as I'm about to get on the bike I hear another bike approaching and stop behind mine.  I turn around and recognize Dave, a fellow rider who I had met and camped side by side with almost two weeks earlier in the Yukon.  After a little chitchat he asks me where I'm heading, I say Prudoe Bay and he asks if he can tag along.   I really didn't want to do the most dangerous part of my trip alone and neither did he.  I promptly agree with the condition that I lead the trip.  He agrees and the first order of business was to fill our stomachs, we head to a nearby McDonalds for a quick breakfast.

Anyone leaving Fairbanks on the way to Deadhorse knows the trip is easily broken into two parts, each about 250 miles.  The first leg to Coldfoot can be relatively easy depending on the weather but the second leg to Deadhorse is much more difficult and can be extremely more dangerous depending on the weather.

Soon after we leave Fairbanks we are on open road with little to no traffic.  The road is paved and in pretty good shape allowing us to keep a good speed.  We get a little shower earlier on but since we are both wearing our rainproof jacket and pants, we don't even slow down.  One thing we do is enjoy the beautiful scenery while keeping an eye for wildlife.

One thing you are guaranteed to run into is showers.  If you are lucky like us you get a few short showers, if you are unlucky you might do the whole trip in the rain.  You can see from these pictures the road was dry and then wet and then dry, just the usual Alaska weather, so I was told.

About 85 miles north of Fairbanks, just after Livengood, you reach the beginning of the Dalton Highway.  The Dalton Highway stretches 414 miles across northern Alaska.

Built during construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline in the 1970s, this mostly gravel highway travels through rolling, forested hills, across the Yukon River and Arctic Circle, through the rugged Brooks Range, and over the North Slope to the Arctic Ocean.

 Read more here: BLM

We stop for the obligatory pictures and a couple returning from the Arctic Circle, another 113 miles up the road offers to take a picture of us.  Dave is riding a BMW GS.

Soon after entering the Dalton Highway the paved road ends and becomes a sand and gravel road.  It had rained earlier on making the road very slippery.  The Bureau of Land Management uses calcium chloride to keep the dust down and to attract moisture to help the gravel stay packed solidly.  That works well when the road is dry but when wet it becomes as slippery as mud.  One thing I had heard multiple times by other riders and read in blogs is to keep the weight on the bike as low as possible otherwise you will be caught by the slippery mud.  We slow down a little but so far the road is not that bad.

We make good progress finding the road in reasonably good shape.  We ride standing up at times just so we can keep a good pace.  We both have Heidenaus K60 which gives us a little more confidence than I would have with regular street tires.  I'm carrying all my equipment including tent and camping equipment on my back seat.  I know my bike is pretty heavy but so far the handling is really good allowing me to keep speeds of 65 to 75mph.   I'm actually starting to have a lot of fun riding in these conditions, feeling the bike move under me.

We cross a few wooden bridges and as long as they are dry it's a no issue but if they are wet you have to be a little more careful.  You do not want to lose the front end on a slippery wooden plank.  I maintain a steady pace paying special attention to the road while crossing the bridge.

Soon you see the famous Alaska oil pipeline next to you.  At first from afar the pipe doesn't look that thick but the pipe is actually 4 feet in diameter.  Later I would have a chance to stand on it and see it up close.

We encounter a mostly deserted road and even the dreaded construction is a non issue since it's Sunday and no workers are on the road.   We stop by a few road construction areas for a quick break and to drink water.  The air is dry and the temperature is in mid 60's.   

The Dalton starts as a gravel road but there are areas that are paved.  The scenery is stunningly beautiful, green as far as the eye can see and the sky a deep blue when not covered by clouds.

About 60 miles after entering the Dalton Highway you arrive at the Yukon River Camp on the other side of this bridge.   The camp has a motel, restaurant, a gift shop and gas.  One thing you hear a lot is you must never pass gas in Alaska, a running joke in this part of the country.  We pull in for a warm cup of coffee and top off our tanks.

Use the embedded map below to look around

View Larger Map link

You can see on these two panoramas the condition of the road and how dirty the bikes already are after only 135 miles since leaving Fairbanks.  We are barely past halfway to the end of the first leg in Coldfoot.

Yes, this is the Yukon River Camp Motel, a prefab building with a few rooms in the back.  I walked into the corridor so I could snap a photo of the rooms.  These are mostly for workers and have the bare essentials only.

I have a large cup of coffee and a few chocolate chip cookies while we chat with a few other riders doing the same trip.  The others were already on the return trip.  We exchange road condition information and chitchat for a while. There are also a few truck drivers and they also have suggestions on the road, everybody seems nice and ready to volunteer information.   Below you can see the difference between my bike still traveling north and the guy chatting with Dave who is already on the way back.  My bike looks clean compared to his.

With our tanks topped off we hit the road as the saying goes.
To be continued.......

