Alaska - The ride report

[N4teTheGreat]

History! I stopped at Fort Alexandria, I don't think the restaurant is the original fort, but the marker was a good read.

I considered stopping for dinner as I was only 15 minutes from my motel room, but decided I'd check in first and hope the local cafe was open.

Said motel

Rather unassuming from the back, but it's a fine place to stay.

I unloaded and headed around the lake to the cafe, which was, thankfully, open.

I ate a healthy dinner yet again and it hit the spot

Caught the sunset as I was buying a few beers for the evening.

And caught the afterglow from my spot

I realized my room has a full size coffee maker and I have plenty of coffee left from yesterday, so I took a swing and asked if I could pay for a few coffee filters. The folks running the place dug out some from storage and handed them to me, refusing to take my money. I am very excited for coffee and in the morning. I might even get up with the sunrise (maybe, maybe not).

Two 350 mile days in a row at this point in the trip feels like a lot, maybe it's all the long straight sections. Whatever the case, my butt called an audible and I am gonna take a very short day to Cache Creek tomorrow which will be nice and also allow for more time the following day to really enjoy the ride from Cache Creek to Whistler and into Vancouver. The folks at the cafe gave me some tips on things to check out while I am in Cache Creek, so I will be stopping off at Hat Creek Ranch.

For now beer and some stargazing.

 

[TowerRigger]

History! I stopped at Fort Alexandria, I don't think the restaurant is the original fort, but the marker was a good read.

I considered stopping for dinner as I was only 15 minutes from my motel room, but decided I'd check in first and hope the local cafe was open.

Said motel

Rather unassuming from the back, but it's a fine place to stay.

I unloaded and headed around the lake to the cafe, which was, thankfully, open.

I ate a healthy dinner yet again and it hit the spot

Caught the sunset as I was buying a few beers for the evening.

And caught the afterglow from my spot

I realized my room has a full size coffee maker and I have plenty of coffee left from yesterday, so I took a swing and asked if I could pay for a few coffee filters. The folks running the place dug out some from storage and handed them to me, refusing to take my money. I am very excited for coffee and in the morning. I might even get up with the sunrise (maybe, maybe not).

Two 350 mile days in a row at this point in the trip feels like a lot, maybe it's all the long straight sections. Whatever the case, my butt called an audible and I am gonna take a very short day to Cache Creek tomorrow which will be nice and also allow for more time the following day to really enjoy the ride from Cache Creek to Whistler and into Vancouver. The folks at the cafe gave me some tips on things to check out while I am in Cache Creek, so I will be stopping off at Hat Creek Ranch.

For now beer and some stargazing.

Wow really awesome stuff!! Yeah Cache Creek is really cool. you will really love the ride from Cache Creek south. Lillooet, Marble Canyon, Pemberton. The Huge mountain range in Pemberton that will be on Left is Mount Currie. Lots of little places to stop there ... and gas up. South from Pemberton is a really cool ride. Soo many great photo opps.

 

[Tally Whacker]

Poutine- Quebec's contribution to world cuisine!

 

[berth]

Amazing the the Hudson Bay Company had holdings all the way to the west coast.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Today was a low key day, a mere 212 miles or so. I woke up to some beautiful, albeit hazy weather and took a moment to sit in the sun and enjoy some coffee.

I did a little research on shops and called around to find tires. I mistakenly called the Cycle Gear in Vancouver... WA. Good thing I didn't buy anything. My preference was to find a shop that can do a new tire without my needing to remove the wheel anyway. No love but it was time to pack and head out. It took a bit longer since I was packing up all the layers I'd just been wearing for the majority of this trip, but everything found a place. I was retracing my steps on 97 headed south today so I didn't stop for too many shots. I was fun seeing things in the light versus clouds and having moments where I realized where I was.

About an hour down the road I thought I'd forgotten my InReach and while I was fumbling to see if I could feel it I may have blown past an automated flagger. The operator of the truck honked and I quickly realized what I'd done a pulled a u-turn. Whoops, time to snap out of it and pay attention.

I did try to stop for lakes since they were all such a pretty blue in the sun and sparkling with the wind. Wind that was in my face, putting further wear on an already tired rear tire...

Not a great shot of the lake, but you can clearly see the patina on my bike...

Lac La Hache, it got even more impressive around the bend...

I saw this coffee spot and remembered seeing it on the way up but not needing coffee. Today, I decided I had all the time in the world so I popped in.

As I was getting my earplugs out the proprietor came out and said in a English accent, oh, I'd have thought that was a KTM, but it's not! And proceeded to give the bike a good once over. Turns out he'd done quite a bit of adventuring all over the world and eventually just kinda stopped and ended up here in BC along Lac La Hache.

He was thoroughly caffeinated and soon had me in the same state, we probably talked motorcycles and swapped various riding stories for over an hour. He gave my his number as I was leaving as we'd both deemed my tire as "probably ok to Vancouver". He told me he had a truck and a ramp and to call him if I ran into any trouble between here and Vancouver. Moto people are the best people. I gave him my number as well, we'd been talking about his time in NorCal and he mentioned he wanted to go back, I told him about Mattole Road and the Avenue of Giants which pictured his interest. I told him if he's ever in the bay area or even riding up north, let me know and I'll tag along if I can.

I probably could have stated and chatted all day, but did have a reservation in Cache Creek so I tried to pay for coffee which he declined and off I went.

