Alaskan Highway Motorcycle Adventure 2009

We have landed (Doug)

2009-08-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

FYI...we survived the scurvy and piracy aboard the ferry boat ;-) and managed a 600-mile day on the bikes. We're beat. The Mexican restaurant in Yreka forgot our special tequila request so provided those shots on the side of the margs. So...this is a quick way of saying we're too tired to tell you all much right now. Tomorrow...we promise. Only a piddly 300+ miles to home.

On the Boat (Doug)

2009-08-11T02:31:00.003-07:00

Hell...that almost sounds like we're on the wagon...which isn't likely given the stash of Jack in our tents on deck ;-) Haines seems to be a melting pot of travelers waiting for the ferry, and it's been fun yacking it up with other bikers who are heading back to the lower 48 or just starting in Alaska. We re-packed bags for the ferry and hung out at the Fogcutter playing pool and enjoying Alaskan Amber. A somber moment for me as I learned of the death of a friend today...you cannot travel far enough to escape that, no matter what. Cheers, Larry. We learned a little bit more about the ferry ride from other travelers...the food isn't too bad, nor too expensive. And now that we're on board, the full bar has a dance floor (like my shoes will touch that ;-)), there are two restaurants, showers, etc.. We didn't spring the extra $$ for a cabin, but pitched our tents on the deck and traded stakes for duct tape. The lower deck, we learned, is much less windy than where we were - one person's tent was almost blown off the boat within ten minuts. So, with the help of our rider-acquaintances we relocated to a more sheltered area on a lower deck. We have a few stops along the way...Juneau for now which is why I have a signal to do a quick update. A few days of this and then the 900 miles of riding back to home. How fast will that go? ;-) Goodbye, Alaska...until next time...

Bears {Wesley}

2009-08-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

We have a different definition of Bears in San Francisco. They mainly reside in SOMA. But same rules apply. I know this joke will go over most of your heads and thats OK...Its funny to me. Today was our shortest day yet but somehow felt like the longest. Maybe it was the rain but I think its more that we are heading home. We did our last miles in Alaska and Canada today and now just have time to kill before the ferry. Had another close encounter of the Moose kind today in the rain and fog. Not fun trying to stop in time to let a Moose cross when you can barely see and its pouring rain. He made it across the road just fine and I kept riding only to repeat the event with a porcupine. They are wayyyyy bigger than I ever thought and pretty weird looking. Pretty country around here and nice riding despite the head wind and rain. Looking forward to our poor mans cruise. The Alaska Ferry to Bellingham. Sleeping in tents on deck and cooking freeze dried food. The Beef Mac is pretty good though.

Haines Junction to Haines (Doug)

2009-08-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

Probably our shortest day of riding so far from Haines Junction (Yukon, Canada) to Haines, Alaska where we chill until the ferry carries us and our motorcycles to Bellingham, WA...4 nights, 3 days of floating. The ride today was gorgeous despite the wet crossing through the mountains. We could see the rain coming before it hit, and it got so dark at one point that we both stopped to take sunglasses off so we could see through the fog...er, cloud. Only one construction stop for a long section undergoing re-paving. Only a couple of miles were gravel...not too thick and deep, so cruising speed of 50-60 mph was pretty manageable. The border crossing was nice and easy..."firearms?"..."no"..."welcome back." OK...there were a few more questions, and answers that a polygraph test may have contested, but nothing guantanamo-worthy ;-) Haines is kind of quiet on a Sunday but we found our home at the Thunderbird Motel...roomy, and the bikes are right outside the door for easy unpacking/packing. The Fogcutter bar seems to be the place to be for drinks (love Alaska Amber and Red!) and we're wishing we had a way to cook the fresh crab that can be bought off the boat in the harbor. But...mmmmmmm...is the smoked salmon good! We'll be buying some of that up for the ferry ride! We'll spend the day tomorrow doing laundry, organizing the packing for the ferry, and keeping our eyes out for the legions of bald eagles. It's been quite a ride...15 days, 4,839 miles...with 900 to go. Nice to be heading home.

Border Crossing - Top of the World hwy (Doug)

2009-08-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

Just going through some older stuff and throwing out some eye candy. Here's a quick clip to give you an idea of Top of the World highway...although it was a gravel road before this section right before crossing into Alaska.

Day off in Anchorage {Wesley}

2009-08-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

After the rainy finish on the freeway for the last 100 miles yesterday we decided to take the day off in Anchorage. Bought some fresh wild Salmon at the market today to BBQ. And picked some fresh veggies out of the garden for the salad. Apparently things grow really well up here during the summer because of the long sunlight. Looks like we are going to hang here another day and do some touristy stuff and photography. Kenai is looking bad for a side trip. Not recommended by the locals because of the storms down there.

