Day 1
Well I got my tires mounted and the oil/filter changed the day before I left. The ride home on new rubber in the rain was a bit spooky. Lots of mold release on the tires - very slippery. But I made it and loaded my gear onto the bike, did a last check of everything and went to bed.
I met Al Carey at Starbucks on the morning of the 31st of May, at 0600. He was only riding to the border with me becasue he had started a new job and didn't have a way to do the whole trip. I like Al a lot and see his starting with me as a good omen. He is the one rider who is compatible with my style of and I will miss his company but very glad to start out with him.
The new tires scrub in nicely on the way to Sumas, WA and Al and I part company. I'm alone and headed North with a full tank of fuel and a gut full of excitement. The crossing is pleasant and the Canadian Customs officer is super friendly.
I'm on my way in no time and heading for Hope, BC and soon to route 97 via route 1 to Lytton, BC. The weather is moist and cool with low clouds hanging around the mountain tops. Very Pacific NW and I just motor on trying to obey the Canadian speed limits. It is a goal of mine to be speed conscious but the locals seem to disregard speed limits with enthusiasm. Hard to keep out of their way.
I make Clinton, BC in short order and head for Williams Lake. I chat briefly with a couple enjoying a weekend on their new GoldWing and adjust the preload as I want more weight on the front tire. This area of BC is a lot like central Washington so I don't stop for pictures. I'm really motivated to just ride. After a while, and without really noticing, I'm at Prince George, BC and stop for a burger and fuel. My economy at 65 mph is about 60 mpg. Pretty good considering the load I have and the wind resistance of the Touratech panniers.
I call it a day at Vanderhoof, BC and bail for a motel. Tim Horton's coffee in hand I call home, then hit the rack and fall asleep right away. It feels good to be riding.
Day 2
I'm on the road again early. I love the early morning hours when everyone is still asleep and I have the road all to myself. There usually is no wind and sunrise colors make the scenery interesting. The wildlife is still cruising around and this day is no different with a lot of big deer eating the new growth on the roadside. I stop for breakfast, and to warm up, in Houston, BC. I'm joined by a fellow from Alberta who is returning from Hyder-Seek in Hyder Alaska - an LD Rider event that ended today. He is a nice fellow and we chat about rides, bikes, and people we know in the LD Rider community. I hope we cross trails again.
I continue up route 16 to Kitwanga, BC which is the beginning of the Cassiar highway which goes North to the Alaska highway. There are lots of cruiser bikes in the gas station parking lot and a bunch of the riders wave and holler as I go past. My arm is getting a workout waving back to the riders headed South from Hyder but past the Stewart-Hyder turn off that business ends. There isn't anybody else to be seen.
I have a potty break and notice a "you are here" sign and figure that as a good place for picture #1.
The road is narrow in parts but there is definite evidence of road improvement. In parts there is evidence of the winter with sections of gravel and mud to negotiate. Nothing special but it is raining and my tires would work better in these sections with less air pressure so being careful slows me down a lot. Just as well. There is a lot to see. Beaver are busy altering the waterways and there are the ever present mountains.
I stop at one place which looks familiar to me. It dawns on me this is a place I've seen in a National Geographic feature on avalanche dynamics. There is plenty of evidence of recent snow slide to look at and I get a gee whiz out of the whole thing.
A couple of riders on GS bikes blast past me and I decide to tag along at their faster rate. We are well over the speed limit and descending a long hill outside Dease Lake when I notice symptoms of law enforcement ahead of us. I back off the throttle and sure enough a Mountie pulls in behind the two other riders.
He's riding his brakes a lot and right on their tail. After a few miles he turns on his rollers and the two pull over. I look at the cop as I ease by and he waves me on. Turns out he only pulled the guys over when one of them pulled along side to ask the other a question. It is illegal to ride side by side in BC, as it is most places. They got a warning.
It has been a long day and I crash in a motel. It is still daylight at 2130.
Day 3
It is about 30 degrees F when I get up and begin the day's ride but it is crystal clear and still. As I hoped for I encounter wildlife. A big Lynx is in the middle of the road as I round a corner and it examines me for a few seconds and darts off to the woods. No picture opportunity there but a great mental memory anyway. I do pull over for a couple pics of Dease Lake and then take off at about 45 mph just enjoying the morning.
