Alaska Ride Report & Pictures - June 2006

[Green Geck0]

Alaska 2006

This is the beginning of my ride report from June 2006 when my riding buddy & I went up to Prudhoe Bay and back from Calgary, Alberta. IÌm not much of a writer or photographer, so I hope I wonÌt put anyone to sleep. It will be posted in parts as I add to it.



First off IÌll start with some history. 3 years ago me and this guy at work get chatting. HeÌs been riding a motorcycle for years. IÌve hadnÌt ridden since I was 16 and I hadnÌt owned a motorcycle since then. He tells me heÌs shopping for a motorcycle to go up to Alaska. I looked at him like he had his head screwed on crooked. 2 weeks later I had a new Tiger sitting in the garage with my wife looking at me like my head was screwed on crooked.

That was February 2004. I was supposed to be going to Alaska June of that year. Well things didnÌt work out between Rick & I and we sort of had a falling out.



Now what? I got this motorcycle to go to Alaska and now I wasnÌt very keen on going North by myself.



In steps Mike Grell from Columbus, Nebraska. Still not exactly sure how I met Mike. I think I met him through the Yahoo! Tiger list. Sounds like a bad Internet date. He was looking at purchasing a Tiger and I had just got mine. So over the course of the next couple of months he mentions great riding in Arkansas with a bunch of people at a Tiger Ride-In, steaks, beer, Deliverance, bad jokes about Bowie knives÷.anyways off to Jasper Arkansas. I donÌt think I even took any pictures of this trip. No Alaska trip this year.

Calgary to Arkansas÷.





2005 - 1 year later. Okay this is the year. IÌm going to Alaska. Damn I get suckered again and ended up in Arkansas. Well worth the trip but the 4000 mile round trip in a week on slab is getting old. I did get my SS1000 this trip.

Couple of pictures from the 2005 Jasper, Arkansas Tiger Ride-In.





DonÌt ask÷:)





The gathering in Jasper.





Mike Grell gearing up.





The roads around Jasper, Arkansas.







to be continued....

[Green Geck0]

Off and into 2006. Okay this is going to be the year÷.I caught my neighbor Clint in a weak moment (over beers) and he agrees to go with me. HeÌs got a wee-strom. So we try to do some planning and come up with a loose route, which in the end we did. The date is set for last week in June.



Over the next couple of months time is spent gathering farkles required to head off to the far North. Actually the trip was just a spousal excuse to buy those things that I always wanted but couldnÌt get past the SO.



This is the route we took.  WeÌre gone 17 days with 15 days of those, riding. Total round trip was approximately 9500 kilometers.





Day 1 - 800km's/480 miles. We started out in Calgary around 7:30 AM on June 24th. The motorcycles were loaded and we headed off towards Banff. Our destination for the day being Prince George, British Columbia.





Mountain shot from Canmore, Alberta.





A quick stop in Lake Louise to grab some gas before heading up the Banff Jasper Parkway.





Going through Banff Jasper Parkway. Beautiful clear day, curvy mountain roads, glaciers. What a way to start the trip.







We arrive in Prince George, British Columbia. This is Clint at my AuntÌs house trying to comprehend he put on more than 100 miles in one day.





to be continued....

[Green Geck0]

Day 2. 700km's/420 miles. From Prince George, we continued up through British Columbia to Hyder, Alaska. Thinking this may be the last Tim HortonÌs we see for awhile, we made an emergency stop. If youÌre not from Canada, you wonÌt understand. :)





Couple hundred more clicks and weÌll be in Hyder, Alaska.





The road off into Hyder is very beautiful. Lots of curves and scenery. We stopped at the Bear Glacier for the obligatory motorcycle/glacier picture.





We arrive in Hyder, Alaska. There is no Customs or Border agent going into the USA. Only coming into Canada. Hyder & Stewart border each other and are very ÏuniqueÓ places.

Our accommodations for the evening. The place was clean and included breakfast for something like $29 or $39 dollars. Chuck runs the show and can be contacted at Border Bandit Bed & Breakfast 250-636-2317.





