North to Alaska 2019 - Once there were Twenty now there are SIX

[bigjohnsd]

You left out the overnight and BBQ at the Outpost in Montana on the return trip.

Duly noted!

 

[Pterodactyl]

Will install tires that were ordered for delivery to the Outpost for just a wee dram of Bushmills.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Will install tires that were ordered for delivery to the Outpost for just a wee dram of Bushmills.

You're still drinking that "English Whiskey" after I shared the "Nectar of the God's" with you last weekend? Some people never learn.

 

[RossKean]

I can see that the dynamic will change tremendously as a function of the number of participants and the proportion who elect to throw up a tent rather than hotel it. The itinerary from routes you have posted are strikingly similar to what I was considering for next year - solo trip unless I can convince a riding buddy to take three + weeks off work and join me! I still think it will be difficult to manage with more than a half dozen participants. Just consider three or four times the number of issues (mechanical and personal) you endured on your sojurn this past year! Hope it works for you.

 

[Abercrombie FJR]

So looking at the Google Map, almost two years in advance, this is what I see for me.
Day One - Spearfish to Helena MT 8 h 36 min (529 miles)

Day Two - Helena to Radium Hot Springs BC 7 h 20 min (419 miles)

Day Three - Radium Hot Springs to Grand Cache AB 6h 54 min (354 Miles) allows for a few hours of sightseeing at Lake Louise, Icefields Parkway etc.

Day Four - Grand Cache AB to Fort Nelson BC (gain one hour) 8h 17 min (478 miles)

Day Five - Forty Nelson BC to Watson Lake YT Stopping at Liard River Hot Springs for a soak 6h 50 min (319 miles)

Day Six - Watson Lake to Whitehorse YT Short day to allow for Sight Seeing in Whitehorse 5h 11 min (272 Miles)

Day Seven - Day Off in Whitehorse or a real short day to Tok AK

Day Eight - Whitehorse to Fairbanks Long Day 10h 32 Min (588 Miles) Dual Sport or Brave FJR Folks might consider alternate Route from Whitehorse to Dawson City, (330 Miles all paved) then to Tok via Top of the World Highway and Chicken AK 185 Miles almost all gravel

I'd recommend an overnight in Dawson City if you choose this route.

I'd ride my FJR over the TOTW on street tires if it was dry, not if it was raining or had been raining the day before.

Day Nine - Fairbanks to Denali National Park

Day Ten - at Denali https://www.princesslodges.com/excursions/denali-kantishna-experience/ This is but an example - do some googling

Day Eleven - Denali to Anchorage 4h 15 min (250 miles)

Day Twelve - Anchorage to Homer 4h 15 min (221 Miles) lots of scenery along the way

Day Thirteen - Homer to Valdez via Ferry from Whittier to Valdez 3h 15 min 188 miles Homer to Whittier

(Ferry Runs from Whittier to Valdez Monday Wednesday and Friday in 2017 leaving Whittier at 1330 - 1:30 PM)

Day Fourteen - Valdez to Haines Junction YT 10 h ) min (544 Miles) a Long day, but aside from Destruction Bay, not many other good places to stop.

Day Fifteen - Haines Junction, YT to Haines AK 3h 0 min (150 of the most beautiful and spectacular miles you will ever ride in your life)

Then you have to decide if you want to take the Ferry to Skagway that night or stay in Haines for the evening?

The last Ferry to Skagway runs at about 1800 (6:30 pm) this year on week days, only runs once or twice on Weekends. Haines is a quiet peaceful town, Skagway is Cruise Ship Central!

I'm planning on staying in Haines at the https://www.hotelhalsingland.com/ The place is fantastic and the Dining Room was unbelievably good.

There are a few dive bars in town and one can walk or crawl back to one's room. I'll take the first ferry in the morning. JSNS

Day Sixteen - Haines to Watson Lake or Junction 37 (the start of the Cassiar Highway) 8h 15 min (339 Miles) to Watson Lake Junction 37 is about 20 miles less but is more expensive and has fewer options. Watson Lake is the home of the Signpost Forrest has many Motels and Restaurants

Day Seventeen - Watson Lake to Hyder AK. 9h 45 min (410 miles) Probably stay in Stewart BC at King Edward Hotel.

Day Eighteen - Morning in Hyder looking at the Grizzly Bears and Glaciers - Then onto Vanderhoof BC. 7h 45 min 375 miles

Day Nineteen - Vanderhoof BC to Kelowna BC 8h 30 min 480 miles

Day Twenty - Day off the Bike or optional Day Ride to Nakusp, Revelstoke, Vernon and back to Kelowna 8h 00min (339 Miles)

Day Twenty-One - Kelowna to Missoula MT 9h 15 min (500 miles)

Day Twenty-Two - Missoula to Spearfish 9h 13 min (621 Miles) It won't take me this long!

