Deadhorse to Colfoot to Fairbanks 22 23 /07/2010

Apparently the day we came through from Coldfoot to Deadhorse we were the only Bikerrs (that's what they call people that ride bikes, for you non Kiwis readings we are just guys ridin bikes , strange Ah!! . but i like being called a Bikerr )( anyway back to the story) that came through lots turned back at Coldfoot and some just waited . The next day a group of guys came in from Portland and i was standing by the bike and they came over a said "you that kiwi guy that came through yesterday " I say "Yeah why" and they say "yeah some guys were tellin us about ya" and that was all that was said really so i guess they just wanted to see those kiwis that were Crazier than Hell I guess .

After a day off the bike with no where to go no shops to spend money (and I'm a happy guy , I love these places )we are up at 6.00am with the sun shining and a beautiful clear sky we are ready for the trip back to Coldfoot . Well if ever i felt like breaking into song it was today , for the first time we rode with the sun at our back and joy in our hearts and a road that was just like Tarmac all the way back to coldfoot , it was hard to believe that it was the same road that we came up on . The scenery was fantastic with wide open plains and mountains as well , but what surprised me was the lack of snow around on the mountains . There was more on the mountains down at Seward than up here , but it was a lot colder up there .

We meant to stay in Wiseman for the night but I missed the turn off (it is about 13mls north of Coldfoot )so we stayed again in the work camp at Coldfoot , it was $199us for a room just big enough to fit 2 beds , but we had a great nites sleep .

Coldfoot to Fairbanks was even better then the day before so we flew like ducks at duck shooting season it was great . I run into a couple of hardcase guys at Yukon they were helo pilots and had a what looked like a (i can't think of the name , you know one of those Helos that they had in Vietnam ) we had a good chat and we were over the Yukon and gone .

On the way back we came across the guy in the Photo walking to Deadhorse , I stopped a took a photo . he was a Dutch guy i think and he had walked from Vancouver and was walking up and back again (and they said we were crazier than hell ) .

The photo of the guy with the BMW had run into a Moose 4 days before and his bike was pretty beat up and so was he , but he was still goin up (good on him Ah )

The other photo is me taken a midnite Ruth was in bed .

A couple of young Bikerrs that we had run into told us to go stay at the University in Fairbanks and it is only $43us a nite , so we are here for 2 nites so I can get the bike cleaned up and a bit of a rest and on the way for more adventures .

I also found out that the hill that i pass the truck down is called "Beavers slide" and is notorious for accidents and people sliding off the road .

Looking back on the last 4 days and the trip up to the Top of the World , I believe that we are lucky to have experienced the Worst and the Best of the Dalton Hiway . The worst being all the mud and rain and stress of staying up and being able to handle it , and the best being able to fly home with the road just a little damp and no dust . If the road was fully dry it would be a dust bowl , and I don't know what would be worse .

Thanks to all you guys for your comments it is encouraging to know that someone is interested in my gabble and our experiences .

Next we are off to Tok about 320kms

Coldfoot to Deadhorse/and Prudhoe Bay 20/7/10 420km

BEFORE READING THIS READ THE LAST 2 ENTRIES

After listening to the rain all night and the ring of the truckers voice"that's rougher than hell and 50kms of mud " we got up around 6.00am and packed the bike. With the rain quite heavy and the bike packed we looked at each other with almost the look of well "i guess this nite be it, I will see you in the after life" .

We hit he road as we looked down with interpretation for the up and coming road works, to see it ahead and the sign please stop , there was a young girl standing there for 13hrs a day with a lollipop , we had a chat and then the pilot car arrives . Then a goodbye to the girl with almost a please say the road is closed .We are off and to our great joy the works was as good as you would get and we breezed through the 50kms all be it at around 50kms hr but when the sign came it was all most like we had been found not guilty for murder and we were free . But after we got through the works, for the next 100kms it was like yesterdays hell was only a game . It was mud heaven I mean mega mud and we were sliding all over the road (i tell you those motorbike pants of mine are now shorts ) . Then we reached Aitgun Pass and the road just disappeared into the clouds (like straight up ) we were goin to heaven after all . Ruth says to me "we not goin up there are we" a I just said "what will be will be" , half way up the bike starts skidding and a truck is comin up behind . So down a couple of gears and give it shit I think and with God on our side we roar up the stairway to heaven only to find that heaven at the top is only hell to go down the other side .

When we got down the other side the sky cleared and the road in provided and we were away with the last 200kms being very pretty and vast plains of very low tundra , we saw lots of little chipmunks looking animals and some very unusual looking Musk Oxen . With about 20km to go we run out of petrol and had to refuel from the 2/ 2 lts bottles we had , and before you know it we at the top of the World and I could feel another song comin on ( I dedicated it to Twissy ). We had a trip out to the Artic Ocean as Deadhorse is approx 10kms away and can only be accessed on a tour through the mining companies land .

