This would be my second "big" trip, but I'll always think of it as the first step towards a deep love of Adventure Touring. A friend of mine mentioned that he was going to ride to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. I asked him if I could come along before I could even look at a map to see where Prudhoe Bay was. He agreed to my company and I went out and bought a 1995 Kawasaki KLR 650 and proceeded to "kit it out" with new fork springs, skid plate, windscreen, tank panniers, and fork brace. But I didn't have much confidence in the electrical system and even though I thought I might have fixed it, mere weeks before the of departure I bought a 2000 model. I switched over all of the upgrades and was ready to go with days to spare. My riding partner and I had researched the route, the weather and our provisions and felt that we were ready. Here is the story of our journey into the unknown. It has been broken up into two parts. Click here for Part II
Total Miles: 5,600 miles, 17 days
White Rock, BC – Deadhorse, AK and return
Tickets: 0
Mishaps: 0
Puckers: 0
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Day
.5 –
100 miles
The odometer on the KLR had just rolled over 10,000 when I left Seattle
this evening and the 100 or so miles I put on between then and now were
just the start. My riding partner, Doug Walker, and I agreed to meet in
White Rock, BC to start our epic journey northward, to the Arctic Ocean.
We had been talking about and planning this trip for almost a year. We
looked at maps, mileage, bikes, routes, equipment, supplies and money.
Amazingly enough, it was about to begin.
Day 1 – 480 miles
We had a wonderful meal at a nearby restaurant and spent the night at a small motel in White Rock, BC. The helpful woman at the motel desk in White Rock suggested that if we wanted to avoid the Vancouver traffic on Friday morning then we should leave by 6am. The alarm went off as it was supposed to do and we packed up the bikes and took off east to Hope, BC. This is a rather dull stretch of road, and at this hour there wasn’t much going on. We had a quick bite to eat at Hope before heading north up the Frasier River Canyon (#1). This is a beautiful stretch of road and includes some excellent scenery along the Frasier River, through Hell’s Gate Air tram base and then on to the more arid and warmer climates of Ashcroft and Cache Creek. Once we left Cache Creek we had reached a point where neither of us had been this far north before. At Cache Creek the road becomes the #97 and the landscape flattens out from a spectacular river gorge to more mundane hills, farms and forests. At Williams Lake we decided that after the heat and the early start to the day we deserved a rest. We found a not-so-quiet spot near the lake underneath a large tree and attempted to nap. Unfortunately, the gleeful children playing in the water, the crows calling out to each other and the chain smoker at a nearby table all conspired to keep us from complete rest. However, it was still an appreciated stop (even though our chap stick melted in our tank bags – it was hot!). We pulled into Prince George and found a motel less than a block away from Moxie’s, a tasty “classic” grill. I’m not sure what “classic” is supposed to mean, but they have a damn fine Honey Roasted Garlic Sirloin that really hit the spot!
Day
2 – 435 miles
As would be typical for the trip, we didn’t leave Prince George
until almost 9:30. We’re on vacation, darn it, and we’re going
to sleep in if we want! However, we didn’t get started on the road
right away even after leaving the motel. It seems that the muffler/heat
guards that a friend of mine made for our bikes didn’t quite do
the trick and the plastic bag Doug used to line his saddlebag with melted
onto some of his clothes. We need more insulation, and we need it now.
Fortunately we’re still in the hands of civilization and we found
a Home Depot nearby. What to get, what to get??? We scoured the aisles
and found some pipe insulation that was actually something like two sheets
of aluminum foil with bubble wrap in between. Can’t hurt, right?
So we buy a roll, cut and tape it together to create a lovely insulating
wall inside of Doug’s right saddlebag. Tools and gear repacked,
we proceeded westerly on the Yellowhead Hwy. Now begins our journey into
the unknown!
The Yellowhead winds through lots of agricultural lands with frequent little towns dotting the way. The mountains got bigger and the trees got thicker. The temperature was comfortable, the sky was mostly blue, the roads were in good repair and traffic was not a problem. It was a great start to our trip. Breakfast was found at the OK Café in Vanderhoof, served by Mennonites of all people. We made a couple of stops along the way at Topley and New Hazelton for refreshments and brief breaks, in addition to a few photo stops. At Topley Doug found that part of his helmet was missing. It’s a little part that holds the visor on and is fairly vital. The first zip tie of the trip is called up for duty.
