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Saturday’s ride out of Whitehorse was uneventful but I was happy to be on new tires and a clean(er) bike.  The skies were clear and the temps hot by late morning – probably in the mid-90’s.  We ended the day at French Creek for free camping once again after deciding to bypass Watson Lake.  This time we arrived in the early afternoon and had our pick of the sites.  Ironically we chose the same spot we had shared with the couple from Vermont in the Land Cruiser – it was the best site there.  The day was so hot and I had run out of water in my pack during the ride so had to filter from the creek for the first time on this trip.  Another Ramen with tuna dinner and to bed early.  We are now far enough south that there is actually some darkness at night.  I slept better this time at French Creek – the first time the cold temps exceeded my sleeping bags temp rating.

Sunday morning started out clear and warm so we knew it was going to be one of those days.  By mid-day it was in the 90’s again.  This stretch of the Cassiar is quite beautiful with snow-capped peaks rising from crystal clear lakes.  The cloudless blue sky reflects down to the lakes providing dramatic color.  We arrived to Bell II mid-afternoon and paid $30CAD for the tent camping area.  The cabins are $200 each – ouch!  There is nothing else out there so they can charge what they wish.  Bell II is a heli ski operation in the winter time and the lodge has tons of photos with guests cutting up sick powder.  This time of year it is just hot and dusty.  It was hard to get to sleep as it didn’t really cool off until after midnight.  I’m surprised how hot it is up here.

This morning we to the Junction and shot down 37A to Hyder to see if the salmon were running and the bears were out feeding.  The salmon were definitely upstream to Fish Creek viewing platform but the bears apparently were still down at the mouth and had not come upstream yet.  Bummer as I was hoping to get to see a grizzly bear.  I’ve seen tons of bears on this trip but all black bears.  The consolation prize was lunch at the Seafood Bus and halibut fish & chips – probably the best I’ve ever had.  Her husband catches the fresh halibut and the catch goes straight to the bus for Diane to cook up for the patrons.

The ride from Hyder/Stewart to New Hazelton was probably the hottest I have ever been riding a motorcycle.  Joe has a temp gage on his BMW and it read 101 degrees at the hottest point of the afternoon.  I soaked my shirt twice during stops to try to get some evaporative cooling going.  This helped for about 30 minutes and then it was back to the convention oven.  When we arrived at our destination in New Hazelton we just couldn’t bring ourselves to set up tents in the stupid crazy heat so we got a hotel room with A/C.  Best decision ever!

Tomorrow we will be in Prince George and probably part ways at that point.  Joe heading south back to Seattle and me towards Jasper and the famous Icefields Parkway.  It’s been great traveling with Joe over the last 3 weeks and has definitely helped the pocket-book when sharing a hotel.  I’m looking forward to visiting Jasper and Banff national parks in Alberta and hoping for good weather to see the beautiful landscapes.

We left Inuvik Wednesday morning with a 700km goal to get near the end of the Dempster before the rain started that evening.  We heard that it had rained heavily around Eagle Plains overnight so were not looking forward to that stretch.  The calcium chloride coated road becomes soup in the rain – no fun at all on a motorcycle.  My bike seemed to be running a bit better after having cleaned out the air filter the night before.  The day started out super dusty so it was likely that it would need to be cleaned again somewhere south of Dawson City.

Coming into Eagle Plains was a bit soft and slippery but nothing too crazy.  It was obvious that the area had received a lot of rain and the road had been recently graded.  We stopped in Eagle Plains to gas up and have lunch and this is where Tim decided to split – I could tell he was the type that didn’t like to take breaks, even for lunch.  We ran into some riders heading north despite the  forecasted rain – they were hoping to get up to Tuk and back to Inuvik that day which was a pretty crazy goal considering it was already 3pm and they had over 500km to Tuk.  We told them the last bit from Inuvik would take at least 3 hours in dry conditions.  We assume they continued north and hope they made it safely.