Doug had some bike issues which we think are sorted out. Although he did burn through more than a quart of oil so far on this trip. Seems a little much to me. Took it to the "Motorcycle Shop" in Anchorage and they gave it the thumbs up so I think we are good. When riding together on a trip like this, your buddies bike problem is your bike problem as well...so a lot of incentive to make sure it gets sorted out.

Day after tomorrow we will head East towards Haines to catch the Ferry to Bellingham on August 10th. Going to take it slow and enjoy the scenery and take pictures. No desire to ride through the Yukon and BC again. A lot of boring and hot miles. The ferry will give us a chance to relax. And we are going to need it because we are planning to iron butt it back to SF from Bellingham (just to say we did it). 1000 miles with a little side trip in under 24 hours.

Smoke, Rain, Mountains (Doug)

2009-08-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

It's a new variation to rock, scissors, paper ;-) We made it to Dawson City a couple of days ago, the smoke getting worse and worse. Dawson City still has the run-down, old west look...next to the not-so-run-down western look for tourists to be more comfortable in. When the "cheap" hotels went for $160 a night, the $12 campground across the Yukon River sounded even better. This picture is from the ferry you need to take to get across the river. First time the bike went for a boat ride! We had a few beers at the old hotel before getting back to camp for a freeze-dried dinner and crashing. The next day was all gravel road heading toward the Alaska border. Too bad the Top of the World highway was shrouded in smoke. We eventually had lunch in a funky town called Chicken. It's an old mining town, also with it's original buildings for that run-down western look. The original settlers apparently wanted to call the town Ptarmigan...the local bird they had for many a meal...but nobody knew how to spell it so they called it Chicken. We're starting to partake of the fresh salmon that everyone is pushing, and the salmon burger was dynamite! Next, on to the campground/RV park in Tok where we could finally do some laundry. Boring ride from there to Fairbanks. Fairbanks to Talkeetna...awesome views of Denali, but the clouds made it tough to get decent photographs. We had planned on crashing in Talkeetna but opted to move on to Anchorage. Riding in the rain is no fun and it looks like our plans to head south to Homer have been dashed with a forecast of rain for the next week. A leisurely day in Anchorage tomorrow with friends. It's finally getting dark at 11pm...bedtime. Click on the little slideshow to the right to see some more pics of the trip. Cheers!

Dead Birds, Gravel and Rain. {Wesley}

2009-08-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

I was cruising up the last miles through the smokey haze of forest fires in Yukon to Dawson City when a beautiful black and white bird flew out in front of me. There was no time to react and I caught it on my crash bars and watched it flop dead onto the road in my rear view mirror. It left blood and feathers on the crash bar. I felt bad.

The next days ride was The Top of The World highway and the farthest North border crossing in the US at Poker Creek. A dusty, smokey gravel road for 150 miles.

Todays run was from Fairbanks to Anchorage. 350 miles through Denali Park. Beautiful views of the mountain. The last 100 in the rain.

The problem we have now is that we made too good of time to Anchorage and the Kenai is socked in with rain for the next week as is Valdez and Seward. We are only 800 miles from where we catch the Ferry in Haines...what to do for the next 6 days!

Top of the World

2009-08-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

I'll have another update shortly after I sort through some photos and get a cocktail in my hand. But for now here is a little clip during a break on the Top of the World Hightway from a few days ago. This should have been a beautiful, scenic ride for a couple of hundred miles from Dawson City to the Alaska border, but smoke from forest fires hid the view. More to come!

2009-08-04T09:06:00.001-07:00

Sorry we haven't been able to update much...Internet access has been spotty. Will try again later today. Heading to Talkeetna today. Still smokey.

Sleeping In (Doug)

2009-08-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

OK...a slow start this morning as we hotel'd it in Whitehorse since the campground was full. Here's a pic of our side trip to Hyder. Taking an easy day today and just heading to Dawson City. Our thoughts of changing the route gave way to sleeping in. There were quite a few other bikers here last night so it was a lively conversation in the parking lot over some cocktails. Cheers for now!

Crash Bars and wasps {Wesley}

2009-07-31T23:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry for our delay in updating this blog but we really are in the middle of nowhere. And there really are few chances to update but now we have a window so here goes. The day before yesterday was less than optimal. Cruising along around 75mph up the Cassiar...really enjoying myself. Out of the corner of my eye I see a small black dot that hits my helmet and conveniently funnels down my jacket. I knew this could be potentially a bad thing so I pulled over in front of a farmer's driveway to investigate. As I pulled in and turned the engine off I felt the first sting of a wasp on my stomach. I rushed to get my gear off and get the kick stand down as a BC farmer looked over at me with surprise. As I got my jacket unzipped I felt another sting in...well...my private area...I jumped off the bike and...The bike fell on its side as I ripped my pants off. Got rid of the wasp but found myself standing in front of a Canadian farmer with my pants down and my bike on its side. He was nice enough to help me lift it up...the bike, that is. Thanks BC farmer...and he didn't make too much fun of me...a little, though.

