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Hoon on the loose ..... Jacqueline heads to Alaska


Jacqueline

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Hi Jacqueline -- This is a truly great ride tale and great pics. I especially enjoyed these recent pics. What a beautiful place and what wonderful people you have met. I envy you this whole journey!

 

Ray clap.gif

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Hard to get an internet connection....

Will update in a few days on:

The Top of The World Highway clap.gif

Dawson City thumbsup.gif

and I take the award for the longest distance riden to get to D 2 D (an Adventure Rider event) grin.gif

Did GREAT on the miles of dirt and gravel, so today I'm doing the Dempster Highway (more dirt and gravel) with a rider out of TX, a rider out of AZ, and a rider out of Anchorage thumbsup.gif.

Jacqueline

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Lets_Play_Two
so today I'm doing the Dempster Highway (more dirt and gravel) with a rider out of TX, a rider out of AZ, and a rider out of Anchorage thumbsup.gif.

Jacqueline

 

Watch out for that guy out of AZ!! lmao.gif

 

I am enjoying your trip no matter when it is updated. thumbsup.gif

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It's so great to follow your adventures. Keep up the great ride tale so that we can all live this through you!! wave.gif

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Hard to get an internet connection....

Will update in a few days on:

The Top of The World Highway clap.gif

Dawson City thumbsup.gif

and I take the award for the longest distance riden to get to D 2 D (an Adventure Rider event) grin.gif

Did GREAT on the miles of dirt and gravel, so today I'm doing the Dempster Highway (more dirt and gravel) with a rider out of TX, a rider out of AZ, and a rider out of Anchorage thumbsup.gif.

Jacqueline

 

J:

Kick-a$$! lurker.gif

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. . . Today I rode from Anchorage to Tok . . .

The Glenn Highway is high on my list of favorite roads between the lower 48 an Anchorage. I enjoyed it in both directions as well.

 

Have fun Jacqueline, and thanks for bringing us along.

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BeniciaRT_GT
... so today I'm doing the Dempster Highway (more dirt and gravel) with a rider out of TX, a rider out of AZ, and a rider out of Anchorage thumbsup.gif.

Jacqueline

 

Got a call from our traveler last night. She was concerned that she hadn't updated in a while, so made me promise to update it for her. I tried to post this earlier, but the site was down.

 

She made it to Inuvik, Northwest Territories at the end of the Dempster Highway. That is apparently well north into the Arctic Circle. However yesterday (Monday) Bill Anderson, the rider from Phoenix, took a nasty fall. Broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder. His trip is done which really stinks as he was planning a 6 month trip or so, and was only a month into it! frown.gif

 

Luckily they found help pretty quickly and he was taken to a nurse’s station not to far away and then transported back up to Inuvik where there are doctors.

 

They are holed up in a place called Eagle Plains Hotel, just south of the Arctic Circle. They had to spend an extra day because of a storm between them and Dawson City, Yukon.

 

I hope these names are right, as I was writing pretty fast while she told me of her adventures.

 

Although she has done well over 1000 miles on gravel/dirt, she is a little worried about the lat 250 miles she has to do.

 

Not much time but to take notes, but she sounded in good spirits and promised to update us all when she can get Internet access.

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So J

 

You posted at Advrider but not here......you had Richard do it for ya.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

 

Whatsupwitdat?????

 

Whip

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BeniciaRT_GT
Given your rep, I'd be surprised if she doesn't have a restraining order against you.

 

At least 50 feet. lmao.gif

 

Apparently, that wouldn't help:

 

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I'm thinking more like 50 miles!!!

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Jacqueline
So J

 

You posted at Advrider but not here......you had Richard do it for ya.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

 

Whatsupwitdat?????

 

Whip

 

Hey... go easy on me crazy.gif. I had a very difficult week. Spent today working on the ride tale and will get it posted tonight and tomorrow and it should explain a lot.

bncry.gif

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So J

 

You posted at Advrider but not here......you had Richard do it for ya.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

 

Whatsupwitdat?????

 

Whip

 

Hey... go easy on me crazy.gif. I had a very difficult week. Spent today working on the ride tale and will get it posted tonight and tomorrow and it should explain a lot.

bncry.gif

 

 

 

Are you gonna try and make me feel quilty???????????????

