We all left Whitehorse at various times ... one group left at six a.m., Dave and myself left at 8 and I guess others are leaving later doing laundry.
Temperature all day was in the high 50s and 60s ... lovely! Most of the day, we had the Northern Rockies to our left and when we got to Haines Junction, the mountains were all covered with snow.
Here you can see the mountains up ahead!
So far, so good. By the time we got to Destruction Bay, we saw road construction and more and more. By the time we got in to Alaska, there was seventy MILES of constant road constructions .. in mud, gravel, and all that sweet stuff that bikers adore.
Here we are following the pilot car. I'm trying to follow it! There were many of these contstructions sites and some were muddy! They built this highway in 1942 and are still fixing it!
This reinforces my belief that it is never safe to drive at night. Here is a picture of a gravel road ... the chip sealed roads look similar and you simply can't see where the "hard surface" ends and the soft gravel slope begins. It would be so easy for a biker to drift off the road at night ... not to mention the buffalo and moose that love to come out on the warm road at nights.
Gravel road above.
One other thing ... you have to be completely focused every second as there are many potholes and road breaks. The potholes here are quite big and quite capable of upsetting motorcycles with smaller diameter wheels and can cause considerable problems to bigger bikes. We saw a car left by the side of the road with the front end broken off.
Here is a picture of the original Alaska highway. The newer highway is to the right.
Here is David putting on another layer. Behind him you can see the snow capped mountain range next to Haines Junction, Yukon Territory.
We are now travellng in pairs. It is rather obvious when you have three or more people in a group, it slows down everyone. It is my belief that whoever is in the lead, I NEVER ask that person to "speed up" because if I did and that person loses control, I would feel the blame forever. In future registrations, I will ask bikers if they want to volunteer to take turn leading the group and if they do, they MUST be able to maintain an actual 70 MPH. I plan to get walkie talkies with a range of a mile or so for the tail gunner to keep in touch with the lead biker so if someone has mechanical or other problems, we all can stop.
Arrived in Tok, AK after doing 406 miles. It is on to Fairbanks tomorrow.
If other bikers in our group read this update, please notice that our hotel in Haines Junction has been changed to ALCAN MOTOR INN. I have three rooms reserved for the bikers. Since we are travelling in groups, it is hard to be in contact so please call Dave Stufflebeam if your plans have changed and aren't continuing because rooms have already been reserved and someone needs to pay for no shows.
As of 10 p.m., only six of us are here in Tok and we haven't heard from seven others. As of 6:30 a.m. July 12, two more showed up (Lou and Jerry).
The next update is when I find a wireless site. We plan to be in Fairbanks by noon tomorrow and have bike service. Will check long term weather forecast for north of Fairbanks and if it looks good, then drive to Prudhoe Bay Sunday.
We did check the ferry back to Washington State but it looks as if it will cost over a thousand dollars for biker and bike. So tempting, though.
Temperature all day was in the high 50s and 60s ... lovely! Most of the day, we had the Northern Rockies to our left and when we got to Haines Junction, the mountains were all covered with snow.
So far, so good. By the time we got to Destruction Bay, we saw road construction and more and more. By the time we got in to Alaska, there was seventy MILES of constant road constructions .. in mud, gravel, and all that sweet stuff that bikers adore.
This reinforces my belief that it is never safe to drive at night. Here is a picture of a gravel road ... the chip sealed roads look similar and you simply can't see where the "hard surface" ends and the soft gravel slope begins. It would be so easy for a biker to drift off the road at night ... not to mention the buffalo and moose that love to come out on the warm road at nights.
One other thing ... you have to be completely focused every second as there are many potholes and road breaks. The potholes here are quite big and quite capable of upsetting motorcycles with smaller diameter wheels and can cause considerable problems to bigger bikes. We saw a car left by the side of the road with the front end broken off.
