6-20-08

This is the last day and I am ready to return home to my little family and business. This has been the longest I have ever been away from Aimee and I miss her company.

I got up at 4am to depart before the heat. According to the weatherman, it should be almost 100f by 8am in Phoenix so I am anxious to get home as early as I can. Leaving Flagstaff, my temperature gage showed just 50f. 20 miles further it was already 90f as I dropped off the rim into the lower desert. There wasn't any traffic to speak of so I made very good time. My GPS said that I should be home by 7:15 and I thought that would let me miss the daily traffic jam at the junction of the 101 and 53. I almost made it and was only held up 5-10 minutes so I was lucky. It was now over 100f and I still had my riding suit on. It was getting hot!

I pulled into the driveway at 7:20am and just like that, my adventure was over. My GPS claims that I travelled 11781 miles in 4 weeks and 2 days, an average of 392 miles a day including the days I didn't ride at all. Not bad for an old guy! I wore out 3 tires on the trip and had to make a few repairs to keep the bike going but in all it was a terrific experience. I learned quite a bit about myself and my surroundings. I was tested by circumstance and weather. The bike performed flawlessly as did all of my support equipment. I was especially impressed with the riding suit Aimee gave me for Christmas, a Kilimanjaro over pant and jacket combo. As well as being waterproof, it is made of Kevlar and has rubber body armor built in at strategic spots to protect in a fall. I can attest that all worked as advertised.

Was the trip worth the time and expense? A resounding yes to all! I had a wonderful time. I met and made new friends and I visited places I had only read about. I rode into the Artic Circle and went as far west as the roads permit in our great country. America is truly beautiful and vast. These last 30 days have led me to a new appreciation for all around me and I am thankful to all who made it possible, especially to Aimee, my wife, who held down the fort so ably while I was away playing in the North.

I'm thinking that 65 should be the PanAm down to Rio de Janero.

6-19-08

I read an interesting essay about the effects of heat and cold on a motorcycle rider. It seems cold is cold. As you ride, the wind chill effect just makes you colder as you would expect. As the real temperature falls the apparent temperature falls with it in a linier fashion. This is not the case with heat!

When riding in a hot climate there is a break point where the windchill effect reverses and actually makes you hotter. The theory is that there is a temperature where the body's ability to cool itself is outstripped by the effective evaporative rate. This causes your body to try to conserve water for your vital organs and you actually stop sweating. This point is about 105f.

I got up early this morning and was off by 4:30am heading south on the interstate. It was cold out, about 40f until the sun rose, but I made good time towards the cutoff for Page, AZ and got to it by 9:30.

I have long loved the little stretch of road from Junction UT to Kanab. This area was settled by the Mormons when they migrated west and they still inhabit it now. It is all redlands canyon and is just on the west boundary of Brice Canyon, one of the most hauntingly beautiful areas in our Country in my opinion. The first town of any size is Panguitch and it seems of another time, a western Mayberry. The citizens here obviously have a great sense of civic pride as this is one of the prettiest towns in the Country. The police however do not like my radar plate so after removing it, I remove myself down the road. I cant linger anyway; its getting hot in Arizona!

I arrived in Page, AZ at 12:30 and it was already 112f. I didn't want to shed the protection of my riding suit but it was just too hot so I exchanged my jacket for a sweatshirt and continued towards Flagstaff after refueling.

The road between Page and Flagstaff is made for speeding. There is just not much to hold your imagination as this section of desert could not be attractive by anyone's definition, especially when its hot and you are on a motorcycle. The temperature was now 116f according to my gage and I was really getting uncomfortable so I was hydrating as I rode. Finally, the road started to climb up towards Flagstaff and the temperature edged its way back to 90f. I was done for it and needed to stop. It seemed silly being only 150 miles or so from home but I just couldn't reconcile the heat I knew lurked just over the rim 20 miles to the south. I found a place with a pool and sat it it for the rest of the day.

6-18-08

By the time I broke camp this morning it was already 9:30 and I had to get going. I was heading for Salt Lake City, 520 miles away, where I knew I would find what I needed. There are 2 large BMW bike dealers there so it was a sure thing but first, Yellowstone.

I headed south out of Bozemen and was soon in the narrow canyons climbing up to Yellowstone National Park. I have long loved the Yellowstone area having skied there many times as well as hunted its peaks and fished its valley's. This is truly God's country for me.

