Roam About with "Big Hank"

[chet6.7]

"Hyderized" I saw Everclear for the first time in AK,that stuff will definitely Hyderize you.
The guys on the bikes that didn't want to get them dirty,I wonder if that was the real reason,or,they realized they were out of their element out in the wilder country.
Keep the pictures coming,a cool trip.

 

[hansrober]

Park! Good to see your still out there living life to the fullest! Your thread is awesome and inspiring. I hope we cross paths again!

 

[sswanson15]

great pics...thanks for sharing.

 

[parkkitchings]

Oh man, never been close to bears in the wild... a little spooky how they are staring back in a couple photos!

I've been too close a few times. You always know that you're being watched with these guys. When they are feeding it may appear that they aren't aware of you but I can assure you....they are. When there is a sow with cubs I won't get anywhere near her, feeding or not. I don't think there is anything more dangerous in North America than a Grizzly sow with cubs.

"Hyderized" I saw Everclear for the first time in AK,that stuff will definitely Hyderize you.
The guys on the bikes that didn't want to get them dirty,I wonder if that was the real reason,or,they realized they were out of their element out in the wilder country.
Keep the pictures coming,a cool trip.

Not real sure either but they missed the best part of Hyder. It's a beautiful ride up to the glacier.

Park! Good to see your still out there living life to the fullest! Your thread is awesome and inspiring. I hope we cross paths again!

Great hearing from you. I recognized your rig in your avatar pic and knew instantly who it was. Going to try and get back down to Overland Expo again this year if all goes according to plan. If you come back out I'll buy you a cold one. Better yet if you know you're coming back out drop me a private message and we'll hook up and do some riding/exploring together. You had a great set up and I remember the workmanship you'd put into it. Hope to cross paths again as well.

So after a few days in Stewart/Hyder I headed north again up towards the Yukon Territories. Temps were beginning to drop and I was definitely noticing a chill in the air. Some more shots on the drive up the Stewart-Cassiar

Stop for a roadside break and I think this little guy was looking for a ride north.....

Just leisurely rode throughout the day and pulled down an old road to set up camp for night.

Met this guy from Germany right before making camp. He had flown his bike over from Germany to Prudhoe Bay and was riding it from there to the tip of South America. Was giving himself one year to complete it. Told me during the first week out while on the Dalton Hwy he had to pepper spray a sow grizzly and her two cubs. Was quite the story. He said he was in his tent and heard something around midnight. Was just getting dark and we he stuck his head out she was standing about 15 feet away with her cubs behind her. Holy smokes, that would get your attention. She didn't run off at all so he said he popped her with some spray and she took off. Problem was he also got some spray which drifted back in the tent. Said between the residual pepper spray in the tent and the thought of her roaming around out there that it was a long night. He wasn't too worried about Grizzlies prior to the trip until this happened. Now every night he camped outside a campground he couldn't get any sleep. Love meeting these young guys that do these types of adventures. I rode a bicycle from Baltimore to Bend, Oregon many years ago so I can really appreciate it. Nowadays I want a motor under me to do it but it was quite the adventure when I did it.

 

[seeNik48]

Those bear photos are sure up close and personal. I would have hid in the bathroom at that park with the grizzly so close. Alaska is so vast. I fished several summers in the late 70s out of Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. Saw a few Grizzlies from the boat. Keep posting. Enjoying your travels and getting ideas for the near future.

 

[parkkitchings]

Those bear photos are sure up close and personal. I would have hid in the bathroom at that park with the grizzly so close. Alaska is so vast. I fished several summers in the late 70s out of Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. Saw a few Grizzlies from the boat. Keep posting. Enjoying your travels and getting ideas for the near future.

Trust me, it crossed my mind!

Kept working my way north up to Whitehorse. Was a cold and rainy day ..... all day. Went through a place called Jade City which consist of a little community with a couple of stores. Attraction is a large jade mine nearby. I stopped for some coffee and discovered that the Discovery Channel was there filming a reality TV show about the family that established the mine and town. Something like four generations go back on it. Suppose to be out in April or something. Talked with the producer and cameraman about the logistics of filming a reality show. One of them had been on the Deadliest Catch show and spent months on one of those crab boats. He had some stories to tell. Hung out for an hour or so and watched them do some filming. From what I saw it's pretty much staged stuff but I'm sure they get some spur of the moments as well. Interesting either way.