As we left Eagle Plains it was clear the clouds were building up in the south.  After about an hour it started to rain.  The positive part was that the wet roads cut down the dust – the negative was the roads became slick so we had to slow down a bit.  It was now a race to beat the heavy rain.  We rode past a recent land slide that had apparently closed the road earlier in the day to clear the debris.  The temperature had dropped by 30 degrees so we had to stop to quickly gear up for the cold wet weather.  Hard to believe it was 85 degrees just a few hours earlier.  We reached the campground but decide to carry on as it was still raining and we didn’t want to ride in the morning in potentially worse conditions and road.

By the time we got back down to Highway 2 at the start of the Dempster it was 10pm and the skies were clear to the south.  We rode another hour and a half towards Whitehorse before pulling off to camp after riding for over 15 hours that day.  I quickly set up my tent and went to sleep instantly as I was exhausted as well as relieved to be off that road before the weather got too ugly.  The rest of the way to Whitehorse is all paved minus the construction sections so Thursday would be an easy day.

I got up Thursday morning and was not really motivated to ride at all.  It was just one of those days – probably due to the huge day put in on Wednesday.  The riding was easy as promised but I had a hard time staying awake and really couldn’t wait to get to Whitehorse for a layover day.  We need to clean the corrosive calcium chloride off the bikes and do some needed maintenance.  As soon as we got into town we stopped by the Yamaha dealership to inquire about the needed parts and service.  Joe needed a chain and oil change and I needed tires.  This shop is known to assist travelers and they told us to come back first thing in the morning and they would try to squeeze us into the schedule.  We then went to the spray car wash to clean up the bikes and then back to the hotel to clean ourselves.  Found a good meal at a pub down the street and got to sleep at a decent hour.

We got to the shop on Friday morning about 15 minutes before their 8:30am opening and I already had my back wheel off and ready by the time they opened the doors.  By 9:30am they had done both tires and I had my wheels back on and ready to go.  Joe’s work took a bit longer but by 10:30am we were off and rolling.  While they were doing my wheels I had a chance to go over the bike thoroughly and noticed some strange wear on the chain.  Upon closer inspection, I discovered the aluminum chain guard was cracked and had been rubbing on the chain.  We stopped at Canadian Tire (kind of like a Walmart but better) and I picked up some hardware to do a makeshift repair to the cracked chain guard.  I also put the second bolt I had purchased in Fairbanks on the auxiliary light that had backed out the second time.  Checked the air filter and it was actually good due to the wet instead of dusty conditions the day before.  I also swapped to a 16T on the front sprocket – probably won’t be seeing much dirt for the next week or so.

The rest of the afternoon was spent having a kick ass sandwich at The Deli and touring the Klondike – a 240 foot river paddle wheel boat from the early 1900’s that serviced the mining operations along the Yukon River.  It had been restored and was dry docked next to the river.  Dinner for the night was Halibut Fish & Chips at Klondike Rib & Salmon – a touristy spot but delicious just the same.  Saturday we will push back down towards Watson Lake and most likely cross back into BC.  With the day of rest and all the work complete on the bike I’m feeling a bit more motivated to ride again!

Wow, a lot has happened in the last 4 days.  All nights have been camping with limited access to the internet so only just now with the chance to update.  It’s now Tuesday evening and we are safe and enjoying a hotel in Inuvik.  We still have 775k of the Dempster dirt to ride back down towards Dawson City so not completely out of the woods, but the forecast is to be fairly dry all day Wednesday.  At least the hard part is over – the part where multiple motorcyclists have had to been airlifted out with serious injuries and others with $700 flat-bed rides back to Inuvik getting after stuck in the mud.

So here’s a quick catch-up…  We left Fairbanks Friday morning to ride to Tok (not to be mistaken for Tuk in the NWT (the short for Tuktoyaktuk) and set up the stretch of roads around Top of the World Highway.  We had ridden this route on the way up but this time got some close up looks at several moose.  It was a nice day with no real chance of rain and easy tarmac all the way.  We camped the night in a cool spot – Thompson’s Eagle Claw Motorcycle Park and Rental Cabins.  It was a series of campsites for pitching tents and an eclectic mix of “cabins” consisting of a bus for the bunk house, several hand-made small cabins and an ambulance with a king bed inside.  Several motorcycle travelers that we had connected with earlier also ended up camping there so it was a bit of a reunion.  The owner/camp host was an interesting lady originally from Pennsylvania that had lived in Alaska the past 25+ years.  She got the campground in the divorce!

