Afry 1 Posted July 16, 2014 If not too late stop at Chilkoot Charlie's (bar in Anchorage) - it's a crazy place from what I don't remember Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 16, 2014 Sounds like a FINE breakfast plan. (As I was typing this, the parking Po Po approached us to remind us that although Alaska was still somewhat of a Wild West state, Anchorage prefers that we don't park our big motorbikes on their sidewalks as we have coffee downtown.) Doh! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Afry 1 Posted July 16, 2014 The following drinking toast was written on the wall in the "slanted" bar inside Chilkoot Charlies:"Here's to the girls in the high heeled shoes...They smoked all our weed and drink all our booze...Though they may no longer be a virgin it's not a sin,for they still have the box their cherry came in."Gotta love Alaska! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 17, 2014 John Muir said that Alaska was a "gentle wilderness." But I've seen it harden people; locals and transplants alike. Must be the 8 months of winter? We rode down the Kenai Peninsula to Seward, then over to Homer. I'd vistited both places years back and was still impressed with their beauty. Saw some Dall Sheep up innthe rocks. Wanted to show Dan the ptarmigan horn, but alas, tne Bird Creek Tavern is no more... We rode to the end of the Spit (long arm at the end of Homer) and camped right on the beach. Free tent camping in several spots, a little more for showers, restrooms and Wifi. We put our tents a stone's throw from the water's edge and ate some local halibut and drank some local brews. It was still light out when we hit the sack at 10 pm but it was dark (finally) when I got up at 4 am. Homer has gotta be the most peaceful, least touristy place we've yet seen. Very serene. We have a 600 mile ride to Tok planned for today. We've ridden 5600 miles from San Diego, with another 2800--minimum--to the US border at Sumas, WA. Add in Skagway and other detours and it may be closer to 3500. Bikes doing well, riders in good spirits, weather cooperating. Heidenau tires showing little wear at almost 6k miles. I will put another K60 rear on in San Diego. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 19, 2014 It was 80 miles to the Canadian border from Tok. Once we crossed (Canadian customs is 20 miles in), the road construction began. And it lasted for 300 miles. We encountered torn up roads, pot-holed and frost-heaved asphalt, soupy mud and all sorts of gravel. Routinely, without warning, the pavement would turn into a gravel or dirt road. Try going from 70+ MPH on blacktop to 4" of gravel. Yeah, it'll get your attention. Sitting next to our bikes in Destruction Bay, I noticed oil pouring down my left brake caliper. Not brakes but a blown fork seal. Could've been the mud, a hard hit, or a combo. The bike is handling well so I will look at it tomorrow. Passed through some really pretty country. A couple more glaciers, yadda, yadda, yadda. Weather has been nice. We hit a few patches of rain that felt good. Cooled us down, washed the bikes and removed some of the many, many bugs that have attached themselves to our bikes. After a 400 mile ride, we arrived to Whitehorse, Yukon. We will take it a little easier tomorrow. Found a nice campsite (Robert Service Campground) and set up tents and showered after local BBQ ribs and salmon. I sure miss paying US prices. Gas, food, groceries --everything-- is more costly in Canada. Someone's gotta pay for the free health care. Lastly, I've adjusted my chain twice. Unsure how much more it'll go. Only has 10-15k on it but it's stretch a bit. May buy one tomorrow at Yukon Honda/KTM. I'll try not to wince... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 19, 2014 Doing some minor bike maintenance at the campsite before we hit the road. Tried to push the fork seal back in but it wasn't cooperating. Note: The higher the Deet compound, the better. Canada sells only 40%; I brought 98.11% and it definitely helps keep the skeeters away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 20, 2014 Nice, easy ride from Whitehorse to a roadside RV park (Nugget City Junction?) Right at the Highway 1/37 cutoff, 10 minutes west of Watson Lake. The road was fairly unremarkable and offered the usual fabulous Yukon scenery. A good thing was no construction and a pretty fast road. Saw two bears along the way, a black and a brown. This is where we begin our southward run...all the way to the US border at Sumas. Important note: I am now riding without any deer whistles as I lost the last one near Whitehorse. Though we've only seen one deer the entire 6800 mile ride, I am fairly certain that it was the whistles that kept the wildlife at bay. Before, when I had two mounted to my fender, the wildlife would scatter like Iwas asking to borrow money. Then, when I was down to one, they got a little cocky; a moose gave me the stinkeye near Dawson City. Now they