 

bncry.gifbncry.gif

 

Whip

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So J

 

You posted at Advrider but not here......you had Richard do it for ya.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

 

Whatsupwitdat?????

 

Whip

 

Hey... go easy on me crazy.gif. I had a very difficult week. Spent today working on the ride tale and will get it posted tonight and tomorrow and it should explain a lot.

bncry.gif

 

 

 

Are you gonna try and make me feel quilty???????????????

 

bncry.gifbncry.gif

 

Whip

Don't make the man feel Quilty Jacqueline! Next thing you know I will be forced to add a needlepoint seminar to Ouray III

 

Hope all is well

 

Tom

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Jacqueline

Thursday morning (6/21) I packed up my camp, went to clean and oil my chain before I headed out to the Top of The World Highway and the miles of dirt and gravel; to find that I had lost one of the plates and a bolt used to adjust the chain tension. Made a call to Dusty (Owner of Miller BMW in Tallahassee) to ask what kind of problems I might encounter. After being told I should be okay without the piece for a little while, but to keep an eye on my chain to be sure the tension stayed okay, I was on the road headed to Chicken, the Boarder, and Dawson City.

 

The views on the Taylor Highway (5) are beauty and breath-taking. There were plenty of other riders on the road headed to Dawson also, so I had a level of comfort that I’d have help along the way should I need it. When I arrived at the bridge marking the end of the pavement and the beginning of the dirt and gravel I stopped to let some air out of my tires.

 

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I rode into Chicken and a group of Adventure Riders where there taking a break.

 

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Most were surprised when I removed my helmet and revealed my blonde hair (I had coved my hair completely because of the dust and dirt) which gave away who I was.

 

Chicken Facts

 

Chicken is located about 100 miles from Dawson City, Yukon and 78 miles from Tok, Alaska.

 

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Chicken is called Chicken because the original settlers, actually gold-miners, couldn’t spell Ptarmigan. They wanted to call the town Ptarmigan, because the plentiful local birds filled many a pot in their camps and that is how the town got its name.

 

The winter population is around 15 and in the summer the numbers soar to 30 – 50. The town does not have a flush toilet,but they DO HAVE:

 

 

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Chicken, Alaska is also the home of Tucker, the three-legged wonder dog.

 

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Tucker lost a fight with a GMC truck, losing his front left leg and shoulder. He’s now about 17 years old and is originally from Edmonton, Alberta, where he was found dodging props at the local airport. He has always liked living dangerously. Tucker is half-collie and half-husky. But his mind is all Collie. He is simply a beautiful animal.

 

They have this neat little bar….

 

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Those are hats; remnants of what looked like tee-shirts and a pair of panties (NOT MINE!)

I bet this place rocks in Winter!

 

Chicken also has a lovely little café…….

 

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Yes, those are homemade pie’s (their ABC pies; Apple, Blueberry, and Cherry), brownies, and muffins. What a treat!!!

 

 

After a break in Chicken I was off to the Border…… the most northly border crossing….

 

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Look close at this picture and you can see the “Line” between the two countries.

 

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Off to Dawson City…..

The road ends at the River……

 

My first experience with a Ferry…

 

It was an odd feeling sitting on the bike as the ferry moved….

 

 

 

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Ahhhh, Dawson City

 

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thumbsup.gifthumbsup.gif

Jacqueline,

The trip, the places, the people, the opportunity we all have, the choice you made, courage and the will to do it clap.gif.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Keep on truckin' wave.gif

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Jacqueline

Friday (6/22) Dawson City and the event of the “15th Annual Dust to Dawson” gathering, I was told it was not a rally.

 

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While most of the riders were off on a Poker Run through the old gold mines, I was off on foot discovering what treasures the City held thumbsup.gif.

 

Dawson City was a boomtown in its heyday, with between 30,000 and 40,000 men, women and children and in the 1960’s the population was fewer than 1,000.

 

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I love this picture….. One can go to the Liquor Store to get liquor, a driver’s license, and a permit to carry a gun. What’s better than a drunk, driving around with a loaded gun? eek.gif

 

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Wooden sidewalks…….

 

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An old Raven sitting in a boarded up window in an old church…….

 

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What to do with those old riding boots...... plant some flowers in them grin.gif......

 

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That evening everyone gathered for a tasty steak dinner, at which they gave out prizes. I took the prize for the rider who rode the most miles to get to Dust to Dawson…. 15,000 miles.

