mile 8279

We left this morning Whitehorse, YT with the plan to reach Muncho Lake, BC.  As said, that was the plan.  Riding along the Big Salmon Mountains and the Nisutlin Plateau in beautiful weather (for a change), the plan came to shambles shortly before Junction 37 on the ALCAN, about 15 miles out of Watson Lake, YT, when the bike made some erie and grinding sounds from the rear end.  We limped into Watson Lake, looked for an accommodation, and made a phone call to "Road America - Road Side Assistance" to get help.  Now since its Sunday we are stuck here for at least tonight, and the next H-D Service is 690 miles away in Grande Prairie, AB.  Besides having made good mileage over the last two days, now we're thrown back in our plans, but without the bike we go nowhere.  So another bullet to bite.  The irony in that story is that during a phone call this morning with my dad asked how the bike was doing, and we told him "no problems, is doing great".  300 miles later, not doing great.

The Patient

“The universe is so well balanced that the mere fact that you have a problem also serves as a sign that there is a solution.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

mile 7998

After a day of rest and sightseeing in Fairbanks, learning one thing or two about building an oil pipeline in permafrost, about the gold rush and the struggles of the town when it all finished, we left Fairbanks today early morning in a steady pour of rain.  Our plan was to move South to Tok and then turn North to Chicken and over the "Top of the World Hwy" to Dawson.  But with the recent rain we learn in Tok that the unpaved portion of the taylor Hwy is in a really bad conditions and most probably not possible for a bike like ours to pass through.  As we had heard similar stories from people with BMW's GS's who had attempted this road some weeks ago in similar conditions and their struggles or turnarounds, we decide not to risk the bike and waste time, and bite the bullet of making the same way twice i.e. continue on the ALCAN to Whitehorse.  Our bitter decision is sweetened by the weather improving and giving us a nice afternoon and evening, thus providing us with a great view of the Wrangell Mountain Range with Mt. Logan in the distance, and some pretty wildlife like Bald Eagles and Moose. So not bad for a day which started not so well, and some good distance too.

The Alyeska Pipeline

Old houses of Fairbanks restored in Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, AK

Kluane National Park, YT

Kluane NP, YT

"There's a land where the mountains are nameless

  And the rivers all run God knows where;

  There are lives that are erring and aimless,

  And deaths that just hang by a hair;

  There are hardships that nobody reckons;

  There are valleys unpeopled and still;

  There's a land--oh, it beckons and beckons,

  And I want to go back--and I will."  -  Robert William Service, Spell of the Yukon 

mile 7345

After 14 hours of first rain and mud, then mud only, did we return to Fairbanks, tiered but satisfied with the achievement.  We have survived a not so easy day, riding North the James Dalton Hwy on a surface which was like a wet soap bar, when seasoned riders on their Triumphs and BMWs advised us at the Yukon river not to continue as they were struggling the road conditions, when the weather didn't knew wether to trench us, or to let the sun come through, when trucks were spitting the mud at us like a wall plasterer.  But we made it, and we reached the Latitude 66° 33' 44", otherwise known as the Arctic Circle.  What else to say?  Happy, simply happy!!

Mile 84 of the Elliot Hwy where the Dalton Hwy starts

Following the Alaskan Pipeline on the Dalton Hwy

Crossing the Yukon River

 Gas station at the Yukon River Camp

Happy Birthday Elke

 ... and this requires a good cleaning

mile 6801

DENALI, what can be said about it?  One could run down all the statistics and numbers which describe this park, or one could simply say, "you have to see it to believe it".  We had an early start and after we left the visitor center at the park entrance we headed to the Savage River which is basically the limited park entry.  From there you can't use your own vehicle anymore and park tour busses take you to the various locations.  Climbing up to Sanctuary River we got a great, clear look at Mt. Denali's south and north peak (the south peak is the higher one, 20230 ft, distance between north and south peak approx. 1.3 mile), considering ourselves very lucky as the top is around 3/4 of the year covered in clouds.  Continuing our way to Teklanika River we saw our first Grizzly Bear, a mother bear with her two cubs, playing and exploring a hill side.  Following further west the Alaska Range we see impressive glaciers and mountains, and Caribou grazing in the meadows, Eagles searching for prey, and Dall Sheep climbing the steep slopes.  Not much further down the road we see another Grizzly Bear feeding on flowers and grass, unimpressed by our presence.  We continued along Muldrow Glacier which is covered with vegetation like grass and small shrubs, but just a couple of feet below the surface is solid ice, flowing towards East.  Our turnaround point was Wonder Lake, a lake formed by a glacier and just in the process of developing its own aquamarine life.  The weather has by now also turned to the usual, and the clear skies of the morning have given way to rain.  Nevertheless, the wildlife is not bothered by that, and we saw some more Caribou and Grizzly Bear, and different birds on our way back to the Wilderness Access Center at the park entrance.

Mt. McKinley

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the thing you didn't do, than by the ones you did.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore." - Author unknown

Found at a plaque in Denali National Park

mile 6781

Good Morning to all!  We made a run from Anchorage  to Seward and it was really beautiful along the water in to the Chugach National Forest.  Even so we wanted to escape the bad weather in Anchorage, it stuck with us all way long.  Unfortunately did we not see very much of the remands of the glaciers which once formed that valley and the fjord, but just the clouded shapes of the mountains gave a good impression of what's behind.  Because of that not very much pictures, sorry.