I continued south to West Yellowstone Village, the western gateway into the park. I stopped for fuel and called Aimee to ask her to find me a tire in Salt Lake as I rode through the park and headed that way. Since I was out of cell coverage, I couldn't get back to her until I was near Jackson but when I did she had good news. There was a tire that would fit at one of the BMW dealers in Salt Lake and they would be open until 6. If I could get there they would stay open and mount it for me. That was all I needed to hear and 6 hours later, at 4:55 I pulled into the North Salt Lake City dealer and they were true to their word. By 6:30, I had not only avoided the rush hour traffic but I had a beautiful new rear tire and a restored confidence. Finishing the trip was a no-brainer now.

To give myself a head start, I continued south to Provo and spent the night. Tomorrow is a another big day; about 500 miles, and I will need an early start. The temperature in Page was 114f today and tomorrow was to be the same or hotter. I needed to be through the area and on the Flagstaff before the real heat set in or the ride would be hell.

6-17-08

No tires in Great Falls!

Now I am becoming concerned. I can see a few cords on my ailing rear tire and I am considering taking it off and applying a patch or two to the inside in the thin spots. To do this would commit me to another day in Great Falls though and there is a chance that I could do more damage so I decided to ignor the problem and head further south to Bozeman where I was told I might have better luck.

Rather than superslab it to Bozeman I decided to take the secenic route through the canyons and I am glad I did. I headed east to pick up route 89 south through the Lewis and Clark National Forrest, going through Monarch and White Sulfer Springs. What a beautiful ride! Tall pines and aspen groves whipped by as I rode along the river as it traveled south towards the Yellowstone River. Tall mountains capped with snow filled my visor and I was smiling so hard my face hurt. Well, maybe it's windburn but I was still smiling.

After just a few hours I motored into Bozeman and started looking for a tire. I spent the afternoon going from one place to another with no luck. Finally, I found a campground next to a natural hot spring and I threw up my tent for the night. I no sooner got my tent in order when the skies opened up into a terrific thunderstorm that lasted well into the evening.

6-16-08

I got up early this morning optimistic about finding a new rear tire but by 10am had failed to find one. I ride a BMW and everything, tires included is metric. It seems that Edmonton is not. I found places that would order one in for me but I didn't want to stay and after a careful inspection, felt I could get another 1000 miles or so out of my balding rear tire so I packed off and headed for Great Falls after a nice breakfast of eggs and sausage.

As I was approaching Red Deer, AB about an hour later, my stomach started to rumble and within a few minutes I was off the bike giving my breakfast back to Alberta. I had traveled almost 10000 miles, eating in some really questionable places without getting food poisoning but now that I was back in civilization I got nailed by bad eggs. I drank some water and resumed my trip, heaving my way south towards Calgary. Finally, near Lethbridge some 300 miles south, I ran out of things to disgorge and my stomach finally settled down. By the time I hit the US border I was hungry again.

Crossing back into the United States was a joyous event. I realized how far I had come and all the things I had seen and done in a pretty short time. This was fun but it was getting time to put an end to it and to get home. I just had to find a tire somewhere first so I continued on to Great Falls, Montana where I hoped I would have luck in the morning.

6-15

The trip south to Edmonton was nice and uneventfull. I had lost all sense of the calander for weeks now so I was surprised to find most of the fuel stops closed. My bike is good for about 225 miles when topped and if I am kiond on the throttle. I wasnt today and I was on fumes before I found a station that was open.

During the whole trip in the north, my habit was that as soon as I had traveled 100 miles I was looking for fuel. This worked well and as soon as I deviated I ran into trouble. Lesson learned. For the rest of the trip I stopped every 100 miles or so to re-fill.

I found hard rain as I approached Edmonton and finally dripped into a hotel near the airport around 7. Tomorrow I have to find a tire.

6-13 to 6-14

I left Muncho Lake pretty early this morning because I wanted to make it all the way to the beginning of the Alcan. The road was going to take me back through Fort Nelson and I didn't see any reason to stay there again.

I departed in a light rain heading for the Continental Divide about 40 miles east of Muncho Lake. This part of the road is still mostly on the original roadbed and is the most beautiful section in my view. Unfortunately, my view was limited to the width of the road and about 50 feet in front of me as I motored east. I stopped at Rancheria to refuel and met up with a couple of guys heading on the same direction as I was. We didn't depart together but we would meet up at gas stops along the way throughout the day.