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After dinner the riders gathered in the street for games. I had a great time just watching.

 

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Shortly after midnight (but who could tell…. It was daylight 24 hours!!!) I called it a day…… In the morning it was off to the Dempster Highway smile.gif!

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Bill_Walker
Look close at this picture and you can see the “Line” between the two countries.

 

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Hey, where's the fence? grin.gif

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Jacqueline

Sat. (6/23) through Wed. (6/27)…… Gateway to the Dempster:

 

“The only highway in Canada that takes you across the Arctic Circle and beyond to the high arctic, the Dempster offers you an incredible glimpse into this extraordinary environment, this magnificent land, harsh and unforgiving, yet full of majesty and splendor. Visually stunning, the Dempster takes you through a remote ecosystem ordinarily inaccessible, back to an era of unspoiled beauty and rare perspective. The tundra rolls to the edges of the four horizons, interrupted only by the breathtaking mountains that have stood watch over this incredible landscape since the beginning of time.”

 

The Dempster Highway has 450 miles (one way) of shale, dirt, gravel, pea gravel, clay (which is slippery when wet), mud, heavy equipment, ruts, with two ferry crossings at the Peel and Mackenzie Rivers and only two communities (Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic) and ends in Inuvik. Inuvik, the name when translated means the Place of Man. Inuvik is home to a very diverse cultural aboriginal background. The people that make up the population are mainly Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, Metis and a wide variety of non-aboriginal people and their unique cultures.

 

At Dust to Dawson, Barb (owner of Alaska Leather) introduced me to Curtis (a true gentleman from Texas)

 

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and Bill (another gentleman from Arizona).

 

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These two men, who had just met were going to ride the Dempster Highway and go to Inuvik. Then there were three…. Curtis, Bill and me. Curtis had tried to do this ride a couple of other times, but due to weather and common sense he had never made it to Inuvik by motorcycle yet.

 

At about 12:30 on Sat. the three of us headed out; Curtis in the lead, me, than Bill. Curtis on an 1150GS, Bill and I each on a F650GS and both of us with small gas can in tow. Curtis allowed me to leave behind in his RV everything I had with me that I would not need for this ride (almost everything I had). We were excited and I was looking forward to riding some more dirt and gravel.

 

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I was doing well and had a small problem when I got to far right into some heavy gravel. Bill watched me do my dance, legs down, legs up, legs down, legs up. I put my legs downs without thinking, realized I needed to keep them up unless I wanted to break a leg, reaction, thinking….. but I made it okay. When we stopped for a rest Bill said, Jacqueline one, road zero!

 

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We continued on for about 250 miles and stopped at Eagle Plains for the night. I was in high spirits (as we all were) the day had been good!!!!!

 

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We were up in the morning and eager to go. A rider headed south warned us of some pea gravel between the two Ferries. First stop out of Eagle Plains, the Artic Circle!

 

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We were so excited…. Bill so much so he reminded me of a child….just pulled his helmet off and left it in the road, and then his backpack was set down it too in the road after he removed his camera.

 

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Oh what a feeling, we were all enjoying such a high!

 

We continued on to the border of the Northwest Territories which was blanketed by low hanging cloud.

 

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Here we met two very ambitious people on bicycles. They have my respect.

 

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We arrive at the first Ferry crossing, where there was heavy equipment working on the bank.

 

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The river had recently gone down by two feet and the bank had to be extended and lowered so the Ferry could dock. We waited as we watched the equipment move rock and dirt. Not good! It was all very loose rock and dirt. When the heavy equipment moved out of the way and it was time to board the Ferry, Curtis went first as the Ferry hand directed Curtis where he wanted him to go on the Ferry. The 1150GS was sinking in the soft rock and dirt, but Curtis was doing well. I was right behind Curtis and could not go that slow or I was going to lose the bike. I gunned it, the Ferry hand jumped out of the way, and I was on deck!!!! The three of us did well. The same issue with the other side of the river….. Again I just gunned it and did okay. That was just the beginning of the Oh SHI#, what did I get myself into! That rider was right about the pea gravel…..seemed like a hundred miles of it and not just forty. Then we ran into heavy equipment on the road, wet roads, lose gravel, my hands hurt as well as my arms and elbows.

