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July - August 2010 - Alaska, Our Trip-of-a-Lifetime - A 3-Part Story

Part 1-Roy's Story, Part II-Shirley's Story, Part III-Trip Blog

Part 1: Roy's Story

As a small boy growing up in rural North Carolina, Roy dreamed of traveling to far-away places. Being very adventurous, he wanted to do this on a motorcycle. His maternal grandmother traveled around quite a bit in her later years and brought back post cards from the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater and Southern California – fueling his dreams. I grew up a few miles down the road from Roy, but I never knew that people traveled by motorcycle across the country. My family rode motorcycles but never went anywhere and I’d never heard of motorcycle touring. Lucky for me, I hooked up with Roy in high school. He shared his dreams with me and they became my dreams, too. We’ve been very lucky these past few years and have ridden to many of the places of Roy’s childhood dreams - the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Pacific Coast Highway, and many other wonderful places across the US.

The place that moved to the top of the list that we hadn’t ridden to yet was Alaska. We talked about it for a long time and planned it for over a year. Roy would drive his pickup truck out to Montana where we had a friend with enough yard-space to store it for us. He’d unload his Kawasaki KLR650 and ride up to Fairbanks. I would fly into Fairbanks and ride with him for 2 weeks and then fly back home. He would ride back to Montana, pick up his truck, and drive back. Sound simple, right? Oh, and we’d do it alone – not in a group, not with an experienced guide. By ourselves.

Roy has a lot of mechanical experience and training. He has worked on motorcycles since he was a teenager when he had to work on his bike himself if he wanted it to run. He’s worked as a mechanic for many years including a stint as the service manager at the local BMW dealership. He has also worked as a policeman and served many years on the local fire department. Those experiences taught him how to size up a situation, figure out what needs to be done and do it. Roy also has a lot of motorcycle miles under his belt. He rides several thousand miles a year, has completed the Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000 (1000 miles in 24 hours), and has done a lot of touring over the years. I’ve done a bit of riding, too, so we were comfortable taking this trip on our own.

Traveling alone is not for everyone. For those who are more comfortable in a group situation, MotoQuest Tours offers everything from bare-bones motorcycle rental and low-budget camping tours to full-feature tours where they make all the arrangements, provide the motorcycle, have professional tour guides, support staff, etc. They take care of everything and you’ll have a great time seeing Alaska with them. The key is to know your capabilities and your limitations.

As I said earlier, we planned this trip for over a year. We saved up money so that Roy could take 6 weeks off work. As he worked the IMS tour last winter, Roy pumped everybody for information and tips. Phil Freeman and the guides at MotoQuest worked the show circuit and gave Roy tips on where to go. He looked at their tours as he worked out the route for our trip. We bought an Alaska tour book and made up a wish list: the Going to the Sun Highway, Jasper, Ice Fields Parkway, Thompson Pass, Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean.

In preparing the bike for the trip, Roy knew that the suspension on the KLR would need upgrading if we were going to ride 2-up with luggage packed to the hilt on unpaved roads, so he talked with Matt Wiley at Racetech. Matt asked for the weight of the bike with all the gear and how much we both weighed. He took into consideration the road surfaces/conditions we were going to be riding on and customized the spring rates for our needs. At about the same price as off-the-shelf front fork springs/rear shock springs, we got exactly what we needed for our application. Matt also suggested lubing all the pivot points – which Roy did.

Roy had put Givi E41Keyless saddle bags on the KLR last year before our trip to Colorado and the Adventure for the Cures ride that we did with the Women’s Motorcycling Foundation. There are lots of choices in hard bags, and we went with Givi because they worked on the KLR and would also work on my ZRX1100. As big as these saddlebags are, we needed more storage to ride two-up for two weeks. So Roy went back to Givi and added the Givi V46 top case with the E107 metal rack to the KLR. The guys at Twisted Throttle suggested a protective film for the headlight to prevent breakage on the Dalton Highway, and also recommended Mefo tires for longer wear – estimated 6,000-8000 miles vs. 2500-3,000 miles from the OEM. See, he really did talk to a bunch of people to figure out what we needed for this trip.

We got the gel seat kit from Kawasaki after Roy rode to Daytona on a “practice run”. He wanted to be sure he would be able to ride the KLR long-distance since it lacks some of the comfort features of traditional touring bikes – like a comfortable seat. Of course, life being the way it is, the screen went out on his Garmin Zumo 550 GPS two weeks before departure, so we bought a new Garmin Zumo 660. My nephew later replaced the 550 screen for $50. Go figure.

