Day 70

Aug. 7

Since my last report Michael O'Donovan and I rode from Valdez to Kennecot, AK in the Wrangle St. Elious NP then to the Nezbeth Gold Mine also in Wrangle.  After spending time exploring things in the park we rode to Tok where we had lunch on Friday the 20th of July and then parted company. Michael headed for Skagway to catch the ferry to Bellingham, WA and is headed on to Central America. I left Tok and took the Top of the World Hwy to Chicken, AK and then on to Dawson City, YT where I spent a day before heading to Inuvic, NT. The trip to Inuvic was as ambitious a trip as was the trip to Prudhoe Bay consisting of 500 miles of dirt and gravel roads winding deep into the Arctic. I elected to make the trip alone and left on Monday the 23rd. I planned on spending two days going up, one day to rest, and two days coming back which is exactly how it worked out.  As with all of these unpaved roads in the far north there are really two roads (or four depending on how you look at it):  wet or dry and coming or going.

 

Thank the stars above that I put new tires on in Tok because it did nothing but rain for two days from Dawson to Inuvic and the road was mud for 300 of the 500 miles.  It took me 19 1/2 hours over two days to get to Inuvic. The trip back was dry and wonderful...beautiful scenery...passing through three different mountain ranges and unforgettable views of wildlife. There were lots of bears, both grizzly and black, moose, Lynx and caribou.  This trip to Inuvic left me with a real sense of accomplishment.  I had done it alone and I had meet people from all over the globe who had shipped their bikes to this frontier just to make these trips:  up the Dalton Hwy to Prudhoe Bay and the Dempster Hwy to Inuvic. I now belong to a unique group of adventure motorcyclist who have these rides on their resume. 

After resting in Dawson City for a day my direction turned south and I'm headed for home.  I traveled down the Klondike Hwy from Dawson and took the Thompson Hwy for another 300 miles of dirt and gravel to Watson Lake where I hit the AlCan Hwy then headed south to the USA border.   I stopped in Edmonton, AB to have the bike worked on and am now in Great Falls, MT. Yesterday I visited the Louis and Clarke Museum and now am headed to the Charles Russell Museum.  From there I plan to head to Cody, WO.

More will be revealed.....