Day 28

June 26

Well guess what???...the plan has changed again.  I'm still in Anchorage but will be leaving for Fairbanks in the morning.  Michael O'Donovan, the Irishman from Australia I met in Lake Louise, AB, and I are planning to leave Fairbanks for Deadhorse Thursday the 28th and ride together.  The trip will likely take four days.  It is 500 miles one way of mostly gravel roads 350 miles of which are within the Arctic Circle and the weather is very unpredictable.  It can be 60F, beautiful, and sunny or 30F and raining with gale force winds or both. Anyway this was my goal to accomplish on the trip.

After getting back from Deadhorse I will probably need to make a trip to Tok where the Postmaster is holding a set of tires that I shipped to myself before leaving L.A.

Next week I plan to spend several days in Denali National Park.  That may be better since the forecast is for clouds and rain over the next few days and would leave the Denali obscured by the clouds.  Last night two brothers on motorcycles from Utah that I stayed with in the cabin at Haines were here at the Alaska Backpacker Inn.  They had just come from Denali and gave me a lot of information about where to stay and what to see.

I plan to get an early start in the morning for the 6 - 7 hour drive to Fairbanks in good weather. If it's raining and foggy it could easily take 10 or more.  Oh well this is what I came for and I'm very glad that I dared to do this adventure.  More shall be revealed....

Day 27

June 25

Left Homer this morning in the rain...cold rain.  The temp is 50F and the forecast shows the same for the next week here so I'm skipping a trip to Seward for now and headed back to Anchorage for the evening.  I’m planning to head to Denali N.P. tomorrow...weather forecast looks better there.

The tires on my bike are showing the wear and I have shipped another set to the Post Office in Tok that I will need to pick up and mount on the bike before heading to Deadhorse.   I will probably make the detour to Tok after leaving Denali.

Right now I'm just stalling...the rain is coming straight down and though my gear keeps me warm and dry it is not fun riding.  Oh well...if I don't hit it I'll never get to the warm room awaiting me in Anchorage...more will be revealed...

Day 26

June 24

Well sorry to not have communicated for a few days (actually I've lost count of days) but there are updates on FB for those that utilize that forum.  I want to say I stayed three nights in the Alaska Backpacker Inn and I did sleep three times in as many days but there are no nights here.  The 24 hours of light seems to give the body more energy...at least that is my experience.  Yesterday I left Anchorage heading for Homer about 250 miles south.  Again the scenery was beautiful and the temp changed several times along the way: from warm in Anchorage, to cool, to humid warm, to humid cool and finally to cold.

I am doing some sightseeing around Homer on foot today.  Homer is a fishing and tourist town...many boats and a large harbor.  There was one cruise ship docked in the harbor last evening.

In my earlier post I told of trouble with the bike.  Well I came to Anchorage to have it checked out and the problem was not a big deal but it did cause me to miss the Dust2Dawn event in Dawson...oh well, I couldn't be in Dawson so I was somewhere else...all is well.

Tomorrow I plan to travel to Seward, then back to Anchorage, then north to Denali N.P.  I will likely spend several days there then on to Fairbanks for the trip to the end of the road...Deadhorse, AK.  More shall be revealed...

Day 22

June 20

This day started about 36 hours ago. I stayed at Bear Creek Hostel in Haines, AK after sailing from Skagway. When I packed the bike and prepared to leave the hostel the morning of the 19th the bike would not idle. I tinkered with it and the bike would run right once but the next time it was started would not. After getting fuel I headed from Haines, AK to Haines Jct, YT...the bike ran fine but would not idle most of the time. At Haines Jct I had lunch then proceeded to Whitehorse where the plan was to spend the night then head to Dawson today, the 20^th, for the Dusk 2 Dawn event of adventure motorcyclist.  Upon arriving in Whitehorse with the bike still not idling properly it became obvious that trying to drive in traffic with this problem was just not safe. 

I went to McDonalds, got a coffee, and logged on to their Internet to look for Triumph dealerships in the area. The nearest was in Anchorage, AK with the next closest in Tacoma, WA. I called the dealer in Anchorage and the service manager said he would check it out when I brought it in...that is 700 miles away. What to do...???...go to D2D and hope it would heal itself or take off to Anchorage. I decided to have a BigMac meal and get the bike fixed. So after riding all day from Haines to Whitehorse I started for Anchorage at 5:00pm figuring I would go until I got tired and rest and continue to Anchorage after some sleep. Well, there’s not much traffic at night on the Al Can Hwy...cars and campers just pull over when they are tired and sleep.  I must have passed at least a hundred such travelers. At about 5 minutes after midnight I stopped and took some incredible pictures of the southwestern Yukon sky just a few miles from the Alaska line. Anyway I ended up driving all the way to Anchorage arriving about 10am this morning...a real IronButt adventure...it's 7:30pm Alaska time and I'm about ready to hit the sack. Oh yeah...the bike is fixed and the adventure continues tomorrow...more shall be revealed.

Day 20

June 18

I'm having coffee in a little coffee shop off Broadway in Skagway, AK. The ride down from Whitehorse was fabulous...I know I keep saying wondrous things about the scenery but it just is that beautiful. Of course it was raining when I got up at 5:00 am…it has not failed to rain at some point in the day since coming into Canada and it really makes no difference when you get up or lay down since it's light 24/7. I'm adjusted to it and really like it.

There were about 5,000 tourists from three cruise ships in harbor today in town. Seems I picked a good day because there is scheduled to be about 9,000 tomorrow.

