3 July - Coldfoot to Fairbanks

3 July
Coldfoot to Fairbanks

In the morning I spent a bit of time talking to fellow travelers and discussing bikes, roads and weather. One bloke I talked to was on a Harley and managed to break both his rear shocks on the way into Coldfoot. The Fairbanks Harley shop didn’t have any replacements and were looking into aftermarket shocks, and then there was the problem of getting them to Coldfoot, I hope it works out OK for him.

I got on the road at about 10:00 and spent the day passing and being passed by Todd and family. It’s weird being on such a lonely road and meeting up with the same people all the time.

Looking back from the approach to Atigun Pass, the end of the tundra

Looking to Atigun Pass

The Gates of the Arctic – National Park

Fireweed, so called because it’s the first thing to grow back after a forest fire. The colours are really coming out now it’s July.

I crossed the Yukon River and managed to get a few pictures this time.

The mighty Yukon River

Yukon River bridge. This is about a 7% grade, bit dicey with the wooden surface complete with wood potholes.

Passing again through the Arctic Circle, I stopped off at the Arctic Trading Post and had a break and picked up a few souvenirs. Later on, I reached the end of the Dalton Highway and the pavement again.

The pavement was FUN!

Filthy bike.

I got to Doug’s just after 18:00.

Time on the road, 8 ½ hours
435 km

approximately 73/60 mpg imp/US

2 July - The Tundra

2 July
The Arctic Tundra

I’ve had a significant lift in spirits since I left Deadhorse. It’s one of those things where a primary goal has actually been reached after years of planning and plotting and overcoming minor and major bulls**t to get there. The weather as been good to me, and I’m grateful for that, but strangely I found myself enjoying the landscape far more than on my way up. Probably something to do with having survived all the issues I was dreading about this road.

Truly the middle of nowhere

Galbraith Lake

The tundra is just the most beautiful place to be. I spent a lot more time stopping off and just soaking in the lonely, desolate, achingly beautiful magnificence of it all. 90% of visitors to Prudhoe Bay fly in and have no idea of the road or the surrounding countryside, and I think that’s a real shame, because you get no sense of the real tundra at all from Deadhorse.

If you get the chance to get here - grab it with both hands!

2 July - Stevo Becomes a Penguin

2 July

Deadhorse to Coldfoot.

Today started a little better weather-wise, slightly warmer, about 3 degrees, visibility 5-10k or so. Had brekky then joned the Arctic Tour (access to the ocean is closed to the publc for security, the only way to get there is with an organised tour and security clearance). Deadhorse is strictly a workplace, nothing is signposted, there are no convenience stores and the place is purely industrial.

Drilling Rig

Downtown Deadhorse

Cool machinery!

Oil wells. Latest technology allows for 10 foot separation, rather than the 150 feet here. Newest techniques allow for a 10-acre drilling "pad" to tap a far larger reservoir pool, reducing the impact on the landscape.

We spent a bit of time looking at oilwells, equipment and spotted a bit of wildlife, arctic foxes and finally got to the highlight, the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

The Beaufort Sea - the whole reason for my trip. Yes, I went swimming.

Todd went in wearing shirt and shorts and I went in wearing a bit less, so we both joined the Penguin Club by getting totally immersed in the Arctic Ocean.
Back to the hotle to thaw out, bit of shopping and gas and I was out by 11:30 after getting lost (the place is really big).

After 9 days heading North, the bike points towards home.

The trip back was much better than yesterday, the gnarly bit of road was largely swept clean by the traffic, and progress was a lot smoother.

85 km of this...

...magically turns to this in 18 hours.

I took my time and stopped off at various places to just soak in the splendour of the place. Met up with Todd and family at one stage, then about 3 hours out Doug caught up with me. He'd got his tyre sorted, thanks to the wonders of the satphone, daily flights to Prudhoe Bay and the credit card. He'd been on the road for 2 hours. We chatted about stuff and he planned my next US trip on the side of the road for me before vanishing over the horizon in a cloud of calcium chloride and TKC80 dust. I caught up with Mark, the Swiss bicyclist at the foot of the Atigun Pass and had a quick word, and stopped with his buddies Matt and Scott at the top of the Pass. Spent a bit of time there, followed a truck down the Pass (bad timing Stevo), had a quick word with a Japanese girl on a Yamaha XT 225 it looked like, heading to Prudhoe Bay. Met up with Todd and family again and they took some photos for me, then a quick run for the last 100 km into Coldfoot, broken only by photo stops and one topup from the jerrycan. Greeted by people waiting for me thanks to Doug giving them a headsup several hours beforehand. Had dinner with Todd and famiy, then over to the Visitor Centre for a slide presentation of the area and a bit of souvenir shopping.