So we have really been doing the miles. 500 today. Its a lot but feels great to have the time to ride so much. And the more riders we meet we realize that we are light-weights. Some of these guys are really doing it and they have a lot of knowledge to share. This trip is making me want more trips. And its only the first week.

I think I need new gloves

Hyder, the Cassian Hwy, Speed (Doug)

2009-07-31T21:52:00.000-07:00

Finally the scenery we've been waiting for. We left Smithers two days ago (thank you, Wesley, for the b-day dinner and drinks) and made our way to the Cassian Hwy (37) north to hook up with the Al-Can Hwy 1. Still hot as hell, but the scenery was worth it...snow-capped mountains in the distance, rolling road, no traffic jams. We did the side-trip to Hyder (37a), a 42-mile jaunt down a beautiful road, glaciers to the side, a baby black bear munching berries by the side of the road, and a rushing river that kept us cool in the spray while we waited at the one construction stop. We had also come here to be "Hyderized"...a shot at the local bar. Hyder is actually back in Alaska, but we couldn't spend our American dollars as everything was closed down due to a power outage. This is also the place where there is a viewing platform/deck to watch bear feast on salmon. The salmon were running, but the bear action is early or later in the day and we were there in the dead of the heat, so no bear pics for us this time. We cruised until Iskut and camped at a lake, took a refreshing dip, and then tried to dodge the swarms of mosquitoes. Today was a long haul from there up to the Al-Can Hwy (1) through Teslin. The Al-Can is a rolling, sometimes scenic road, thankfully devoid of policing so the speed limit seems to be up to your own discretion ;-) Rethinking our route from here. Today was close to 500 miles on the bike so it's crash time. Cheers, all, and thanks for keeping in touch!

Lessons learned...chain Maintenance and lube

2009-07-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

Its been a fun few days...depending on your definition of fun. Today I questioned my definition of it. My chain adjustment didn't go as well as planned. Seems to be working fine but I am sure there will be another adjustment soon. And in my packing haste I forgot chain lube so tomorrow I will search for the alternatives before heading into the wilderness on the Cassiar Highway. Met a great guy named Jack last night at a campground on a lake(in the pic). He is 60 years old with 7 adopted kids from New York that decided to learn how to ride a bike and then a couple years later ride it for 3 months from New York to Prudhoe Bay and then down to San Diego and across the South and back to New York. He pretty much humbled us with our tricked out adventure bikes and all our gear. He was wearing hiking boots and riding a Suzuki Vstrom 650. Doing 450 plus a day....alone. The farther we get North the warning signs have gone from "look out for deer, to look out for Caribou, to look out for Moose, and now Bears". A couple more days till Alaska...

A View From the Road (Doug's helmet cam)

2009-07-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a view of the road from a camera on the top of my helmet. There was more impressive scenery than this, but it's hard to work the camera when I'm doing 80mph and fiddling with buttons on the top of my head ;-) Turn the sound down (just wind noise)...sorry...didn't have time to edit.

Fire, Traffic, Happy Me! (Doug)

2009-07-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

Finally rolled out of North Vancouver, taking the scenic route through Wistler, Lillooet, and eventually ended up camping at McLeese Lake. A long day. It seems all of BC is under road construction! Hwy 99 to Whistler is being widened, and even Whistler itself is being expanded for the upcoming winter Olympics. Just when we think we're free and clear of construction delays and into the wild, another flagger with a "STOP" jumps out of the woods. The heat continues to be oppressive. So much so that we've ditched the jackets and still swelter in the boots and pants. We can only hope as we head north that it gets a little better. The mountains around Lillooet and Cache Creek were gorgeous except for the fire that covered the range in a smokey haze and had us choking in our helmets from the smoke. Cold beers have never tasted so good. It was nice to camp out. Met another biker who pulled in next to us. Jack started in June from upper New York, crossed all of Canada, went to the top and bottom of Alaska, and is now heading south to San Diego and then across the lower US to Florida and then back home. Wow! He's traveling solo, and at 60 yrs old had quite some stories to tell Jack, if you're reading this...safe travels and we'll catch up again! Time to hit the road again as it heats up. Working our way from Prince George to the Cassier Hwy today. Not a bad way to spend my 45th birthday! Cheers, all!

