VFRDiscussion ARCHIVE / READ-ONLYREAD-ONLY

Top of the World on a VFR

30 posts Started 29 Mar 2010 Last recovered post 6 Apr 2010 Wayback Machine snapshot 14 Apr 2010

#1
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The First Three Days

**Some of this reads a little funny as I wrote it during the trip.**

Day one and two were a straight shot from Chicago to Calgary; long super interstate runs broken up with a blur of gas stations stops. In the middle of North Dakota, we headed due north and made it to within an hour of the border, before we ran out of gas ourselves. The border crossing was easy and quick, and the rest of the trip to Calgary was made in periodic drizzle and sporadic sunlight. Monday, day three, we loaded up and headed for the mountains of Banff. Two national parks and elevation changes up to nearly 7,000 feet and the weather turned colder, dipping to 47 degrees at one point, although mostly the temps were in the 50's. Quite a change from the 88 and humid back home in Chicago. Our rest stops stretched out and we found ourselves running behind schedule, deciding to stop in Grande Cache, Alberta instead of Grande Prairie, 100 miles further. To say that I am tired as I type this would be a serious understatement. I only managed a few pictures today before the battery in the camera went dead, but a few turned out ok.
Our first real stop was in Calgary, AB at a friends house were we readied ourselves for, well, everything.

Full Size

How to go on vacation:
Step 0ne: Take a well engineered motorcycle.
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Step 2: Add a bunch of stuff you probably won't use like tents and sleeping bags and such.
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Step 3: Go to a country that has signs about Elk and Bears and ride around.
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Day 4 and 5
Tuesday started clear and chilly, with temps in the high 40’s. We left Grande Cache with hopes of adding on mileage to get back on schedule. Most of the morning we moved well, with little traffic up to Grande Prairie. We stopped at a Best Buy to resolve some camera issues and kept going, crossing over into British Columbia. After lunch in Dawson Creek, we decided to pick up the pace a little and made it to Fort Nelson in late afternoon after a run that probably would have gotten the attention of state troopers back home. In Fort Nelson, being a little groggy from so much time moving at speed, I thought it would be a good thing to put diesel fuel in my tank instead of gasoline. Oops. After draining and refilling twice, with the help of some very friendly locals, we headed out another 105 miles to Toad River, for a total of 580 miles for the day. On the way, we had an encounter with a female moose: we came around a long sweeping left hand curve to find her standing in the road, looking bored. I stopped as quickly as I could but found myself only 40 feet away. After a minute or two, she started towards me at a walk and I turned around and rode back to Dan, who was already facing the direction we came. She then stood sideways in the road for several minutes and ignored us. Women! Finally, she walked off the road and we got moving again. I suspect that she was a bit on the small side but still the size of a Chevy Suburban.
Toad River Lodge was rustic at best, but the people were friendly, telling us to grab the only remaining room and we’d all “settle up in the morning.” We pulled in about 10:30 pm and it was still very light out. After unpacking, we were told that several Moose were swimming in the lake and went down to take pictures, none of which were any good. We started talking to the other people there and as it turned out, they were from Madison, Wisconsin. Small world.

Wednesday, we left Toad River and hit a construction area that was 6 miles of gravel. The four semi trucks and 3 huge RV’s caused so much dust that I thought I was in a blizzard. We finally stopped to give the trucks a head start and inched our way along. Afterward, we were covered in dust and couldn’t see out of our helmets. Good times!! We arrived in Watson Lake with thoughts of taking an alternate route, but found intel in town that told us the road was under construction, so we stayed on the Alaska Highway and kept going. Again this afternoon, we made better than good time up the Alaska Highway, with the scenery very similar to Colorado, or perhaps the north woods of Wisconsin, sans mountains. After crossing into the Yukon, we stopped in Teslin for a break and spoke to a couple on a Honda Goldwing, (the benchmark of all touring bikes). They had left Missouri in late May and were going to keep riding until the 2nd or 3rd week of July. Must be nice! We arrived in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territories and almost immediately ran into people we had talked to in Toad River.

