Chasing Winter and the Midnight Sun 2009

Preamble -

This trip across the North American Continent to the Arctic Ocean and back had a lot of elements;

• An International arms merchant in the Yukon - who operates in Africa six months of the year.
• Gold panners who claimed to average $900/day, selling their gold for (tax free) cash
• Herds of Arctic Caribou.
• F-150 sized Bison thundering across the roadÔǪ in front of us.
• A cute 30 something Harley chick offering to show us ALL of her tattoos.
• Snowy passes - some with solid pavement and some with thick freezing mud - all seemingly with accumulating snow and blowing ice fog, often mixed with rain and hail.
• Achingly beautiful distant mountain ranges framed by dramatic skies
• Staggeringly huge Glaciers
• A still frozen Arctic Ocean
• Bears everywhere.
• Forest fires closing the Alaska Highway.
• Endless ribbons of dusty gravel and dirt roads stretching over the horizon.
• Provincial Campgrounds closed by rampaging Grizzlies.
• Free camping in open meadows
• Ferries plying the Alaska intercostal waterways
• Sunny days
• Rainy days
• Cold days
• Warm days
• Still frozen lakes
• A world where the sun never sets.
• First Nation people giving gifts to us as travelers through their tribal lands
• Ferries closed due to house sized ice floes being carried down stream after a record winter.
• Moose, Deer, Caribou, Muskoxen, Big Horned sheep, Mountain Goats and Antelope (some of whom 'misbehaved' and ran in front of our speeding bikes)
• A cheerful British Bicyclist riding the Haul Road from Deadhorse to points South at 4 MPH battling headwinds on gravel, mud and worse.
• Endless North American Prairies
• AndÔǪ. much, much more

The machines -

2003 BMW 1150GS, Rox Risers, Touratech skid plate, Cee Bailey Windscreen, Touratech kickstand foot pad, Wolfman Waterproof Tank bag, Touratech headlight protectors and oil cooler protector, Mags Bags, XM Radio with a Boosteraroo and noise suppressing earphones.

2006 Kawasaki 650 modified with a Buell Front fork, oversized tires... and a lot of gear.

Both bikes carried extra gas, tire repair kits, tire irons, comfort modifications to the stock seats. The GS had Conti tires strapped to the back, the Kawasaki rider Dave shipped his up to Canada in advance.



North of the Arctic Circle and the Brooks Range - The Haul Road, May 2009

I'll post the trip by segment over the coming days.

+1

Do we have to go over to ADVrider to see the pictures of the Harley chick's tattoos?

I'm on board.

Looking forward to your pics and stories, Bryan!

May 19th - Chicago/ Madison to the Badlands, SD

Dave had ridden up from Virginia to Madison, Wisconsin to visit some old College buddies - I merely had to roll out of bed in Chicago and ride the two hours to Wisconsin for a 7AM kickstands up.

We rode quickly and effortlessly across the cool and very windy Northern Plains, stopping only once to explain our trip (and uhmm.. speeding) to the Minnesota Highway Patrol. Gregarious Dave successfully talked us out of a ticket, regaling the Troopers with stories about our middle aged efforts to hopefully ride these bikes to the Arctic Ocean.


We eventually made it to Western South Dakota where we stopped - exhausted - to try and find a camping spot near Kadoka, SD. This was the first of many dusty near ghost towns we encountered - we stopped by a 'motel'/campground and in keeping with the overall theme of the town, the innkeeper was directly out of central casting for a Stephen King movie. Creepy only begins to describe the innkeeper… and his dusty 'campground'.

We decided to press on into the Badlands and camp in the National Park instead. An excellent decision BTW. There is a perfectly acceptable open and airy campground - we pitched our tents and rode down the road a piece for dinner. (You know you are 'out West' when 'riding down the road a piece' for dinner entails a 70 mile round trip).



I lit up the night on the way back with my new Hella driving lights - quite few critters scattered off the road as we wound down from the first day - 889 miles for me. This wouldn't be my longest day.

Any tattoo shots?

Day 2 Badlands, SD to Red Lodge MT. May 20th

Up at dawn, we repacked the bikes and took the scenic - and highly recommended road thru the Badlands - always astonishing country. I also darn near took out a deer - fortunately I guessed right and anticipated his path, braking at the right time. ( My 'wisdom and skill' was helped by the mandatory low riding speeds in the Park. )

After seeing the Wall Drug signs for about the last thousand miles, we thought we'd be remiss if we didn't stop in for breakfast. About what you'd expect - an adequate breakfast at a higher than normal price.