Time on the road, 6 1/2 hours, 392km, 73.6/60.7mpg imp/US.

1 July - Prudhoe Bay

1 July
Coldfoot to Prudhoe Bay

On the road at 9:00 this morning, the road immediately became packed dirt, but it was a nice dry day, so no dramas with traction. I stopped off at a few nice spots along the way and took the time to soak it all in since I had a bit of time up my sleeve.

Hmmm... Mountains, coming into the Brooks Range and the Continental Divide




...and the view from other side a bit later

Peaceful babbling brook

At about the 100km mark, I came to Atigun Pass. People had been warning me it was gnarly and tough and had snow on it, but when I got there, the road surface was stable gravel, and the snow was just a few patches on the slopes off the road. The Pass road itself had a few hairpins and it is quite beautiful, but with no problems to navigate on the fine pebbly surface. Just don't get behind a truck here!

Up the Atigun we go...

The view looking back from the last pic

After Atigun, the scenery turned quite beautiful, wide open and rolling tundra.

The countryside is starting to open up - no more trees

At one rest stop I met Matt and shortly after, Scott, both doing the trip south by bicycle. They had buddied up with Mark, a Swiss guy also biking, but much slower as he is a MS sufferer. More power to him! These guys and others are doing 20 to 80 miles a day, in country with up to 100 miles between population areas, packing food andthe necessities and tenting in bear country. I'm starting to feel a bit humbled by people I'm meeting, all the bikers have travelled far more road miles than I have, and as for the bicyclists, well, it's definitley not my kind of adventure!

This passed while I was with Mark and Scott. A real load, 130 ft long, 115 tons, one truck pulling, one pushing. The pilot car driver told us this was a baby load. The big one uses 5 pusher trucks!

Wide, wide open tundra.

At the 260km mark, the road becomes paved (euphimistically) for 10k, but long enough to lull you into a false sense of being almost there, only to become 85km of gnarly, bumpy, gravelly horrible road. At about the same time a breeze started to come up. I've been dreading the Alaskan winds I've heard so much about, they are rather strong, but not a lot worse than the run up the Rangitikei Plains between Himitangi and Sanson, only with a real Arctic bite to it.

The Franklin Bluffs in the background, still with snow on them. It's about 8 degreesC and blowing now. At this stage I'm thinking Fiji might have been a better choice for a holiday!

But they sure are pretty close up

At last Deadhorse appears on the horizon just after 4:00, a bit of dark sea cloud on the horizon and temperatures falling to low single figures.

I come across a BMW R1200 rider ridng a little strangely. It seems Doug spent the previous day running the new gravel at 80 mph and cut hisrear sidewall. It gave out a wee way out of Deadhorse and he plugged it with 3 tubless plugs and spent most of the afternoon going about 100-200 ft at a time between airfills. We resolved to look out for each other that evening in Deadhorse, as there was noting I could do for him and he had it well under control, as much as a 30 mile trip 200 yards at a time can be under control.

I've had to top up at the 260km mark, and hit reserve again with 20 signposted miles to go. I filled up from the second jerry can just in case and get into Deadhorse just on 5:00. There is nothing attractive about Deadhorse, it's totally a place for workers, so I head straight to the Motel and a substantial Arctic dinner.

Time on the road, 8 hours, 385km, all but 32km unpaved.

64/53mpg imp/us, headwind and lots of lower gear work.

30 June - Dalton Highway to Coldfoot

30 June.

Dalton Highway at last!

We're all going our separate ways today. Doug suggested I lighten the load by leaving surplus at his place and by the time I split my packing and buy a few things, it's 12:30 before I'm on the road. I decided to get a second jerrycan so I have 2 gallons spare. Leaving Fairbanks, I spot a mobile home down the bank on the side of the road. Now that's one shed load!

Tooling along, I've been catching glimpses of the pipeline for a while, but now I'm beginning to see large runs of it. Each support is topped by a radiator running ammonia pipes into the ground because the pipeline heats the ground and they need to avoid thawing the permafrost.