We have traveled more than 3,000 miles since leaving Chicago 5 days ago and all I can think is “Small World."

This is Toad River Lodge... very rustic but everyone was very friendly.
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This was taken along the Alaska Highway. I think it was called Dease Lake, but it might as well be called Mirror Lake.
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This was also along the Alaska Highway. June 25th and there is still snow in the mountains.
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#2
Dawson City, Yukon
We made it to Dawson City, Yukon and have had a great time today, day 6. Currently, we are at Bombay Peggy's, drinking Yukon Discovery Ale. Good stuff. If you get here, ask for Shauna. Unfortunately, massive internet connection problems have kept me from posting. The pictures above take about 7 or 8 minutes each to upload, and I have about a dozen I would like to post. Tomorrow we head to Alaska, with our target Fairbanks. Hopefully (I am told) my phone will work again once I get near Tok, (rhymes with Coke) Alaska and I can post more pictures when I get to Fairbanks. Stay tuned.

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A few of the old restored buildings in Dawson City.
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This paddle wheel boat is on the river in Dawson City. It is fully functional and is a big tourist attraction.
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We timed our stay in Dawson City with a "Dust to Dawson" meet from ADVRider.com and met about 70 bikes there. Pretty much everyone was easy to get along with. My VFR stood out like a sore thumb, and most were skeptical that I would make it to Prudhoe Bay.
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#3
Day 7 - ALASKA!!!
Its noon Friday and we have crossed the border into Alaska.
Leaving Dawson City, YT, we rode a ferry across the Yukon River and rode 65 miles of broken pavement to get to the border. After the usual customs stuff, we rode another 45 miles of the worst road I have ever seen. Roughly, it took 2 hours to make it to Chicken, Alaska (Google it) in 38 degree drizzle.
An email I just received told me that the gps tracker was not working, and after checking, we found that the SPOT unit is gone. We will try and replace it in Fairbanks, but are not holding our breath.
I have more pictures to load when we get back to civilization, so check back tomorrow or Sunday.
We are good and having the time of our lives.
UPDATE: Sitting having lunch, a guy walks in and asks if anyone has lost a SPOT gps tracking unit. We will be back online tracking in a bit.

This is the ferry at Dawson City, YT, where we started day 7, heading across the border to Alaska, and then on to Fairbanks.
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We kept seeing these three guys at gas and food stops. After a few days we compared routes and found that we had mapped almost the same roads, although I think they started in Seattle.
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Continuing to the Alaskan/ Yukon border we rode up into the mountains and this is some of the scenery.
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Poker Creek, AK us the northernmost land border for the United States. The crossing took about 1 minute, but since we had U.S. passports that really isn't surprising.
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At the border crossing I noticed that my odometer was showed 10,000 miles exactly.
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And then another hour or two to Chicken Creek, AK.
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The rest of the day was spent getting to Fairbanks. We caught up with two guys riding Ducati Multistrada's and along the way, and they were much friendlier than the three guys from a few days prior.
#4
Day 8 - Service
Saturday morning, we got up and headed to Outpost Honda/ BMW/ Harley Davidson and had the bikes serviced. As we have found over the last week, everyone was very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. As we need to get moving today to Coldfoot Camp, just a few pics of the morning.

A picture of Erik the Red, disassembled for an oil change and a new set of tires. Nick, the technician working on the bike, is reputed to be one of the best Honda mechanics in Alaska, and is a former race team mechanic. We hit it off well, and traded stories from years gone past. He had a few good ones about growing up near Watkins Glenn race track in New York. As I always have tried to be considerate taking pictures, he opted to not have a picture on the site here, but is a very friendly guy.
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Daniel and Jerry, who runs the service department. Another great guy who was very welcoming and helpful getting the bikes ready for the 2 day run up to Prudhoe Bay.
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Nick has about $45,000 sunk into tools and I didn't ask to borrow any.
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We left Fairbanks after having the bikes serviced and headed north. Most everyone was telling us, how bad it was on the roads, and how we should consider not going. Obviously weather was an issue, but terrible road conditions and mechanical failure was also something to worry about.