Going Moose Pass to Seward

Seward was also the starting point for a day cruise we took to see some sea life and to visit some glaciers of the Harding Ice Field close up.  The day started well with some sea otter floating along in the bay, followed very quickly by the sighting of some blows.  We all got perched to the railings to see the humpback whales feed in the fjord, and of course the famous fluke dive(s).  With such impressive images in our heads we continued further Southwest to the Northwest and Redstone Glaciers and waited there long enough to see the glaciers calve (i.e. to watch huge junks of ice break up from the glacier and rush in to the sea).   Having our noses frozen we turned and visited some sea birds breeding islands and some sea lions enjoying the afternoon sun on the rocks.  More whales, sea otter, puffins, dolphins, and other sea creatures went with us back to port, as fish eagles were hunting for their dinner.  Even so we got pretty cold, and the occasional rain was still with us, it was a great day at sea, very entertaining, very educational.

Seward Port

Resurrection Bay

Northwest Glacier

Seward starting point of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race to Nome

As the weather had shown no sign of improvement, we broke camp this morning in Seward and made a run North to Denali as the forecast looked more promising.  Returning back to Anchorage to join Hwy 1 we got this time a much better view of Turnagain Arm coming down the Moose Pass and with the Portage Glacier to our right.  Now we know what we should have seen coming down three days ago.  Anyway we continue North and enter the Denali Park, with the only drawback that by now the weather once again has changed to our disadvantage and Denali is hidden behind some low hanging, very fierce looking rain clouds.  So no vista from the South, no vista from the North.  But we will stay some days here in Denali and we hope that we will get a better look of him tomorrow as we will venture in to the park up to Wonder Lake or perhaps further.

"To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world." - John Muir
Quote provided by Marianne

mile 6254

Yesterday we started our ride from Tok to Anchorage with the forecast of rain for the whole day.  So precautionary we dressed in our rain gear, and guess what?  Exactly it turned out to be a nice day, just the kind of weather you wish for to ride through those pretty mountain ranges down to Anchorage.  First we went along the Wrangell-St. Elias NP, only the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined, with its impressive mountains Mt. Sanford and Mt. Blackburn, both over 16,000 ft tall.  After a lunch stop at the Old Roadhouse in Gakona, we continued our way to the Glenn Hwy and went along the Matanuska Glacier and the Chugach Mountains.  This is one of the most spectacular views of mountains and glaciers we have seen so far, and even so the glaciers are receding more and more every year, they are impressive to say at least.  The Glenn Hwy offers a perfect view of those and is a must to drive when in Alaska.  Unfortunately did we catch again! evening traffic going in to Anchorage, but it wasn't as bad a we had before (I still remember Friday evening in Seattle!!!).  Finding a camp site is easy for us, as House of Harley-Davidson offers free camping on their property for all bikers, and so we put our tent up and chitchat with the other bikers around a camp fire till late night.  Apropos night, there is not very much of that right now, as sun rise was yesterday at 3:42 Am, and sun down was at 11:30 PM.  We now will stay a couple of days here, do some sightseeing, and a service on the bike and ourselves, before continuing to Kenai Island and Denali.

Lunch Break at the Gakona Roadhouse

Matanuska Glacier Range

"Go with the flow" - Elke

mile 5921

Hallo everybody! We rode the last miles up to Alaska and they where just beautiful and hell at the same time. But lets go step by step, as we left Whitehorse this morning after we had a closer look at the steam boat S.S. Klondike.  A short video introduced us into the days the riverboats were the only supply lines to Dawson City and other remote villages along the river banks and in to the Klondike mountains.  Those were hard times, and running those Steamers up and down the river was hard work for all hands on deck.  From Whitehorse we continued our way up North along the Alaskan Highway through beautiful countryside, good roads and up to Destruction Bay where we filled up the Bike and us with lunch.  Having enjoyed great road conditions up to this point, a warning by one guy coming South with a trailer complained that it would get much worse.  How worse can it get?  So much, that the next 100 miles took us about three hours, countless bumps, potholes, pilot cars leading us through work zones, and gravel compacted and wetted, loose gravel wet and dry, and anything a two wheeled vehicle doesn't like.  Then finally, after 5831 miles since leaving home, at mile 1221.8 of the Alcan Hwy we crossed from the Yukon Territory in to Alaska.  We did it!  And the pain of the last hours was soothed with a perfect black top road (even so only for about 20 miles).  We continued on till Tok, the junction to Fairbanks and/or Anchorage, to which we will continue tomorrow.
Animal sightings today:
Kamikaze Willy - Squirrel:      1 (jumping just in front of our bike forth and back, and survived the vehicle approach)
Black Bears:                            0
Moose:                                     0
Ravens:                                    uncountable
Total count of bikers:              45, of which 9 went in our direction

Leaving Whitehorse, YT

Going North or going South? North of course.

Kluane Lake, YT near Destruction Bay

Somewhere again between Burwash Landing and Beaver Creek

Here we are!

Something is brewing up, near Tok, AK

“Historically, Alaska is a place that has attracted those fed up with conventionality”. - Bill O'Reilly

Quote provided by Phil