I got no photo to share (Wesley)

2009-07-27T21:48:00.001-07:00

Just slugging it out through the heat and traffic today up 5 to Vancouver from Portland. Lots of road work due to the economic stimulus package. Is the economy really this bad that we have to bring back the CCC from the Great Depression? I guess so. So its finally starting to get pretty but now we really have to put on the miles. Tomorrow begins with a chain adjustment. For all you non rider friends of mine..this trip from here on out is like getting up every morning and riding to LA...on a motorcycle...on Hwy 1...with stretches of gravel thrown in and in 90+ degree weather...for 20 days. Somehow Doug and I think this is what vacation is all about.

Now for the fun stuff (Doug)

2009-07-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

We're in North Vancouver tonight, about what we expected after leaving Portland. Al peeled off just a little before Seattle to head back to Idaho, and he's lucky that he missed out on all of the fun traffic on Hwy 5. So...there isn't much to tell. Other than the fact that Hwy 5 is pretty boring, under construction, and with tons of traffic. Oh yea...and the heat. It's all anyone talks about. And we know it. This photo is how the journey looks so far...strapping down the Aerostitch suit so I don't boil myself riding with it on. Pardon the Dr. Livingston safari look with the boots...that got fixed later. I would ride in shorts if the boots were more stylish. We always park in the shade, and if the gas station mini-mart is air-conditioned...well, it's worth hanging out for a minute longer. Things finally got interesting around Bellingham. The mountains and curving, rolling road returned. And now that we're pointed north toward Whistler and beyond we can hope that there is cooler mountain air to go with the upcoming scenery. More pictures to come, for sure. We just didn't want to bore you all with too many rest stop pics. Stay tuned. We're realizing we've only just begun. Fun, scenic, tiring.

Oil...10W40Jack

2009-07-25T23:51:00.001-07:00

Is that there whiskey in your oil? 'nough said.

Little Things

2009-07-25T23:26:00.000-07:00

Finally...the first day of a trip that was born 6 months ago in a beer-laden "we should ride to..."...Alaska. And here we are. No, not in Alaska, but on the way. How did I know? How could I have known that the celebration of the start of a 3-week motorcycle ride to Alaska would begin in the post-binge haze of too much fun. Wesley called it a late start...also known as a hangover. But there's nothing like balancing on 2 wheels, motorized, and extra heavy when in a slight haze. Ugh. My R1150 GS weighs in at over 500 lbs dry...without extra fuel, camping gear, photo gear, food, bear repellent (let's see how that goes) and a spare oil can conveniently carrying American-made whiskey over the Canadian border...we'll see how that goes as well, eh? But it all comes down to those little things as we get into the groove of the ride... Like locking my keys in my own garage when I started to pack. Going back to the house for the tire repair kit and leaving empty handed. And by the third gas stop I figured out the order of life...sidestand down (ALWAYS...even if you're not getting off the bike), gloves off, sunglasses BEFORE helmet, headset out of ears before throwing the tank bag down (ouch)...etc etc. And we also now know that leaving the San Francisco bay area mid-day on a Saturday in heavy traffic (all heading to Infineon race track) is no way to start an Alaskan adventure. But we're getting there. It was a hot-as-hell ride up the central valley. But once we got to Redding and into the curvy, rolling hills, the ride was...well...sobering. There's nothing like rolling through curvy mountain roads on two wheels and soaking in the view like this one of Mt. Shasta. And this is only the beginning. We're also figuring out the workings of posting to blogger, so bare with us...photos and videos to come.

The first day was HOT (Wesley)

2009-07-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

So the first day went well. Doug and I were both tired from being too amped up for the trip to sleep. Late start. Once we got into the central valley it was hot as hell. My Ipod shut down it was so hot. In Yreka tonight in a hotel 6. Had a delicious dinner at Taco Bell and a few Jack and Cokes thanks to Doug carrying some in his spare oil can...we don't need spare oil anyway. Tomorrow an early start to Portland to see my sister and niece and brother in law. Al Lemire from Idaho is riding out to meet us for a day of riding to Vancouver Monday. We had a bunch of photos to upload but...Doug somehow erased them! Wanker! Hard to believe we have 20 more days of this. I always forget how taxing this many miles a day is on the body. Not much to say today. Just getting into the groove. Encountered a fellow ADV rider on the road and was given the obligatory ADV salute...the middle finger...its a motorcycle thing. I returned the gesture. Met up with them later at a truck stop and chatted a bit. They were doing way more miles than us and two up on a Vstrom with no rear brakes because they wore them out...but we are easing into it....we will be up to speed soon. More from Portland tomorrow...