To Alaska on a Motorcycle
#11
06-30-2018, 07:19 PM
Moderator
I do all my touring solo. I covered 9676 miles in 3 weeks. I don't think I could have found a companion that would have agreed to head out every time I wanted to keep going (rain, fatigue or whatever). So yes this is something to do at your own pace if you ask me. If you are in a group of 2 or more it always seems like you stop when one person gets tired and starts to complain. If you can find someone with your own riding habits you might be able to do this with someone else.
BuzzCap7
#14
07-01-2018, 06:46 PM
Day 4 - Monday June 11th
After breakfast I head out of Hinton. It’s another cool day. That’s okay. I’m prepared for Alaska. I don’t mind cool weather. I like riding when it’s cool enough to wear all my leather.
I head out on highway 40. I like this. It’s a smaller highway with little traffic. The highway runs through a forest of spruce and fir.
After the town of Grande Prairie Alberta I cross this bridge that has wood planks for the roadway.
I come to realize almost all the bridges from here on out are old truss bridges (built with beams that form a triangulation above and around the roadway). Some of these bridges have had a concrete roadway retrofitted to them but a lot still have boards or a steel meshwork that the vehicles drive on.
I fill up with gas and before I even use a quarter of a tank I pass by another gas station. No need to top off my tank, or so I think. Later on I see a sign that Fort Nelson is 250 kilometers. That’s 150 miles and 20 miles farther than my Harley says I can go before I’m out. I am carrying a gas can for this specific reason. Gas stations are few and far between up here. I don’t want to completely run out. I plan on adding my gas when I have 10 miles of gas. At that time I see signs advertising about motels and other businesses in Fort Nelson. I keep riding and get to a gas station before I have to add my spare gas. I have 4 miles yet to go when I get to a gas station at the edge of town in Fort Nelson.
Notice my range says "Lo". This comes on when you have less than ten miles before running out. I have seen this a few time on this ride to Alaska.
2006 miles after leaving home I arrive in Dawson Creek British Columbia. This is the beginning of the Alaskan Highway.
I roll into Fort Nelson and eat at a Boston Pizza restaurant. This is where I will stay for the night so I check into a Motel 6.
Today I put on 582 miles. My GPS said I rode for 9 and a half hour.
To be continued ...
I head out on highway 40. I like this. It’s a smaller highway with little traffic. The highway runs through a forest of spruce and fir.
After the town of Grande Prairie Alberta I cross this bridge that has wood planks for the roadway.
I come to realize almost all the bridges from here on out are old truss bridges (built with beams that form a triangulation above and around the roadway). Some of these bridges have had a concrete roadway retrofitted to them but a lot still have boards or a steel meshwork that the vehicles drive on.
I fill up with gas and before I even use a quarter of a tank I pass by another gas station. No need to top off my tank, or so I think. Later on I see a sign that Fort Nelson is 250 kilometers. That’s 150 miles and 20 miles farther than my Harley says I can go before I’m out. I am carrying a gas can for this specific reason. Gas stations are few and far between up here. I don’t want to completely run out. I plan on adding my gas when I have 10 miles of gas. At that time I see signs advertising about motels and other businesses in Fort Nelson. I keep riding and get to a gas station before I have to add my spare gas. I have 4 miles yet to go when I get to a gas station at the edge of town in Fort Nelson.
Notice my range says "Lo". This comes on when you have less than ten miles before running out. I have seen this a few time on this ride to Alaska.
2006 miles after leaving home I arrive in Dawson Creek British Columbia. This is the beginning of the Alaskan Highway.
I roll into Fort Nelson and eat at a Boston Pizza restaurant. This is where I will stay for the night so I check into a Motel 6.
Today I put on 582 miles. My GPS said I rode for 9 and a half hour.
To be continued ...
Last edited by Durango Dave; 07-01-2018 at 08:53 PM.
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#15
07-01-2018, 07:03 PM
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#16
07-02-2018, 06:50 PM
Day 5 - Tuesday June 12th
After breakfast I leave Fort Nelson and continue on the Alaskan Highway. Today I have perfect weather. It’s a great day to ride.
This is the Liard River above and below.
I follow the Alaskan highway through hundreds of miles and they’re all beautiful.
I often see a sign of this shaky motorcyclist. Sometimes he's shaky because of road damage or gravel. This time he's riding on a steel grid work on a bridge.
Almost all of these old bridges have been replaced in the lower 48 states but I see a lot of them in Canada and in Alaska.
Here's a true story. The first time I ever rode a motorcycle was after I bought a new Kawasaki KE175 dirt bike when I was in high school. I rode it home from the cycle shop but I had one of these old bridges that had a mesh roadway to ride across to get home. I rode that cycle all around South Sioux City before I had the confidence to ride it across the Missouri River bridge to my home in Sioux City. The knobbies made it shake even more than other motorcycles. And to look down was looking far down to the river below. It was a nerve racking first motorcycle ride.
This bridge below is once again, the Liard River. The Alaskan Highway follows the Liard River for a ways as it crosses the border between the Yukon and British Columbia.
This is the Liard River above and below.
I follow the Alaskan highway through hundreds of miles and they’re all beautiful.
I often see a sign of this shaky motorcyclist. Sometimes he's shaky because of road damage or gravel. This time he's riding on a steel grid work on a bridge.
Almost all of these old bridges have been replaced in the lower 48 states but I see a lot of them in Canada and in Alaska.
Here's a true story. The first time I ever rode a motorcycle was after I bought a new Kawasaki KE175 dirt bike when I was in high school. I rode it home from the cycle shop but I had one of these old bridges that had a mesh roadway to ride across to get home. I rode that cycle all around South Sioux City before I had the confidence to ride it across the Missouri River bridge to my home in Sioux City. The knobbies made it shake even more than other motorcycles. And to look down was looking far down to the river below. It was a nerve racking first motorcycle ride.