Roy wanted to carry a few tools and, of course, tire repair equipment, so he made room for that by putting a kit together with spare tubes, tire spoons, and CO₂ cylinders inside a 4” PVC pipe. He fastened the pipe to the skid pan underneath the radiator protector. He also added additional storage by using our REI bicycle panniers attached to the highway bars with temporary brackets. We put stuff in there that we wouldn’t need every day but didn’t want to leave home without, like our rain suits.

Roy already had his Alpine Star water-proof riding boots and a Tour Master Intake Air 2 jacket. He ordered the matching Venture Air pants from Helmet House. That 3-part riding suit (rain layer, quilted layer, mesh outer) worked out great through 10 days of rain. Roy took his Gore-Tex rain suit but never wore it the whole trip. We sent Roy’s 20-year-old Gerbing electric jacket liner in for a tune up earlier in the year. They found a defect in it and sent him a brand new one, so that worked out pretty good. His electric gloves Scorpion helmet completed his riding suit. Roy was all geared up.

I had a Kawasaki textile jacket with a quilted liner that works well with my Gerbing electric jacket liner and gloves. Roy added a hookup for my electrics to the back of the KLR. (YES, the KLR charging system will run 2 electric jackets AND 2 pair of gloves if you use the dual thermostats wisely.) I also had a pair of FIeldsheer over-pants that I could wear over my jeans again since I dropped a few pounds. My Gore-Tex rain suit that Roy gave me for Valentine’s Day many years ago would complete my gear-up. The girls in my office didn’t think a rain suit was a very romantic gift but I sure loved it, and it’s lasted a lot longer than a dozen roses.

Roy already had the J & M JMCB2003 handlebar radio on the KLR. He took the rear intercom hookup off my ZRX and put it on the back of the KLR, so we could talk to each other, listen to music off the Zumo, and talk on the CB. Since cell phones are useless in many areas of Alaska, all the trucks have CBs. Being able to talk to the truckers could be vital in case of emergency.

We bought a new 14 megapixel digital camera and several 8 GB memory cards. We got maps of Alaska and all the states between here and there because, even with a GPS, sometimes you need a map. We made copies of Roy’s passport, driver’s license, insurance card and motorcycle title. A pair of Crocs, a few hundred in cash and a credit card - I think that’s all we need. It’s amazing just how quickly a year can pass. Before we knew it, it was time to go.

Part II: Shirley’s Story

Roy left me in Lexington, Ohio and drove his pickup truck to Montana. He had the KLR650 in the back and all his gear, planned to unload at a friend’s house near Yellowstone, and would ride the bike to Fairbanks to meet up with me. It took him about a week to get there riding up through Glacier, Jasper, the Yukon Territory, across the Top of the World Highway, to Chicken and Dawson. We talked every day and Roy sent me pictures when he had internet access. The pictures were incredible and I got more and more excited about joining him there.

My first day in Fairbanks turned out to be one of the biggest days of the year for the city. Not because I was there, but we happened to be there for Golden Days and our hotel just happened to be the host hotel. Apparently this is the day that Alaskans celebrate the discovery of gold with the biggest parade I’ve ever seen. I figure this one takes the place of all the parades we enjoy in the lower 48 because of the extreme Alaska winters. This one lasted 2 hours and appeared to have every school kid from hundreds of miles around in it. I’ve never seen so many scout troupes, dance troupes, martial arts groups, cheerleaders or baton twirlers. All the politicians had their campaign busses in the parade and were walking the route shaking hands and kissing babies. There were dogs and musicians, roller derby girls and Santa Clause. It was great! We enjoyed the parade, rested up and packed up the motorcycle for the next day’s ride. I kept a journal.

7/25/10: We left Fairbanks the next day around 9am and headed north to the Dalton Highway. The road was good – paved farther than we expected. The dirt part was actually in better shape than the paved sections. There was very little truck traffic and little dust. We met other motorcycles going both ways. We arrived at the Arctic Circle mid-day and stopped for the obligatory photos. We took a break there, enjoying a snack and chatting with the other motorcycle riders and tourists there. We arrived at Coldfoot Camp around 3pm and checked into our “luxurious” accommodations – 2 twin beds, a sink, a shower and a toilet. No TV, no phone, and no internet. The buffet started serving at 5 and I could hardly wait. It sure smelled good when we were checking in. I took 177 pictures today and they don’t begin to tell how beautiful it is up there. Roy said it best. Cameras are good but they just can’t see what the eye can. The long ride and the heavy curtains ensure a good night’s sleep despite the fact that it never got dark.