 

 

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We arrived in Inuvik!!!! I was HAPPY, beat, and a scared… I was 500 miles from Dawson City up into the far north reaches of Canada…. and I still had to ride back out.

 

When we (Curtis, Bill and I) arrived in Inuvik a young man on a bicycle stopped and greeted us with a left handed, handshake. We inquired where we might find some stickers for our bikes marking our accomplishment. He gave us several suggestion. We checked into our rooms and then we went and had a nice dinner to celebrate what we had just done.

 

Mona, our server.

 

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My dinner……

 

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After dinner we meet up with Terry (from Anchorage) and Paul (from Juneau), they had been about two hours behind us. We all went to a local bar for a drink and to talk to some other travelers.

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A good end for a great day!

The trip out of Inuvik.....next

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BeniciaRT_GT

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Now that made me laugh my a$$ off!!!

 

Pure joy and the realization of dream if I ever saw it!

 

His face could not have captured that as well as that picture!!!

 

Go Jacqueline, GO!!!

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Jacqueline,

Keep this up and you may not have to sit at the kids table at Thanksgiving. grin.giftongue.gif

You da Woman.

Keep on truckin.

Stay safe, have fun. clap.gif

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Jacqueline

In the morning as we were pulling out I noticed a large Raven feather tucked in the pad under my tank bag. I was told lather that the natives believe that when they die, they come back as Ravens, and a Ravens feather is a symbol of good luck. I have a feeling that the young man on the bicycle had placed the feather there, though I will never know for certain. But I will always keep that feather with me on the bike….. (See the rest of this story about the Dempster).

 

Heading out of Inuvik, the gravel that was so difficult just the night before now was completely different and I was able to get speeds of up 60 miles an hour. I felt good, I felt confident as did Bill and Curtis… maybe to confident. Seventy seven miles out of Inuvik, Curtis stopped before the road crested to take care of a call from nature, but I had slowed down a lot before I realized I needed to just keep going, which allowed Bill to get a head of me and now our line up was reversed; Bill, me, then Curtis. Which was no big deal, but I can’t help but feel that is added to what came next. Bill crested the top and went too far to the right getting into the heavy gravel and I watched as the back end of his bike tried (repeatedly) to come around on him. I lost sight of Bill in all the dust but thought he had regained control of the bike…. As I went over the crest I did not like what I saw. On the right side of the road was one of Bill’s Jesse bags, Bill laid in the middle, and a wrecked F650GS laid on the left side of the road, with broken parts all over the place. Bill had gone over the bike; the bike then went over Bill crashing down on upper front end of the bike. I stopped, parked my bike, and run down the hill watching Bill, hoping he would move. I was laughing, I was crying, I was shaking, and I was so HAPPY to see Bill move. Curtis got 4 Advil’s out, handed them to Bill and Bill struggled to get them down and not move too much. While Curtis talk to Bill, and as Bill went through a self diagnosis, I gathered up the pieces of his bike off the road (I didn’t want anyone to have an accident because of them).

 

We had to figure out what we were going to do… Bill couldn’t ride and his bike could not be ridden and we were out in the middle of nowhere. Then an angel appeared. Harley, a government employee in a beautiful pickup. There are no Doctors in the middle of nowhere, but there are Nurses! Harley got on his radio…. There just happened to be a Nurse at the Ferry a few miles away, she would wait for us to get there. Bill could tell there was an issue with his right arm, and before we tired to move him to the pickup he had me secure his arm to his side…. I found a bungee cord worked great. It took all three of us to get Bill into Harley’s truck, and then we had the bike to deal with. Curtis got the bike upright and up to the back of the pickup, Harley got in the back of the pickup grabbed a big chain and put it through the tire. Harley then told Curtis and me to just steady the bike and I watched as Harley (a young native man) lifted the front end of the bike onto the pickup, using the chain and his bare hands. I traded places with Harley and guided the front end of the bike as Curtis and Harley lifted the backend into the pickup. Off to the Ferry, and I was rattled but I had to ride, what else could I do.