After grabbing some Halibut & chips from a bus parked around the corner we promptly headed over to the local bar to get Hyderized. I wonÌt tell you whatÌs in the drink but you arenÌt allowed to smell it, taste it and you have to shoot it down. If you donÌt drink it all, you have to buy everyone in the bar a round. Not much of a worry since there was only 5 people in the bar including me, Clint & the bartender.

Yours truly....





Clint looking for the worm÷nope not Tequila÷





The place was full of all kinds of money stapled to the wall from people who had traveled there.





Clint had some riding issues on the way back to the motel. This was a preview of things to come. Check out the quad in the background.





A closer look at this fine piece of machinery. Nice gas tank. I could use that in my boat.





to be continued....

[wonko the sane]

Excellent report!  Looking forward to more. :D

[fano]

can't wait for more :smt023

[Green Geck0]

Day 3. 650km's/390 miles. Today it was rainy. We donned our rain suits and headed up the Cassiar Highway to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.





The Cassiar can be rough and slow going in places, but it is manageable. There is a lot of pavement but there are also lots of construction zones. Notice Clint has his windshield strapped to the back? ItÌs a Cee Bailey. It was grabbing the rain so well that he couldnÌt see out of it. It was safer to take it off.





Not much for stops along the way...Bell II, Dease Lake, so we had to put up with the scenary.







We cross over to the Yukon. WeÌre really starting to realize that were a long ways from home but still having a long way to go.





We arrive in Watson Lake, Yukon and stopped at the Sign Post Forest. Over 50,000 signs from all over the world are gathered here.





Clint looking for his motorcycle in the forest÷





Our accommodations for the night. The Historic Air Force Lodge. Clean, reasonable & motorcycle friendly.





Clint modifying his in helmet communications system. Amazing what a pocket knife and some bubble gum will do.





to be continued....

[Speed3guy]

Keep it coming!  The Mrs. graduates from medical school next summer and wants to do this trip as soon as she's done.  She's already looking to replace the SV with a Tiger.

[TigerTrax]

Terrific report Curtis.... I am glad you made your Alaska trip...

we missed you but it's a trip everyone wants to make.



Come see us in the Tetons next Sept!



Jerry

[Mudhen]

:lurk

[Green Geck0]

Day 4. 500kmÌs/300 miles.

From Watson Lake we decided to head to Skagway, Alaska. Skagway was sort of an optional leg for a couple of reasons. First off itÌs one way in and one way out. We thought about going in on the road and taking the ferry over to Haines but the timing wasnÌt going to be right to grab the ferry. We spoke to a few people before heading on our trip and along the way that said Skagway was a must see.



We slabbed it up the Alaska Highway till we cut off onto number 8 heading south. ItÌs a very quiet, somewhat curvy and scenic road heading into Skagway. There was a few good stretches of gravel.





As the elevation climbed towards White Pass, it got very cold. The land became very barren & different than anything weÌd seen so far.







Although the picture doesnÌt do it justice, itÌs a long ways down there. This is going over White Pass towards Skagway.





This was to be our first true border crossing on this trip into the USA. Both Clint & I weÌre a little concerned because he had just informed me that all he had was a driverÌs license. Luckily at the border station we got Gomer Pyle with a gun. After he decided we posed no threat, he let us pass. Over the course of the trip we learned that the Northern borders are staffed with the most (cough) highly trained individuals.





We arrived in Skagway. Now donÌt get me wrong÷. Skagway is a nice place but I wouldnÌt go out of my way again to visit it again. ItÌs a tourist town with lots of little shops and restaurants. When we got there we searched out a place to stay. As it turns out it was the most expensive on our whole trip. $114 US. Not a lot of money for some cities but by comparison to other places that we stayed, it was high.



A shot down main street Skagway towards the water (note the ship at the end). There was 3 cruise ships when we arrived. A bit later the ship horns sounded and the streets emptied.