The next day after another breakfast at Fast Eddie’s (we had stopped for breakfast on the way through going north) we turned on to the Taylor Highway towards Dawson City, but our destination for the day was a side trip to the town of Eagle.  It is a historic site as it was a military outpost in the early 1900’s called Fort Egbert.  The road in is all dirt and the views were outstanding.  We also got to ride along a herd of Caribou that had taken over the road.  We ended up camping at the BLM site just past the fort.  After setting up a guy on a BMW 1200 pulled up and we shared stories of all just having competed the ride up the Dalton to Deadhorse.  He ending up throwing up a hammock at our site and is currently still riding with us.

We all got up Sunday morning with plans to ride the side track up to Forty Mile, a ghost town on the Yukon River.  It is only about 38k off the Top off the World Highway one way.  It had prime real estate at the confluence of the Forty Mile and Yukon Rivers back in the day.  The town is billed as the older town in Canada’s Yukon.  It was established in 1886 at the confluence by prospectors and fortune hunters in search of gold.  It was worth the two-mile hike in and out from the end of the road.  After crossing the border back into Canada we soon reached the turn off to Forty Mile.  The road was narrow with tight vegetation and I was constantly watching for animals to jump out in front of me but never saw a one.  The road was very nice for an unimproved road.  Lots of elevation changes and twists and turns.  After a short visit to the ghost town and some pics we were back on the bikes and heading across the Top of the World Highway for Dawson City.  The road certainly lives up to it’s name as you are riding up above the rolling hills.

Dawson City is across the Yukon river and there is no bridge at the highway so a short ferry ride is required.  The line was a bit long late in the afternoon so we waited about an hour to get across.  We heard there was a music festival in town over the weekend so we hoped would find a place to camp for the night.  Turns out that the town sectioned off the softball fields for free tent camping so we pitched along the concert goers.  Dawson City is a very interesting town with its own history.  Google it – pretty interesting.  We walked in and went to a recommended greek spot for dinner.  The Gyro and Greek Salad really lived up to the hype!

Somewhere over dinner it was mentioned that the weather was supposed to be dry up north for the next three days – something that has rarely happened this summer season above the Arctic Circle.  We thought about it and took a vote and made the call to make a run up to Tuk and back during the three-day weather window – 1100 miles of the Dempster Highway and basically all dirt.  The last 100 miles between Inuvik and Tok were just completed this spring – or so they say.  Those that have attempted it have said the last 25 miles or so are far from ideal and not quite finished.  Wet weather can turn the road into an impassable bog.  Many this year have been stuck and injured attempting the ride up.  We hoped the weather forecasted was correct.

We got up somewhat early and left the campground around 8am set for a long 450 mile day on all dirt.  The Dempster has a stunning landscape with 360 views.  The road itself is mostly in good shape except for the construction zones – albeit extremely dusty.  The dust clouds from a motorcycle are impressive and a semi creates a massive cloud that often requires stopping as it is impossible to see.  Two gas stops later we ended up at our campground around midnight to full on daylight and mosquitos from hell.  The mosquito head net was necessary and used.  The only thing that made them less annoying than the Alaska mozzies were that they were smaller.  But that also meant they could squeeze through holes between tent zippers.  A couple of them breached into my tent during the night and had to be assassinated after too many buzzes past my ear.

The next morning after getting attacked by mozzies again while packing up, we rode the short distance to Inuvik to gas up and grab a coffee.  The weather report was still forecasting dry conditions for Tuk but there were already dark clouds forming in the distance.  The rain luckily turned out to be just east of us.  We could see it falling off in the distance and hoped it wouldn’t head in our direction.  The winds were definitely coming out to the east so it was a possibility.  The  final piece of the road connecting Inuvik is about 95 miles  and in questionable condition.  There was obviously excessive gravel thrown on to cover up the defects and get the road open.  The problem is that under the gravel is soft dirt so makes for some interesting riding.  You never really feel stable for most of the 95 miles.  I can see how people were blowing up in wet conditions.  It would have been horrible and I would never attempt it in the rain and wet.