We stripped most of our gear off our bikes to make them lighter for the upcoming run to Prudhoe Bay. Outpost Honda/ BMW/ Harley Davidson stored it for us and we would pick it up next week on our return trip south.
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Not exactly off road tires, but as close as I could get with something that would fit a VFR.
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This is Lonny who is the parts manager at the dealership. He was instrumental in getting everything ready so we could get service completed quickly. The tires for my bike had to come from Seattle, and I am very glad I called him 2 months in advance. Like everyone at this dealer, he is very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.
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We made it out of Fairbanks 10 miles and exited onto a two lane road that Google maps had a hard time finding during our planning stages. We continued on about another 30 miles to the James Dalton Highway and it was just our two bikes and a bunch of oncoming semis. The road deteriorated to broken pavement, then to gravel, and we found it treacherous at best. It was like driving on a washboard. After an hour of this, Dan came up behind me beeping his horn, waved me over, and told me my license plate was hanging by two wires. The tools came out and a few zip ties later we were on our way.

Repairs on the road, literally.
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Some of the great scenery along the James Dalton Highway, heading north.
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A self portrait with the Alaska Pipeline in the distance.
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#5
We stopped for pictures a few times and finally made it to Yukon River Camp, which is really just a tour stop along the Dalton, with rooms to rent and a low key restaurant with pretty decent food. When we arrived and fueled the bikes, it was 75 degrees and the sun was blazing hot. After we ate, we walked outside to find it in the mid or high 50�s, and starting to rain. Knowing that we were only 60 miles to the Arctic Circle, we pressed on. After 25 more miles of gravel, some of which was so poor I was struggling to maintain 20 mph, and then 35 miles of patched pavement (which felt like a godsend at the time) we finally made it to the Arctic Circle and stopped for more pictures. As soon as our helmets came off, mosquitoes attacked with such ferocity that we didn�t do more than take our pictures and get moving again. We had been told that the bugs were bad, but I had never seen anything like it. 60 more miles to Coldfoot Camp. Google it.

The Arctic Circle, complete with scenery and Navy SeAL-type mosquitoes.
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As we traveled along our way, we could see several storms in the distance that threatened heavy rain and wind. It was almost like special effects in a bad sci-fi movie. At one point, the temperature dropped from 70 to 48 in less than a minute as we headed downhill trying to beat the storms. As the rain hit, we slowed and rode very defensively as cross winds pushed the bikes first to one side of the road, then the other. We finally made it to Coldfoot Camp to find a very make shift set up. Seemingly, the inn (if you could call it that) was made of converted cargo containers that might have been on an ocean liner at one point. We ate before getting to our room and found the food decent and hot, with an Asian themed buffet with plenty for everyone. Knowing that this place is frequented by truckers from the haul road and oil field workers, we expected worse. Our room was perhaps small, but clean and warm.

As we prepared for tomorrow, we discussed our plans for the coming day and decided that regardless of the weather, we would attempt a run to Prudhoe Bay. We know that the road is going to be terrible, and weather conditions could be horrendous, but we feel that we are prepared for the worst, and hope for the best. There is an area called Atigun pass that is going to be the toughest we have seen yet and probably will be for the entire trip. The road goes over a mountain, up to 4,800 feet, and it snows there year round. We are hoping for sun, but know we have to play the cards dealt to us. If it can be done, we will.

Day 9

We left Coldfoot and headed north yet again. It has been nice during the first half of our trip in that we have never driven into the sun, unfortunately, the entire second half will be nearly blinding. As we got under way we found the road bad, but negotiable. Several miles later, we encountered construction zones that were in the early stages of grading the crushed gravel surface. As the gravel moved under the tires, the bikes would want to stay in ruts caused by the machinery, and the bike would want to �duck walk� down the road. 55 miles of this forced us to take a break, as aching wrists and shoulders needed to be stretched. We made it up to Atigun Pass, and the temperature dropped to a chilly 38 degrees. The sun was eclipsed by the clouds and we stopped to don our heavy gear. We continued on.