Day 16 - Dawson City - Part 2

At the end of my last blog entry I was standing on top of the dike facing the Yukon River.  This far north the days are so long, sunset is not until almost midnight, that you have lots of time for sightseeing. Dawson is a small town and basically you can walk around the entire town in a couple of hours.  I stood on the dike enjoying the scenery, the water flowing leisurely past me, and watched the ferry cross the Yukon River, the same ferry I will be taking tomorrow to continue my trip north and finally into Alaska.

I walked north along the dike towards the ferry and the Klondike Spirit, a side-wheeler paddle steamer.  The Spirit is a new boat, is not a real steamer but diesel-hydraulic powered, that takes tourist on cruises up and down the Yukon.

Nearby was a stern-wheeler but this one no longer floats

My next stop was at the Monte Carlo gift store where I bought a drink and a souvenir for my daughter. Nearby was a private workshop.  Since all construction in Dawson must  follow a standard look, I'm sure this guy does good business.

Next was the Northwest Territories Visitor Center where I  had the opportunity to see old items from the gold rush era and read about the town's history.  Center stage was one of the dredges used to mine gold along the Yukon.

I wouldn't mind having this little cabin, loved how the grass is growing on the roof.  Nearby was a very old building, most likely a bank, that is in desperate need of repairs.

Time to continue the tour.   I pass the beautiful "The Bunk House" hotel and various other stores.

My next stop was at the Lowe's Mortuary, a building with an interesting story.  The log-cabin was a "Ladies furnishings" and "Fancy Goods" stores, whatever that means, followed by three undertakers.  The Lowe's Mortuary, chapel and furniture business operated here between 1906 and 1921.  I studied the instruments with curiosity and wondered about the "Dominion Peerless Cavity Fluid".  Filling cavities with fluid is not something I would want to do.

I continue my tour passing the Palace Grand Theater and another building with a beautiful mural on the side of the building.

I saw a group of tourists with a guide heading towards an old bank, I quickly joined them and snuck in with the group unnoticed.  These pictures are the inside of an historic bank.

Time to relax with an ice cream.

Some of the other buildings around town.

Beautiful home

The Dawson Daily News

Royal Canadian Legion

Whatever this is, it needs repairs

Dawson City Museum - It was closed

The Yukon Rose

And finally the "Flora Dora Hotel", look careful at the windows, I enlarged it so you can see it better.  Not sure I would want to stay here.  It might have a few leaks on the roof.

It was time for dinner and I have no idea where the other three guys are.  I walk to the center of the town and find the Billy Goat's Restaurant and Pub.  On the left is the Drunken Goat Taverna, I head for the pub area on the right.  Who would have thought I would have dinner in a Greek restaurant this far north.

My delicious dinner and genuine Yukon beer

The old bearded guy was recounting old Yukon tales, surreptitiously I set the camera on timer, set it on the table and continue having my meal while the camera snaps a picture of the three men. 

My table from across the room.   I had my back facing Marilyn Monroe and to my left was a Québécois lady (from Quebec) drawing beautiful colored pencil portraits of people. I spoke with her briefly, she told me she had moved to Dawson City recently and loved the slow pace of this tourist town.

The famous Rat Pack

As I left the restaurant I saw this little girl playing in the mud, oh what fun it is to be young with no worries in life.

I finally meet up with Paul, who was wondering around town by himself, and we both head to the famous Downtown Hotel for a beer.  This is the place where every year the Dust 2 Dawson riders meet.  If you don't know what the D2D meet is about, there's an interesting story, read it on the ADV website here.

We stop at the steps of the hotel to talk to an old guy and his dog.  The dog decided he had had enough of the conversation and decides to lay down and enjoy the afternoon warmth from the sun.

We sat at the bar having a beer while an old guy played old songs from the Yukon gold rush era on an old piano.  For me it was a magical moment, all around me was history, the old wooden bar, the old fashioned saloon doors, the old piano, the old one eyed dog laying on the steps of the hotel, I got a lump in my throat just listening to the old tales.  It was the most amazing time of my life. It was at that moment that I made a promise I would return to Dawson and attend the Dust 2 Dawson event.  My plan is to do it in 2014.
I will post a video of the guy playing the piano next.

I walk to the main entrance of the hotel and it's like stepping back in time, to an era of gentleman, cowboys and gold diggers, ladies and Can-Can dancers.  I loved the decoration on the inside of the hotel.

Reluctantly I leave the hotel, it was late but the sun was still up high in the sky.  Paul heads straight to the campsite but I take one more walk around the empty town and eventually make my way back to the corner of Fifth Ave and York Street where our campsite is.

There's no one up, I look at the time, it's almost midnight and I'm not sleepy.  I decide to take a quick shower and on the way pass this interesting bus/hotel.  I had never seen one of these, interesting concept.

After a quick shower I head to my tent, I feel I'm in a ghost town, not a sound or person around but it's still day, the sun is up, an eerie feeling descends upon me, I enter my tent and lay down on my inflatable mattress.  I fall asleep thinking about tomorrow's ride, crossing the ferry and ride along the "Top of the World Highway".

More to come......