This bridge below is once again, the Liard River. The Alaskan Highway follows the Liard River for a ways as it crosses the border between the Yukon and British Columbia.
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#17
07-02-2018, 06:51 PM
Continuation of Day 5 - Tuesday June 12th
There’s lots of wildlife along the highway, especially black bear and Bighorn sheep. I also see elk, deer and porcupine. Colliding with wildlife can be a very real danger. Fortunately the Alaskan Highway is a wide highway and more importantly they have cleared the brush and trees from the sides of the highway. This creates a nice wide corridor. I am constantly scanning the right and the left side of the road looking for wildlife that may dart in front of me.
These are Wood Bison that live in the forests of the mountains of Canada.
These guys like to dig up the grass and then lay in the dirt. I only see the bigger males lay in these prime locations. The little guys wouldn't want to try taking one of these spots unless he's up for a fight.
This guy needs to be careful. He already broke one of his horns.
These are Stone Sheep. They are similar to Rocky Mountian Big Horn Sheep but more closely related to Dall Sheep.
In the afternoon I roll into Watson Lake, Yukon Canada.
This is a good time for a little history backdrop. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. In the 1920's the Alaskan Highway was proposed as a way to connect Alaska to the rest of the US. Canada didn't see much benefit to such a highway and refused to help pay for it. After Pearl Harbor was attacked both countries saw the need for the highway. The purpose of the highway was military defense. The Canadians still refused to perform the work and insisted that the road be turned over to Canadian authorities after the war. In the spring of 1942 the construction of the Alaskan Highway began. It was (and to a degree still is) called the Alcan Highway, as in the Alaskan-Canadian highway. The highway was completed October 28, 1942, just over seven months after work began.
While working on the highway, army private Carl Lindley injured his foot. He was no longer able to do heavy work. While recuperating in Watson Lake he repaired and repainted a road sign post that was knocked down by a bulldozer. In addition to the mileage to local towns Carl added a sign saying it's 2835 miles to his hometown of Danville IL. Soon other soldiers added to the sign post.
Here's Carl Lindley and his signpost.
http://ouralaskahighway.com/?portfol...gn-post-forest
When I was a teenager I went to Alaska. Here's what the Watson Lake Signposts looked like in 1978 (they didn’t call it a signpost forest then).
I could not believe the signpost forest now. There must be over 1000 posts covered with signs. YoukonInfo.com says “In 1990, a couple from Ohio added the 10,000th sign in the Signpost Forest. Today, there are over 77,000 signs in the Forest, and the number grows each year” but the site doesn’t say what date that was written. Wikipedia says there are 80,000 signs. This is a forest of posts with signs on them.
After 330 miles I have dinner at a restaurant in Andrea’s Hotel in Watson Lake. I use my smartphone to find a place to stay. I’m in the Yukon. There are few towns and motels around here. I can stay here after a short day of riding or ride on to Whitehorse YK. That would be a long ride. I decide to stay the night at the Big Horn Hotel there in Watson Lake.
Today I rode 330 miles.
To be continued ...
These are Wood Bison that live in the forests of the mountains of Canada.
These guys like to dig up the grass and then lay in the dirt. I only see the bigger males lay in these prime locations. The little guys wouldn't want to try taking one of these spots unless he's up for a fight.
This guy needs to be careful. He already broke one of his horns.
These are Stone Sheep. They are similar to Rocky Mountian Big Horn Sheep but more closely related to Dall Sheep.
In the afternoon I roll into Watson Lake, Yukon Canada.
This is a good time for a little history backdrop. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. In the 1920's the Alaskan Highway was proposed as a way to connect Alaska to the rest of the US. Canada didn't see much benefit to such a highway and refused to help pay for it. After Pearl Harbor was attacked both countries saw the need for the highway. The purpose of the highway was military defense. The Canadians still refused to perform the work and insisted that the road be turned over to Canadian authorities after the war. In the spring of 1942 the construction of the Alaskan Highway began. It was (and to a degree still is) called the Alcan Highway, as in the Alaskan-Canadian highway. The highway was completed October 28, 1942, just over seven months after work began.
While working on the highway, army private Carl Lindley injured his foot. He was no longer able to do heavy work. While recuperating in Watson Lake he repaired and repainted a road sign post that was knocked down by a bulldozer. In addition to the mileage to local towns Carl added a sign saying it's 2835 miles to his hometown of Danville IL. Soon other soldiers added to the sign post.
Here's Carl Lindley and his signpost.
http://ouralaskahighway.com/?portfol...gn-post-forest
When I was a teenager I went to Alaska. Here's what the Watson Lake Signposts looked like in 1978 (they didn’t call it a signpost forest then).
I could not believe the signpost forest now. There must be over 1000 posts covered with signs. YoukonInfo.com says “In 1990, a couple from Ohio added the 10,000th sign in the Signpost Forest. Today, there are over 77,000 signs in the Forest, and the number grows each year” but the site doesn’t say what date that was written. Wikipedia says there are 80,000 signs. This is a forest of posts with signs on them.
After 330 miles I have dinner at a restaurant in Andrea’s Hotel in Watson Lake. I use my smartphone to find a place to stay. I’m in the Yukon. There are few towns and motels around here. I can stay here after a short day of riding or ride on to Whitehorse YK. That would be a long ride. I decide to stay the night at the Big Horn Hotel there in Watson Lake.
Today I rode 330 miles.
To be continued ...
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#18
07-02-2018, 07:17 PM
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07-02-2018, 07:39 PM