Dease Lake
I notice something in my left rear view mirror - not sure what it was but slow down to investigate. Nothing. But I did see something and turn around. There in the middle of the road is the lid off one of my panniers. I recover it and then spend 10 minutes bending it to fit. I had not secured it properly when I got my camera out and it had flown off. Glad I discovered it before a big truck came along and ran over the lid.
I need to be careful and check my stuff after each stop regardless of how much I'm captivated by and distracted by the scenery. I've never been in a more beautiful place.
Cassiar Highway
A rider passes me and I wondered if he was a fellow I know only through the Internet - Jason Jonas. I thought I saw his bike in the motel parking lot. I eventually hook up with the fellow at the gas station where the Cassiar and Alaska highways join. It is indeed Jason and we chat over breakfast and he turns out to be as nice a man in the flesh as his Internet presence would indicate. We are headed for the same destinations - Deadhorse and Roger's barbecue - but have different agendas so part after our meal knowing we will meet again in a few days at Roger's place. Incidentally, that breakfast was enormous! And I ate it all.
I do stay up with Jason for a few miles but my Dakar eats a lot of fuel keeping up bit its big brother 1150GS Adventure ,so I ease off the throttle and settle into a more relaxed ride for Tok, Alaska which is my destination for the day. The scenery in the Yukon is special and by Whitehorse I have to pull over and capture some of it. The shot below is of an area that burned 50 or so years ago. Regrowth has been exceedingly slow for many reasons, one of the main being the slight rainfall in this area. Though I feel a bit small in this expansive country, and vulnerable as a solo rider, I am reminded that the environment is delicate too.
Outside Whitehorse
I also am not paying attention to my mileage and almost run out of fuel on the approach to Haines Junction. Can't be faulted as this place is located in spectacular surroundings that just became more visually captivating with each mile closer I got.
It has been very windy all day through the Yukon to this point and seems more so as I head North for Kluane lake. I get trapped behind a motor home on the twisty bit before Destruction Bay and am a bit pissed the guy would not pull over to let me by. Just as well I need to be careful anyway as the rain is intensifying. I pull over for fuel and some food. I'm covered in mud from new road work and pretty cold. The restaurant looks inviting.
The rain gets pretty intense while I'm warming up and I'm told this is the first they have had in a long time. Fine with me, that is until I get back on the road. An inch of watery mud makes the road surface real slippery and I get completely covered in a thin coating of it. Of course, once I get to the paved part where I can speed up and let the rain wash it off naturally, the rain abates and the sun comes out. Like a little boy I think this is perfectly cool once I get a good look at the bike and myself.
I had read a post from an Alaska rider who said the Alaska highway was pretty torn up because of earthquake damage. True enough, however the road heaves and cracks didn't seem any worse that the Cross Bronx Expressway. Fact is it is fun to pick a line through the moguls and sort of slalom through. The woman Customs Officer concluded I had the right bike for such conditions. We talked more about that than if I should be granted access to Alaska.
I like it here already. It is still very daylight out and the sun is in my eyes at 2000 in the evening. Both good and bad as I can see and not see at the same time. There is a forest fire near Tok and the smoke obscures the mountain vistas and smells foul. There are porcupine all over the place and I wonder what a quill might to do a tire but they all seem to skedaddle quickly off the roadside when I get close.
I'm done when I get to Tok. I call home and then crash in a motel. No energy to find a camp site.
Day 4
I'm up early again and getting into these big sweepers on the road to Delta Junction. Sunny and cool. Have to stop now and again to look at stuff and even take a few pics.............of my bike......what else is important to a rider!
After breakfast I make Eilson AFB and stop to buy some food and a 2 gallon gas can. I'm off for Deadhorse and make Livengood and the end of the tar road in little time. The road is in good shape and I've lowered the air pressure in the tires so all is well at first. I'm concentrating on not crashing.....probably over concentrating.....and fail to notice the weather is changing rapidly. There are clouds forming outside my awareness and I run smack into a shower as I go around a big bend. The road changes to mud and in short order I have a new coating all over me. No biggie.....just press on.....have a long way to go.
One can see the rain after he is wet - taken on the retreat
Problem is I don't have my rain pants on and water/mud enters into my boots and my feet get soaking. I hate wet feet worse than anything. In a while my temperature light turns on. It seems my bike's tendency to throw mud forward off the front wheel so it can be collected by the radiator has plugged the poor thing completely. I find a stream and use my water bottle to flush the mud off but this is a repeat process. Hell with it; return to Fairbanks and figure out what to do. I score a nice camp site almost downtown and clean as much of the goop of my bike as I can. No apparent damage except for my chain which needs adjusting again. Chain Wax collects dirt - not good. However all is sorted for another go.