After grabbing some pizza and a bottle of Rum we headed back to the room for some planning. It was at the hotel that I got a little freaked out. :roll: We met these 2 guys riding KLRÌs or something like that from the lower 48. They had the gear. Knobbies, fuel cells and other bits & bobs. We get talking to them and they tell us theyÌd been on the road for 20 something days. They got as far as the Artic Circle and had to turn around. Took them 28 hours (from Fairbanks, I assume) and they didnÌt think they weÌre going to make it back since the road was so bad, bugs were awful and it was very cold. They dropped their motorcycles numerous times slipping and sliding down the road. Of course I get to thinking that weÌre going to go all the way up there and not actually reach our final destination. So after a few more rums I get my courage back and continue our next days planning with Clint.





to be continued....

[GatorTiger]

Get to the keyboard again my man!!!!!! Hurry, hurry!!!!!  :twisted:  More!! More!!  8) Yes!! Yes!!  

[NebraskaRat]

Looks a lot like Nebraska.







Mike

[Green Geck0]

Looks a lot like Nebraska.

Mike

 [-X Only because you've covered up your windows with all those beautiful mountain shots of Alberta that I sent you.  :lol:



Curtis

Calgary, Alberta

(Where our corn comes from a can)

[Green Geck0]

Day 5. 615 kmÌs/ 369 miles.

We made our way back out of Skagway and headed North back up the number 2 highway. The border crossing into Canada was quick. The Canadian Border guard had seen us go into Skagway the day before and had very few questions.

We stopped for gas in Carcross and it was here once again the common folk gathered around the Tiger. It seemed everywhere we stopped, people admired my Tiger and told stories of when they had a Triumph or some older motorcycle. Clint was getting tired of my groupies. Sometimes I would tell them I was riding with the guy on the Suzy. Sometimes I pointed him out so that they would glance his way and make him feel important.  :lol:



We rode into Whitehorse and grabbed a coffee. While driving around in search of a front tire for Clint and possible swapping of mine we decided to head out of Whitehorse. It was raining and we didnÌt feel like hanging around. We decided to shoot for Haines Junction and decide whether to continue further that day.





There was some good gravel stretches along this road.





We arrived in Haines Junction. Cold & tired and not getting a real friendly feeling from the metropolis of Hanes Junction we decided to push on to Beaver Creek. The guy at the gas station said the roads had lots of construction and very rough pavement. Also there was a storm front moving in. He wasnÌt lying.



Clint downing his first Red Bull. Red Bull & chicken fingers from gas stations became a food group and a bit of a joke throughout the trip.





We chased the storm and sometimes caught it. At one point we stopped and questioned our motive of continuing on. We had gone too far to turn back to Haines Junction. Eventually we rode out the nasty weather and enjoyed the scenery.



This is along Kluane Lake. It was construction all along this road that wound along the lake. Good gravel road.









A smaller lake just outside Beaver Creek.





The pavement was brutal. Frost heaves every 30 feet, potholes, cracks & other road hazards kept you awake. There was times when you would literally launch coming out of the rolling road. I almost threw up in my helmet twice because of the road. :smt103



We arrived in Beaver Creek and grabbed a great burger from Buckshot BettyÌs. It was here that we met this guy on a motorcycle with a lawn chair strapped to the back of his rack. He explained to us that he had a back injury that prevented him from sleeping in a bed. He slept sitting up in this lawn chair wherever he went. We stayed at the Westmark Inn for the night in one of the hostel rooms.



to be continued÷The Bates Motel, Denali Highway, Fairbanks

[GatorTiger]

We stopped for gas in Carcross and it was here once again the common folk gathered around the Tiger. It seemed everywhere we stopped, people admired my Tiger and told stories of when they had a Triumph or some older motorcycle. Clint was getting tired of my groupies. Sometimes I would tell them I was riding with the guy on the Suzy. Sometimes I pointed him out so that they would glance his way and make him feel important.  :lol:

I'm tellin' ya... You stop somewhere and can't get going any more because of all the 'spectatores'... Amazing that Triumph went bankrupt with all the bikes they must have sold back then... :-)

The Bates Motel, Denali Highway, Fairbanks

There can be only ONE:





Close-up:





Is that you behind the window????  8)