Animus: Back from Alaska

The Alaska journey was interesting. Six thousand km of riding. Three bears, a moose and her calf, the odd squirrel was all the wildlife observed.

The first half of the trip was done in rain, hail and snow. The temperature dropped to 6 degrees for the trip into the Yukon. Needless to say, camping was wet and riding cold. Changed the route to travel up the Cassiar highway because of the spectacular scenery. Didn't see a thing. the clouds were down to the valley bottom with rain, the odd hail storm and at the summit snow.

The road from Kitwanga to Dease Lake was

excellent, Black, flat and well lined. There were no grooves in the road to fill with rain water so I didn't have to watch carefully so as not to hydro plane. My brand new rain gear ripped in the crouch on the third day so a vital part of me was soaking wet not to mention what the wind did as it passed over my wet jeans. :-)

The road from Dease Lake to Watson Lake was rougher and I spent sometime in gravel so the going was a little tougher. I had put a new tire on the front before leaving but didn't change out the back tire. It had about 25,000 km on it that I know of and lots of advise from others told me you shouldn't expect anymore than 10,000 km out of them. So, there was always that fear that the rear tire would catch a rock and puncture but it didn't. Good old bike of mine.

At Whitehorse the weather began to break with a mostly cloudy sky and a few rain showers. There was hope. Dropped into a Clinc to have a test done and found I had a urinary infection.

Joy, joy... was on meds for the next 10 days with little relief.

The trip from Whitehorse to Beaver Creek (just before the Alaskan/Yukon border was really rough with several sections of gravel... freshly laid and still not compacted and wet as well. So the slogging was slow. Stayed at a motel in Beaver Creek. It was good to be inside with a warm shower to myself. Not many travellers were on the road and staying at these hotels so the service was very good.

Headed down into Valdez Alaska along the Wangell mountains which were mostly covered in

cloud but I could make out the odd ridge lines. My route was through vast expansive valleys with lush vegetation. I expected to see hords of wild animals but as mention before... virtually nothing. Other riders reported being charged by Black bear when they got off their bikes to take pictures. I did not experience that to my disappointment. I did see a large male Black Bear on a gravel road ahead of me. I slowly approach him tapping my horn and he reluctantly moved off the road and let me by. Another time I saw a moose well ahead of me just moving off the road to the right. There was a truck coming the other way who could not see the moose so I flashed my headlights several times. The driver saw the warning and slowed down. As he approached, the Moose turned around and headed back across the road and into the bush. Later as I reviewed my pictures I could see a calf waiting in the bushes for mother.

The approach into Valdez was spectacular. The mountains, waterfalls, glaciers and vegetation were gloreous. The roads were good since crossing into Alaska. It was July 4th when I arrived in Valdez and they were holding a huge fish fry/pot luck. So, it was good to have

something to eat and visit with others. On the drive to Valdez I came upon a carivan of huge RV's. They were in an Alaskan tour group. 33 RV's on the road slowly moving along the highway. I passed 30 of them before the last three started to turn off the highway for a stopped. Each of them stopped on the highway, waited then turned. Nice to be rich... I just have to find a job someday.

Lots of bikers on the road and lots of opportunities to hear about road conditions and experiences in other places in Alaska.

In Valdez I took a tour boat. It lasted 9 or 10 hours. We visited glaciers dropping icebergs into the sea. We watched whales, sea otters (huge rafts of them) and sea lions. It was the highlight of the trip.

I now was retracing my trip back home except for taking the Alaska Marine Highway from Haines to Prince Rupert. When I arrived in Haines Junction I noticed I had no license plate. Somewhere along the Alaska highway the road took my plate. So, I spent sometime at the junction trying to get a temporary plate but with no luck. Seems to be an impossible task for our governments. I then headed down to Haines Alaska. While I was at Haines I treated myself to

an "All You Can Eat" crab feast. It was good but not excellent. Cruise ships drop in here almost everyday but by the look of the community not much is spent here patrons. I caught the Alaskan Marine Highways ferry to Prince Ruppert. This is an excellent experience. I took a stateroom for comfort... thought I deserved it. Again, along the way, I saw lots of sea life. We stopped in a few ports along the way. It took three days and two nights. The morning of the second day I was up early 4 AM.... it never gets dark up there. We were pulling in to Petersberg... which I am told is the richest community in Alaska. There are more millionaires there than anywhere else in Alaska. It was all fishing. I laughed at the number of vehicles in the community. Trucks, cars, SUV etc. and no roads. You can only get here by ferry or fly. So, I am thinking if you wanted to pick up a low mileage vehicle this is the place to come.