Day 5
It is crystal clear in the morning and Deadhorse here I come. It is amazing how the road has changed from muddy slop to hard pack. I'm enthused and wick it up to "glide over the bumps and ruts". This is fun however my chain is showing symptoms as the bike bucks and surges when I let off the gas. There is a road crew grading in one spot and of course they wet the surface beforehand. The radiator clogs again and I'm frustrated. It occurs to me to add a flapper to the front fender like old enduro bikes used to have, but I don't have any material to cob one together. I think a little fender mod would help too. I stop at the restaurant by the bridge over the Yukon to clean up and have some food.
The woman there looks at me and says I look like the cars do.......covered in mud. Then she suggests the special. Onion Soup. I know a Tongue Tied Charlie joke about declining onion soup when it is offered and readily agree to her suggestion. Feeling better, I head North after a chat with a local fellow about my tires. They meet with his approval, as does the bike. In a while the road turns into pavement and shortly after that the landscape opens up into almost tree-less, wide open stuff where the pipeline is clearly visible.
Pipeline Pics
I stop a lot to take this all in and dismount at the
"Finger Rocks". There is this rock formation the very
closely resembles a clenched fist protruding from the
earth with the index finger is extended. Kind of
interesting to get flipped off by Mother Earth.
I decide to adjust the chain again and re-lube it. Not
much adjustment left and then I notice the fork seals
are leaking. Have oil blown all over the front of the
bike. In spite I flip Mother Earth the finger. Wet
feet, boots that stink badly, clogged radiators, mud,
chain going down the tubes, blown fork
seals......middle of nowhere. What else could happen?
Well something else did happen. While reading the
placards at the Arctic Circle pull-out I got attacked
by bugs. Then the onion soup hit with no warning. 100
yards to the outhouse and may as well have been have
been 100 miles - didn't make it. The rest of the day
was a bit smelly and uncomfortable.
Not all bad. Despite the
obstacles I am learning what the weaknesses of my
bike are, which was an objective of the trip, and
I happen onto a very big grizzly Bear just past
the Finger. Right on the side of the road. Glad he
moved away as I coasted down to his location. Got
him digitized.
The Bear
The $5.00
milk shake at the Hot Spot Cafe was the best I've ever
tasted and the ride back to Fairbanks was uneventful.
Over a burger I decide to head to Anchorage for the BMW
dealer. There is a great BMW mechanic in Fairbanks but
I just wanted to ride somewhere other than dirt for a
while. I fiddle with the chain adjustment a few times.
Not much improvement and give up on it. Get it changed
soon and just tolerate it till I get to Anchorage.
I ride through the night along route 3 past McKinley
Park. It was a good thing to do. Though very cold I
stopped often to take in the sights. The sun had
finally gone to its lowest point and all is covered in
this wonderful blue hazy light.
In the full-on daylight this would have been, dare I
say it, just more scenic mountains but in this sort of
alpenglow a true delight.
By 0400 I hit the wall and pull over on a pull-out to
nap beside my bike. The 30 minute nap is refreshing but
doesn't hold. I need real sleep and begin to search for
a camground. I'm not sure where it was but an hour
after the sun came up I spotted a place to pitch my
tent. Sleep is instant.
Day
6
The BMW dealership in Anchorage is busy but they make a
hole for me in the lineup. My fork seals will do till I
get home and the chain gets replaced in the morning.
The service manager suggests a ride to Seward. Fine
with me, and it turns into a NW type of ride - pissing
rain and high wind. I bail near the end of Turnagin Arm
to do something about my feet.
Roadside
sculpture. Beluga Whales visit here to feast on
oily little fish. I only saw this one - cool
enough!
I swear I
can smell my feet as I ride along. Might do some
laundry too. I score a decent motel room and unload my
dirty gear. My feet see the light of day for the first
time in a couple of days and high grade cheese has
nothing to compete with the stench.
I take the boot insoles into the shower with me to
clean them. The theory was good, but in reality trying
to clean those insoles unleashes a malodorous blast
sufficient to knock a crow off a crap wagon. Cleansing
just angers the little microbes into a froth. Into the
nearest dumpster they will go.