 

Cindy (the nurse) was wonderful. She tended to Bill as he sat in the pickup. Bill would be taken to the Nursing Center in Fort McPherson, which was just before the next Ferry…… did I tell you the worst part of the road was the 40 some miles between the Ferries…… all 40 some miles heavy pea gravel…… what in world did I get myself into???? Was I crazy to think I could ride the Dumpster??? Boy I really did it this time. For 40 some miles, I reminded myself of a saying I saw in Roadscholar’s family home in the mountains the day Barb (from FL) had her accident (at the beginning of my adventure)… “Love many, trust few, and always paddle your own canoe”….. I got myself into this (paddled my canoe into the Northwest Territories via the Dempster) and I needed to get (paddle my canoe) myself back out.

 

Curtis and I arrived at the Nursing Center in Fort McPherson to find Bill looking better. His color had returned. While the Nurses continued to evaluate Bill, Curtis continued to work on how to get Bill and his bike out of the Northwest Terrorty of Canada. Curtis is just a wonderful person! Curtis worked something out with Harley and his boss for the bike (storage and a way to get it shipped), and also found some wonderful people in an RV that were willing to take Bill out and back to Dawson City.

 

Bill’s x-rays revealed his right arm was dislocated and needed to be put back in the socket, and his collar bone had at least three breaks in it. He would need to go back to Inuvik to the hospital there and have a doctor do some work on him. The ride out in the RV was not going to work other arrangements needed to be made. Curtis worked at getting Bill a ride back to Inuvik, but the Nurses ended up making arrangements for Bill ($$$). The three lovely ladies in the RV (their husbands where there also)

 

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(this picture was taken later that day at Eagle Plains Lodge)

made sandwiches and wonderful bag lunch for Curtis and I (which I tried to share with Bill, but he could not have anything to eat because they might have to put him under to get his arm back in place). A van came to pick Bill up and take him to the hospital.

 

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(after a couple hours Bill was doing good, and his bunge cord was now a sling).

Ready to continue our journey back to Dawson City, I got on my bike and started it. Curtis indicated he’d be a minute so I turned my bike off and went to rest it on the kick stand, BUT…. I had NOT put the kick stand back down. Yes, I laid my bike down right there in the parking lot of the Nursing Center. Did I tell you I was rattled?

 

Okay, pretty much done with the pea gravel…..BUT….. that approach to the next Ferry awaited (the soft one). Got to the Ferry and got on okay! The Ferry docks on the other side of the river and I look and try and pick my line…. It still looked really tricky! I give it gas and take off… good… good…bad! I go down in the rocks and dirt, the right Jesse bag comes off and my right leg is caught under the bike. The Ferry Captain and his hand are right there to my aid (Curtis was dealing with the rock and dirt). The bike is lifted, I’m freed with no injuries, and Curtis talks the Captain and his hand through the repair (bending back) to my Jesse bracket so the bag will go back on. Bend the brake peddle back into place and I’m ready to continue. I have to say my Stra-Traxx device has taking a licking twice now!!!! And it still works!!!!!

 

 

Arrived back at the Eagle Plains Lodge just as a BAD storm started through. The rain came down in buckets….. What a fitting way for the day to end…..We knew that night we would not be going anywhere the next day. The roads would be pure mud. I was rattled, and rattled hard…. Everyone was great and we calmed each other, but I felt the need to talk to someone on the outside and with the time change (I didn’t want to call someone at midnight their time) I called Richard.

 

Tuesday was spent at the Eagle Plains Lodge. The fog was very heavy that morning.

 

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Even the helicopter pilots were grounded (there are groups of Geologists working in the mountains drilling core samples).

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As the day wore on the fog lifted, the roads dried and nine more riders found their way to the Eagle Plains Lodge.

 

This is where I met Ben.

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He was one of the nine riders.... Ben is my led into the next part (Fairbanks) of my adventure...later

These nine riders were only riding to the Artic Circle then back out. One of these nine riders was Dell a man with cancer; http://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,12760,00.htm Dell a concert pianist since the age of 14 was kind enough to spend a few minutes at the piano…..playing ragtime music.

 

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What a treat!

 

Another treat came at about 11:00pm when a huge rainbow appeared outside!

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Wednesday morning Curtis and I left Eagle Plains and headed to Dawson City, taking our time as the road was still wet (muddy) in places.

 

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The ride that day was good, very good!

 

Note: Terry (the Fireman from Anchorage) was about an hour behind Curtis and I. Terry lost control of his bike coming back out, with about 2k worth of damage to his bike and a sore ankle.