At 7:30 pm Alaska time I have booked passage to Haines, AK and will stay there tonight...returning to Whitehorse tomorrow via Haines Jct. The mountains from Haines to Haines Jct are supposed to be some of the most spectacular in the Yukon.

I hope I can find a dry bed tonight in Haines because the tent is soaking wet as it was packed in the rain this morning. Oh well…more shall be revealed.

Day 19

June 17

I am staying around Whitehorse for the day and learning a little of it's history. Whitehorse was a resting place for the prospectors during the Klondike gold rush and was famous for the rapids in the Yukon River that claimed the lives of many would be miners. The prospectors either tried the rapids or portaged around them, in either case where the town of Whitehorse sits was a resting place for most everyone headed to Dawson from Skagway.

 Tomorrow I plan to ride to Skagway, AK to see where the miners coming from the west coast of the US disembarked and began the overland trek to the gold in Dawson. Wednesday my plan is to go to Dawson...spend several days there and via the Top of the World Hwy go into Alaska for real...more shall be revealed.

Day 18

June 16
 
 I am in Whitehorse, YT this morning. The weather is cold and raining...which seems to be the norm for spring in the far north. I am camped about 35km from the center of the city and am shopping for some wormer gloves and a hot shower. I plan to stay in the area for a few days....maybe dropping down to Skagway, AK for a day and then heading to Dawson, YT Wednesday for the "Dusk 2 Dawn" which is the 21st & 22nd. There should be between 250 and 300 like-minded adventure motorcycle travelers meeting for two days of fun and fellowship. There I hope to meet riders and team up for the real adventure of going to Deadhorse, AK. I have already met riders also headed to Dawson with the same goal as I have...GOING ALL THE WAY!!!  In all likelihood I will not leave Fairbanks for Deadhorse before July 1st....more shall be revealed.

Day 16

June 14

Stayed the night in Sewart, BC at the King Edward Hotel. Sewar is by isolated, but quite busy....lots of miners workin out of here and the restaurant is hopping with hungry workers.

Yesterday afternoon on the way into Stewart I passed a glacier (part of the reason of coming here) and had a close encounter with a large black bear....we just looked at each other and he just turned and walked in the bush.

Today I will go east back to the Cassier Hwy and continue north to Alaska.

Day 12

Michael leaving the hostel

The forecast for Lake Louise, AB was for rain.  I have had my fill of cold rain and snow so I am staying at Hostel International tonight also and will proceed up the parkway to Jasper in the morning.

Robert White from Columbus, MS

I drove to Banff today and looked around....this whole area is beautiful and is full of tourists.....I have met people from at least 10 different countries here at the hostel.  While in town I went to Safeway which could be the last real market I see until getting to Fairbanks, another 3,000 miles away.

 This afternoon I started culling some things that I have not used and that are taking up valuable space because I need to take on more food. I feel sure that there will be days ahead that I will not find anywhere serving prepared meals.

Blog 8

Friday, June 9

 A lot of miles traveled, interesting people met, and much to report....when I last checked in I was headed to Missoula to get a directional signal light on the bike repaired.  I was at the door when they opened Wednesday morning at 10am and was out at 11:30....problem fixed and the bill was quite reasonable (much cheaper than if the work had been done around home). The dealership is Mike Tingley's Motorcycle of Missoula and John did the work.  He even posed for a photo with the bike after completing the job...I assured him that appearing in this blog would make him famous.

From Missoula it was off to Glacier National Park.  I approached the park from the west side...drove the "Going to the Sun Hwy" as far as it was open, about 15 miles.  After asking a ranger, where the best place to cross the border was, he said I would have to drive around the park to the east side to cross or go into WA state.  So around the south end of the park to the east side I went arriving in a camp ground around 9pm.  Keep in mind that it doesn't get dark until 10pm so I tend to travel well into the evenings.

Left early the next morning headed for the border.  It took about 30 mins to get through customs then I was in Alberta....traveled north about 50 kms and headed west as it started to rain. I was hoping to out flank the weather by crossing back over the Rockies and it worked for a while. The temp started dropping and it began to rain. I crossed through the Crow’s Nest Pass and it was near freezing but after reaching the next valley it was more tolerable…like low 40s. I traveled north until about 7:30pm in off and on rain when the temp started to drop near freezing again. So in Fairmont Hot Springs I booked a nice little B&B for the night.  It was my first night not in a tent. This morning it was 35F and raining but I was headed off for the Banff National Park and Parkway....well entering into the park at Radium Hot Springs B.C. the weather was miserable, a really cold rain that turned to snow within a few miles. The rain/snow stayed pretty steady for about 70 miles and upon reaching Lake Louise, AL I pulled up at I.H. Hostel there. Here I met Michael O'Donovan, a fellow adventure motorcycle traveler.  He is Irish and has lived in Australia for 25 years. He began this journey by shipping his bike to L.A. and started on Feb. 12th to FL, up to Quebec, and across to ‘here’ in four months. He is also going to Deadhorse, AK and from there is headed south to the tip of South America. He has allowed 18 months for his adventure. He once spent 16 months, 74,000 kms circumnavigating Australia.  We had dinner together and he gave me a lot of tips about this lifestyle.

Well, it's 10:15pm and time to go to bed...it is still light...and a 74 year old backpacker from Columbus, MS is telling interesting stories about his travels all over the world. There are three of us in this room including a young man from Niagara Falls, ON.