Dan at the base of Atigun Pass.
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We dropped down to almost 3,000 feet and found a nice stretch of chip seal road, which was a big improvement from the gravel and potholes. Chip seal is sort of like pavement that is mixed with gravel; the surface is solid, it provides good traction, but is very tough on tires. Over the next 100 miles, this surface gave way to gravel, potholes and the occasional stretch of pavement. With 85 miles to go, we found a nice long stretch of actual concrete, and picked up our speed. We stopped for a quick break and coming towards us was an older couple riding a pair of BMW�s. They stopped to make sure we were ok, and told us they were from Boise and were riding all over the country for the entire summer. The lady said the road behind them was in decent shape, relatively, with some of it paved, and they had maintained good speed. Dan mentioned that he had heard the last 50 miles were the worst, and they agreed it was tough. After they left, we got moving again and found that she was correct, but knowing that we were running low on fuel, we kept the speed down. With 55 miles to go, we crossed on to gravel washboard that made the bikes vibrate so bad, we had to slow down yet again. The surface shifted under the tires without warning, causing the bikes to wander to both sides of the road. Trying to maintain any kind of speed was out of the question, and we crept on at 20 mph, stopping every so often to get off the bikes and ease aching shoulders and wrists. With 20 miles left, we found the road conditions worse than anything we had yet encountered, with a mix of shifting gravel, potholes and crushed pavement. As we kept moving, we saw what appeared to be deer on the road ahead of us. Stopping quietly, we observed a herd of Caribou, with a few Reindeer mixed in. A pickup truck came up behind us and the herd scattered, after posing for a few pictures.

The Caribou herd with a few Reindeer mixed in. They ignored us until a pickup truck came up behind us.
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We got going again, and almost immediately I lost control, almost dumping my bike in the gravel. A good save, but a lesson learned: Take it slow. Another 15 miles, and we arrived in Prudhoe Bay, The top of the world. Success!!!

The Arctic Caribou Inn at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, the top of the world.
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The Arctic Ocean, behind me you can see ice in the water.
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#6
Day 10 & 11

We left Prudhoe Bay Monday morning with the idea of making it all the way to Fairbanks the end of the day. If you read the previous posts, you know that this was a big undertaking. Without going into too much detail, the road was in worse shape than the two days it took to ride up, with a lot of construction areas that turned the road into a sloppy, sticky, muddy mess. We left Prudhoe at 8:50 am and got to our hotel at 12:10 that night, dead tired.

Dan doing yoga along the Dalton Highway during one of our many rest stops on the way home from Prudhoe Bay.
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Along the way from Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks, we met several people that we found interesting:

Joseph was from Oregon and he and his dog Star were riding by bicycle from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay . He trained for a year to do this and said �It�s harder than I thought it would be.� We met him originally in Coldfoot, as he was having mechanical problems with his bike and we helped him take the front wheel apart to fix it. Unfortunately, the hub was gone and he was going to have to order another, but someone local sold him one instead.
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Kenta was from Japan and studying at Centralia College in Washington State. He rode his bicycle from Anchorage and was heading to Prudhoe Bay, about 850 miles and was going to take him almost a month. After taking a bus back to Fairbanks, He was going to ride south to Montana, almost 2,000 miles and was going to take him 2 months, camping every night.
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We met John at Yukon River Camp on the way south. When I first saw him, the first thought I had was that he could be a stand in for an 1850�s gold prospector in a movie. He carried a big .44 revolver in a shoulder holster and a rifle over his shoulder. When I asked what the guns were for, he replied in his gravelly voice, �Bear spray.� He told us a few interesting stories about bears trying to climb onto the deck on the back of his house, two miles away out in the middle of nowhere. He had a friend that got swatted around by a bear awhile back, and that friend now carries a big pistol around the house, and a rifle when he goes out anywhere.
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It seemed at first that the people that we met along the way were unusual, but even though they have chosen to live a different life than those of us back in Chicago , without exception they all were nice and friendly and had a minute to talk if anyone said hello.
After having Nick at the motorcycle dealership check through my bike after the pounding it took coming back from Prudhoe, we left Fairbanks and made it to Tok, We intend to head to Teslin, BC today and then head south on the Cassier Highway and make our way back into Alaska to Hyder for the 3rd and 4th of July. We suspect that cellular service will end once we cross the border and wifi will be spotty again, so the next post might be in a few days. I am having trouble loading pictures here, but will add them when I can. The weather here is good and we are seeing scenery that we missed on our way north in all the rain.