 

 

Everyone was wonderful….But a HUGE THANK YOU, to the wonderful gentlemen from Texas…Curtis.

 

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I know his guideness, wisdom and knowledge made it possible for me to accomplish what I accomplished in these five days. And he made me realize what I accomplished was no small task.

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Jacqueline

Update:

 

Barb the rider out of Florida I was riding with back in April; I received word yesterday that she is in a wheel chair but in good spirits and may have to have additional surgery on her pelvic area. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

 

Bill my fellow Dempster Rider; I received an email just minutes ago; he was able to fly out Sunday (6/01) and got home Monday (yesterday). He is going to see his doctor today to get a second opinion. thumbsup.gif Bill is working on getting his bike shipped out of Fort McPherson and is already thinking of riding in Europe next summer. He said he has had enough of dirt for now. tongue.gif

 

Me; after holding up in Fairbanks for many days I am feeling rested and the stress is no longer visible in my face…. More on Fairbanks to fellow….. Ben, Steve the rider out of New Zealand, and a great guy name Doug.

clap.gif

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RichEdwards

Wonderful stuff, Jacqueline. Our club is giving an award for the rider with the most miles this year. Have anyone in mind who might qualify? wave.gif

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Great adventure Jacqueline and wonderful writing to carry us all along on your adventure. Your trip will make a great book and speaking tour when you get back.

 

Francis

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Wonderful stuff, Jacqueline. Our club is giving an award for the rider with the most miles this year. Have anyone in mind who might qualify? wave.gif

Yes I do........

 

 

 

but, she has to come back to accept the award lmao.gif

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Jacqueline,

You are awesome. Not to mention all the great people, now friends you've met along the way. Makes one feel like there's still hope for the human race. Gar and I look forward to reading your reports. Stay safe.

n & g

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roadscholar

That was a great chapter. Sorry about Bill's mishap and tell Curtis thanks from your buds back home, looks like you're hanging with some great folks.

 

You girl, have just successfully pulled off an above average feat, many "adventurers" would be envious.

 

Keep it up, and when things get shaky, "gun it".

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Great Job J.

 

We are all proud of ya.

 

Have fun.

 

Where da animal pix??? No bears, Elk, or my fav the Mooses on the Dempster????

 

Whip

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Knifemaker

Stay rested...Stay strong...

 

The eyes of your friends are with you as we read your posts....

 

The hearts of your friends are with you as we see your adventure through your eyes/pictures...

 

May this adventure continue and keep you safe...

 

I will fess up now and say....Tom....You did not do this one....or did...................you blush.gif

 

dodo...dodo...dodo...dodo...You are in a new space and time you have entered....The Twilight Zone....

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Jacqueline

After the Dempster Highway I spent the night in Dawson City, where I met up again with Ben. Ben wanted to ride the Haul Road and at that time I thought I might want to also. I left Dawson City with Ben (a rider out of California, a certificate H-D tech) and Terry (the rider out of Anchorage). The three of us rode the Top of the World Highway and this ride was a little different then the ride only a week earlier. The Highway was full of travelers in RV’s…… caravans of RV’s, but still a nice ride and beautiful landscapes. We arrived in Tok, and stopped at a gas station before Terry headed south towards Anchorage …. This is where I met Steve.

 

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Steve a rider from New Zealand had shipped his bike up to enjoy several weeks in Alaska and he was headed for Fairbanks and the Haul road.

 

Before we headed out of Tok, Ben pulled out a business card he had been given several months earlier; the name and number of someone in Fairbanks that he was to call should he ever get to Fairbanks. Ben made a call to Doug Chambers, the Sales Manager of Harley-Davidson Farthest North Outpost in Fairbanks. Doug told Ben to call him back once he was in Fairbanks.

 

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A couple of hours later we arrived in Fairbanks and stopped at gas station and Ben made the second call to Doug. Within two minutes Doug was there at the station greeting us (all three of us).

 

Doug made us feel right at home

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and also asked if any of us needed service to our bikes. I needed my 30k service (now had 32k on the bike) and Ben was in need of a new chain on his KLR, Steve was good.

 

The next morning we were all up; Doug took Steve and Ben (they both were on KLR’s) to a Kawasaki dealer where Ben could get his new chain and I followed Doug to the Harley Store. Harley-Davidson Farthest North Outpost was now handling BMW’s and they got me right in.