We covered the distance in about 3 hours with nobody coming off their bike.  Joe did have a close call when he got into the deep stuff in the shoulder but kept it upright.  Tuk is right on the Beaufort Sea – and technically the Arctic Ocean.  Lots of mosquitos up there too – downright brutal.  We got our pics, stickers and muskox burgers and turned around and rode back down to Inuvik without incident.  I arrived back to Inuvik tired, sore and relieved to have that section over with.  We checked into the Mackenzie Hotel, took much needed showers and even got laundry done.  I cleaned out my air filter that was clogged with road grime.  The calcium chloride had hardened onto my filter.  I’ll most likely have to clean it again after this next 450 mile stretch.  It’s 1:00am as I finish this post and it’s still full on daylight outside.  Hope the blackout curtains in the room are good!

We left Deadhorse Tuesday morning with 40 degree temps and threatening skies.  I was hoping not to have a repeat of the miserable ride in two days prior.  After taking a one day break, the mozzies were back in full force.  I couldn’t even lift my visor while fueling up on the way out.  The road was further destroyed from two straight days of rain and we had heard rumors of snow on Atigun Pass.  It only took about 20 minutes or so of riding before it started raining.  Not a bunch, but just enough to distort the visor and make it difficult to see the potholes in the road.  The skies looked a bit less dark to the south and after about 1.5 hours of riding the rain stopped and the sun started to break through.

By about 50 miles from Atigun Pass we were riding in sunshine and on reasonably dry roads.  The Brooks Range was covered in fresh snow and the views were outstanding.  It was difficult to see the beauty of this ride on the way up – clouds covered the range and the conditions were so horrible it was all you could to just concentrate on the road and not crash.  But now we were able to look around, stop for postcard quality pictures and actually enjoy the ride.  By the time we got to Atigun Pass the freshly melted snow was still visible on the shaded shoulders but had covered the peaks for a dramatic scene.  Temps were still in the 40’s so most of the fresh snow was preserved.  Now I see why people come up here to conquer this track of road.  It’s pretty special on a sunny day.

Boreal Lodge in Wiseman was books so we stayed next door at the Arctic Getaway – a few cabins built around the historic house built-in the early 1900’s and owned by a German couple.  The stay was great and we were served a breakfast of sourdough pancakes and eggs for breakfast on Wednesday morning.  Picked up some more go juice in Coldfoot and ran into Lee in the restaurant by the fuel depot.  The three of us rode the 265 miles back towards Fairbanks together.  Lee picked up a piece of metal in his tire and it became a flat when he pulled it out.  A quick plug and air up and we were on our way again.  It is Lee’s second flat of the trip – a bit unlucky.  I have yet to have a flat on any of my trips so far.  Hopefully the streak of good luck continues for me!

Coming in two days earlier I had noticed a strange vibration on the bike in 4th and 5th gear.  Once I got on smoother roads I could tell it was getting worse.  We had planned to stay at the University dorms again but this time for two nights to have a day of bike cleaning and maintenance.  Can’t beat the price of $35 per single room with dorm style shared bathrooms.   Fairbanks, and Alaska in general is very expensive.  Even the Super 8 in Fairbanks is $175 per night.  The calcium chloride they put on the roads if very corrosive and our bikes and riding gear was literally covered in it.

We enjoyed a nice dinner and a celebratory beer at The Pumphouse in Fairbanks – first beer in 4 days as Deadhorse and Wiseman are both dry.  Then early to bed as we were all a bit tired from all the riding on somewhat difficult roads.  Thursday was to be a day off the bikes but there was a lot that needed to get done.