We pressed on into Wyoming to Gillette where we took the scenic 16/14 route thru the Northern backcountry. This too is 'out West' for me - open land - this time of year still green - antelope, deer… and oil rigs slowly pumping, and darn few open gas stations.



We got to Sheridan and opted to take Alt 14A over the Mountains. Note to self - when you approach a Mountain range this time of year and it seems to be draped in clouds - stop and gear up or select a different route.

We climbed higher and higher and quickly encountered deep snow along the sides of the road, blowing ice fog, rain, sleet and visibility reduced to… about zero. The deepest snow we saw along the road was about 6 feet, the road fortunately was clear with no ice or accumulating snow. I had my heated grips and my electric vest cranked up full - Dave faded away into the swirling clouds behind me.



Concerned, I eventually pulled over to the side - mindful of the fact that anyone coming up behind me probably would have a hard time even seeing my yellow bike - and waited for Dave. However within a few minutes Dave pulled up (Dave did the trip without benefit of heated… anything…, so he had to pull over and further gear up as the altitude climbed and the weather got thicker).

We rode on and down - and suddenly burst into bright sun and spring again. We dropped further in altitude and soaked up the warming sun. (Note - a warm sun trumps even the best electric gear every time)



Future riders won't have quite the scenic twisting route we enjoyed - looks like they are working hard to straighten this pretty route out to two lane boring.

We wound up in Red Lodge, MT at the KOA camped next to a babbling brook. 480 miles.

Can't wait for the tatt's

I'm in!

Day 3 Red Lodge, MT to Flathead Lake, MT May 21

Route 78 out of Red Lodge should be a nationally recognized motorcycle byway.

What a beautiful ride - a smooth road, rounded green hills framed by distant snowy peaks, twists and turns - fantastic. Should have stopped and taken pictures.

Further on into Montana, Dave had sorted out a couple of dirt and gravel back roads for us to practice our ADV skills on… probably totaled 100 miles or so. Got dusty, got lost. Seems right.





One of the back roads Dave had his heart set on…. didn't actually exist according to two locals.



It didn't exist on my GPS or maps either. This I was to discover was to be commonplace.

We wound up camping on Flathead Lake - a beautiful campground on the largest freshwater lake West of the Mississippi River…. next to a family with a couple of very 'Lolita like' teenaged girls. We predict that the parents will have their hands full in the years to come. Probably do right now which is why the girls were dragged out camping.



500 miles or so. We wanted to make Eureka, but ran out of time and energy

...Route 78 should be a nationally recognized motorcycle byway...Beemer1

Click to expand...

Ah, the Absaroke Cutoff; one of my favourite roads...

We never miss it, when in the area: this is about 10 miles west of Red Lodge:



Excellent report, Beemer1 !

Did I miss the tattoo pictures?!?

Ya know guys, with all due respect, this is a once in a lifetime trip for Bryan.
And yes, I am hetero but it's about the trip not the ink. OK?

wezul said:

Ya know guys, with all due respect, this is a once in a lifetime trip for Bryan.
And yes, I am hetero but it's about the trip not the ink. OK?

Click to expand...

Since it made the top ten trip elements I'd say it's part of the trip. No harm in askin ya know....

Tatoo segment is coming...

Day 4 Flathead Lake MT to outside Prince George, BC May 22

We arose early, crossed the rest of beautiful Montana, auguring North into Canada via Eureka, MT. The boarder crossing was uneventful - I switched the speed reading on my GPS over to KPH and settled in for the ride.

By midday we were heading up into Banff National Park, soon greeted by Big Horn Sheep patiently sunning themselves by the side of the road. Banff abuts Jasper National Park - really a continuous park right on the spine of the Canadian Rockies. Put this on your 'Bucket List" if you've never been here.



Here lies the Icefields Parkway - an astonishing ribbon of smooth asphalt slicing between two ranges of unique towering (and this early in the season snowy) mountains. On and on this road ran Northwest - sometimes through snowfields but always on nearly empty roads - a benefit of heading North early in the season.





A local BMW rider Dave had met a couple of years earlier, Bill, had been tracking us via Dave's 'Spot' GPS Transponder on the internet - and met us at the Crossing Resort about half way up the Parkway. Coffee and a quick sandwich - Bill was ready to twist throttles, ride with us and show us his fantastic 'backyard'.




The Columbia Glacier was awe inspiring - the sheer size of the glacier and the vast distance both conspired to confuse us flatlanders. Bill pointed out a dot in the distance that was a glacier tour bus… then showed us its twin in the parking lot. I got it. Glaciers are almost incomprehensibly huge.