I rolled through Clinton, my first official night in BC and realized I was on the tail end of this thing. It wasn't; too far to Cache Creek and it was about 3pm and I hadn't eaten yet. I stopped at the Taco spot I was told about yesterday. It was quite good and a bit fancier than I expected.

It was about 88 degrees out, so I was pleased to see they had indoor seating.

I ate those tacos and got serious about finding a tire because the heat and headwind were making quick work of what was left of mine. I managed to find a shop suggested by the local BMW Ducati shop which was busy with a big BMW event this weekend. I called that shop and within about 15 minutes the guy I was talking to had confirmed there was a Bridgestone at the local warehouse which he was making a run to tomorrow anyway. He'd have the tire ready and they'd fit me in whenever I showed up on Saturday. My kinda spot.

I got to my hotel, checked in, showered and washed the base layers and then went to get beer, the liquor store was conveniently right next door.

When I got back I decided to move the bike next to my patio area and proceeded to clean the chain. Much easier to clean as it had only seen two days of good weather and dry roads.

Gotta have a beer to sip on while you wait for the oil to soak in before wiping the excess off...

Everything is fine...

At least the chain is clean.

Tomorrow I do the Sea to Sky highway, I meet Blankpage and TowerRigger, I run my tire down to the cords, maybe. Should be an adventure, but now, for pizza.

 

[MartyD]

You're feeding my fantasies. Thank you very much. Just curious but what is your average cruising speed? I have a Buell XB9S Lightening that is similar in character to your Ducati. Used to live in Santa Cruz for 40 years so I'm very familiar with all the roads in the Santa Cruz Mtns. Now I'm in south central Oregon on the eastern side of the Cascades only 25 miles from Crater Lake. The roads aren't near as technical but are virtually empty. The scenery is huge. If you want to take a back road into Calif I'd be thrilled to share some roads with you. I'm fitting some soft saddle bags to the Buell. Hope to make my fantasies come true. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[budman]

N4te,

Your bike is properly dirty...!!!! Looks bad ass to me!
I think your tire will be good and I know that fresh rubber will be a relief.

I know some of my friends would never take the challenge that you have because they cannot deal with a dirty moto.

 

[berth]

Tomorrow I do the Sea to Sky highway, I meet Blankpage and TowerRigger, I run my tire down to the cords, maybe. Should be an adventure, but now, for pizza.

This line just kinda sums up the entire trip.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

You're feeding my fantasies. Thank you very much. Just curious but what is your average cruising speed? I have a Buell XB9S Lightening that is similar in character to your Ducati. Used to live in Santa Cruz for 40 years so I'm very familiar with all the roads in the Santa Cruz Mtns. Now I'm in south central Oregon on the eastern side of the Cascades only 25 miles from Crater Lake. The roads aren't near as technical but are virtually empty. The scenery is huge. If you want to take a back road into Calif I'd be thrilled to share some roads with you. I'm fitting some soft saddle bags to the Buell. Hope to make my fantasies come true. Thanks for the inspiration.

Up north the speed limit tended to be slower and to take in the views and preserve the rear tire and gas mileage for the long empty stretches I was usually cruising around 65 - 70. The pace would pick up on the occasion where the road got interesting of course.

I've just made it to Seattle and have an interesting route TWT devised for me to avoid I-5 and keep my new tire from flat spotting too quickly but I'm always curious about other options. I almost peeled off to take 20 towards Cascade National park but thought better of it.

N4te,

Your bike is properly dirty...!!!! Looks bad ass to me!
I think your tire will be good and I know that fresh rubber will be a relief.

I know some of my friends would never take the challenge that you have because they cannot deal with a dirty moto.

It looks pretty wild this dirty, it's certainly looked rough after trips before but nothing like this. Cleaning will be a multi step process.

This line just kinda sums up the entire trip.

Ha!

 

[bcj]

Hwy 20 North Cascades Highway has fire. Hwy 97 between Wenatchee and Ellensburg has fire.
Hwy 12 Randle to Eatonville has fire.
The passes are kind of effed right now. Probably best to stick west of the Cascades.
Weather says over the next couple days we'll get onshore flow and blow most of the smoke over the hill.

 

[Escape pod]

First cleaning step: automatic transmission fluid, a rag, mop it.

 

[ThumperX]

Once again, thank you for taking us along on your epic journey. Love the pictures and the write up.

 

[Blankpage]

Can-Am face off
I won for most clean, Nate won for most miles

 

[Blankpage]

When I saw what he had in the trunk I was pretty sure I could beat him off the line

 

[Blankpage]

Although those nitros bottles strapped to his back had me second guessing my chances

 

[berth]

Just want folks to ponder this large man with a backpack riding that small bike across the Alaskan tundra for weeks on end.

Like a bear on a bicycle.

 

[Blankpage]

Just want folks to ponder this large man with a backpack riding that small bike across the Alaskan tundra for weeks on end.

Like a bear on a bicycle.

Most people can’t reach the ground with both feet on that bike. They just look small with 7’ riders.

 

[TowerRigger]

Most people can’t reach the ground with both feet on that bike. They just look small with 7’ riders.

I'm definitely one of those.. at only 5'5 lol!!

 

[TowerRigger]

I just want to say it was awesome to get the opportunity to hang with Blankpage and N4teTheGreat when in Vancovuer Area! It was really great to swap some stories and grab some food together.
As Nate heads towards the highway out of town....

 

[bikewanker]

Please take the long way home!