After a quick breakfast we were off to Autozone for oil and supplies, then to the car wash to spray down the bikes.  I used over $20 in quarters to get the hardened calcium chloride clay off my bike.  It now looks pretty normal except for where it had baked on to the header pipe and exhaust – probably will never come off there.  We got back to the University and I changed my oil and filter in the parking lot.  Then went on to checking the cause of the heavy vibrations.  By the time I got to Fairbanks the day before it had got so bad my hands would get numb in minutes from holding the bars.  The first thing I checked was the wheels and sure enough the rear wheel had a ton of side to side play – typically wheel bearing issues.  I was carrying rear bearings so had the parts but didn’t really have the tools or confidence to tackle the job myself.  I had assisted Ken a couple of times so had an idea of the process but decided to try to find a mechanic to do the job.  Many travelers had used a local guy Dan who works out of his house just outside of town.  I left him a few voice mails and he finally called me back around 5pm.  He offered to come pick up the wheel and take it back to his shop and do the bearing job.  By 9pm he was back with the fresh wheel and I was back in business.  I couldn’t believe the guy makes house calls and only charged my $30 for the work – he refused to take any more than that.  He even stuck around for another hour sharing stories about life in Alaska and motorcycle travelers he had helped.  What a character and great guy he is!

It’s now Friday morning and we plan to head for TOTWH – Top of the World Highway billed as an amazing dirt road between Chicken and Dawson.  Hopefully we have good weather as the views on a clear day are supposed to be amazing.  I’m excited to get on the clean bike, hopefully with no horrible vibrations now.

 

Today was basically a layover day with the only highlight coming at 3:30pm when the shuttle picked us up to drive through the Prudhoe Bay oilfields to the Arctic Ocean.  It had been raining all day long – in fact raining since about midnight from the previous day.  The air temperature had dropped to freezing and the wind was blowing steadily.  I was questioning my intent to do the polar plunge and join the Arctic Polar Bear Club.  Yesterday the daytime temps reached into the 60’s by early evening.

The driver was very knowledgeable about the history and workings of the Prudhoe Bay oilfields.  The area we would cross to reach the ocean is operated by BP, but partners ExxonMobile and ConocoPhillips also have compounds on the 200,000+ acre oilfield.  The operations there are immense with dozens and dozens of contractors operating all the essential functions to process oil and support the infrastructure and workers.  I knew Prudhoe Bay was largest oilfield in the US but didn’t comprehend the scale of the operation until seeing first hand all that is involved.

We finally got to the shoreline and the wind was kicking up big whitecaps on the ocean.  It looked cold and mean.  I grabbed a complimentary towel on the way out of the shuttle and made my way to the very end of the point – suddenly realizing how far back to the shuttle I would have to go to get back to warmth.  I was probably two football fields away with Joe and three others and quickly stripped down to my skivvies and scurried in up to my waist, leaned back and dunked under.  I did a 5 count with only my head exposed to the air and then made my way back to my clothes pile to dress.  The cold wind felt like needles pricking my skin but as soon as the clothes were on I started to feel much warmer.  Just my hands and feet were freezing on the walk back to the shuttle.  Once inside the shuttle it felt like a sauna due to my current body temp.  Soon I was back to normal and received the certificate for completing the plunge.  On the way back the shuttle driver mentioned that three weeks ago the bay was still frozen over.  We also got to see several Caribou and Snow Goose on the way back.

Tuesday we will leave Deadhorse for Wiseman.  It is still raining at around 8pm as I type this.  It’s supposed to stop by tomorrow but I’m a little apprehensive thinking about the further carnage all this rain has done to the road.  We will probably wait until at least noon or later to leave hopeful that things may dry up a bit.  I’m not looking forward to that sloppy slippery ride again but it must be done.

The certificate…

We left Fairbanks Saturday morning for Wiseman – more or less the half way point of the 498 mile ride to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay.  The forecast for the next several days is a bit sketchy but Saturday morning was partly sunny with scattered, non-threatening clouds.  The strategy is to be able to do the stretch from Wiseman to Deadhorse on dry roads.  Lots of bad things can happen to the road when it rains.  The Calcium Chloride they use as a hardener turns into what Joe describes as unicorn snot – something you don’t want to have to ride a motorcycle on.  The forecast for Sunday/Monday is for rain so we kept an option open to lay low in Wiseman for a day or two if it looked to be really bad.

The ride was beautiful all the way to the Yukon River Camp with a winding road through dense forest up and down the mountain passes.  One stop for photos a the famous Dalton Highway signs and then it’s mostly all dirt with only a few patches of tarmac all the way to Coldfoot.  No huge elevation gains in this stretch – maybe just 500-600 feet up and down rolling terrain through dense forests.  Yukon River Camp has the first fuel opportunity so we stopped to gas up and grab some lunch.  The menu was Vietnamese so we had a couple of Bahn Mi sandwiches – super delicious!  Was a great spot for a break in the middle of the day.