walk right up to the road and glare at me with impunity. I have asked every roadside gas station if they offer said whistles, but no, there are none to be found. I am riding with zero protection now. (Well I do ride with bear spray in my non-throttle hand...) Wish me well. Dan has been riding like a man on a mission; 75+ MPH all day. That would equal 2500 kilometers an hour, approximately. Because we're both lousy at math, we've been doing with the speed limit signs what the cannucks do with our dollar: 1 to 1 conversion. We all know that their dollar or "loonie" is worth 83 cents, but they make it easy on us by just making a one to one conversion. Very convenient. Some would call it theft. So what we do is just convert the road signs to American currency. For example, 90 KPH = an easy 90 MPH. Super convenient. We have a lot of miles to go and the only stop we are tentatively planning is Hyder. And that's up in the air. Any ideas for stops along the Cassiar? Your whistleless sojourner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danrider 5 Posted July 20, 2014 I would hv to say that we both would have to take a second out on our homes if we where not camping. As soon as we got back into Canada $120.00 meal and that is only one pitcher of beer at $20.00. Canada is beautiful, but they make you pay to see it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 20, 2014 Yesterday afternoon when we checked in, there was a small grizzly bear outside my tent. A fellow camper yelled to scare it away. Was prolly my funky riding attire he smelled; *Kinda like old beef jerky... They fricking ended up shooting it. I am sad. He was sniffing my tent while I was inside at 5:30pm writing my journal to stay away from the skeeters. Another camper yelled to shoo him and then reported him. The management ran him off. He came back and a wildlife officer shot him dead, I'm afraid. He was a "nuisance bear" as he'd done the same before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 21, 2014 We made it to Smithers, BC. A 500+ mile ride from the Watson Lake area. The Cassiar Highway is an interesting road. It appears someone put down a really, really good stretch of asphalt years ago...and haven't touched it since. Lots of potholes and tight turns but very navigatable and fairly scenic. Narrow with 3-4 foot drop-offs to the sides. We did 65-75 most I the way, with many slow turns in the corners. No cell/net service the entire way. We "thought" we were going to visit Hyder, AK but decided against it at the last moment and ride another 160 miles to Smithers to meet up with a friend of an SDAR member but he was called out to work. So we ate/drank at a nice bar & grill. Saw a handful of black bears up close. Riverside campsite nearby and we need a rest. Whew! Planning on an easy day today, maybe making it just as far as Prince George. Smithers appears to be a nice little town. Note: Every Canadian restaurant should be called, "CostCo" because if you go in, you will spend no less than $100 (breakfast, lunch or dinner). As we were sitting at our campsite drinking coffee, a nice young lady from the Smithers Visitors Information Center stopped by to offer suggestions. There's a glacier nearby as well as some falls (Twin Falls) that they're proud of. Hmmmm.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mikey777 44 Posted July 21, 2014 That jungle juice is good stuff. Just squirting some on the table you are sitting at or on the ground by you is often enough to keep them off. Nice of your visitor to stop by. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 22, 2014 Easy ride today; 240 miles from Smithers to Prince George via Hwy 16. Not a remarkable ride--no exciting scenery or wildlife--just a plain old road taking us from there to here. Found a little RV park south of PG on Hwy 97 and set up camp. Look closely and you'll see dinner (a real banquet). Funny, but we may just high-tail it to the border tomorrow. Only 420 miles and not much else to see/do except a ride through Hell's Gate off the 97. It was recommended by a local so we shall see if it pans out. Note: We've gone over 7500 miles in 22 days of riding. Suggestions for rides/ stuff to do in Canada OR on our way home to SD? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted July 22, 2014 Note: We've gone over 7500 miles in 22 days of riding. Impressive/well done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 23, 2014 Ah, yes, the Pacific Northwet. We passed Seattle and Tacoma and it's been raining on us since we left Sumas. If you've never experienced SeaTac traffic...well, it's something to behold. Close down the I-90 and the carpool lanes then add lots of rain and a "beware of deer jumping into traffic" sign. Now that's what I call fun! Stopped for coffee and our jackets are dripping all over their nice floors. It wad the saturating type of rain. Not really visible but all over you as you ride. We should've been in Salem by 6:30 or so but arrived by 8:20pm after some hellacious traffic in Seattle, Tacoma and Portland. Holy cow, I thought all those greener libs rode bicycles! You know what ties up traffic even more than a stalled car on the highway? A frigging huge-ass BLINKING highway sign announcing a stalled car 4 miles ahead! Why do they do that? In reality, the rain was a nice change. It felt good and cooled us down. We hadn't had much rain at all on this trip and it was fine to ride in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkug 147 Posted July 23, 2014 So your on you way home. Did you see any northern lites? When I was younger in Wisconsin I used to see them all the time. Later they seemed to go away. See any? