126 replies to this topic

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

We maybe almost crossed paths on your south bound trip around Tok. You headed to Dawson City us headed toward Haines Junction.

We were in Delta 29 Aug   Tok 30 Aug,  Haines Junction 31 Aug.

What a great trip.Reliving some of our trip through yours. Some of the same places.Great photos.

Waiting for the rest.

Thanks for sharing.

Frank

[DYNOBOB]

You know, we passed a handful of truck campers on our trip, maybe we waved at you .  Did talk to some folks from AZ near Lake Louise w/ a FWC.

 

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[DYNOBOB]

Sunday Aug 28.  Galbraith Lakes to Prudhoe to Coldfoot.  370 miles.   --  Monday Aug 29.  Coldfoot to Fairbanks.  270 miles.

 

 

The sun breaks the horizon on another beautiful day.  We'll cover the last 130 miles to Prudhoe this morning - fuel up, take pics, and return south as far as we can tonight.

 

 

 

 

Just after ^^ this ^^ shot we hit major road construction.  The last 30 miles of roadbed into Deadhorse is being raised 8ft (!) to prevent flooding.  It was some of the deepest, loosest, tire sucking gravel I've ever ridden and you are following a pilot car the whole way.  I'd read about it on ride reports though so it was not unexpected.  There were a couple of "moments" on the Husky - might have put my feet down a couple times - but not a big deal.  It would have been nasty on a heavy adventure bike though.  My guess is the construction folks have helped pick up a few bikes during 2016.  This 30 miles was the only place on our 12k miles that would have been impossible for me to do on the Goldwing.  When done, I'm sure it will be a nice stretch of road and a non-issue for 2017.

 

Deadhorse/Prudhoe could almost be a lunar outpost.  Everyone who works there does some combination of X weeks on/X weeks off and their company flies them home.  It's actually a bigger, more confusing complex than I was expecting. 

 

The first building entering town is Deadhorse Camp.  It's here you can sign up for the $75 van ride to the Arctic Ocean (we passed on this).  Because of security concerns since 9/11, you can no longer drive thru the oil fields on your own to reach the ocean.

 

 

Never seen tracked trailers before...

 

After driving around a bit we finally found the gas station.  It's a 1000 mile round trip to get fuel here from Fairbanks so it's not cheap.

225 miles since Coldfoot.  (And what's with these overcast skies - it's supposed to be sunny and mid-50s...)

 

At some point coming north, the Dalton had claimed the truck's 11yr old exhaust system.  It was still hanging, but I was concerned it might drop down, hit the road, and jam up into the undercarriage ... and take out a brake line or something in the process.  I asked a young lady walking past the gas pumps where I might find a repair facility.  She suggested I stick my head in the door of the Colville trucking repair shop next door and talk to them.  At first the boss man said no-go, but after a bit more talking and explaining I just wanted the exhaust removed the boss said "Joe, pull that thing in the big shop and help them out".  The two mechanics were brothers from Wasilla and nice as could be, refusing to take anything for doing it.  We eventually forced a $20 on them for a six-pack or pizza, they informed us there was absolutely no drinking allowed and that everything was free up there - food, lodging, and flights home.

 

Everything except 4' of straight pipe off the turbo removed.

 

With the Cummins rumblin and my mind at ease, the last stop before turning south is the Prudhoe Bay General Store for the picture and some souvenirs. 

 

Since it was 2pm we decided to make some lunch before heading out.  While eating, it started to rain.  The temp is 45F.  Keeping the faceshield clear of rain and fog added to the fun of 30 miles of soft gravel getting out of town (hey there cupcake, no one said it was all going to be fun).  Thankfully, the Husky has a strong charging system that can run heated grips and a heated jacket. 

 

So I thought staying warm and dry would be the biggest challenge the rest of the day.  I was wrong. 

 

Two hours and 80 miles south of Prudhoe, I pulled over for a snack break and discovered both rear tires on the truck are going flat.  That's not good.  Within 5 minutes one tire is completely flat - it's still raining - we have one spare - we're parked on a very soft berm - it's going to be tough to jack the truck - the occasional semi passes and sprays us with muddy water.  That said, I don't really feel sick until I flip the switch for the truck's on-board air system and nothing happens.  ****, ****, **** - now I feel sick.  Standing there in the rain, 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, you realize the nightmare has come true.  But, all you can do is set about working the problem until you're out of options.  Cutting to the chase - I fixed the air system, plugged the hole in one tire, and filled the second tire (couldn't find a hole).  Seeing those tires standing tall felt like hitting the lottery.  With 150 miles remaining to Coldfoot, I told Dad to stop every 10 miles and let me check things.  As unlucky as we'd been, I knew we were very lucky to have caught it before he was driving on flats and I wanted to keep it that way.  We had to refill one tire twice, but at 11pm we pulled into Coldfoot.  This may not have been the successful return of Apollo 13, but it's been a while since I felt more relieved.  Their tire guy starts at 8am so tonight we camp here.

 

It stopped raining as we got to the Brooks Range and I stopped to get a pic just before Atigun Pass.

 

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[DYNOBOB]

So Monday morning, I'm waiting at the service door by 8am.  A guy named Mud who obviously knew his way around tire patches made pretty quick work of the job.  $120 later we were back in business.

 

 

 

 

 

Going south, we stopped and spent a minute at Finger Mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can tell from the dirt that this was taken coming off the Dalton.

 

Back in Fairbanks, we hit the carwash and made it to our friends in time for supper.  After 3 day, a shower sure felt good!