The rest of the ride into Wiseman is pretty much all dirt.    This is where I dropped my bike for the first time on the trip.  I was holding the handlebar leaning the bike towards me while bending over to check the oil sight glass when the kickstand moved forward and it toppled over.  I’m glad Joe was there to help pick it back up.  Fully loaded the bike is much heavier than the stock 350 lbs.  We were able to make pretty good time – averaging around the speed limit of 50 or sometime maybe a bit over – all the way to Coldfoot.  That is the last gas stop before Deadhorse so I filled it all the way to the brim.  My gas mileage has been a bit off lately so I was a bit nervous knowing I have to make 250 miles on the one tank.  Most of the time I’ve been averaging 40mpg + or – 3-8mpg so with a 6.6 gallon tank the math doesn’t inspire confidence.  I have a rotopax one gallon fuel cell that I usually carry – but left it off for this trip because I couldn’t get the panniers to fit right with it bolted on the rack.  Now I wish I had it.

From Coldfoot we rode the short 12 miles to our sleep for the night – the Boreal Lodge.  It really was a great set-up with 4 cabins sharing a common kitchen and living area.  Since we were the only guests in the cabin area we had the common area to ourselves.  Noodles for dinner, then early to bed as we had decided to get up at 6 with a 7am planned departure.  The forecast is for rain but we decide to go for it.  The road will be closed a few miles up the road on Monday from 6am – 6pm so we would have to wait 2 days if we didn’t leave Sunday morning.  It will be closed every third day for the rest of the month.  We booked a bus ride to Prudhoe Bay for Monday so we can get to see and swim in the Arctic Ocean.  They need a 24 hour minimum reservation lead time to compete the required security pre-check.  The route goes right through the Prudhoe Bay oil fields which are private property and heavily protected.

We woke up and were packed up right on schedule as I fired up my bike at 7am sharp.  We had picked this time to leave as the rains were supposed to start in the Wiseman area at 10am.  We thought we could as least stay dry on the south side of Atigun Pass.  It ended up starting to rain about 8am and never really stopped all day.  It just went from spitting to pissing.  The road turned out to be not too bad in spots and a big handful in spots.  The worst was the freshly graded sections that were soft and slippery – pretty much like unicorn snot.  The back end would dance all over the place with the occasional front end wobbly too – no fun.  It also didn’t help that visibility through a wet muddy shield was a problem during entire the ride.  Trucks would come by in the opposite lane and just blast mud, rocks and water from head to toe.  The only stops were waiting for a pilot car in the construction zones and once or twice to pull out a rag to clean the mask.  Stopping attracted thousands of swarming mosquitoes – most brutal mozzies attack since Siberia – probably equal in relentlessness.

We finally made it into Deadhorse with the last 20-30 miles mind-numbing washboard with mixed in potholes.  The trucks seemed to be going faster and splashing even more water in the that final stretch.  I couldn’t wait for it to be over at that point.  I was really cold even through it was only about 50 degrees and wet.  I was just pretty much mentally done – having given full concentration for six hours straight in those extreme conditions.

The town (more like industrial city) of Deadhorse is a bit confusing once you ride into town.  We just kind of drove around until we were in front of the Prudhoe Bay Hotel so went in to ask about sleeping arrangements.  They have double twins for $95 per person – but that also includes three squares a day + unlimited snacks and to go sacks.  You can pretty much grab anything all day long.  So that makes the rate a bit more reasonable.  Tonights featured entrees are prime rib and battered shrimp.  We went ahead and booked it.

Monday, to be rainy all day, is a road closure day so we are staying two nights at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel.  We have booked the 3:30pm bus ride to Prudhoe Bay – the only way you can get out there.  The roads are private and owned by the oil companies.  Planning to jump in the Arctic Ocean when I get there… we’ll see.

Bike covered in mud and calcium chloride…

From the rear…

At the Arctic Circle…