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 24, 2014 So your on you way home. Did you see any northern lites? When I was younger in Wisconsin I used to see them all the time. Later they seemed to go away. See any? We didn't, Ken. Dan says it's because it's not the right season. We might not have been far enough north? I dunno. Would've been nice. We did see a lot of cool stuff and met an awful lot of nice folks--locals, fellow riders and just road people. We have a lot of photos so we'll update the RR with some of those as soon as we return. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Covered in Dust 163 Posted July 24, 2014 It's not the season that makes northern lights it has to do with the sun. I won't go into the technical details but here is the best vid I've ever seen of the northern lights. CiD And a nice pic. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140714.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 24, 2014 Oh, THOSE lights. Yeah, we saw them but we thought it was the local hootch playing tricks with our eyes... Very cool video! Sorry we missed them. And we had planned to ride to Yellowknife, too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Diego 40 Posted July 24, 2014 After briefly considering a new life in Oregon, Dan is on the road, heading south on the I-5 for home. He will likely reach Redding, 380 miles away, today. I have a couple of things to do locally and will head home in a few days. As of today, we've done a little over 8,200 miles...and 1,500+ miles were dirt. More, better photos to follow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danrider 5 Posted July 26, 2014 I made it home safe last night, got in around 11:00pm. Going across the 5 was just plain hot, temps got into the 108 level. I started late because I visited my daughter at UC Davis, I thought it would cool down by 7pm when I started up the grapevine but it was muggy. The nice thing, the traffic was not that bad on the 215, 67. I would like everyone on this forum to know that Dan Diego was a blast to be with on the trip, we managed to split all the cost, (I have ridden with guys who are super cheep in the past, sometimes Dan and I would get confused who's turn it was to buy, that is how easy it went). His funky humor would make me laugh. As a rider he is good, when we got into some crap he would just slow down and work his way through it. He and I created one heck of a memory together on this trip (I hope all you riders on this forum get to do something like this) the reason why our memory will be great, we both got along and that is important when you are doing long trips with someone. The nice thing about it both of us agreed from the get go not to make any reservation anywhere, we where flexible. When you camp in a tent for 22 days that can wear on anyone, not us, we liked it, nothing like rain hitting your tent while you are going to sleep. Dan is thinking about a trip down to South America in a couple of years and I am begging him to let me go. I am going to put a video of our pictures together and hold a BBQ at my home for who would like to share our experiences on this trip. It will be held in late August. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagstr 288 Posted July 26, 2014 Congratulations on executing your dream. And safe return. Dave Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTMrad 516 Posted July 26, 2014 Awesome trip....glad to hear your home safe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oracle 195 Posted July 26, 2014 I loved every minute of this thread...thanks for sharing... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dstss 27 Posted July 27, 2014 Been following your trip every step along the way. Best way to describe it is inspiring. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling challenged to moving a ride like this from my "one day" list to a reality. I will be watching for your BBQ date. Would be worth the drive over to hear about it. Glad your both made it safe and sound. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hodnettjj 0 Posted July 27, 2014 Looks like a great trip. Welcome back... Thanks for taking us along for the ride... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