 

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[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for the continued story. That ride on the Dalton is quite an experience.The tire issue was always at the back of my mine also,but we were mostly on paved roads.One exception was the 130 miles of the old Denali Hwy.since we traveled that 5 years ago I knew what to deal with.

So after all the worrying no tire problems.

 

On the ferry to Whittier we talked to a woman on a "trike" with a trailer who was making that trip up the Dalton.

Her worry was enough gas.With the 5 or so gallon tank on the bike plus a couple extra gas cans she felt she could just make it one way.

 

What did you do about the exhaust system?

 

What a great adventure the two of you have had.

 

Thanks

Frank

[DYNOBOB]

In two days we have another rock puncture on the Denali .  I'm seeing a trend though, all three happened when Dad was keeping up with the Husky on gravel...

 

The search for an exhaust started the afternoon we got back to Fairbanks.  Unfortunately, the only place in Alaska that has 4" exhaust is in Anchorage.  I've set a tentative time to stop and see them.  When we stopped to refuel coming into town, the guys across the pump from me made a disparaging remark about the truck as Dad pulled in (didn't know he was with me).  I said, "Yeah, we just lost the exhaust going to Prudhoe Bay, have you ever been up there?".

 

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[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

In two days we have another rock puncture on the Denali .  I'm seeing a trend though, all three happened when Dad was keeping up with the Husky on gravel...

 

The search for an exhaust started the afternoon we got back to Fairbanks.  Unfortunately, the only place in Alaska that has 4" exhaust is in Anchorage.  I've set a tentative time to stop and see them.  When we stopped to refuel coming into town, the guys across the pump from me made a disparaging remark about the truck as Dad pulled in (didn't know he was with me).  I said, "Yeah, we just lost the exhaust going to Prudhoe Bay, have you ever been up there?".

 

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Nice come back.

Frank

[DYNOBOB]

Tuesday Aug 30.  Fairbanks to Mclaren Summit, Denali Hwy.  232 miles.

 

 

It's probably impossible to express the feeling of victory and relief I had with Prudhoe Bay checked off the list.  A motorcycle ride to Alaka is a challenge, the Dalton makes the rest of the trip feel easy.   With nearly half (5400) of our trip miles behind us the first 10 days, I feel like we can slow down, relax, and enjoy the next 20.  Early September in southern Alaska is consistently nice weather and you're really never far from civilization the rest of the trip.

 

We have a bit of packing/reorganizing/bike loading to do this morning so we're 11:00 getting underway.  Just before departing, our host drove us down to the end of her street for our first view of Denali.  Think of this, we're 130 miles from the mountain as the crow flies!

 

WARNING: The more research you do for this trip, the more "must see" things you find.  The hard part becomes connecting the priorities in the amount of time you have.  I've laid out our route to incorporate as many highlights as possible with minimal backtracking.  The next few days to Anchorage are shaped by the following:

1.  The north section of the Parks Hwy is said to be kind of plain, whereas the northern Richardson Hwy thru the Alaska Range (Isabelle Pass) is spectacular.

2.  Some suggest it's preferable to do the Denali Hwy from east to west so you're traveling toward "the mountain".

3.  Hatcher Pass Road is a gem of southern Alaska and a great way to bypass the unremarkable urban area around Wasilla.

So our route to Anchorage is basically a backwards S.  Today we'll do the top of the S.

 

Fairbanks to Delta Junction parallels the Alaska Range and is beautiful on a clear day.  Once you head south on the Richardson, things get really good.  Make sure you fuel up at Delta Junction.

 

 

The pipeline runs along the Richardson all the way to Valdez.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isabelle Pass

 

 

 

 

[DYNOBOB]

Summit Lake

 

 

Just past Summit Lake, we turn west on the Denali Hwy.  It's 140 miles of gravel that runs straight toward Mt McKinley and ends at the Parks Hwy.  If you're on a bike, BEWARE!  It seems like a pretty easy gravel road and you're tempted to run fast.  However, there are some turns that can catch you, and if you end up out of the tire tracks the gravel can get deep/loose.  I've read multiple ride reports where riders went down hard on this road.  I stayed on the Wing for the first 40 miles to our campsite at the Mclaren Summit.

 

 

There's only two places for fuel on the Denali.  Tangle II is about 30 miles in and is the first place you can gas up since turning off the Al-Can at Delta Junction.  They have a nice restaurant, a small hotel, and some sweet cabins across the street.   The area has a bit of the arctic tundra feel to it and would be a great place to bring your better half and spend a few days.  It seems to be a popular place for van tour groups to stay.

 

 

 

 

With the sun nearly setting, we pull off the road at the Mclaren Summit to snap some pics.  There is nooo doubt this is where we're camping tonight.  1/4 mile down the road we found an empty pull-off right on the edge of the bluff looking west.

 

 

 

 

I talked to these hunters back at Tangle II and knew they were planning to camp nearby also.  When they came down the road a few minutes after us I offered to share our pull-off with them.  Caribou season has started and Moose starts in 2 days so nearly every parking area on the Denali Hwy had a truck, camper, and atv.  It's fun to talk to locals and get a window into life up there.  They're going to float hunt the Mclaren river tomorrow with their jet drive outboard (I never knew such thing existed, he said he could run in as little as 6 inches of water).  They lived in Anchorage but one fellow worked in Prudhoe.

 

We made dinner and enjoyed this view.  It was a Top 3 place we camped on the trip.  With hardly any wind, it may have been the quietest.

 

 

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Edited by DYNOBOB, 16 October 2016 - 10:42 PM.

[takesiteasy]

Great report so far. Thanks for posting all the photos.