Alaska (Finally!)
- Thread starter HMR
- Start date
GTKrockeTT
Observer
subscribing, can't wait to see more pics. keep the rubber side down, and have fun on the rest of your journey.:bike_rider:
roostercruiser
Adventurer
one day i will travel the northern hiwy
adventureduo
Dave Druck [KI6LBB]
Nice!!!!!! My dream is to head up there... but dang it all if i can get time off.
I'll be watching this thread and living through you... have fun and be safe dude.
I'll be watching this thread and living through you... have fun and be safe dude.
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
Start from the start...
The boss gives us 4-6 weeks off at the start of the summer every year so I usually try to do 1 or 2 big motorcycle trips during that period. Alaska has been on the the list for a few years but things never seemed to work out. Idaho, Montana, Canada, no problem. Alaska, however, just kept eluding me. Seems I've always had a change of plans due to either bad weather, mechanical problems or, in 2005, hitting a deer at 70mph that ended my riding for awhile.
Bad weather- Hey, I'm from SoCal, I didn't know they made raindrops so big in Canada. I also didn't know it actually rained for more than 3 days in a row in some parts of the world. My early raingear consisted of a waterproof watch and my large, Lithuanian eyebrows. Thankfully, my keen fashion sense and a local hunting supply store saved me from hypothermia on my first ride to Canada in 2005.
Gumby rides again:
Mechanical problems...
KTM behaving badly:
BMW testing the limits of my mechanical abilities:
Deer hunting the hard way:
The boss gives us 4-6 weeks off at the start of the summer every year so I usually try to do 1 or 2 big motorcycle trips during that period. Alaska has been on the the list for a few years but things never seemed to work out. Idaho, Montana, Canada, no problem. Alaska, however, just kept eluding me. Seems I've always had a change of plans due to either bad weather, mechanical problems or, in 2005, hitting a deer at 70mph that ended my riding for awhile.
Bad weather- Hey, I'm from SoCal, I didn't know they made raindrops so big in Canada. I also didn't know it actually rained for more than 3 days in a row in some parts of the world. My early raingear consisted of a waterproof watch and my large, Lithuanian eyebrows. Thankfully, my keen fashion sense and a local hunting supply store saved me from hypothermia on my first ride to Canada in 2005.
Gumby rides again:
Mechanical problems...
KTM behaving badly:
BMW testing the limits of my mechanical abilities:
Deer hunting the hard way:
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
So... along comes this year's vacation and I'm ready to try, again. I've accumulated excellent all-weather gear, a super reliable bike (gear and bike already tested on multiple long distance trips) and made donations to every deer hunting organization I could find. :REOutShootinghunter
The only hiccup was a work project that had me stuck in Lincoln, NE for a week longer than expected but I still made it home with plenty of time for my intended route: a clockwise loop from San Diego to Portland, OR to Prince George, BC to Hyder, AK to Watson Lake, YT to Dawson Creek, BC then down through Banff to Idaho and back home (Map). The week-long delay actually provided better weather conditions for the first part of the trip.
July 1st:
Got up early, finished some office work, loaded the bike and hit the road at 9:30AM. My goal was to ride until sundown and camp wherever I could find a spot. I've done just about every imaginable route from CA to OR to WA and beyond on the bike so today's goal was distance, not sightseeing. I rode I5 North the whole way. Temps were in the 100's for much of the day. I stopped at Castle Crags State Park for the night. I was getting attacked by mosquitoes while setting up my tent in the dark so I donned my warrior headgear and went medieval on the bloodsucking infidels:
Campsite night #1
Castle Crags is a great spot. You can hear the traffic from I5 echoing through the canyons but the sites are nice and the scenery is beautiful.
Day 1 Travel Totals: 11.5 hrs, 687 miles
July 2nd:
Got up early, cleaned up around camp and loaded the bike.
Before:
After:
I continued up I5 towards my in-laws farm outside of Portland, OR. Another beautiful day. I made it to the farm around 3pm. I knew my tires would be shot by the time I got this far so I had a pair of TKC80's from Southwest Moto (great place to buy from) shipped ahead of time. I don't carry tire irons so I called around for a place to have them installed. I got GREAT service from Portland Motorcycle. Due to holiday traffic I was 45 minutes late for my appointment. One of the techs offered to stay late to get my tires on. I can't say enough good things about their customer service. An hour later I was headed back to the farm.
The family farm is a 20 acre slice of paradise that serves as a giant petting zoo for my Mother In Law. It has a few acres of pond, a few acres of forest, a few acres of grassland, horses, llamas, dogs, cats, etc.
Polly the Skunk is the newest addition:
Night #2 spent here:
Day 2 Travel Totals: 8 hrs, 440 miles
The only hiccup was a work project that had me stuck in Lincoln, NE for a week longer than expected but I still made it home with plenty of time for my intended route: a clockwise loop from San Diego to Portland, OR to Prince George, BC to Hyder, AK to Watson Lake, YT to Dawson Creek, BC then down through Banff to Idaho and back home (Map). The week-long delay actually provided better weather conditions for the first part of the trip.
July 1st:
Got up early, finished some office work, loaded the bike and hit the road at 9:30AM. My goal was to ride until sundown and camp wherever I could find a spot. I've done just about every imaginable route from CA to OR to WA and beyond on the bike so today's goal was distance, not sightseeing. I rode I5 North the whole way. Temps were in the 100's for much of the day. I stopped at Castle Crags State Park for the night. I was getting attacked by mosquitoes while setting up my tent in the dark so I donned my warrior headgear and went medieval on the bloodsucking infidels:
Campsite night #1
Castle Crags is a great spot. You can hear the traffic from I5 echoing through the canyons but the sites are nice and the scenery is beautiful.
Day 1 Travel Totals: 11.5 hrs, 687 miles
July 2nd:
Got up early, cleaned up around camp and loaded the bike.
Before:
After:
I continued up I5 towards my in-laws farm outside of Portland, OR. Another beautiful day. I made it to the farm around 3pm. I knew my tires would be shot by the time I got this far so I had a pair of TKC80's from Southwest Moto (great place to buy from) shipped ahead of time. I don't carry tire irons so I called around for a place to have them installed. I got GREAT service from Portland Motorcycle. Due to holiday traffic I was 45 minutes late for my appointment. One of the techs offered to stay late to get my tires on. I can't say enough good things about their customer service. An hour later I was headed back to the farm.
The family farm is a 20 acre slice of paradise that serves as a giant petting zoo for my Mother In Law. It has a few acres of pond, a few acres of forest, a few acres of grassland, horses, llamas, dogs, cats, etc.
Polly the Skunk is the newest addition:
Night #2 spent here:
Day 2 Travel Totals: 8 hrs, 440 miles