At Smithers, BC, we met a gentleman who strongly encouraged us to make the side trip to Stewart, BC and then cross over to Hyder, AK to see where the grizzly bears feed on the salmon. It sounded good, so we made reservations at the Rainey Creek Campground in Stewart. The name should have warned us, but we were naïve. The ride up #37 from the Yellowhead junction near Kitwanga was peaceful, with very little vehicle traffic. We saw our first black bear (there would be six seen on this day alone) as well as a beaver and a marmot. Once we took the turnoff to Stewart the scenery became more intense. The mountains reared up in front of us like the teeth of a bear. Glaciers and snow-covered peaks played hide-and-seek with the clouds and the sun was slowly sinking to the far northwest. Rivers rushed past us with their cold water frothing over rocks that had tumbled down the mountainsides. It was a beautiful ride.
Once in Stewart we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and then reconsidered camping and looked into the availability of a motel room. We were shocked by the price and tucked our tails between our legs to go set up camp. In the rain. And the almost-dark. Surrounded by mosquitoes.
Day
3 – 451 miles
We woke up at 5am with really cold rainwater dripping on us from a leaking
tent. Our sleeping bags were wet. Our gear was wet. We were wet. We got
up, dragged everything over to a covered picnic shelter and in the cold,
cloud-covered morning light we stuffed all of our soaking stuff into bags
and tied them back on the bikes. Alas, we couldn’t leave town just
yet: the gas station didn’t open for another hour. And the café
wouldn’t open for another 10 minutes, but we let ourselves in anyway
and had a seat in the relative warmth. After a leisurely and tasty breakfast
we rode over to the gas station, filled up the bikes and then rode a very
wet ride back through the not-so-spectacular mountains that couldn’t
be seen.
We rejoined the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy at Meziadin Junction and headed north, into progressively better weather, although it never truly warmed up. There isn’t much in the way of civilization until you get to Iskut, and even that is a just a tiny little store by the side of the road. We stopped – unfortunately – at Dease Lake for lunch. Icky, no-character place with a server who repeatedly hacked over her order pad and the food. Yuck. Come to think of it, I didn’t eat there, but Doug had some pie. Somewhere along there is Bell II (not sure if that’s a “2” or an “11”; Doug says “11”). It’s a really nice and expensive looking place. Apparently their clientele are those insane people who require a helicopter to get to the glaciers and snow fields in order to ski. Regardless, it’s a nice place with friendly people.
We had been warned about the road conditions along this highway; that there was lots of construction and stretches of gravel, and we were not disappointed. The gravel sections were well-marked and easy to anticipate. They were generally fairly well-packed, although I can see that a good rain would easily make it a quagmire. The gravel sections were varied in their length and placement, never knowing if the next corner would be solid or not, nor how long it would go on. There was one stretch of construction that was particularly unpleasant. It stretched for over 10 miles and was all loose and thick gravel. This was quite treacherous as the gravel can grab your front tire and pull you over if you’re not careful. Not to mention the fact that it was raining again.
There were a couple more black bear sightings that day, as well as some horses along the side of the road. It was one of those “Watch for Livestock” areas, and unfortunately someone wasn’t watching, as we saw two dead horses a couple of miles later. It’s odd how you get used to seeing road kill deer or rabbits, but a horse? That really threw me off…
At the northern end of the Stewart-Cassiar highway is the Alaska Highway. We stopped briefly at this junction and then headed west along the Alaska Highway, following its gentle curves and studying the vastness of the surrounding forests. We ended the day at Walker’s Continental Divide Motel in Swift River, BC and none too early. It had been a long day, starting with a wet tent and then nothing but roads that required our constant concentration. The motel at Walker’s was an ATCO building, something that Doug and I had scorned not more than a couple of hours earlier at Junction 37, but it was heavenly! Warm, comfy, quiet, hot showers and available! As a bonus, even though the kitchen was “closed”, they still managed to rustle up some homemade soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (on homemade bread) – it was to die for!
Day
4 –
300 miles
A breakfast just as tasty as the previous evening’s dinner set
us on our way from Walker’s and on our way along the Alaska Highway.
The weather cooperated and was about 68 degrees and mostly sunny. I
am still amazed at the number of trees that Northern BC/Yukon/Alaska
have! They stretch as far as the eye can see, and with no people populations
to interrupt their command of the hills and mountains. I have to admit
that I’m very disappointed to see the extensive “re-engineering”
that they’re doing to the Alaskan Highway. There are literally
dozens of places where you can see where the road used to go, but in
the interest of safety (or whatever) they have since moved the road
so as to maintain a more level, straight and therefore dull route. Doug
and I took the time to follow a bit of the old highway through the woods
on our return trip, which was really fascinating. If we had more time
on this trip I think that I would have liked to have followed more of
it. The road crew had chewed up the road surface to allow for a faster
naturalization, but you could still see chunks of asphalt scattered
around. Sigh. They’re ruining a perfectly good road – go
ride it now while it’s still remotely interesting!!!