Radiators on the pipeline carriers

I ran into the inevitable road construction and was chatting with the flag lady while waiting for the pilot truck. She mentioned both stops between there and Coldfoot have run out of gas. Just as well I filled the cans - I'd been carrying the one can empty until now.

Miles of dirty and dusty - yes, that's more of it on the far hill!

...but the chain is still lubed - yay for empirical engineering

Finger Rock - a natural formation that points to Fairbanks several hundred miles away.

After what seemed like an eternity, I made it to the Arctic Circle. Had a bit of fun figuring out how to use the camera self timer as I was completely alone, and who needs stinking instructions anyway.

I'm really happy I am!

Landmarks everywhere

Made Coldfoot by 8:30. It's an old work camp and truckers still stop there, as well as tours and individual travellers. It's pretty much the only show in town, so a bit expensive. I met up with a few people on their way back from Prudhoe Bay and got talking to Jeff and Jay from San Francisco. Jay has taken a few advanced riding courses and happens to own Freddy Spencers VFR 800 (no, he wasn't riding it on the Dalton!) He tells me I can come to SanFran and ride it anytime, time to get another contract!

Time on the road, 8 1/2 hours, 407k, 66.92/53.2mpg imperial/US (best 72/59.4). About 150k of unsealed road, one stretch of 130k with only 2km of tarmac. No real drama, just care required on the new construction.

29 June, side trip to Denali National Park

29 June

I decided to take some time out and service bikes and maybe do a run out to Denali National Park if time permitted. Doug dropped Ben and me off at the local Kawi dealer where Ben jumped though hoops to get a new chain. I decide I didn't need an oilchange as I am adding a litre every 2 days, but I bought a filter and a few parts. Over to Doug's shop where Jacqueline was getting her BMW serviced. Nice shop, wonderful people. I borrowed Doug's PC to update my wife and let her know not to sell my car just yet.

By the time Jaqueline's bike was done it was 3:00pm, but we decided to run out to Denali anyway. We had a good run out past Nenana, although I think I travel a bit slow for the others. Nice views of mountain scenery on the way. We rode about in the park itself as far as we could (permit controlled area), but it' still 75 miles from Mt McInley itself and the weather conspired to cloak the mount anyway. Dinner in the Salmon Bake by the park entrance, then a run home to beat the thunnderstorm which started before we left. Back in Fairbanks at 10:00pm.

Denali National Park, Mt McKinley is hidden in the clouds :(

Yes, places with these names do exist!

Time on the road, 7 hours, 462k, 68.9/56.9mpg imperial/us.

28 June, Beaver Creek to Fairbanks

28 June
On the road at 10:00

It didn't get dark last night, but after a day on the bike, sleep is not a problem.
I reached the border crossing in about half an hour, crossed OK and immediately gassed up for the princely sum of $7.27! Oh, and set the clock forward to Pacific Time, so didn't feel so bad about the late start anymore!

The first hour of riding in Alaska was mildly interesting, but after that the day was a writeoff riding-wise, just hour after hour after hour of straight roads.

Too many of these!

In Tok, I met up with some people who had just come back from the Dust to Dawson and the run to Inuvik. Among them, Jacqueline has been on the road from Florida for 2 1/2 months, racking up 17,000 miles so far, and Ben is from Vallejo, California, on week 2 of his 3 week adventure. We resolved to look out for each other in Fairbanks, as I was just setting off and they were stopping.

I can't say much about the ride to Fairbanks, the only bit of interest was the last Alaska Highway milepost at Delta Junction and catching up with the Harley crowd from the Beaver Crossing motel.

End of the Alaska Highway at Delta Junction

There was odd glimpses of the Alaska ranges, but all the rest areas are closed out by forest, so no real oppotunities for nice photos.

Fairbanks it a lot larger than I expected, but I somehow managed to hook up with Jacqueline and Ben, which was really fortunate as Ben was just hooking up with Doug, a local bike dealer for a place to stay. Doug turned up and I got swept into the group to stay the night, it turns out that Fairbanks is a bit short on accommodation on account of the 4 jumbo jetloads of tourists that come in every day at this time of the year.

Doug's cabin, bult in the fifties by 3 goldminers.

Time on the road, 9 hours, 508k, 69mpg.