Valdez to Tok to Burwash Landing 26th to 28th/07/2010

We had an extra day in Valdez hoping that the Top of the World Highway to Dawson City would open , and that it would stop raining and we could see the views in Valdez . But no to both , so we had a day doing BA in the rain at Valdez .

So on to Tok approx 560kms and it rained and was cold for most of the way , but the road was great with no greasy corners and bugger all traffic . When we arrived in Tok the weather was clear and quite warm , Tok is just a half way to nowhere town . We had a couple of beers and only a couple because the guys there were smoking like trains and that was it , a couple and we were out of there . We were all smoked out

Tok to Burwash Landing (approx380kms) the road was pretty rough going , but it was a beautiful day clear and no wind (just perfect) , the border into Canada was no problem and we never even had to get stamped out of Alaska . We had planned on going on to Haines Junction but when we got to Burwash Landing we found out that we had lost an Hour , so all of a sudden it was 3.30 not 2.30 and also Roger Dixon had recommended that we stay here (so here we are ) .The Lodge is by a big lake very picturest , quite old and has heaps of character , in the lounge there is head of a Moose (bloody Huge one ) a Bear and heaps of other stuff .

We haven't seen any Bears yet , only a few Moose and Chipmunks , but time is on our side . The bike is running well and the brake problem has not accured again so all is well with the bike .

There is a funny story I forgot to Tell you when we were in Fairbanks

We decided to have Pizza for dinner and there was this Pizza place just outside the Supermarket . We go in and there are pretty pictures of pizzas all over the walls , so I go up and say I will have a What ever it was (maybe meat lovers or the like ) . Ruth and I are salivating waiting for this beautiful Pizza and I see the guy making it up and then he goes and puts it in a box uncooked and brings it over . Well i look at him and say "Hey you have forgotten to cook it" . He look at me as if I'm from another planet and say "What" so i repeat myself and he looks at me and goes over to the boss and points back at me . Then the boss comes over and asks if there is a problem and i say "He forgot to cook my Pizza, that"s no bloody good to me " . The boss say "Well this is a Take and Bake" Then I'm looking at her like shes is from another planet and she say "you have to take it home and cook it , its a Take and Bake" , I say you are joking right you have no ovens at all , she says" no sir" . We don't have these back in NZ so I explain that and the boss gives us our money back .

They must have thought that we were from some other planet .

The Photos

1. Iceburgs at the bottom of Valdez Glacier

2. Coffee time in the rain on the road to Tok

3.4. Not far from Tok

5. Salmon in a river trying to get up stream ,there were 10s 1000s of them

6. On the road to Burwash Landing

and the last the Lodge at Burwash Landing

Tomorrow we are off to Haines which is back in Alaska (approx 350kms) and then to Skagway and we are thinking that we may back track back up to Dawson from the other direction , the only problem is it will be a 1000km turn around , but we will never come back this way so we are keen to go .

24th Rest Day Fairbanks / 25th Fairbanks to Valdez 07/2010

The 24th Rest day and a sleep in , we were going to go out to Cheana Springs , but when I inquired how far away it was (60miles) we thought bugger that and went to town instead . Town is not like a town in NZ , it is more of a "park and buy" type (meaning that it is spread out every where and not concentrated to a small area , the shopping that is ), I guess with it being so cold and dark for a lot of the year nobody goes walking around shopping .

The only incident was when we went to get on the bus , as we walk on a went to pay the lady says "you free Seniors Citizens free" , Well i looked at her and with a look of who you callen Senior Cits bitch we payin and went to give her the money . But she say "hey you don't have to pay you senior Cits". With that it was either me gettin my car licence out or gettin a free ride , but i tell you i felt like Sayin ,look here bitch we an't no SC ok .

It was a big day in town as it was the Annual Rubber Duck race , all of Fairbanks was there I reckon . They pay $10 for a Rubber duck and they throw them in the river and the first one to cross the line wins and the owner $10,000 .

That nite we went to a Concert at the Uni where we were stayin , it went for 2 hrs and was 2 guys 1 with Banjo and the other guy with a Harmonica . It was bloody great , man could he blow that thing ( I thing i will give up the Didgeedoo and take up the Harmoica.

25th

We were to go to Tok today and then on to Chicken and Dawson City the next day , but the road to Dawson has been washed out , so we decided to come on down to Valdez for 2 days and then hopefully the road will be open so we can get through .

It was a long day today (595kms) but the road was great, fast with bugger all traffic . When we left Fairbanks it was sunny and when we arrived in Valdez it just started to rain and pretty cold . We rode past beauiful lakes , rivers and through beautiful mountains with glaciers every where as in the photo (Worthington Mile Glacier) which was very close to the road .

Photos

Ruth at the Rubber Duck races

Passing through a town called North Pole , just south of Fairbanks

Us at the end of the Alaskian Highway

And a shot of the start of the Mountains

Hey im gunna ring that bus company and tell them WE AIN'T NO f@#KIN Senior Citizens , da Bitch I hate her .

And to the rest of the people that we have came into contact with I must say they have been just so friendly and interested and willing to help so thanks to all those people that we have run into .

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