Laundry gets done and I score some new insoles. Coffee
and sub sandwich in hand I enter my motel room. Hope
the smell dissipates - they may never rent it
again. Day 7
I'm asked
how the ride was - I reply "wet" . He grins, then takes
my bike in for a new chain. I will have a spare with me
in the future but didn't for this trip thinking mine
would last. It should have but I think the grit/chain
wax combo combined with my inexperience with chain
adjustment caused a premature failure. I am a shaft
drive guy for the most part.
Laurie has been off work with abdominal pain. Not like
her to call in sick. I call to check up on her, and
after 34 years with a person you do hear that note of
apprehension in their voice even as they say nothing is
wrong. I'm unsettled. With the chain replaced, and new
sprockets, I decide to head home.
It is early when I pass near Roger's home, and for a
moment I though about seeing if he was there, but I
figured he would be at work so headed for Glenallen.
Once again the scenery gets my attention and the first
part of the road is twisty and fun. There is a sign
warning of Moose. Guess a lot of the critters have been
killed by cars so there is an appeal to be vigilant.
Now Moose are harder to see in this area due to the
vegetation and I can report that my ABS works and that
Moose have eyes kind of like a horse when they get
spooked. It is the one thing I remember from the
encounter. This big eye, opened up wide. Then it was
gone off the road. Thankfully it wasn't pissed at me.
There is some road work and I am directed by this
incredibly beautiful blonde woman with the stop sign in
her hand to wait for the pilot car. She offers me her
trailer to sit in out of the rain but no way I'm doing
that and miss her beauty. "No thanks, I'll just sit
here and enjoy the view". She smiles "OK". Not only
that but here she is included in this stunning scenery.
I know what you are thinking, but she was truly God
sent and her countenance had nothing to do with being
on the road a while by myself.
Day
8
The morning ride is like I like it and I make good time
for Tok, enjoying the vistas before me.
I have breakfast in Tok and warm up. The forest fire is
about done and the fire crews are dispersing for their
home stations. In time I head for the border and it is
pretty fast. I make up for that at the border as
Canadian Customs is into searching everybody's stuff.
So I wait while they do their thorough job. Pretty
interesting to watch - I'd wear those rubber gloves too
if I had to examine the contents of a young man's dry
bag. For a moment I'm thinking my old insoles would
have been cool for them to find.
When it is my turn I get a quick who am I and how long
will I be in Canada and then get sent on my way. The
Alaska highway is a bit better for a weeks worth of
maintenance and I'm closing in on Destruction Bay when
the mother of all rain storms decides to wash the mud
off me and my bike.....so fresh mud can be applied in
the construction zone. I turn around on the hill
leaving Kluane lake to capture an impression.
The storm follows to Haines Junction but in the morning
the sky is once again crystal clear.
Day
9
I get to Whitehorse for breakfast and chat with a gent
who splits his time between Arizona and Homer, AK. He
is a KLR-650 rider and has been into Mexico for the
past 40 odd years riding bikes. He says his riding
buddies are all old guys like he is and his main
partner had a stroke last year so if I'm in Arizona
give him a call. He's looking for riding partners. We
talk bikes and such for a while and then he leaves for
Homer. I'm headed for the Cassiar.
At 1500 I get to the turn off and after some soup and
coffee head South. I believe the Southbound drive is
the prettiest of the two. Though it is cloudy and cold
I do capture some of it. Hope you enjoy.
I'm tired as I get to Dease Lake and spend another
motel night there. I have a chance encounter with three
men each riding bikes like mine. I get an invite for a
drink and learn they are at the start of an around the
world journey. I had seen their web site on the
Chain-Gang and thought how cool it was for these three
very different men to do a trip like this. I had a link
to their web site for a while but the trio parted ways
once into central europe and to me, at least, their
fantasy ended on a downer so I decided to remove the
link.
Day
10
It is about 1500 miles to Puyallup, WA and I'm tempted
to go all the way. If I don't make it, oh well. About 6
miles South of Dease lake I see a bear in the roadway.
It just looks at me as I coast towards it. After a
while it ambles into the woods. I want a picture but
can't locate it. I'm asked at breakfast, by a group of
firefighters, if I saw the yearling grizzly Bear near
Dease Lake. Wasn't sure but I figured it might be.