We saw our first moose of the trip; a timid cow munching away in a river down below the highway. She must have been camera-shy because even though we were quite a distance from her she started to move away, so we left her alone.
There was a nice stop at Whitehorse, YK, which is a place that both Doug and I really liked. It’s a clean bustling town with lots of nice shops and businesses. The motorcycle dealership doesn’t stock anything for the KLR though, and it’s a 3 day wait for shipments. I guess if you were to live here you’d be better off just have a parts bike sitting around.
After Whitehorse Doug and I continued west through Haines Junction where we had a surprisingly tasty dinner at the Kluane Park Inn. The mountains became larger and more snow covered and the fields were filled with fireweed, named so because it is the first thing to take root after a forest fire wipes out an area (or any other disturbance of the vegetation).
At Kluane Lake the highway becomes more like a rural two-lane road that I would expect to see around the Pacific Northwest. It followed the shore of the lake closely and had some fun corners and dips. Eventually the road straightened out again and Doug and I decided to stop at Destruction Bay for the evening. It was a nice enough place, but not terribly remarkable. It did, however, have the three requirements: food, bed and gas. It also had some cool stickers that I’m going to put on my bike.
Day
5 – 480 miles
After a rather uncomfortable night’s sleep (for me) we got up,
had a bite to eat and headed for the Alaska border. The weather had
turned on us again and had become cloudy and cool. We ran in to a lot
of construction, which in the Yukon means miles of gravel and either
mud or dust, depending on the weather. It also means flinging rocks
from passing vehicles. Doug’s headlight cover was soundly cracked
by a rock tossed up by a car we were passing; not a pretty sight. I
recall saying “ouch!” a few times as rocks smacked my legs,
or being thankful that I was wearing a full faced helmet as they pummeled
my head and visor. My headlight guard eventually cracked as well. The
clear guards were a worthy investment!
We did see two white swans in a small lake, and a moose cow and calf crossed the road in front of us, but there wasn’t much activity in the wild life department that day. I can’t say that I blame them; I was glad to get to Beaver Creek, YK and have a good hot meal. The Alaska border isn’t too far from Beaver Creek and we reached it in no time. Doug and I pulled up together (no line – surprise!) and the patrol officer looked like he was ready to exhibit all of the Power of the Border Patrol Rightfully Bestowed Upon Him. He immediately motioned for us to take our helmets off and produce our papers. As we were complying another patrol officer came out and said “Hey John – you’ve got a phone call”. “John” looked at Doug and I, then at the phone and you could see that he was deeply disappointed. He took the phone and retreated to his booth. The new patrol officer looked at our papers, asked a couple of basic questions, then asked what our destination was. When Doug said that we hoped to ride to Prudhoe Bay, the officer smiled and replied “You’re sick”. He then mused about a Canadian and an American traveling together and asked “What’s your association?” Doug said that we were friends – I think that the border patrol doesn’t see a lot of mixed country traveling companions and it caught him off guard. I thought it was funny.
The border itself is interesting in the fact that they mowed a wide swath of forest for the entire length of it.
The road was fairly interesting for the first hour or two into Alaska, with wide sweeping vistas and far distant mountains. I enjoyed the numerous streams and watching the trees and vegetation change with the increased distance we were heading north.
Unfortunately, the road once again straightened out and the views became less spectacular the more miles we covered. We stopped in Tok, AK for a short break and then continued on to Fairbanks. We apparently made a bad judgment call here. We both figured that with Fairbanks being a town of over 30,000 people that there would be plenty of choices in places to stay. This wasn’t so. Even on a Tuesday night we found motel after motel booked. We did find one place, but they wanted so much money for the room (sans bathroom) that we passed. We finally got desperate and took a room at the Klondike Inn. It was expensive, and to give you an idea of what kind of place it was, Pizza Hut wouldn’t deliver after 11pm (and it was, indeed, after 11pm). We called Dominos, who brought us hot pizza shortly after.
Day
6 –
0 miles
We had decided to remain in Fairbanks the next day. The goal was to find
a nicer place to stay, a place to leave some of our gear while we trek
north, find some rear tires to put on the bikes when we got back and pick
up some last minute supplies. We called around and found what we thought
was a really nice Bed & Breakfast. The thought was that a B&B
would be more likely to store our gear for a few days while we went traipsing
through the northern country. The problem with this B&B was that it
was truly a business, not some cute and charming home that someone has
opened up to visitors. Oh well, I digress… We ran our errands and
took no pictures.