7/26/10: We woke up to rain in Coldfoot Camp – something that changes the road conditions a lot. By the time we ate a hardy breakfast and packed up, the rain had stopped but not before turning the parking lot into slippery snot. We both donned several layers: riding gear, electrics, rain gear. I put it all on! We headed out of Coldfoot Camp only to be stopped at the highway for road construction. For 20 minutes. At least it had stopped raining. Finally, we were underway and heading north again to Deadhorse. The Dalton Highway (aka The Haul Road) was good that day. The overnight rain kept the dust at bay and there were only a couple of soupy patches. Atigun Pass was awesome! The mountains rise up on either side – dark and foreboding – and the road slices up the middle. We saw our first snow on the slopes at Atigun Pass. I probably took a hundred pictures the 20 minutes or so that we were up there. The temperature dropped up there, too, and I switched on my electrics for the first (and only) time that day. The farther north we rode, the brighter the skies and the warmer the temperatures. Our ride through the Brooks Range was incredible. The jagged peaks piercing the fog and clouds were breathtaking. We finally reached the tundra and the landscape finally began to look like I thought Alaska would look. There were rolling hills and lots of wide open spaces. There was lots of green vegetation but no trees. There were wildflowers blooming everywhere! We began to see more and more water as we reached the estuaries of the Arctic Ocean. We reached Deadhorse late in the afternoon, tired and hungry. The Arctic Caribou Inn was easy to find and had our room ready. Two single beds again but at least we have TV tonight. I’m thrilled to be here but exhausted by the two long days riding on the back of the bike. After a hot shower, an enormous dinner, I went to sleep before 8pm.

7/27/10: We started the day at the Arctic Ocean with the tour arranged by the Arctic Caribou Inn. It was beautiful out there but too cold for us go jump in. There were a few on our tour that did go in, but they didn’t stay in very long. We both dipped our toes in the water (with our boots on) and took more pictures. We left town around 10:30 and headed south back to Coldfoot Camp. We saw a huge heard of caribou and a red fox crossed our path just outside of Deadhorse. We saw Dall sheep at the top of Atigun Pass and ran into the most slippery mud I’ve ever seen just north of Coldfoot Camp. We both laughed at the amount of dirt and dust on the motorcycle. The headlight was completely covered. Roy dipped a rag in a mud puddle to clean it off. We got back to Coldfoot Camp around 4pm and enjoyed more hardy food. At 9:30 pm as we were getting ready for bed it was still so bright outside it felt like early afternoon.

7/28/10: We had breakfast at Coldfoot Camp with the truckers again. We rode on southward, stopping to take pictures at Finger Mountain and at the Dalton Highway sign. We got back to Fairbanks early and found a carwash. It took $10 and lots of scrubbing to get the bike cleaned up. We had to repack everything for the next part of our adventure – Denali.

7/29/10: We rode south out of Fairbanks and headed for Denali National Park. The Parks Highway was nice, smooth pavement – a welcome relief from the last couple of days. We stopped about half way and had lunch at Brandi’s Riverside Café. It wasn’t on the side of the river, but Brandi was in the kitchen cooking and had her husband waiting tables. The fish ‘n chips were excellent. As we approached Denali, we saw a beautiful hotel up on the mountainside and Roy mentioned that he thought it would be cool to stay up there. The next thing we saw as the sign for the Denali Bluffs Lodge and I got to tell him that we were staying up there. The view from our room looked out toward the park and we enjoyed quite a spectacular sunset around 10pm.

7/30/10: We got up early to meet the bus that would take us into Denali National Park for our Kantishna Experience tour. We saw a grizzly bear within the first few miles into the tour. Throughout the day, we saw 20 grizzlies, 1 black bear, golden eagles, a bald eagle, snowshoe hares, Dall’s sheep, caribou, moose, ducks, and swans. Oh, and Mt. McKinley was visible ALL DAY LONG!!! This only happens a few days a year, so we were very lucky. I think I took over 300 pictures that day. Everywhere we looked, there was something else to photograph.

7/31/10: We rode out and headed south again. We picked up the Denali Highway that runs over to Paxson – about 100 miles of dirt road and 35 paved. We rode by a Christmas tree all decorated and in the middle of nowhere. We had a young caribou run down the road in front of us for several hundred feet before he ran off into the brush. We stopped for a potty break and found a helicopter parked beside the outhouse. We stopped at a rest area for a snack and had a tour bus come up with a bunch of the people that were on our tour the day before. We turned south again onto the Richardson Highway to Valdez. I saw my first glacier but not my last one. We rode over Thompson Pass and through Keystone Canyon past dozens of waterfalls. It was incredible!