Day 12

We made it from Tok to Whitehorse on Thursday, where Dan hit the hot springs and I opted for the Best Western. Unfortunately, our SPOT gps unit was lost somehow, and we are not tracking. We will try to replace it in Whitehorse before we head to Iskut, BC today, but I don't think it will happen. We probably won't be able to post again for a few days, as wifi is very intermittent where we are headed. Day 13- We made it to Iskut, BC yesterday and stayed at the Red Goat Lodge, deciding to pitch our tents. It rained a bit as we arrived, but then cleared and had a good evening. From Iskut, we headed south and are now having lunch in Tatooga Lake, on our way to Hyder, Alaska, where will we have a day off the bikes in celebration of the 4th. Sunday we head to Prince George, BC and then Monday back to Calgary.
The local wifi access is spotty at best, but I will update with pictures in Hyder if possible. We are hoping to rent a sea plane and go for a sight seeing flight.

A view from our campsite in Iskut, BC. We took our time breaking camp because we only less than 200 miles to ride today. I spent a few minutes on the dock and finally caught a nice rainbow trout. It was all very relaxing.
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On our way to Hyder, Alaska, we saw this little guy eating berries on the side of the road. I only got a few pictures before he walked into the woods and disappeared. It is amazing how quickly the bears would disappear once they enter the woods. I have no doubt that they could be 20 feet away and I wouldn't be able to see them.
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This was taken Friday, July 3rd just after we left Iskut on our way to Hyder. I think these mountains are about 75 miles away because...
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...an hour later this is what they looked like. My photography skills do not do the scenery justice, and words can only scratch the surface of how gorgeous it all was.
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Arriving in Hyder after a short 200 mile day on the bikes. It was nice to take it easy on Friday, and Saturday the 4th, we did some sight seeing and kicked around town before heading out early Sunday morning for a 2 day trip back to Calgary.
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Dan studying hard for Karaoke. He sang "Safety Dance" in a pseudo techno voice. The guys in the bar just shook their heads but the girls loved it (which was the point).
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4th of July in Hyder, Alaska

We are enjoying our day off the bikes with great weather and a 4th of July celebration. Here are a few pictures that took 15 minutes each to load because the wifi is very slow here. The people in the town are very friendly, with a 4th of July parade that was memorable to say the least. There was a parade with most of the local residents and a big party at the SeAlaska Inn where we are staying. I guess this is the big party of the year, as during the winter holidays it is way to cold to be outside much.
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#7
The end of an epic trip

We got up early Sunday, July 5th and left Hyder, AK. After a cursory stop at the border, we entered the Yukon and started chewing up miles. The thought was to head to Prince George, BC and stop for the night, with the alternative to continue on to Jasper, Alberta. We made good time during the day, with great weather and beautiful scenery. Knowing that mileage was a priority, we didn’t stop for pictures often and tried to keep our gas stops short (actually, I am the one who dawdles during gas stops, with Dan being his usually patient self with me).

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Towards the end of the afternoon, after crossing into BC, we crested a plateau and headed down into a wide valley. The weather had been spectacular today, but some weird looking clouds were off to our right, looking threatening and appearing to move to intersect us within an hour or two. As we continued on, the lightning storm crossing the mountains put on a show that was very impressive. As the storm crossed over in front of us we encountered rain, but as it was warm and not too heavy, it really was nice.