Guy on this rig pulls in and we got to talking. He was from Switzerland and was doing an around the world tour. Had done Europe and was heading south to the states and South America. He had this thing loaded. Amazes me how much stuff people think they need. To each his own but I'd bet he could do with a lot less. Not sure how much fun it'd be riding a large bike with this much stuff strapped to it. Thing just screams....tip over, when looking at it.

Ran across a sow with three cubs later that afternoon. Spotted her from the road and was able to get up on her pretty good for some pics.

Continued working my way north towards Whitehorse. Further north and the colder it's getting. Imagine that! Dusting of snow on some of the higher ground last night but nothing on the road. Broke out the heated jacket for the morning departures now.

 

[parkkitchings]

Got into Whitehorse the following day and couldn't believe how much it had changed. I was here 20 years ago. They now have a Wal-Mart and the town seemed to have cleaned up quite a bit. I remember it being kinda run down and full of drunk Indians. Was raining when I got into Whitehorse so I said the hell with camping and got dumpy room. I just wanted to be out of the rain and warm. Following day I stocked back up on some food items and hit the road again en route to Dawson City. This place is really cool. Old mining town that has some neat bars and the place has a lot of history. Streets aren't paved anywhere in town and all the side walks are wood. I ended up getting a room here and stayed two nights in order to look around and ride some back roads the next day. People were really friendly and the town has a good vibe. The building I stayed in was over a 100 years old and a really cool place. Use to be an old boarding house and they fixed up the interior. I could have easily stayed here another night or two but needed to keep making time to the north. The distances up here are vast. You look on the map and it doesn't seem that far until you start checking mileages and then you realize just how much open country is up here. On the way into Dawson I turned off on the Dempster Highway and rode in about 80 miles to the Tombstone Provincial Park. Beautiful country and I thought briefly about riding all the way in to Inuvik which is about 400 miles of dirt. One way in and one way out. Gas about 200 miles in at Eagle Plains. I pulled off the side of the road and decided if I wanted to make that journey and the answer was no. It was cold and had been raining off and on all day. Plus the forecast was bad over the next few days with the possibility of snow. Wanted to get to Dawson City and lay up for a couple of days so I opted out of the Dempster on this trip. I was a little road weary otherwise I think I would have kept going. Or maybe if I'd of had someone else with me. Just didn't feel like it but kinda regret not going all the way in. Will give me a reason to ride back up that way. Took some pictures but ended up formatting the card when I got into Dawson City that night so I lost everything I had on the DSLR. Had a couple of good bear pics from Tombstone so it really made me sick losing them. Only shot I got on the dempster was a selfie with my point and shoot.

Got back out to pavement at the Dempster turn off and started making tracks to Dawson City. Ran across another moose about 20 miles out of town. Lighting looked good so I pulled off and took a couple. Tried to get closer but she was on to me and took off.

Dawson City and the mighty Yukon River

Lodging for the next two nights....

Walked downtown the second night for a cold one and to witness the sour toe cocktail tradition here in Dawson City. If you haven't witnessed it or heard about check out the link below. If ever in Dawson City go down and check it out. It's a big party scene and fun to watch. I didn't do it as I was having too much fun watching others....plus I didn't want to shell out $20!

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sourtoe-cocktail

The "Captain of the Toe" going over the rules and regulations....

The Toe....

Don't want to screw up and swallow the toe....

Down the hatch....

Loved it up there in Dawson City. Try that down here and some health inspector would have a coronary. Luckily there are still some places where the govt doesn't control everything you can and cannot do.

 

[parkkitchings]

After two nights in Dawson City I pulled out and headed north again to the Top of the World Highway. Had been dropping below freezing each night so I hung around waiting for the sun. When leaving Dawson you have to take a free ferry ride across the Yukon.

Local living on the river. Lady in town told me this guy lives out here in the summer and then pulls it ashore and stays in it during the winter.

Nice campground as soon as you cross the river and I had been told there was some old abandoned paddle wheel boats about a quarter mile up river. Took the hike upstream and checked out some of the wreckage.

Chicken is a cool place to hang out for a day or two. Stayed next to the stove until they closed the bar down. Hated leaving the warmth of the stove but hauled it back to the hut and crawled in.