8/1/10: We rode out of Valdez in the fog and rain, but Keystone Canyon and Thompson Pass were just as beautiful that day as the one before. Roy found a dirt trail at the top of Thompson Pass and we rode up it. The photo I took of Roy looks like he’s on top of the world – and he was! As we rode back north, the sky cleared up and it was gorgeous by the time we stopped for lunch at the Kenny Lake Café where we ate a slice of the world’s best strawberry pie. It was beautiful and tasty! We finally got to Chitina and then rode down McCarthy Road – all 60 wash-boarded, pot holed, miserable miles. It was much worse than the Dalton Highway had been. We finally got to McCartney and then Kennecott. Thankfully, there was a room available at the Kennecott Glacier Lodge. We even had a view of the glacier – how cool is that? It was another amazing day!

8/2/10: We took the Kennecott Mine tour first thing in the morning that included going inside the mill – 14 stories high up on the mountain. It was really cool seeing all that big mining equipment and learning all about copper mining. After the tour, we ate fresh pizza sitting out by the glacier. After a brief ride through McCarthy, we headed back out the way we had come the day before. The road had not improved overnight. I was really glad to see pavement again. We rode back north on the Richardson Highway and stopped for the night at the Roadhouse in Copper River. For dinner, we shared the biggest hamburger I’ve ever seen – 1 ½ lbs. of meat – and boy was it good! The food in Alaska is expensive but good.

8/3/10: We started out this day by visiting the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. It was a beautiful, clear, warm day and we had awesome views of Mount Sanford, Drum, Wrangell and Blackburn. We attended the ranger’s talk on glacier geology. After leaving the park, we headed west to Anchorage. We found another good burger joint for lunch and took a rest break in Chickaloon. It was a beautiful ride with the peaks in the park visible for miles and miles. We passed glaciers and saw some more moose. We rolled into Anchorage late afternoon and checked into the hotel where we would stay for 2 nights. It was good to sleep in the same bed 2 nights in a row. We had been sleeping late the last few days and it was great just riding around and not being on a clock. We ate when we were hungry and stopped whenever we wanted. I was already dreading going back home. I wrote in my journal that night that this has been the best vacation I’ve ever had so far.

8/4/10: We woke up to rain again today and decided to just noodle around Anchorage. We checked out the furs and tee shirts and other tourist “stuff”. We visited a place where the local women knit scarves and hats out of musk ox wool. We went to the Alaska Mint and Roy bought an official Alaska State Medallion – 99.999% silver with gold overlay. It’s beautiful! We rode out to the ocean in the rain. It was still beautiful! We made an early day of it, going back to the hotel and doing laundry so that Roy would have clean clothes for his ride back home. I went to bed that night hoping that the sunshine that came out late that afternoon would stick around a couple more days.

8/5/10: We rode out of Anchorage in the rain and headed back north toward Fairbanks. We stopped in Telkeetna – the town that the TV show Northern Exposure was loosely based on. We had lunch at the local brew house – really good seafood chowder and a halibut sandwich – and then toured the town. That took about 5 minutes. We rode through Denali State Park where you’re supposed to be able to see the mountain on a clear day. Well, we didn’t have a clear day, so we couldn’t see anything. We stopped at Denali National Park for some more pictures and then went into town for dinner. I had awesome fish tacos and Roy had a seafood Cobb salad. We headed out north again and stopped for the night in Healy – about 10 miles north of Denali.

The next day, we rode back into Fairbanks and checked back into the hotel. My flight back home was scheduled for 10pm and I had to repack my luggage. Roy would ride back to Montana and pick up his truck. I couldn’t believe that 2 weeks could pass so quickly, but it’s really true what they say – time flies when you’re having fun. This WAS the best vacation of my life so far. Alaska was big and wide open, with soaring peaks and rushing rivers. The people were friendly and the wildlife was awesome. The summer days were long, but there still wasn’t enough time. We started planning our next visit already.

Part III-Trip Blog

8/17/10: Roy's adventure is winding down and he is almost home. Today it's been all about the road. He drove the scenic Mountain Parkway in Kentucky and The Crooked Road in Virginia. He was in Damascus when we spoke last and should be at the mountain house shortly. He's stopping off to visit his mom, and I'll join him there Thursday. He's had a wonderful adventure and is already talking about places we need to go and things we need to do the next time we go to Alaska. I can't wait!