My epic ride to Hyder Alaska (Hyderseek 2009) began on June 3rd. I have wanted to attend this affair since I learned of this largely Ironbutt member event 2.5 years ago. This ride report is rather long so buckle up!
Ron Ayres from Plano, TX started this event 11 years ago to celebrate his record-breaking motorcycle ride. See here for details of his accomplishment and info on HyderSeek: https://www.ronayres.com/Hyder2009/HyderSeek.aspx
Hyder, AK is approximately 1150 miles from my home in Spokane, WA. It is the first town you come to in SE Alaska by road. Many attendees come from much farther away although, there is a dedicated group of riders from Canada and the U.S. riders barely exceeded their number this year. Total attendance was 87 down from 160 last year.
Many people asked why I did this. Well, I’m not an Ironbutt’r although, I do have a sense of adventure and the thought of riding in this largely uncharted territory (for me) was appealing. Many who live as far north as Washington State will never see Burns Lake, Stewart, B.C., or even Prince George. I’ve been to Canada countless times since I was a kid but never this far north into British Columbia.
The statistics for my ride were: 2355 total miles, 40 hours, 28 minutes actual seat-time, in 6 days.
I began with a nice clean bike on Wednesday.
I traveled that day through central Washington to Osoyoos where the boarder crossing is. This day was hot! 86-92 degrees and I was spent by the time I stopped at Kamloops – 384 miles on my first day. I did budget extra time by taking three days to get there. Glad I did this if it was going to be this hard. Not my best day. Day two saw me refreshed and a bit cooler but not much. I got an early start while traveling 97 to Prince George 500 miles away. Hwy 97 contains many resort towns and is heavily traveled. This surprised me a bit due to my own ignorance as to how many residents live north toward Price George. I must admit this road bored me as the scenery was not living up to what my imagination had conjured up. Much of their forests are succumbing to a type of tree worm that is killing their forests much like the bark beetle is a problem in the Pacific NW. There are tens of thousands of acres where the trees are black or dark red indicating the die-off. Quite sad and preventable from what a Canadian told me. It seems that they lack biodiversity as much of their forests were harvested years ago and only one type of tree tended to be replanted. This tree is susceptible to the worm in question.
By early evening, I had arrived at Prince George. I stopped at a gas station and met Bert and Val from Edmonton, Alberta. They were the first riders I had met who were traveling to Hyder. I tagged along as they weren’t stopping until Smithers on the Trans Canada/Alaska Hwy (16). I on the other hand was only going another 150 miles or so. I kept my options open and off we headed.
At approximately 13 hours of riding I turned off at Burns Lake (fleebag motel) knowing I would see them the next day in Hyder. The price of this motel was more palatable as Kamloops cost me nearly $100 for a Super 8! Did I mention that Canada is expensive? Well, it is especially since our money is at par right now. Not too many years ago Americans could travel to Canada and enjoy a 35-40% advantage which made their prices reasonable. Later that night, I marveled at how light it was at 2030 hours and the birds were still chirping at 2300!
Pay attention to your warning signs, you don’t want to meet one of these on the road.
Friday, I started the last 250 miles to Hyder. There are a series of small towns on the way to the cut-off just past Hazelton on Hwy16. Most of these towns are generally First Nation (ie; native Canadians). Once one arrives at the last gas stop before Hwy 37 at Kitwanga you learn quickly – fill your tank. Hwy 37 is isolated, remote, and there are NO SERVICES before you arrive in Stewart. I met another rider on a Goldwing who was kind enough to ride with me.
The last 25 miles are the most spectacular sight!
This area has massive avalanches so they have to pile boulders 10 ft. high at the base of power poles so the snow doesn't snap them off.
The Bear Glacier is awesome!
We pulled into Hyder 30 min. after the Bear Glacier.
The two dinners were held at the SeaAlaska Inn
It was recommended that I eat lunch at "The Bus", yes, it's a bus that serves the best Halibut fish and chips. It was caught that morning. Mmm-good!
This Ironbutt participant uses a car tire to get a few more miles
Here's the requisite photo of Hyder's Post Office
There were quite a few wings there. I counted 4 FJR's including mine.
I made a few new friends and really had a good time. Hyder was interesting but this was all about the journey.
Sunday morning I left for home.
on my way, I encountered this Black Bear who was sitting by the road eating grass. He watched me as I passed and when I slowed, he bolted up the hill a bit. He honestly thought he was hiding behind a tree branch!
Later I met up with a fellow rider who was going as far as Prince George that day. I in-turn kept going to McBride, total mileage Sunday - 650 Mi.
Monday, I continued South near the Rockies toward home. I eventually traveled through Kamloops and Kelowna. I made it to Osoyoos to come back into the U.S. at about 1900. Shadows were lengthening and I needed to move if I had any hope of making it home that night. Tonasket, Omak, and West to Grand Coulee Dam. I had to stop 87 miles from home because I was into hour 13 and it was getting dark. That last mileage could have spelled disaster as critters abound and after avoiding Moose, Caribou, Deer, even a badger crossing I thought how stupid it would be to push my luck.
Tuesday, I took a leisurely 2 hour ride into home.
I made it without a breakdown, flat tire, animal strike, wreck, etc. I'm proud of my accomplishment as this was my longest trip to date.