About this time in the late afternoon, we started to see more wildlife with 6 or 7 close bear sightings along with caribou, moose and bison off in the distance. At one point when the rain was heaviest, we came across a mother bear and her cub trying to cross the Cassier Highway. As all the RV’s and cars slowed and stopped to take pictures, a red pickup truck passed everyone in the oncoming lane and Dan and I just shook our heads. It wasn’t as if traffic had stopped, but I guess slowing down was too much for the driver. After we passed the bears, they made it across the highway and became invisible in the foliage almost the instant they entered the forest, something that continues to amaze me. I watched a moose walk into the trees a few days ago and I just wondered how something that large can disappear in 2 or 3 seconds.

We passed Prince George and made it to Jasper and found a hotel. The town of Jasper is located inside a provincial (national) park, an idea that surprised me, as I hadn’t seen that in the United States. The town was similar to my idea of what an Austrian ski town would be like in the 60’s or 70’s, just with modern facilities and RV’s. As we found a hotel, we counted 9 different languages being spoken by the people walking along, and many of them stopped and looked at our bikes, often exclaiming about the Illinois license plates. After finding that my phone worked again and making a few phone calls, we had a decent dinner at the Italian restaurant in our hotel and crashed for the night. We had ridden almost 650 miles.

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Monday we got up, and knowing that we only had 260 miles to go to get to Calgary, we lounged around and got moving about noon. As we crossed over the mountain range heading south, we hit a storm that drenched the road in front of us and caused massive amounts of road spray from the many campers and RV’s. As we reached the summit, I saw on my gps that we had ascended higher than 6,800 feet and the temperature dropped to 37 degrees. Dan led the way on his ever stable BMW, but my much smaller sport bike didn’t do much to shelter me from the wind. We stopped in Lake Louise for fuel (I remembered to use Gasoline this time and not diesel) and decided that since Dan had to get to the dealership in Calgary for service, he would go on ahead and we would meet at Brenda’s house in Calgary. I drank a few cups of hot chocolate and warmed up, then headed out. Coming down the south side of the mountain range, the sun came out, the road dried out, and the final 100 miles was great. Dan was able to have minor service stuff taken care of at Blackfoot Motorsports in Calgary, and we met up again at Brenda’s, where Sassy the dog was supervising me unloading all the stuff I had loaded onto my bike.

Tuesday morning, Dan headed south and crossed the border into Montana and made it through Glacier National Park. He said later that the scenery was spectacular, and the roads were good, without too many RV’s slowing things down. He shot some video of the area, and thought that even though we had traveled 7,000 miles together so far, the scenery here was phenomenal. He made it to Bozeman, MT and stopped to say hello to a friend, before getting on the road again and eating more miles. He said that the people in Montana , just like everywhere we had been the previous two weeks were friendly, and the route he had taken, including MT 200 (a road in Montana I had ridden a few years earlier) was open and speed limits were more of a suggestion. Wednesday he got up and made it to interstate 94, and rode to Minneapolis, where his aunt, uncle and cousins made him a fantastic dinner. Thursday he headed back to Chicago and arrived home in the late afternoon, not getting caught in rush hour traffic.

Backing up a few days, on Tuesday when Dan headed to Montana, my friend Brenda took me to the Calgary Stampede, which is a 10 day long, rodeo themed event held every year in Calgary. Having been to school in Wyoming many years ago, it was nostalgic to see rodeo competition in person. Not knowing a heck of a lot about anything rodeo related, I was amazed to hear the announcers talk about this 1,800 pound bull that just tossed a rider, or that horse that just broke a calf roping record. Having relayed a story of my own extremely-short-lived barrel racing career a few years ago when we met, Brenda couldn’t resist giving me some good-natured ribbing when the woman riders made it look so easy. Trust me, it isn’t easy.

Wednesday morning, I headed out and made it across the border into North Dakota, after many hours of mind numbing highway. After 950 miles, I stopped in Jamestown, ND and grabbed a hotel. When my alarm rang at 6:30 the next morning, I just rolled over and hit snooze, and finally got out of bed after 8. On the road again across ND and into Minnesota, when Dan called and said he was 100 miles Northwest of Madison, WI, about 300 miles in front of me. More miles and more hours, and I arrived home about 10pm, “strung out from the road” as Bob Seger once said.

