N4teTheGreat
FknN8
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
- Location
- San Francisco
- Moto(s)
- 2012 DRZ 400s, 2018 Ducati Hypermotard SP, 2008 KTM 950 SM
- Name
- Nathan
Well, back the reporting part of this trip thread!
Yesterday (Monday) I left Beaver Creek destined for Fairbanks, about 311 miles away. I woke up a bitch itchy, I suppose sitting outside smoking a cigar after several beers meant I didn't notice I was getting bit as much. The bastards got me on my hands, wrists, lower back and ankles. Basically anything exposes, even briefly as I later tucked my pants into my shoes, was fair game. Not sure how the road crews, particularly the folks standing around holding the stop signs are managing.
I had checked the forecast and was expecting rain, when I woke up it was cold and things were wet, but it was not actually raining. Little victories. It was gonna be cold out, like low 40s cold, so I donned all my layers and set my heated vest to stun (low), gassed up and hit the road.
I stopped a short ways down the road to try to catch a shot of this pond full of ducks, they took off as I attempted the shot however.
Before long (well it was only 19 miles) I was at the border.
As I rolled up to the checkpoint I made sure my GoPro was off and hoped my wearing it wasn't gonna be a problem. The agent, who had the highest, tightest military still; flattop I have ever seen was cordial, asked if I'd purchased anything in Canada, I mentioned I had a small bottle of whiskey and a few beers and that appeared fine. He checked my passport, welcomed me home and told me to be cautious of the roadway.
I stopped a little ways past the border at the Tetlin National Wildlife refuge, a swath of land set aside to ensure migratory birds have places to stop over. Because I'd changed time zones, the photos I took prior were out of order which confused me later...
Everywhere I went the road was wet, but no rain, so my timing appeared to be lucky. I woman handling traffic for construction told me it had rained heavily not long before I got there. It was a bit of a wait and she asked about my trip, and was impressed with how far I'd come.
I stopped a while later to get a shot of trees in the Tundra, they are in the Yukon too, but I needed a photo of Alaskan Tundra.
I pulled out for a view viewpoints, but either no one in Alaska knows what a view is, or the low lying clouds were covering the money shot.
I pulled into Northway Junction to get gas until I realized they only had regular. Since I had a spare gallon of the good stuff I didn't grab anything, but hot coffee sounded nice. Later I'd find out that this was a stop on the Valdez Fairbanks trade route in the region and a indigenous village. The coffee was good and when the guy realized I was sticking around until I finished it he grabbed me a chair. I sipped my coffee and realized I was actually too warm (yay layers) a woman who had been shopping asked me about my trip. When I told her I was headed to Cantwell she mentioned she'd been there working this summer and suggested a place to eat.
Toasty and caffeinated I was ready to leave when a couple came in from their RV. They had German accents but apparently lived near Watson Lake in the Yukon. The guy wanted to know about my bike, told me he had a 1970s era Ducati which he loved, but "would never do a long trip on" we talked for a bit and I got back on the road, stopping for a few shots here and there.
The cloud cover had it's own beauty even if I couldn't see everything.
I came on the Tetlin bridge and gave on more scenic view point sign a shot. This one wasn't bad, big river, old bridge footing turned into a rest stop and a view of the new bridge.
A piece of the old bridge, replaced because it's piers had been eroded by years of winter ice flows
New bridge
I made it to Tok and decided to have lunch at Fast Eddies
I had the Halibut burger because there's a lot of Halibut up here, damn tasty.
A group of hunters at the table next to me were on the phone with someones wife back home, they mentioned it was 41 degrees with a 20mph wind and noted that was pretty cold. I was pleased to note I had not felt cold, only battered about by the wind.
I came out after lunch to find this cool DR keeping my bike company. Matching bags to boot!
Yesterday (Monday) I left Beaver Creek destined for Fairbanks, about 311 miles away. I woke up a bitch itchy, I suppose sitting outside smoking a cigar after several beers meant I didn't notice I was getting bit as much. The bastards got me on my hands, wrists, lower back and ankles. Basically anything exposes, even briefly as I later tucked my pants into my shoes, was fair game. Not sure how the road crews, particularly the folks standing around holding the stop signs are managing.
I had checked the forecast and was expecting rain, when I woke up it was cold and things were wet, but it was not actually raining. Little victories. It was gonna be cold out, like low 40s cold, so I donned all my layers and set my heated vest to stun (low), gassed up and hit the road.
I stopped a short ways down the road to try to catch a shot of this pond full of ducks, they took off as I attempted the shot however.
Before long (well it was only 19 miles) I was at the border.
As I rolled up to the checkpoint I made sure my GoPro was off and hoped my wearing it wasn't gonna be a problem. The agent, who had the highest, tightest military still; flattop I have ever seen was cordial, asked if I'd purchased anything in Canada, I mentioned I had a small bottle of whiskey and a few beers and that appeared fine. He checked my passport, welcomed me home and told me to be cautious of the roadway.
I stopped a little ways past the border at the Tetlin National Wildlife refuge, a swath of land set aside to ensure migratory birds have places to stop over. Because I'd changed time zones, the photos I took prior were out of order which confused me later...
Everywhere I went the road was wet, but no rain, so my timing appeared to be lucky. I woman handling traffic for construction told me it had rained heavily not long before I got there. It was a bit of a wait and she asked about my trip, and was impressed with how far I'd come.
I stopped a while later to get a shot of trees in the Tundra, they are in the Yukon too, but I needed a photo of Alaskan Tundra.
I pulled out for a view viewpoints, but either no one in Alaska knows what a view is, or the low lying clouds were covering the money shot.
I pulled into Northway Junction to get gas until I realized they only had regular. Since I had a spare gallon of the good stuff I didn't grab anything, but hot coffee sounded nice. Later I'd find out that this was a stop on the Valdez Fairbanks trade route in the region and a indigenous village. The coffee was good and when the guy realized I was sticking around until I finished it he grabbed me a chair. I sipped my coffee and realized I was actually too warm (yay layers) a woman who had been shopping asked me about my trip. When I told her I was headed to Cantwell she mentioned she'd been there working this summer and suggested a place to eat.
Toasty and caffeinated I was ready to leave when a couple came in from their RV. They had German accents but apparently lived near Watson Lake in the Yukon. The guy wanted to know about my bike, told me he had a 1970s era Ducati which he loved, but "would never do a long trip on" we talked for a bit and I got back on the road, stopping for a few shots here and there.
The cloud cover had it's own beauty even if I couldn't see everything.
I came on the Tetlin bridge and gave on more scenic view point sign a shot. This one wasn't bad, big river, old bridge footing turned into a rest stop and a view of the new bridge.
A piece of the old bridge, replaced because it's piers had been eroded by years of winter ice flows
New bridge
I made it to Tok and decided to have lunch at Fast Eddies
I had the Halibut burger because there's a lot of Halibut up here, damn tasty.
A group of hunters at the table next to me were on the phone with someones wife back home, they mentioned it was 41 degrees with a 20mph wind and noted that was pretty cold. I was pleased to note I had not felt cold, only battered about by the wind.
I came out after lunch to find this cool DR keeping my bike company. Matching bags to boot!