Deadhorse has about 4500 workers and this doubles in the winter as this is when they do all the exploration and a lot of the construction (you think it would be the other way round ) the pipe line took 3yrs to build and can deliver 2million barrels of oil a day to the coast near Anchorage at the moment it is only pumping 600,000 a day .When the oil leaves and is keep at 38 to 45 degs C on the trip to the coast ,it is keep this way by pump stations along the way . The road in took 5 months to build there were over 300 construction companies working on it at 1 time . There is no town and no booze here and workers work 2 weeks on and 2 off all year round and have all there clothes food and lodges supplied .

The sun does not go down as you can see by the photo , so with 1 days rest and the sun out we are very hopeful that the 900kms back will be a lot less eventful , by the looks of the bikers coming in , I would say it has dried up a lot as there bikes are not that dirty , but with our luck when we get up it in the morning it will be snowing .

So Coldfoot and then Fairbanks here we come , I'm almost looking forward to it , hey BRING IT ON !!

Photos
Us standing at the very most Northern point that we can go so it is all down hill from now on .
The road in but again only the good bits as when we hit the crap all thought of photos go and only Survival kicks in .

The Midnight Sun

And another song by Burl Ives

Fairbanks to Coldfoot 18/7/10 465kms

We were up at 6am (much to the Dutch guys dismay and rain again)and were ready to go approx 7.30am . I rang Coldfoot to make a booking and asked what the weather was like , she said it had been raining for 4 days and the road would be muddy and wet but bikers have been through . So sounds OK to me if they can do it hell I'm in with a grin , ( Ruth asked what the lady had said I said its good no problems ).

The first 50 km was paved and then we hit dirt and it was good hard packed and wet but not slippery and for the next 200km it was paved and dirt but great . We arrived at the Yukon River and it stopped raining and quite warm , there we got petrol and had lunch and as in the video I just felt like breaking out into song , as you do when you cross the Yukon .

There was an information centre there so i went talked to the lady about the road ahead (another200km) , she said it was good apart from a few sandy bits and a bit muddy and slippery .

Well in good heart we were off for about 5 km then it started , a bit of sand my arse it was all of Mount Maunganui beach and very very wet , we hit this quite fast and with much sliding and my arse sucked to the seat (so sucked up my pants were just about up to my knees ) we managed to stay up right and get through . After getting through the sand then the mud started, a little mud she said well I think if that is a little i would hate to see lot . So the going was very slow from here on , after approx 50km it came right and I was following a truck and decided to pass him down a very big steep hill , well just after we pass him we hit it again Sand and I mean heaps of it and on a very long steep down hill . We i"m shitting my pants and Ruth has gone very very quite and a Huge big truck is coming down behind us and there is no way he is going to stop in this shit . So with more luck than anything we managed to stay up right again and avoid being run over by the truck (which if we went down it was over I mean dead over ), we made it to the Artic Circle still a little rain but not bad . When we got there there was about 5 cars and they all just about gave us a standing ovation and all come over and said "hell you guys are crazier than hell , hell we in 4 wheel drive and we could hardy stay on the road " . Ruth is standing there and says "well we from NZ we have dirt roads over there and we own how to ride them' , well if we didn't we were learning fast

With much" you from NZ and you bought the bike and you goin where and then saying never to the bottom you are crazier than HELL

So with the last leg to go and bit of rest we were under way , the road from here on in was excellent compared to before , we arrived in Coldfoot to more rain and cold . The accommodation was very basic but OK and we had a feed and were a sleep in no time as i was Mullocked .

As we were having Tea a trucker sat down (with a very Texas accent)and Ruth asked what is the road like from here on in and he says " Hell you not goin up that way its rougher than hell and there is 50kms of road works to start and that's just all mud " . Well I could Ruth's resolve starting to melt and mine to but Ruth says" what will be will be" , so with that bring tomorrow .

Photos are of the road (just a good bit ) Yukon River , Accommodation Coldfoot, us at the Artic Circle and Burl Ives sing North to Alaska. Click on photo and they will enlarge

Coldfoot to Deadhorse

Anchorage to Fairbanks 18/7/10

Well I have managed to get onto Wifi , we are in Deadhorse at the top of the world .

Photo 2

The ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks (approx 576kms) was very uneventful it rained all the way and we didn't get to see very much (this is the wettest summer they have had for years , just our luck) . We rode through the Daneli NP , what we did see was beautiful and the road exellent .

The first photo is a little town about half way called Talkeenta a tourist place by a lake , we had a coffee in the rain and were on our way

Photo 3

This our accommodation in Fairbanks" Bills Backpackers" , we had to pay $30us each for a bunk bed with 2 guys from Holland and the room was as big as a small bathroom and it looked inside as it looked out side (crappy) . But it was full, the old cow must be making a fortune as she had kids sleeping every where , even on the floor all for $30us a head .

Next day Coldfoot

Deadhorse Alaska

They're at the top of the world in Deadhorse where there's no wyfi so next up date will be in about 3 days.