Loaded back up and rode the Top of the World Highway. Dirt/gravel road which has some nice views and leads to the border of Alaska and the little community of Chicken, Alaska. I didn't stop for any pics here until I reached the border. It was cold...... and I mean really cold. Temps were suppose to get down to the teens over the next couple of nights.

Got into Chicken and decided to call it a night. One bar in and two places to eat in Chicken. No power up here as everyone runs on generators. There are about half a dozen people that actually live here. About two of those six stay up here all winter. RV park had hot showers you could pay for and when I asked about a tent spot the lady behind the counter said you had a shelter with bunks in that I could rent for $10 a night. No lights or heat but it would save me having to set up the tent. With temps in the teens forecast for the night I knew it probably be warmer than my tent so I took it.

Headed down to the local watering hole. Met some interesting characters here and hung out by the pot bellied stove which was pumping out the heat.

Chicken....

Local watering hole.....

Hung out and drank a few cold ones with some of the locals.

Old gold dredge....

Bush plane with a rising moon near Chicken....

 

[parkkitchings]

Testament to the temps they get up here in early Sept. Taken while exploring some side road on Top of the World Highway. Lots of ice anywhere there was water.

The views were worth it though. Started dropping down headed to Tok Alaska and then north to Fairbanks.

More Moose alongside the road....

 

[java]

Fantastic pics! Thanks for the updates!!

 

[parkkitchings]

Fantastic pics! Thanks for the updates!!

Paying it forward as I've read a ton of reports on here that I've gotten some great travel ideas from.

So I dropped down into Tok Alaska for a late lunch and then started making tracks towards Fairbanks. Pretty uneventful especially after coming off the Top of the World Highway. Plan was to get into Fairbanks, spend the night and then ride out to Cheena Hot Springs for a night. Following day I decided I needed an oil change on the bike so went by the Honda dealership in Fairbanks. The price they wanted for an oil change was a little high in my opinion. No, not a little high. I'll call it like I saw it...... highway robbery. Said the labor was going to be high because they had to remove the skid plate. It literally takes me 3 minutes to remove it. Said thanks, but no thanks and rode back to the nearest WalMart. Shop manager let me use a pan, a place to change the oil and took the old oil. Purchased a filter and oil from him and did it myself and saved about $80. I understand a dealership has to make a profit but these guys were looking to make a BIG profit on this oil change.

Weather wasn't looking great and more temps in the 20's were forecast after dark. Opted to not do the hot spring. Another rider in the dealership told me it was real touristy and the ride out wasn't anything to write home about. I've done quite a few really cool primitive hot springs in the Northwest over the years and didn't feel like the tourist soak along with the cost so I stayed the night in Fairbanks and heaed south for Denali National Park the following morning.

Had checked out the tent space thread on ADVRider and there was a guy in Healy, just north of Denali, that had a place to throw a tent. Gave him a call and he invited me down for a couple of nights. Upon arriving he offered to let me sleep in his tool shed in lieu of setting up the tent. No power or heat but nice and dry. Sat around that night over a couple of beers and he told me about some roads I should check out. Really nice guy who owns the camera and Subway shop in Denali. Did some of the side roads he'd mentioned the following morning and then rode into the Park itself and stayed till after dark for some sunset pics and looking for wildlife. Saw zero bears but a couple of huge bull moose off in the distance. Didn't even break out the camera as they were quite a ways off.

Dusting of snow in the Park. I need to start south and soon if this weather pattern keeps up. Fall colors were really something in the higher elevations!

Sunset that night while in the park.

Following morning was cold with frost on the ground but a perfect bluebird day. Rode the 8 or so miles from Healy into Denali and stopped at a little bakery/coffee shop to let the sun burn off some of the frost and warm up a little. Temp was down in the low 20's at daybreak. I like to get on the road early and when it's this cold I usually start looking for some heat early as well. Nothing really south of Denali for a ways so said screw it after only 8 miles and pulled in for a couple of hours. Got quite a few comments from the bus tourist as to why I was travelling on a motorcycle this late in the season. Once I thawed back to an acceptable level I headed south towards the town of Talkeetna.

View of Denali on the drive into Talkeetna. Rarely get views of Denali like this as it's usually got heavy cloud cover. Told you it was a bluebird day!

 

[fisher205]

[/QUOTE]

That shot alone is worth the whole trip. I lucked out also when I was there and got an hour of clear sky over Denali. I am enjoying your log.