The trip over the divide was a little hairy as the raising terrain took me up into the clouds where more rain and some sleet were waiting for me. My visibility diminished even further as I was reduced to about 15 mph going over the crest. I kept hoping that the storms would be held up by the divide but that was not to be the case as I descended towards Fort Nelson in a steady downpour.

I took on more fuel in Fort Nelson and decided to push on towards Dawson Creek, a decision I would come to regret in a few hours. The rain kept coming down as I motored south but the temperature was holding pretty steady at about 48f so I felt comfortable continuing even though the intensity of the storms was increasing.

I was about 100 miles south of Fort Nelson, past Skianni, when the temperature dropped. I didn't notice it right away but soon the rain turned to sleet and then to snow and I was running low on fuel. From my trip north I knew that this stretch of road had the least fuel of the entire Alcan so I was keeping a close eye out for anywhere I might find relief. The snow continued and the temperature was now about 30f. I was cold, my fuel gage showed about 35 miles to empty and I didn't have much of a clue where I was. Most of the traffic south had stopped somewhere unseen and I was considering stopping and getting out my tent to wait out the snow. Coming over a crest in the road I saw a sign that announced a rest stop just 2km ahead and I headed for it. Once there I found no place to set up so I continued on a few more miles and found my haven in the form of a little diner/house run by a delightful Indian couple. They didn't have any fuel there but they had soup and that was what I needed most. After shedding my riding clothes I was so cold I couldn't even lift a mug of coffee without dumping it on the table so I just held it and waited for the shakes to stop. After a while, all was well in my little universe. I even helped earn my soup helping my new friends fix a computer problem they were having.

I ended up staying about 2 hours as I waited for the storm to abate. Finally, a local trucker came in for coffee and told me that the road was clear about 30km to the south and that the fuel stop was open 6km further. I left in a cold but light rain and just had enough fuel to drift into the station. By then the Skye's were clearing a little and the rain and snow had stopped. I fished out a pair of dry gloves and my little world improved immediately. Dawson Creek was about 140 miles down the road and the rest of the trip was uneventful.

Dawson Creek is what it is but I decided to stay for 2 nights to re-charge and prepare the bike for the trip home. I found a carwash and fed Canadian dollars into it until I could once again see the paint on the bike. I changed the oil and checked the other fluids and noticed that my new rear tire, just 2 1/2 weeks old, was near bald. The closest hope for a replacement was Edmonton, Alberta so I packed up the next morning and headed that way.

6-12-08

I was still pretty sore all day today so I decided to take it light. Originally, my plan was to go to Watson Lake today but I cut it short by about 130 miles and stopped mid-afternoon at the Rocky Mountain Lodge at Muncho Lake. Great place with good food and a nice lodge.

The ride in was pretty, the sun was out and all was good in my little universe. I came across a few goats as I was passing over a mountain pass and they were not concerned with me in the least. I slowly maneuvered the bike around but I could have reached out and touched one of them I was so close. This was fun.

I got to the lodge about 3pm and took a nap. I was dreaming about Wiener schnitzel when a busload of travelers came in and took over the restaurant. I had to wait until 9 to get fed but it was worth it all. Delicious, served with a nice crisp white wine! My tummy full and content, I went to sleep to be awakened by thunder and lightning heralding in yet another wet day on the road.

6-11-08

I left Tok about 8am and was heading for Watson Lake. This I would normally do in 2 days but there wasn’t a room available anywhere in Whitehorse for the night and it had just snowed 8 inches the day before so I decided to plod on. Too cold for the tent!

The stretch of the Alaskan Highway from Tok to Haines Junction in the Yukon is a lonely and lousy piece of highway. It is being worked on but there are continuous frost heaves that just jar you as you ride along. It makes it difficult to make good time. In addition, the construction is all over the place and when wet, as it was now, can be slippery and difficult on a bike. I was about to cross from Alaska into the Yukon and was riding through a construction site when I hit deep gravel. I was going about 35-40 at the time and the patch I hit was about a foot deep and loose. The fork twisted and I was pitched sideways so hard I was thrown off the bike. I was quite pleased that my muscle memory of skydiving took over, tuck and roll, and I came out OK. Just a little bruised and sore. My bike faired OK too receiving some scratches, a couple of broken fairings, a broken headlight and a broken windshield support. I collected myself and after inspecting the bike and fixing what I could, I got back on and proceeded towards Watson Lake.