Dang John you're a planning machine. I will be keeping my eyes on this one as I determine my future change of employment or lack of employment over the next several months.

 

[Pterodactyl]

Employment is vastly overrated.

 

[hppants]

OK - looking over your itinerary kind of confirms my suspicions and even leaves me a bit short. 22 days from and back to Spearfish means no less than 30 days for me. Many (most) of your days are big mileage days for me. I like to hold it under 300 once "I get there".

I'm not sticking a fork in it, but realistically, this trip is going to have to wait until I retire. I might miss it by one year....

 

[dingrr]

Well, you've got me thinking....

 

[Pterodactyl]

OK - looking over your itinerary kind of confirms my suspicions and even leaves me a bit short. 22 days from and back to Spearfish means no less than 30 days for me. Many (most) of your days are big mileage days for me. I like to hold it under 300 once "I get there".
I'm not sticking a fork in it, but realistically, this trip is going to have to wait until I retire. I might miss it by one year....

You could skip some portion of the scheduled itinerary and head home early. No plan survives the first turn of the ignition anyway.

 

[hppants]

I agree - it's one of the reasons I don't plan tours very much. But the info above is a good guide. It includes a lot of what I would want to see when I go up there. Any way I slice it, this is a month long trip for me.

 

[VMaxChuck]

I plan to continue following the thread on this, although my riding bud Dave (from Chattanooga, Tn.) and I (from West Michigan) plan to do this trip next June (2018). I will be retired at the end of this year and Dave is "semi- retired" now. We are planning to be gone the whole month of June and even into the first week of July if necessary. Both riding FJR's, his a 2014 and mine a 2016. We have heated gear and waterproof travel bags and hopefully enough $$$!

Between this site and ADVrider a guy gets a GREAT education on putting together "the trip of a lifetime"! Hope I have time for at least a couple of them......

Keep the plans flowing folks!

 

[bigjohnsd]

Updated and consolidated the first post. I've posted on three FJR Facebook Pages as well. Only one took the narrative, the other two took the event but no narrative.

 

[dcarver]

off to first post..

 

[Canadian FJR]

Any idea if one could rent a KLR or similar bike in Dawson City for this little jaunt to Tok?

----------------------------------------------------------------

Found the answer to my own question;

www.ridetotuk.com

Canadian FJR

 

[gregory]

This fits pretty good with a trip that me an a couple of others have planned for the same time and area. While we have not so much as planned a mapkin other then this bit o insperation. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/131088-alaskan-adventure/?hl=mapkin At this stage, our goal is Phudhoe Bay. We are leaving Memorial Day 2019 and will be traveling on DS'S. Depending on how things work out, we may be able to hook up for some of the legs of this journey. We will be riding West of the heard for most of the way up, but may be able to rendezvous around Nugget City. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Redding,+California/Nugget+City+Gas+Station,+650+Alaska+Hwy,+Watson+Lake,+YT+Y0A+1C0,+Canada/Prudhoe+Bay,+AK/@68.6258081,-167.5474378,3z/data=!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x54d291d63b4a202f:0x1f3358ec7b360f57!2m2!1d-122.3916754!2d40.5865396!1m5!1m1!1s0x53fc9fb8d471f12d:0x7f8131708404f644!2m2!1d-129.0838623!2d60.0275457!1m5!1m1!1s0x5120759875720bb9:0x9b76efe3a7385345!2m2!1d-148.3384293!2d70.2556453!3e0?hl=en We will be tenting it most of the way.

Will keep an eye out for the next 20 months for further developments.

 

[natehawk750]

A ride to Alaska is on the books for 2018 for me... no real plans but to go.

 

[RossKean]

Thinking I might do Alaska next year as well. Take in CFR 2018 in British Columbia on the way. I will see what shape the bike is in next spring. Needs some TLC during the off season. It would hit the 200,000 mile mark on the way!

 

[erixun]

All I can say is you guys suck. I wish I could get 22 days off in a row. As always... I will be watching from the sidelines... maybe I can ride up to Spearfish to see you off, and then ride back again to see you back.

 

[Uncle Hud]

hppants posted: (snip, snip). . . realistically, this trip is going to have to wait until I retire.

Yeah, ********. Rub it in, whydontcha?

 

[Dino.S]

Sounds like a great plan John. Watching with interest and on the hunt for more days off.