PS: not quite sure why my top speed shows a ridiculous figure. (should be 105 Mph)
I hope you enjoyed my report.
Thank you.
Ron Ayres from Plano, TX started this event 11 years ago to celebrate his record-breaking motorcycle ride. See here for details of his accomplishment and info on HyderSeek: https://www.ronayres.com/Hyder2009/HyderSeek.aspx
Hyder, AK is approximately 1150 miles from my home in Spokane, WA. It is the first town you come to in SE Alaska by road. Many attendees come from much farther away although, there is a dedicated group of riders from Canada and the U.S. riders barely exceeded their number this year. Total attendance was 87 down from 160 last year.
Many people asked why I did this. Well, I’m not an Ironbutt’r although, I do have a sense of adventure and the thought of riding in this largely uncharted territory (for me) was appealing. Many who live as far north as Washington State will never see Burns Lake, Stewart, B.C., or even Prince George. I’ve been to Canada countless times since I was a kid but never this far north into British Columbia.
The statistics for my ride were: 2355 total miles, 40 hours, 28 minutes actual seat-time, in 6 days.
I began with a nice clean bike on Wednesday.
I traveled that day through central Washington to Osoyoos where the boarder crossing is. This day was hot! 86-92 degrees and I was spent by the time I stopped at Kamloops – 384 miles on my first day. I did budget extra time by taking three days to get there. Glad I did this if it was going to be this hard. Not my best day. Day two saw me refreshed and a bit cooler but not much. I got an early start while traveling 97 to Prince George 500 miles away. Hwy 97 contains many resort towns and is heavily traveled. This surprised me a bit due to my own ignorance as to how many residents live north toward Price George. I must admit this road bored me as the scenery was not living up to what my imagination had conjured up. Much of their forests are succumbing to a type of tree worm that is killing their forests much like the bark beetle is a problem in the Pacific NW. There are tens of thousands of acres where the trees are black or dark red indicating the die-off. Quite sad and preventable from what a Canadian told me. It seems that they lack biodiversity as much of their forests were harvested years ago and only one type of tree tended to be replanted. This tree is susceptible to the worm in question.
By early evening, I had arrived at Prince George. I stopped at a gas station and met Bert and Val from Edmonton, Alberta. They were the first riders I had met who were traveling to Hyder. I tagged along as they weren’t stopping until Smithers on the Trans Canada/Alaska Hwy (16). I on the other hand was only going another 150 miles or so. I kept my options open and off we headed.
At approximately 13 hours of riding I turned off at Burns Lake (fleebag motel) knowing I would see them the next day in Hyder. The price of this motel was more palatable as Kamloops cost me nearly $100 for a Super 8! Did I mention that Canada is expensive? Well, it is especially since our money is at par right now. Not too many years ago Americans could travel to Canada and enjoy a 35-40% advantage which made their prices reasonable. Later that night, I marveled at how light it was at 2030 hours and the birds were still chirping at 2300!
Pay attention to your warning signs, you don’t want to meet one of these on the road.
Friday, I started the last 250 miles to Hyder. There are a series of small towns on the way to the cut-off just past Hazelton on Hwy16. Most of these towns are generally First Nation (ie; native Canadians). Once one arrives at the last gas stop before Hwy 37 at Kitwanga you learn quickly – fill your tank. Hwy 37 is isolated, remote, and there are NO SERVICES before you arrive in Stewart. I met another rider on a Goldwing who was kind enough to ride with me.
The last 25 miles are the most spectacular sight!
This area has massive avalanches so they have to pile boulders 10 ft. high at the base of power poles so the snow doesn't snap them off.
The Bear Glacier is awesome!
We pulled into Hyder 30 min. after the Bear Glacier.
The two dinners were held at the SeaAlaska Inn
It was recommended that I eat lunch at "The Bus", yes, it's a bus that serves the best Halibut fish and chips. It was caught that morning. Mmm-good!
This Ironbutt participant uses a car tire to get a few more miles
Here's the requisite photo of Hyder's Post Office
There were quite a few wings there. I counted 4 FJR's including mine.
I made a few new friends and really had a good time. Hyder was interesting but this was all about the journey.
Sunday morning I left for home.
on my way, I encountered this Black Bear who was sitting by the road eating grass. He watched me as I passed and when I slowed, he bolted up the hill a bit. He honestly thought he was hiding behind a tree branch!
Later I met up with a fellow rider who was going as far as Prince George that day. I in-turn kept going to McBride, total mileage Sunday - 650 Mi.
Monday, I continued South near the Rockies toward home. I eventually traveled through Kamloops and Kelowna. I made it to Osoyoos to come back into the U.S. at about 1900. Shadows were lengthening and I needed to move if I had any hope of making it home that night. Tonasket, Omak, and West to Grand Coulee Dam. I had to stop 87 miles from home because I was into hour 13 and it was getting dark. That last mileage could have spelled disaster as critters abound and after avoiding Moose, Caribou, Deer, even a badger crossing I thought how stupid it would be to push my luck.
Tuesday, I took a leisurely 2 hour ride into home.
I made it without a breakdown, flat tire, animal strike, wreck, etc. I'm proud of my accomplishment as this was my longest trip to date.
PS: not quite sure why my top speed shows a ridiculous figure. (should be 105 Mph)
I hope you enjoyed my report.
Thank you.