By the time I was about 450 miles from my destination I was ready to quit. I was approaching Teslin in the Yukon and stopped there for the night at the Dawson Peaks Campground. Dave, the owner, was just finishing his Dinner service but kept it open for me. He served a wonderful Chicken Cordon bleu that was the best I have ever had. He did this on a wood burning stove mind you. Good food, a good night’s sleep and I was ready for the next leg in the morning, stiff and pretty sore, but ready.

6-10-08

Today was a BIG day! I had a lot of ground to cover, over 600 miles, and I really didn’t want to be in the middle of a pack of bikes so I got up early, had some oatmeal, broke camp and was off by about 5:15 am. I was heading for the Arctic Circle.

The road from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay is called the Haul road by the locals. All of the supplies that are used by the North Slope oil drilling operations are delivered over this road. The road itself is made mostly from not so crushed rock and gravel. The trucks move along at about 70mph or so but a motorbike can only do about 50 because of the condition of the road so you are constantly being passed by big rigs spewing lots of rocks in your direction. I have heard and read many stories about travelling on the Haul road from really bad to not quite so bad so it was with a little apprehension that I proceeded north out of Fairbanks, once again, in the rain.

The road conditions were not to my favor so I decided pretty early on that I would just go to the Arctic Circle and turn around. This called for only travelling about 100 miles past Fairbanks and back. My visibility was only about ½ mile in mist, fog and rain so no pictures but the tundra had a sort of mystic beauty about it. After I got to the circle, I turned around and headed for Tok. Long day but it was worth it. I would have preferred to go on to Prudhoe Bay but I wasn’t really setup for it with street tires instead of knobbies. Besides, it would have cost another 1000 miles and I just couldn’t justify the pain.

6/9/08

Today I packed up early and headed for Fairbanks. It was raining slightly, of course, so my time didn’t work out quite like I wanted it to. I ended up in Cantwell about 485 miles from Homer.

After I passed Anchorage, I started to climb up towards the Denali. The skies started to clear and I actually got a shot of the mountain. I understand this only happens 50-60 days a year so I felt blessed. What a beautiful place but everywhere along the way was mobbed with travelers. I thought of staying the night in Tallkeetna and maybe catching a charter flight over the Denali but was informed that the wait would be about 3 weeks so I kept on going. Finally, by Cantwell, the crowds had thinned so I could pitch my tent and a nice quiet evening. All was well until about 10:30 when a group of about 70 bike travellers came into the campsite and partied hardily until about 2am. Oh well, it was nice for a while.

Tomorrow, I’m heading for the Arctic circle.

6-8-80

Well, its been a few days since I last updated this blog. The last I wrote, I was in Watson Lake, departing in the rain for Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. What I didn’t report was that I had blown out the rear suspension on the bike the day before. This caused the rear wheel supports to ride directly on the frame so the ride became quite hard and slow. I had to travel this way for the next 900 miles or so until I got to Anchorage where I found what I needed to fix the bike. The roads were in pretty bad shape most of the way. My lesson from all of this? I hope I never see another pothole or frost heave for the rest of my life!

After getting the bike fixed, I decided to go out to Homer for a little halibut fishing. I left yesterday, Saturday, at about 6am under a leaden sky. Since Seward was just an hour out of my way, I headed that way when the road forked. About 20 minutes later, the skies opened into the heaviest rain I have ever ridden in. I was drenched in minutes. To cap it off, the temperature dropped to the mid thirties. More cold and wet! Well, it didn’t take long before I started to feel the signs of hyperthermia. I was feeling so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open and my handling of the bike was really degrading. I couldn’t find any shelter I could get under so I put up my tent, crawled out of my wet clothes and climbed into my sleeping bag. I made a couple of servings of oatmeal with my Jetboil stove and settled in. The shakes stopped after an hour or so and the rain about an hour after that.

I scrapped Seward after that and headed for Homer. It started to rain again shortly after I arrived.

Today, I got up at about 4:30 and went Halibut fishing. Since there is a limit of two fish I only went for a half day. We cruised out of Homer for about an hour, dropped anchor and started fishing. During the next hour, I caught 9 Halibut, selecting and keeping the two I was allowed. The boat was crewed by a young lady named Sarah who had just finished High School in Homer. I have placed a few pictures of her here. She was by far the prettiest deck hand I have ever fished with! This is her summer job before she heads off the University of Alaska in the fall. On the way back in, after everyone limited out, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day.

