johnlt Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Dalton Highway (Haul road to Prudhoe Bay), Top Of The World Highway, Denaili Highway, Homer, Seward, Valdez, Skagway and Haines all complete with great weather (mostly) and easy riding. Full trip report and pics to follow
Whip Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 We missed ya... Glad your back..... Now lets get on with the pix!!!!!! You can rest later.....(says the guy that hasn't finished his report yet) Whip
AZKomet Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 What??? All that way and you can't stop in Phx?? Outstanding...Alaska is a sight to behold...I am looking f/w to the pics to come in any day now right???
pashnit Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 Great lookin' pic there John, one for the mantle indeed! Look forward to more pics and details
eddd Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 Anyone can photoshop their bike in front of that sign. We want real photographic proof, as in MANY pictures.
Calvin (no socks) Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 Great job... KLX 250, with just the toolbag on the front... would have been "Super worthy". Photoshop the KLX into the next one.
azkaisr Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 Ok it has been 24 hours almost John. Where is the tale? Glad you made it back
johnlt Posted July 21, 2008 Author Posted July 21, 2008 easy Tom, I won't be home until tomorrow evening so I'll get started on it this week.
FlyingFinn Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 Welcome back John! Who did you ride again this time with? All did fine and no major problems along the way?
Silver Surfer/AKAButters Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 John, Excellent way to spend the retirement. Looking forward to the pix. Rich
johnlt Posted July 21, 2008 Author Posted July 21, 2008 Mikko: I rode with Ted (Vet from Ohio on our CC trip) and Alln from BC in Canada (ADV rider). |No problems, bikes all ran great. We were blessed with great weather. |No mud or dust on Dalton||||||||!!!! jlt
OoPEZoO Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 easy Tom, I won't be home until tomorrow evening so I'll get started on it this week. Then don't tease us......some of us are extremely restless due to not having a vacation this summer. I had to settle for a new suspension and a new driveway this summer. I need to live vicariously through your promised pictures.
FlyingFinn Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 First, no pictures and then this: ...No mud or dust on Dalton!!!! I don't think you went there at all.... -- Mikko
azkaisr Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 I too am very suspect of any real adventure I want to believe you John... I really do
eddd Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 I too am very suspect of any real adventure I want to believe you John... I really do I was thinking the same thing! There's a town named Onalaska, Wisconsin...are you sure you didn't go there by mistake and are too embarrassed to admit it?
johnlt Posted July 22, 2008 Author Posted July 22, 2008 We probably had the best weather ever on the Dalton. It had rained the day before (so we delayed a day)and it had soaked in such that the traction was great with no mud but also, it was still damp so there was no dust. I'll take it any day over the more typical wet ride up the Dalton. Then of course we power washed the bikes when we returned to Fairbanks. Honest!!! This is the TRUE story!!!
azkaisr Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 I would even accept a pencil drawing John, or a copy of a receipt scanned up there. Anything amigo! We want to believe!
johnlt Posted July 23, 2008 Author Posted July 23, 2008 As promised: The team: Myself riding an 06 GSA, Ted Panhuis (on this board) riding an 08 GSA, and Allan Arnold (ADVrider board) riding an 02 standard GS. I met Ted in Shelby Montana via Oregon where I dropped off my wife at her sister’s place. Ted and I rode to Banff for lunch and met Allan in Lake Louise where the pics start. The hotel at Lake Louise along with the view of the lake: The road from Banff to Jasper may be the prettiest in the world. Really spectacular. These "glacier busses" look small when viewed on the glacier. We spend the night near Jasper and road up to Dawson Creek for our second night. This is where the Alaskan Highway begins "mile zero". The third night was spent at the Toad River Lodge between Fort Nelson and Whitehorse. This is a spectacular part of the ride. We saw more game on these legs than all the other legs combined. Bear, moose, mountain goats, mountain sheep, elk and fox. Then we came upon the "hot springs" right in the middle of nowhere but very busy . The next night was supposed to be spent at a hotel in Whitehorse, Yukon. Unfortunately we did not have reservations and that week they were hosting the world fast-pitch softball championships as well as a Whitehorse to Dawson canoe race. Fortunately we had brought along “emergency” camping gear so we were forced to use it. . The next day we rode up to Dawson City near where the Dempster Highway starts. We didn’t ride the Demster but spoke to several who had just returned. Bottom line: Difficult in the rain and easy when dry. Jack London's pub in Dawson City: Our next day brought us into Alaska via the Top of the World Highway. Great ride and just made it in time. It started to rain just as we got back on pavement just past the village of "Chicken". A lucky day. Here we're crossing the Yukon via ferry. The next three days were spent getting to Fairbanks and changing tires to TKC 80s. We also delayed our start of the Dalton highway due to rain. This turned out to be a good decision because by the next day, there was no remaining mud so traction was great and the road was still damp so there was no dust. The best of all worlds. We believe we saw Denali enroute to Fairbanks. We're not sure it was but then again we don't know that it wasn't so by our definition, it was!! Ted changing oil in Fairbanks A moose enroute to the ice hotel. Crossing the Yukon (again) on the Dalton Highway near the Arctic Circle The Dalton on a good day We took two days going up with a night in Coldfoot but came back in a straight shot all the way to Fairbanks. The weather was still holding so we decided not to stop in Coldfoot except for lunch and gas. Truly beautiful and desolate as the pics show. By far the bike of choice was the BMW GS (boxer) with the KLRs second. After that, there were a few Vstroms and even a couple sport bikes. We stayed an extra day in Fairbanks to go over our bikes and wash them as we were still ahead of our plan. We planned in 3 contingency days and used only one. Ted going over the pass on