Alaska-Dalton Highway
#11
#12
2010 Alaska trip including the Dalton
I got back to Virginia on Monday, July 5 from my round trip to Alaska. Rode 11,188 miles from June 7 to July 5 (29 days). I did make it up the Dalton to the Arctic Circle on June 22. It was a beautiful dry sunny day, BUT they were doing two areas of road maintenance. What this means is a road grader scraping about 4-6 inches of the clay/gravel around on the road and a huge tanker truck spraying lots of calcium chloride mixed with water. That makes one heck of a soupy/slimy mess on the road surface. (Slow, steady, white knuckle riding on the Ultra!!!) Had about 10 total miles out of the 240 mile round trip on the Dalton. The rest of the road was in pretty good shape (Some "pavement", smooth packed clay and washboard ruts is what "pretty good shape" means!). Here is the link to my daily blog and pics (see the one album for June 22 for the Dalton):
http://powhatanfarm.spaces.live.com/
http://powhatanfarm.spaces.live.com/
#13
2014 Ultra Limited 2up on Dalton Highway
Mama and I traveled the Dalton to the Arctic Circle on our Ultra in May of 2015. Road out of Fairbanks is paved for the first 60 miles or so. Terrible condition but plenty of warning markers set out by Hwy Dept. Well in advance of damaged roadway. Actually the gravel road was in better condition and 40-45 mph was easy. Some washboard spots-take it slower. We went up on a Sunday. Weather was clear. No trucks...NONE. But, we did encounter a crew working on the roadway. Holy Crap!! A road grader spreading out 3-4 inches of pea sized gravel and a water/ calcium chloride mix of some kind - almost like mud being sprayed on top. This did not sneak up on me. I saw it coming and had plenty of time to prepare. Slowed to a crawl as I entered the slop and immediately had next to zero traction/control of the bike. Mama's an experience passenger and did not freak and thankfully I have more than a little off road competition (motocross / trials) experience. Touring tires on a big bike 2 up style in 3 inches of mud made for some calling up of the nerve I had when I was 18! We had almost 2 miles of this condition before things dried up and we were back in action. One gas stop at the Yukon river camp was more than enough for the trip to the Circle. Weather went a little south on the way back and light rain made the roadway a little slippery but NOTHING like that slop on the way up. Be prepared for anything. You will be alone. If being alone with absolutely no services and without total self confidence worries you too much you may want to travel with a group. Mama and I ride in the most remote areas of the desert Southwest for fun and adventure, but, I must say this trip was by far the most remote and potentially dangerous to the unskilled, unprepared or unknowing. While we were fortunate enough to have no real problems and made the trip safely, I would never do it again with my wife on back. She was great (not a peep of complaining or fear) but, I realized just how easily things could have gone bad. This would definitely be a great trip for a couple of guys or and gals on their own Dual Sport bikes. Most glad we did it though...it's a feather in our caps!
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teeroy_ (02-06-2018)
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mastery
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06-23-2011 04:47 PM