This is the furthest west I will go so after a short trip (of about 1000 miles!) north to the Arctic Circle, my direction will be towards home. I’m getting a little road weary and lonesome so this is good news to me. Tomorrow, I head to Talkeetna which is the gateway to Denali, the highest mountain in North America. Hopefully, the weather will hold and I can get a glimpse. After that, I go to Fairbanks and then Deadhorse.

6-3-08

Rain, Rain and more Rain! And cold!

Today I woke up rain. I didn’t want to stay where I was and it looked like it would improve as I traveled west and north so I packed up and departed. I got about 50 miles or so down the road and hadn’t seen another vehicle. I was doing about 40mph trying to work out what body position gave me the least amount of rain in the face when I saw a large stationary shape in the mist about 50 feet in front of me. I veered to the centerline and as I past it I saw that it was about 7 feet tall with hugh shoulders, black molting hair all over with yellowish eyes and a drooped lip sneer that screamed “I eat motorbikes for breakfast”. It was the biggest moose I have ever seen and I missed him by about 10 feet. If it hadn’t been so cold I probably would have started shaking! I almost stopped to go back to see if I had really seen that but I had the sense not to.

That pretty much was the excitement for the day. I didn’t see another animal. The rain didn’t seem to stop the road crews though and the next 150 miles or so were all torn up so the going was slow and slippery. No fun on a bike! Last night, I met a Scandinavian fellow who is bicycling the highway and I can’t imagine how he would have fared.

The clouds did part for a while before more rain, sleet and snow fell and I was able to take a few pictures. It was really beautiful in a haunting way when it cleared for a while. When I would turn the motor off to take a picture there was absolute silence. We never hear silence in the city. It’s a rare and beautiful thing.

I finally got to Whitehorse which is the capital of the Yukon. Nice little place. I was so muddy, I just climbed into the shower in my riding suit and boots to wash off. It felt a little silly but was quite effective. Next the bike!

The pictures of the signs above are at Watson Lake. The towns one claim to fame is that travelles from all over the world bring signs from home and nail them up here. Thousands of them.

Tomorrow Alaska. I should get to Tok by around 7pm or so if the road conditions are good.

6/2/08

The Yukon baby!

Today, I motored from Fort Nelson to Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory. It was a beautiful ride going through the top of the Rockies in some very rugged land. The road conditions ran from beautiful pavement to loose gravel so the trip took some time. No high speed dash here.

At almost every turn I was greeted with breathtaking scenery and lots of game. This area of Canada is definitely wilderness and I doubt that if the road wasn’t here there would be no population. As it is, there is a little station about every 50-60 miles or so where you can get fuel and whatever else you desire (as long as it’s a candy bar). A few of them have a cafe where you can get something to eat.

Around lunchtime, I was at Muncho Lake. Aptly named, I thought. Several pictures of the lake are above. I came around a corner and there stood a beautiful Log gas stop and Inn. It’s the Muncho Lake Inn and it was built in 1996 by a German fellow and his wife. They run it today. Well, my lunch consisted of Wiener schnitzel and vegetables which was about the best I have ever had. They also had a great beer menu but I was good:{ In addition to this location, they also have 4 remote (as if this wasn’t) cabins that they will fly you into so you can commune with nature in private. Their bush plane operation is called Muncho Air. I desperately wanted a hat that said that but no luck. Truly, if you wanted to get away for a few days this would be a terrific, civilized place to get away from it all. Really nice people, great food and a knockout location. http://www.northernrockieslodge.com/

I saw a lot of game today. The ones I could photograph are above. I saw about 10 deer, 4 or 5 moose(meeces?), a lot of Rockie Mountan Big Horn Sheep (they come right up on the road for salt left by the winter road clearing effort), several bear and some bison. I also saw a Hugh Beaver trying to cross the road. Can anyone tell me why the Beaver was crossing the road? Anyone? To get to the other side, of course! What did you think? Beavers, Chickens, their all the same when crossing the road.

It was about 5 by the time I came into Watson Lake and I found a room with Internet at the Big Horn Hotel. It’s pretty much a dive but you can’t be real choosy here. Tomorrow, it’s on to Whitehorse. The day after tomorrow, I’ll finally be in Alaska!