Seemed to have that Grizzly attitude. I take a short
trip to Stewart, BC. You have to go there and on into
Hyder. I'll tempt you with one pic.
I'm done by the traffic by the time I reach Smithers,
BC. The motor home heard is migrating North and more
than once I've bailed for the shoulder to avoid one
taking his half out of the middle of the road. Pretty
stressful.
Now Smithers is a super little town and I'm happy to
unwind here before the final run home - over 800 miles.
There is a great city campground on the river $6.00 US.
I'm asked by the guy who collects money if I enjoy rain
'cause its forecast to pour" he says. I'm thinking,
bring it on. My bike could use a good wash, but we are
denied - and I do not sleep under the patter of rain.
Day
11
Well more of the same. Up early, enjoy the quiet time
and have breakfast about 0900. I'm retracing my route
and watch the miles to go on my GPS count down. I
really want this ride to end today. My behind is
hurting for the first time. I think I have compressed
the foam in the saddle because I can feel the seat pan
- not good. I always seem to do a weird navigating
thing on every trip and I don't disappoint myself on
this one. Near Cache Creek, BC I decide to venture onto
route 99. I have no idea why I was just compelled to do
so.
Route 99 is a narrow, and very twisty road that takes
you through some splendid country. In fact it roosts
along the edge of the Fraser River canyon and there are
no guard rails. Then it dawned on me why I might be
here. In 1958 my father quit his job in Montreal,
loaded all the furnishings into a U-Haul trailer and
the family into the Buick and we headed for Vancouver.
He had never been there before, and had no job there,
but we were going.
I remember going down a narrow road alongside a canyon
with my mom saying "Don't look down son". I did of
course. I'm seeing this place again today. And my
mother's words echo in my helmet, and of course I look
down and give myself the willies. Target fixation would
be a bad thing here. Enough said - if you are in the
Pacific NW, and ride a motorcycle, you have to do this
road.
I get lectured by the Customs Officer because I don't
have a passport. I was very tired and rude. Well, I
didn't get arrested or strongly confronted. Just more
lecture - like the tape was going to run to the end no
matter what. I endured and was let go. I suppose it is
a thankless job. I should not have been a jerk.
I make it home at midnight. Laurie is asleep, and the
dog sort of ambles downstairs and looks at me like "Oh,
you're home" before he saunters back upstairs. No bark,
no glad to see ya tail wag. Screw him, I'm back and he
will have to sleep somewhere other than my side of the
bed.
Thoughts,
observations:
Bike
I like this
650GS Dakar. It is economical, can run at freeway
speeds and it is comfortable. There is some reserve
power to pass and to deal with light headwinds and the
range is good. The downside has to do with the fender
being showpiece rather than functional. The fork seals
are weak - a known issue with this bike and despite a
warning that gaiters might void the warranty I will put
some on. The chain is OK - I simply abused mine through
ignorance.
On the other hand, the bike is a bit challenged for the
day in and day out riding I have been doing and it was
pretty beat up. I discovered a lot of stuff had worked
loose and some bits had fallen off - nothing major but
I have concluded that a bigger GS is better suited to
the longer days and minimal maintenance I do on a long
ride. I also wished I had more power at times,
especially on the Alcan when a truck was behind me and
needing to make time. I pulled over more than once in a
less than desirable spot to let one by.
Tires
The bias ply
Tourances held up well. I covered about 6500 miles and
they have a lot of life left in them. They hold to cold
wet roads quite well and I felt secure on them. They
are not a dirt tire however and I will choose a knobby
for future trips and just have them changed en route.
Scenery
Wow!
Gear
It all
worked well. Even my boots recovered, kind of. Hoping a
good machine wash will clean my clothing though. I will
add some retainer leads for the lids to my Touratech
panniers - just in case I forget to close them properly
on some future trip.
Bugs
Not at all
bad, probably due to the temperatures and wet
conditions I was in however there were a couple of
times that pointed out that it could be real bad later
on. I used Jungle Juice which is pretty much all DEET
and it is effective. I did have a bad experience with
it though. I put some on when inflating my tires after
the haul road so I could be left alone by insects while
I fiddled with the pump. After I put my helmet back on
I learned why it is effective repellent. The odors from
the vaporizing liquid made me kind of sick - even with
the visor popped open.
People
I really
enjoyed the encounters I had with native folk. They
were quick to explain things, and how they connected to
their culture, and were the most courteous of all I
encountered.