the Brooks range; Some low-life "ringed" the last spruce and killed it. Some Dalton mud, but not too much!! Enjoying dinner in Fairbanks after our "mission complete" . From Fairbanks, we when to Denali NP and took the Denali Highway east. Great dirt road of about 131 miles. We did get a little rain but nothing serious. From there we went to Seward then Homer. Seward was great but we were very disappointed in Homer. Thought it was not nearly as “real” as Seward and very “touristie”. Yep, you're right!!! The town of Seward We departed Homer for Anchorage and a visit to the BMW dealer and Alaska Leather. Saw a lot of BMWs being worked on in the parking lot. The next day was spent in Valdez. This was the best town in our opinion. Very quaint and real. We took a 7 hour ship tour of the commercial fishing, the oil port (end of pipe line) and the Columbia Glacier. Great trip. The "MUZ" sport bike that made the trip. Only crashed once!! . From there, Allan left us for Vancover BC, his home and we continued to Hains to board a ship of the Alaska Maritime Highway. These ferries are huge and are near cruise-ship in accommodations. We did take the high-speed ferry for a day trip to Skagway which was interesting and nearly a perfectly restored town but many many tourists from 4 docked cruise ships. Our Ferry trip back to Bellingham took two full days and two partial days arriving in Bellingham at 0800 in the morning. We met our wives at the first stop in Juneau for the return trip. . Never did get use to paying over $50 to fill the tank on a motorcycle but that’s the way it is, especially in Canada where the premium was over $6 a gallon. All in all, the bikes ran great with no problems except for Ted on his way home from Bellingham. He called me and said he had a failed EWS module but had a spare. He changed tires again in Montana and the dealer put a new module in. They indicated they are doing that to all 2006 and later GSs. This was truly the ride of a lifetime.
Firefight911 Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Nice stuff John!!!!! Thanks for bringin' us along! It cut off mid way through. You'll have to pull the last half and re post. Last viewable pic is that of the whale fluke after the lady with the life ring.
Boffin Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Thanks for sharing your trip, the pictures and words brought an alien part of the world into my home. It makes me want to sell up and ride the world. Sheila however, thinks not. Andy
Boffin Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Nice stuff John!!!!! Thanks for bringin' us along! It cut off mid way through. You'll have to pull the last half and re post. Last viewable pic is that of the whale fluke after the lady with the life ring. Funny, I get them all.. Andy
azkaisr Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Worthy Amigo, and I (unlike a Finn I know) never doubted you.
Whip Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Nice stuff John!!!!! Thanks for bringin' us along! It cut off mid way through. You'll have to pull the last half and re post. Last viewable pic is that of the whale fluke after the lady with the life ring. It maybe a Firefox issue.....I get em all with IE and get cut off with FF. Nice tale there John Boy. Now get to work on BIG Bend for November. Whip
Twisties Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Cut off with firefox here too. Happened with Eddd as well. John, great stuff! I'll log back in with IE and see the rest. Jan
OoPEZoO Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 OK......maybe it did really happen. Love the picture of the Eagle BTW......I have NEVER seen that many pics of one trip to Alaska that had so many blue sky photos and clean bikes. Looks like you guys lucked out Another side note.....I love the parallels of the internet motorcycle community. I follow ride reports here and over at ADVrider, and that is the FOURTH time I've seen pictures of that Honda ST sidecar rig this summer......ALL FROM DIFFERENT RIDE REPORTS. Sing it with me folks.......it's a small world after all......
bakerzdosen Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 Well, I got them all with Firefox on a Mac... Great report. I'm definitely jealous.
Twisties Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 Got them all on IE. Even with refresh FF won't do it. Great trip John, glad you had a blast! Jan
johnlt Posted July 24, 2008 Author Posted July 24, 2008 OK......maybe it did really happen. Love the picture of the Eagle BTW......I have NEVER seen that many pics of one trip to Alaska that had so many blue sky photos and clean bikes. Looks like you guys lucked out Another side note.....I love the parallels of the internet motorcycle community. I follow ride reports here and over at ADVrider, and that is the FOURTH time I've seen pictures of that Honda ST sidecar rig this summer......ALL FROM DIFFERENT RIDE REPORTS. Sing it with me folks.......it's a small world after all...... We saw the ST with side hack in Dawson and they were about 1 hour behind us in Chicken. The difference was that they got a lot of rain and we didn't. Someone is looking after us!! There were two guys (old like me) on the ST and they would switch off between "driving" and "riding". Interesting approach.
Selden Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 If you want blue sky pictures, check out: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~libssd/Alaska2006/ In 42 days on the road, I had approximately 3 days of rain (none of which lasted all day). I still can't believe my luck. John's pictures bring back some great memories.
johnlt Posted July 25, 2008 Author Posted July 25, 2008 One photo I forgot to include. This sign was in the window of the Uptown Hotel in Dawson City, right over the "no parking" area. We parked there with no repercussions.
FlyingFinn Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 John, very very nice ride report! Beautiful pictures but even more so it really made me want to be "there". I can only imagine what a great trip you guys had.... Very scenic, and got to love that snowplow locomotive for thick snow -- Mikko
duson Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 nice pics john, the guy on the sportbike must have been very brave, or very silly.love the pics of the moose we dont see many of them in australia. greetins from down under. henk
Spartan Posted July 28, 2008 Posted July 28, 2008 John, looks like a great trip. Congratulations on getting all the way up to Pruhoe Bay and home safely. I just got home two days ago from the same trip and almost the same route. Those pictures are fresh in my mind. I even got air from the same tire shop in Chicken like your friend in the picture.
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