 

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169623748-L.jpg They have this used R 850R... I like the bike and I think I could handle it....but I'm not wild about the color.

 

We still had most of the day to do something, so the three of us headed to Denali. We had an enjoyable ride and rode the 15 miles into the Park (that is as far as they let you drive/ ride your own vehicle). Stopped for something to eat outside the Park and headed back to Fairbanks….. out running a storm the first half of the ride. Once back at Doug’s (a very cool, log home) Ben and I both decided not to do the Haul Road the next day. Ben was going to head back south in hopes to catch the Ferry.

 

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Steve was going to do the Haul Road, and I just needed to hang low for a few days. (It turned out to be a week).

 

I hung low for a few days while Doug worked, and when Doug had a day off he showed me around Fairbanks…….

 

The Pump House on the Chena River….now a restaurant once a working pump house used in the mining of gold.

 

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The Pipeline…..

 

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Pipeline Pig…….

 

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A Gold Dredge……

 

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The Felix Pedro Monument…..

 

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A tribute to gold’s first discovery.

 

The University of Alaska Museum of the North……

 

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I was still at Doug’s when Steve returned and I was able to hear about his successful exciting trip up the Haul Road to Prudhoe Bay. Way to go Steve! clap.gif

 

Doug was wonderful. A big thank you, Doug for letting me hang, rest, and putting up with me clap.gif. A big Thank You to Harley-Davidson Farthest North Outpost clap.gif.

Fairbanks the “Golden Heart” city, is a wonderful city…. It appears to have everything one could need, yet it is not over run with people thumbsup.gif. The summer weather here is a lot like the summer weather in Upstate New York.

 

In the morning I’m off again (after I ride by Trail’s End BMW)…. I did not do the Haul Road, but I still have time on this trip. And if not this time, next time as I know I will be returning to Alaska….. and Fairbanks. Off to find the wildlife tongue.gif....

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Wonderful tale and adventure, Jackie. You've accomplished more than many folks even dream of. Way to go! thumbsup.gif

 

How are the mosquitos? I hear they're the state bird, and are big enough to haul-away a small woman! eek.gifgrin.gif When we were in Alaska (kayaking, not motorcycling), we stayed on or near the coast, so didn't encounter them.

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Way to go Jaqui, considering it was almost exactly 2 years since I was wandering around where you are, I am jonesin really bad for what your doing now!

 

Wish I was there! Glad the star traxx is holding up, considering the beating you are putting on it!!

 

I cant wait to get my autograph on the book you are going to write. (you are, arent you??)

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The R850r appears to be the same color my wife's R1100r we almost didn't buy it because of the color. In the showroom it looked dead and boring, but out in the sun it is beautiful. The metallic pops out and there are several different colors of flake in the paint. It is a great bike as well. I admire you for what you are doing and thanks for taking the time to post your tale. I know it its time consuming and not always convenient.

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Jacqueline

On the road again….

Views from Denali National Park….

(Tom, I got my National Parks Passport stamped also.)

 

Two Boy Scout Troops from Hawaii:

 

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Caribou

 

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Moose

 

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Ptarmigan

 

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Terry and Wayne from California:

 

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We got to talking and they were on the Haul Road the same time Steve (the rider fron New Zealand) was and met him….. They refer to Steve as Kiwi…. Alaska is a huge state, but in ways it’s really small…..news travels fast.

What wonderful people I am meeting….

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Men, men and more men....but no mountain men........just what I thought!!!!

 

Looks great!!!!

 

See ya in less than a month.

 

Whip

 

BTW....Thanks for the Moose shots.

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Glad you got the stamp!

 

As always very cool pictures and it isn't fair that Whip gets to see ya and I don't. Makes me want to knock something over in jealousy....not that I knock things over....

 

Take care!

 

Tom

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Jacqueline

I cant wait to get my autograph on the book you are going to write. (you are, arent you??)

 

I have enough material to write several books thumbsup.gif. What I share here is only a fraction..... eek.gif.

 

Whip, your welcome for the moose pic's thumbsup.gif. I'm still looking for Bear! I may have to go back to Hyder, they all seem to be down there.

And yes, men, men, and more men...... there's something about a BMW F650GS.

 

Tom, you can ride or fly on up and see me also. Just don't go pushing anything/anyone else over grin.gif.

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