 

[parkkitchings]

Headed into Talkeetna and since the weather was perfect decided to camp even though it was still getting a little cold at night. Had dropped quite a bit of altitude so it wasn't as bad. Talkeetna is a cool little town although somewhat touristy. Got a nice little micro brew with good beer and pizza. Arrived mid afternoon so I walked around town and even looked into taking a sight seeing flight up around Denali but just couldn't justify spending that kind of money. Probably should have done it as you can't take it with you! I think it was something like $200 and I can stay out on the road for quite awhile with $200. Would have been a perfect day for it and they did have a couple of open seats but my cheap side kicked in and I passed.

A friend I made outside a coffee shop in Talkeetna...

View near camp that evening as the sun was setting. View looking back towards Denali.

This yearling showed up around camp that evening .......

Had a good time staying in Talkeetna but decided to pull out the following morning and head into Anchorage. Had been looking at the maps around camp and saw a dirt road that went up over Hatcher Pass near Willow. I could do this and loop back into Anchorage. Glad I took this as it's a beautiful ride and is an area I'd love to go back to and explore some more.

Some random shots on the ride going up Hatcher Pass....

Came around a corner and this old guy waves me down. He had gotten one of his sluice trays hung up out in some swift moving water and wanted to know if I could give him a hand. Real nice old fella who was a lot of fun to talk with. He says his wife kicks him out of the house every week or so and he comes up here to poke around looking for gold. Doesn't ever find much but he just enjoys being out here. Even had me try my hand at it and of course I didn't find anything either.

Explored some more of the side roads and just poked around all day in the area.

 

[chet6.7]

Thanks for the update,I would like to drive that road in the last picture.

 

[parkkitchings]

Thanks for the update,I would like to drive that road in the last picture.

Great road with spectacular scenery on the entire drive. It's about a 40 mile road that goes over the pass area with some side stuff to explore as well.

On the east side of the pass is the old Independence Mine. It's run now by the state and it's a great place to walk around and see the history of the mine and what life was like back when it was in operation. I spent about two hours just walking around the old buildings and reading the boards on the history. There are also some great hiking trails to check out in the area. Again, a spot I'd like to go back to one day.

Some of the old buildings have been restored.....

Some not....

So after getting over Hatcher Pass, trying my hand at gold panning and exploring the Independence Mine area I need a place to stay. It was drizzling and cold. I did not want to camp and set up the tent in the rain. Little lodge area had these cabins but it didn't look like they were still open. Stopped in anyway and they were shutting down for the season but stated he could give me cabin without heat or electricity for $95. Didn't want it that bad. Ended up dropping some altitude to find some warmer temps and bush camped for the night. Little warmer down low and it did stop raining so I didn't mind the camping. Only thing about bush camping up here is having to worry about the damn grizzlies. You hear something in the middle of the night first thing your mind starts saying is...........uh oh, grizzly! 99.9 percent of the time it's going to be a stupid squirrel or something but your mind begins to wander and says otherwise. When bush camping solo the nights can get a little long in grizzly country. Not sure what having someone else there would do if the crap hit the fan but hopefully I'd be able to outrun my partner. Note to self.....next time up here bring a riding partner who is really fat and out of shape.

After surviving the night the following day I headed towards Anchorage and had planned to ride down to Seward. Got into Anchorage and had a change of plans. Anchorage is a big *** city with traffic and too many people. After being where I'd been over the past three weeks it was almost overwhelming. I just wanted out of there and was told the drive down to Seward was really heavy with traffic. I ate, went by Alaska Leather Motorcycle Store, stopped by the Air Force Base to go to the Post Exchange and then got the hell out of there and headed towards Valdez. Lady in the Alaska Leather Motorcycle Store recommended a hostel in Anchorage to stay so I rode over to check it out. She just went on and on about what a great place for travelers it was. Real dump in a bad area with some shady characters hanging outside the rooms so I opted out and moved on. Looked more like a half way house for tweakers than a hostel for travelers and trust me I'm not picky. Ride into Valdez is great riding and very scenic. Cruised in there and spent two nights in a hostel room near the wharf.

Some shots on the ride into Valdez and Valdez proper.

Some short side roads off the main road at the top of the pass....

Valdez area and some wildlife....

Bar down on the wharf. Had a few beers the second night with some crabbers who had just come out of the Bering Sea. Great bunch of guys with some good stories to tell.