North to Alaska

Could my folks have imagined that reading Jack London books to me as a child would inspire me to visit Dawson City later in life? To be fair to other authors, Jack London was only the starting point. Though what kind of kid thinks about gold rushes and mining towns? My Grandfather Bill drove to Alaska and wanted to ride his motorcycle there. I remember him riding from Seattle to Boise to visit us. At the time I thought a 500 mile drive took nearly an eternity. It wasn't until I lived in Colorado that I started dreaming of mountains. Topping Mt Shavano with a snowbaord in hand filled me with Hubris. I started pondering heli-skiing in Valdez and hiking on McKinley.

I could go on, but I need to get going with this last entry. My point was, I've got hundreds of contributing factors for going on this trip. Ultimately, I've got a selfish and seemingly unexplained reason for going on this trip: I wanted to see Alaska by motorbike.

For a work-style wrap up, I'd have a list of what went right and what went wrong. Maybe I've got rose coloured glasses, but I really can't think of anything that went horribly wrong. Sure we overpacked and we didn't plan on such large amounts of rain. But really, our equipment was adequate and our route was good.

I created a list of what I learned on the trip. Unfortunately I lost that list, so what I've got now is a meager list put together after the fact.

1) If you expect any rain (or dampness), write your travel log on surveyor paper not regular paper.
2) Don't buy cheap canned fish. I bought 2 cans of salmon (each less than 1$). Turns out they were 60% fish, 30% skin and 10% bone. That was an unexpected and very gross dinner. Tom found a similar lesson with sardines.
3) Candybars in Canada have no peanuts. No paydays. No nutrolls. No babyruths. Near the border you may find a snickers.
4) Always stop to take the picture. We violated this rule regularly. And certainly at some point, you can't stop for everything. But, you'll rarely get a 2nd chance to get that shot.
5) Roads shown on maps are not always open.
6) People gotta work. We saw towns in BC, like McBride, that were ravaged by the lumber downturn. We also saw towns like inuvik where the natives didn't work. (Note we heard some allusions to settlement money, but we didn't research this out). We met some great people trying to make things work. But we also witnessed some negative behaviour.
7) Treat people with kindness. We met a lot of friendly, nice people along the way. We recieved some great help, and even tried to help out a little ourselves. I knew this rule before I left, but perhaps I'd forgotten it, at least at times not convenient to myself.
Good Canadian beer is comparable to Budweiser. I'm sure there are quality microbrews to be found somewhere in Canada. We didn't find any of those areas. Compare that to the states where I can buy Sierra Nevada or Fat Tire at Circle K. I will admit that the worst beer we had on the trip was Ojo Loco (not Wildcat, a canadian beer).
9) Everyone hates the french canadians.

A quick travel log note: I returned to work and found quite the surprise. My cube was covered in photos from the trip, my chair replaced with a stool turned into a bike, and enough pine and air fresheners to choke a deer. I will see about uploading those photos and a powerpoint (full of photos from the trip) shortly.



Okay, last thing up is some gear reviews. This is more for anyone else who hits up google for equipment ideas for a similar trip. (quit reading, this will be boring)

KLR - Good bike for the trip. I could've used a bigger frame and windscreen on those long road days (AT least to start the trip). We did have a lot of maintenance, but I can't recall being stranded anywhere due to the bikes. I'd have no issue going on another long trip on such a bike. Get a metal skidplate and do the Doo. If you're going to load down the bike, get the raising links. Crutch w/ rubberized fork (for hanging mops on the wall) worked very well for changing front or rear tires.

Rack and Cans - Happy-Trail.com . We both had the Teton in 9" x 15" x 18" and the HT Something Unique rack. Can sizing was good (once we got rid of our underused gear). I was jealous of tom's anodization though my painting of the inside of the box worked acceptably well (aluminum oxide is black and rubs off bare aluminum). I think the newer mounting kits are the way to go. Rack worked well - no issues.

IMS tank - We had some 250 mile runs between gas but they were not at freeway speed (so our mileage was >50 mpg). It was nice insurance, but not required.

Wolfman Expedition tank bag (small). Good size for electronics and a bottle of water. The fact it was waterproof made this bag ideal for such a wet trip. (even the map case was waterproof in all but the worst downpours)

Dry Bags - Absolutely required for the sleeping bag. I'm still not sure if it was required for the tent. But, since the bottom of these bags could be used for clothign storage, it was a good idea.

Camping gear: A waterproof (predominantly) freestanding tent is required. Synthetic bag req'd (despite the dry bags we both had wet/damp bags at some point during the trip, say due to a packign snafu). Bag liner is a great idea for the hot days, not to mention its easily washed. Dual fuel camp stove was ideal. If eating like us, 1 pot and a spork is all this is needed. Headlamps req'd.

Clothing - I'm still not sure which clothing route is best. Tom had medium weight jacket/pants that were resistant to water (but overwhelmed in anything past light showers). He augmented with a PVC rainsuit that was completely waterproof. If he got in his rainsuit prior to the rain, he and his jacket/pants would come out dry. I went with goretex outerwear. They were rainproof through most all of the storms. But, at the end of the day I might be dry, but my pants/jacket would be wet (which wasn't a great combo when camping). Also, I really needed to treat my gear after 5 weeks on the road. But, during days of riding in and out of rain, I was generally good to go w/ no gear changes. (I was sporting First Gear hypertex pants and a kilimanjaro jacket). I also wore Oxtar infinity boots (BMW had these rebadged and sold them as their dual sport boot for years). Completely waterproof (goretex lined leather) and very comfortable. Be sure to bring your favourite leather treatment as they needed touchups every 2 weeks or so.

Spares - We actually used very few spare parts: 1 tube (used on the road), oil filters and a handful of bolts. We brought spare levers, cables, CDI, voltage regulator, coil, spark plug, brake pads and fuses. We traveled without oil or antifreeze. We did lube the chains daily and cleaned the air filters every few weeks.

Tools - We brought a laundry list of tools (tom filled a tool roll, I filled a small fender bag). The oddball tool used most - a chain tool. Obviously bring your 8,10 and 12 mm sockets and wrenches, screwdrivers, axle tools, tire irons etc. We also used electrical tape and a fair amount of zip ties.

Electronics - My at&t phone only had cheap service in the states (including alaska). Powering up via 110v was never hard. In canada used phone cards (many more payphones up north than down here, probably for this very reason - and lack of cell service). My Canon SD750 worked well for 5 weeks. Lens got stuck open (apparently a common problem for canons). However, great battery life (no issue charging on 110v at stops). Replaced with an Olympus (no external zoom lens). Worked well - even survived a drop on the concrete. Video camera - Broke the panasonic screen connection somewhere in canada going north. No issues with Tom. Looks like operator error. Again no issue with charging on 110v. As you might have guessed my 12v outlet was rarely used. perhaps because I didn't buy 12v chargers for my gear. Tom used his 12v outlet daily.

Don't forget the ibuprofen. And don't pay for water.