Day 25.1 - Whitehorse - Dease Lake

These photos are from my Alaska trip and cover the return from Whitehorse, Yukon through Jade City, British Columbia and ending up somewhere on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway.
I had spend the night at a campsite in Whitehorse planning on changing the oil on my bike.  A friend I had met during the Super Tenere event had invited me to stop at his house on the way down from Alaska. I got up early, went straight to a Walmart and after picking up 5 qt of oil, I headed to his place.  After a quick oil change in his garage I left Whitehorse and continued south picking up the Stewart-Cassiar Highway.

Near Teslin and one of the bridges over Teslin Lake

This is a display bear at a stop along the way, I believe it's a Grizzly Bear

The dark spot in the middle of the lake caught my eye

It was a black bear crossing the lake

I followed him until he came out on the other side

There's a saying up north that "you never pass gas", this is why, a closed gas station

There are lots of bridges on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway

Stunning scenery along the Stewart-Cassiar Highway

I came upon an accident and the road was blocked.   A car transporter had rolled on its side and required two huge tow trucks to pull him out.   The accident had happened hours earlier and had left the road blocked for hours.  I was lucky that I only had to wait about one hour for them to remove him.  I arrived as they were starting to roll the truck up, real professionals and amazing job these guys do.   Lots of damage on the right side of the truck and cars.  

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.......

A day in Dawson City

A short video of the time I spent in Dawson City during my trip to Alaska

Day 14 - Skagway and 4th of July - Part 1

The ride to Skagway, Alaska was one I had been anticipating for a long time.  The group had planned a ride from Whitehorse, Yukon to Alaska to celebrate the 4th of July in US territory.  The ride would be a little over 110 miles each way and would require us to cross the border, not forgetting the password was very important.   Skagway is a popular stop for cruise ships and being the 4th of July it was bound to be a busy town, I never imagined how crowded it would be, but I'm jumping ahead.
The group met at the Yukon Yamaha dealer tent and soon thereafter we were all on the way on a cold and cloudy day.  We were promised amazing scenery and I would not be disappointed, this post is going to be heavy with pictures.

I'm not a big fan of large group rides and as soon as we passed a few nice scenic places and no one stopped I promptly left the group.  How could we pass the beautiful Emerald Lake and not stop for a few pictures.

Interactive Map:

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Next came Carcross, a place we had been two days before.

Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing was a fishing and hunting camp for Inland Tlingit and Tagish people. 4,500-year-old artifacts from First Nations people living in the area have been found in the region. Wiki

The town is at the junction of two large lakes, I take a picture of the sign and then continue to the next scenic place.  

Today would turn out to be the most scenic and beautiful ride so far on my trip to Alaska.  I come upon this beautiful lake and quickly stopped for a few pictures.  Now that I was all by myself I could take the time to really appreciate the beauty of the Yukon territory.

Do you see the black wet stuff on my front tire? that's oil that leaked overnight from my front shocks.  The previous day adventure was pretty bad and after the mud and dirt dried on the forks it managed to lodge itself in the fork seals and during the night oil seeped out and onto the rim and wheel.  I was able to clean the seals with a plastic film but during today's ride a little more came out.

I continue and the road just winds left and right through breathtaking scenery, snow capped mountains lining both sides of the road and into the horizon.  Some of the photos were taken while riding at speed.

A few more miles and another place to stop and enjoy the scenery.  As I go further south I can see the threatening clouds over the mountains.  We had been informed it would get cold over the pass.

I continue south and start the climb up to the pass.  I'm riding along when all of a sudden the scenery changes dramatically, it gets wet and cold and the landscape is something out of this world.  I never thought it would change so dramatically and so fast, looks like a landscape from another world, a beautiful rocky landscape filled with little lakes and interspersed with green vegetation.  A low vegetation that seems to grow in between the rocky landscape.

I was mesmerized as I rode further into this landscape, everywhere I looked, it's rocky terrain with pine trees growing in what little soil there is.  It was so peaceful and quite, not another soul in sight, I just stood there with a weird feeling, like I had just been transported to another planet.

I finally reach the top of the mountain pass and it's covered in fog, not good for pictures.  It's also very cold, low 40's, I change only my gloves and crank up the heat on the handgrips.   All this time I have been on the Klondike Highway and I finally see the sign at the top of the mountain.  I'm now in Alaska but the US border is still a few miles down the road.

A few more miles and I reach the Alaska sign at the top of the mountain.  There's a bus full of tourists by the sign, I wait for them to take their pictures and to get back on the bus and then move my bike closer to the sign.  The bus guide, a beautiful young lady, asks if I want her to take my picture, I say thank you, thus the big smile.  I find out from her the tourists had come up from a cruise ship in Skagway.