In all, I traveled 8,700+ miles, and Dan crossed over 9,000 with his alternate route home from Calgary, during the 20 days since we left. The only advice I can offer someone contemplating a trip like this: Plan well with some room to improvise, as we did often, and choose your companion wisely. I got lucky when deciding to ride with Dan, as he was always patient and helpful along the way, as I hope I was. Lastly, keep an open mind about people. Almost everyone we met was friendly and nice, even if they had chosen to lead a different life than most of us from larger cities.
Thank you all for your comments and emails throughout our travels. I hope you enjoyed the ride.


TC Rides
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q231/thirdson88/Alaska/IMG_3081.jpg
#8
Published
#9
Great story and great pics!

I'm so jealous, that's one trip that I really want to do. Good on ya!
#10
Tim,
Thanks for posting it here.
I've followed while you were there and then read the whole thing, but Post Atom wasn't cooperating much.
This is much easier to read :fing02:.

And a great read it is! :warranty:
#11
Excellent report tc, thank you.
#12
Awesome job. Thanks for the report!

MD
#13
Great Ride Report & pics. I also like ADVrider but am very happy you made the trip on a VFR w/some 616s. The VFR is very capable for most trips...you dont need a GS to be an adventure rider. Next big ride please send me an invite/PM as I would ride to Alaska. I am just a couple of hours from Chicago. Thanks, Doug
(drop some MSR fuel bottles inside agri tubes next trip)
#15
Thanks for sharing. Nice write-up and great pictures.

VFRMike.
#16
WOW what a journey!! Great write-up.. thoroughly enjoyed the read..
#17
Great trip report. Must have really been hustling to get all that riding in, but I bet it was worth it.

I'm rather curious as to how the luggage held up. And what kind of tyres you were running.
#18
thanks for sharing your trip with us, what a great time!!
#19
Wow that looked like an awesome adventure. Thanks for posting it. :fing02:
#20
I really want to know after taking the extended gravel roads,, how did the VFR paint hold up... I would love to go up but i dont want to destroy my bike to do so.
But after just a hour or so of gravel over Bear tooth pass my bags got pitted pretty good :( .
#21
awesome trip,great reading :fing02: .
#22
Great report.............thanks again.

I am pretty certain I am doing this trip this summer but on a KLR.
#23
Thanks for the report.
It was an enjoyable read. I used to take my VFR on some rough tracks but not all day.
How long did the tyres last ?
#25
what an adventure I really enjoyed it thanks for sharing. Excellent
#26
Yes TC, great adventure and thanks for posting. Good write up and pictures.

I see you did the stretch from Watson Lake to Stewart BC. How much of that Dease Lake Highway is paved and how much is gravel? I've been thinking about riding that stretch someday.

Any problems with either bike?
#27
Great report on a fantastic trip. :beer:

[image: View Post]tc rides, on 29 March 2010 - 06:24 PM, said:

We timed our stay in Dawson City with a "Dust to Dawson" meet from ADVRider.com and met about 70 bikes there. Pretty much everyone was easy to get along with. My VFR stood out like a sore thumb, and most were skeptical that I would make it to Prudhoe Bay.
Now who is the adventure rider? :laugh:
#28
It looks like the "Epic Ride" everyone wants to take. I am curious though, I noticed you have the stock seat on your VFR. I am wondering how it held up and how comfortable it was with all those miles on it. Maybe it isn't worth upgrading if you survived on it for thousands of miles.
#29
Nice post, it made the old heart speed up.
#30

[image: View Post]tc rides, on 30 March 2010 - 02:25 AM, said:

... When I asked what the guns were for, he replied in his gravelly voice, “Bear spray.” ...
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q231/thirdson88/Alaska/IMG_3238.jpg
How cool is this Grizzly Adams bloke? :cool:

Great read TC - thx for sharing - you're a lucky man.
End of thread · 30 posts recovered Wayback Machine snapshot 14 Apr 2010