We rode to Jasper, fueled up bikes (and bodies), and headed further up to Mt. Robson - Bill peeled off to camp and Dave and I pressed Northward, dropping in altitude as the darkness gathered.

We stopped for fuel and a cute lady Greyhound driver - walking back to her waiting bus and passengers - asked if we were riding North to Prince George? I answered in the affirmative and she cautioned that - though the 'moose, bear and critters' were generally 'well behaved', staying on the side of the road - they occasionally wandered. "Be very careful", she warned - clearly a voice of experience.

Highway 16 twisted and turned - I watched both the altitude - and temperature drop - and the shadows on the narrow highway darkened into inky black night. We had ridden 14 hours at this point but I turned up the wick, lit up the powerful Hella driving lights - turning night into day and powered on.

I glimpsed moose and bear on the roadside, and prayed that the driver was right. Quickly we caught up to her Greyhound bus - I doused my driving lights, passed, waved and lit up the Hellas again.

I passed a number of vehicles - Dave told me later that a large deer ran right behind my bike as I passed a pickup missing me by just a few feet - Dave was wisely trailing a ways back.

At some point Dave passed me - I flicked off the driving lights and let Dave's PIIAs take point.

Suddenly Dave's brake lights went full on and I saw a gigantic Moose lumber (gallop?) (Sprint?) across the road in front of him. Threshold braking - and a thoughtful gap between us - kept this story.. and trip.. from ending.

We wisely decided to pull into the next campground and called it a day after 16 hours of hard riding. I went straight to my sleeping bag with no dinner - I think I saw Dave grumpily chewing a Granola bar as I zipped my tent shut.

Day 5 Prince George to Fort Nelson, BC. May 23

We rode the Alaska Highway North- wide and fast at this stage - and not much to see. We rode at sometimes imprudent speeds - but the flat roads and the lack of traffic made it possible to make time.




At one point I glanced back and didn't see Dave. I pulled over, swatted baby mosquitoes (among the first I'd seen) and waited. After five minutes, I turned around and rode back looking for my partner. There, on the side of the road was Dave…absolutely covered in blood.



Dave had raised his visor for a moment to adjust his sunglasses- and caught either a small bird, or a large bug - square on his nose. At 120 KPH. Reflect on your high school physics - that was a significant impact.

I was helpless. Nothing in my medicine kit was designed to staunch a bleeding nose. Dave quickly worked thru the napkins he had grabbed at breakfast - a bloody pile grew at his feet on the side of the Alcan Highway as the mosquitoes descended en masse.

However Dave's a tough guy, he eventually was able to stop the worst of the bleeding and we rode on, his jacket… and bike… however looking like props in a "B" horror film. His nose - it turned out - wasn't broken… but I think it came close.

We rode 12 hours this day.

Day 6 Fort Nelson, BC to Watson Lake Yukon Territory (YT) May 24

This would be a shorter day, we had to get to Watson Lake early enough to get our road rubber swapped out for the TCK 80s.

We hit the road early - it was cold again, my heated grips and vest were cranked up full. The Alaska Highway was far more scenic this day, narrowing with great grade changes and dramatic scenery, the road winding around still frozen lakes through towering forests with remnants of snow drifts under the trees.

We came around a curve and found a woodchuck being attacked by a Bald Eagle on the shoulder of the road! The sudden appearance of the bikes startled the Eagle and he flew away, leaving a very anxious and probably grateful woodchuck to hurriedly waddle wide eyed across the road heading for the woods and safety.

We had entered Wood Bison territory today - 1500 - 2000 pound Buffalo live near the woods and graze the grassy shoulders of the highway. The original herds hunted to extinction; these woodland giants were reintroduced some years back… and apart from the occasional collision with vehicles - seem to be thriving. These are big, slow moving …and determined creatures. I gave them a wary eye and a very wide berth as we headed North. Mountain goats and bear have nothing on bison. I think these critters weigh about as much as a Ford Pickup.



We arrived in Watson Lake and checked into the Air Force Lodge - the best deal and best lodging in Watson Lake.



We unloaded most of our gear and Dave grabbed the knobby tires he'd had shipped up earlier (I carried mine on the back of the Beemer) and we rode over to Bee Jay's Service to get the tires swapped out. This took a bit longer than we expected.



A quick visit to the sign forest - showers, Laundromat and gas, filling my spare gas can for the morrow.



Now we were ready for what was to lie ahead. Tomorrow the Campbell Highway



We rode only about 5 hours this day - gotta allow for shop time!

Awesome is a word that has been beaten to death and somehow in my mind has lost it's punch from overuse but those mountains are truly . . . . . awesome.

OK, bring on the tats . . . oh and the pirates and parrots and . . . . . .