As I'm approaching the US border on a steep downhill, out of the corner of my eye I see a yellow/green thing speeding by on my left on the opposite side of the valley, I look again and it's the train that travels along the "White Pass and Yukon Route".  I quickly stop to get a picture.  The train was full of tourists and on the way back to Skagway.

The White Pass and Yukon Route is a narrow gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. The line was born of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 and has no direct connection to any other railroad.  

The Skagway Wiki and the White Pass Wiki

A little further down the road it's the US customs center.  There's a big line as I approach and in front of me is a large group of bicycles.  I get off my bike and find out the guys on the bicycles are also from the cruise ship, they had been taken to the top of the pass by bus and then they ride the bicycles downhill to Skagway.  Seems like a lot of fun but I prefer to have an engine under me.

I make it through customs and finally reach Skagway.  I make my way to the port and there's four large cruise ships in town.  I have been on various cruises ships and know ships this size carry at least 2500 passengers and some even more.  Having four cruise ships in town meant the population of Skagway had grown by at least 10000 people on this day.  As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 920.  The population had grown ten times on this day and you could see it downtown.  The train had managed to beat me into town.

This little WWII Jeep was being driven around town by a young lady, I would run into her later again.

Skagway was a busy town, the local stores were busy making money and the restaurants were full of tourists.  As usual, wherever cruise ships dock, you are bound to find the diamond and gold dealers as well as multiple liquor stores.  I walked around entering a few stores and ended up buying a few small things for my wife and daughter.

I love the architecture, reminds me of the cowboy movies I saw as a kid before I came to the US.  Some of the stores in town.

One of the places I entered after hearing the loud country music was the Red Onion Saloon.  Apparently this place was a well known brothel and they now offer tours of the upstairs rooms. Downstairs it's a restaurant but the place was so packed that I only took two pictures and then left.
The outside picture was not taken by me, found it on the internet but the inside ones are mine.

A little further down the road was a museum of an old saloon with everything from the era.  It was interesting to read how the people lived and the story of the Klondike gold rush.

Found some interesting clothes and costumes in this place

Next was a visit to the Gold Digger Mine & Dine restaurant where I grabbed a cup of coffee and a few really good chocolate cookies.  Next door was the Sugar Mamas.

Next stop was by the huge 129 ton snow plow.  This train was part of the White Pass snow fleet and the funny thing is that it was built in 1899 by the Cooke Locomotive & Machinery Company of Patterson, New Jersey, about 4500 miles away.  I couldn't find any information if the train had been built in NJ and then taken to Skagway.

I jumped back on the bike but before leaving Skagway I rode to the port to go see the cruise ships up close.  I have to convince my wife to do a cruise to Alaska, she doesn't like the cold and prefers the warm waters of the Caribbean.

While in town I had run into a few of the other riders from our group and they had told me about this place they had visited in the morning.  It was already mid afternoon but the days are long here, I decided to follow their advice and visit the Chilkoot Trail and Dyea Site just to the northwest of Skagway. Wiki
I leave town and start the steep climb to get to the Chilkoot area making a stop at the top to get a glance of the town and the cruise ships.

Interactive map:

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It was a little over 10 miles to get there, crossed a few bridges, went down a few dirt roads and stopped to investigate an old log house.

I make it to the valley and to the former town of Dyea, park my bike and go investigating on foot.  There's absolutely no one in the area, I seem to be the only nut in this part of the country and I'm all alone.

The Vining and Wilkes Warehouse site, not much of it is left today but this place was busy in 1898.

Next was a visit to the old cemetery.  I wonder why this poor guy was shot in the mountains

Some of the people in this cemetery died during the April 3rd, 1898 avalanche.

I had seen signs about this location being bear country and here I am walking around without any protection, my bike more than 100 yards away.  Every few minutes I would stop and stand quietly listening for any weird or growling sounds.  I head back to the bike, it was getting late and I still had a long way back.

I make my way back to the bike trying not to make too much noise, I was actually a little worried because I hadn't seen anyone all afternoon and this is really in the middle of nowhere.  My bike was alone by the time I got to her but what if a bear had been nearby? what would I do? what would be the best place to hide?  These were all thoughts running through my mind.

I will leave the return trip for my next blog entry, this post is already too long and heavy with photos.

The good thing about Google and Blogger is they make it easy to see all the pictures at once.  Other bloggers post the pictures with other sites and it makes you go out and then have to come back to the blog.