It is Finished

It has been awhile since I posted, so I will try to catch things up a bit.

I finished the motorcycle trip to Alaska. 13,000 miles and 44 days. It was a trip of a lifetime. I went from Key West to Deadhorse Alaska, and then back to Key West. I left May 24th and arrived in Deadhorse on June 13th. It was the most difficult ride I have done, but it was also one of the most enjoyable. I saw bears, goats, elk, bison, deer, and hundreds of rabbits. All in close proximity to the road. I went through a herd of probably two hundred bison. Half on each side of the road. That was a little scary, especially when the car in front of me stopped to take a look. The only close call I had with animals on the road was in Montana when two stupid deer ran across the road in front of me.

It was some of the most beautiful scenery I have road through. Riding across the frozen tundra of Alaska was amazing. I kept thinking to myself about how people traveled this area by sled or walking. The road to Deadhorse is a mostly dirt road called the Dalton Highway. It is a haul road built for truckers to haul supplies to the oil fields on the Arctic ocean. 90% of the traffic is semi trucks. In the winter the northern third of the road is turned into an ice road. It was a very challenging road for a Goldwing motorcycle. Even in June I rode through snow and ice. I would not have made it without electric heated clothing.

The weather was the toughest part of the trip. Amazingly to me of all the travel days on the trip I only had about four days that it did not rain or snow. Some days it may have only been 15 minutes of rain but there was still rain and you were still wet. Temperatures for the trip ranged from the 90s in the lower 48 to the 20s in northern Alaska and everything in between.

As far north as a dirt road will take you.

Fulfillment of a long time dream. I have now been in all 50 states.

The beginning of the Dalton Highway.

Part of the Dalton Highway.

Part of the Dalton Highway.

End of the Dalton Highway.

Beginning of the Alaskan Highway.

Stopped at a road camp to wait form the pass to be cleared so I could continue. 6" of snow the night before.

Part of the Alaskan pipeline.

This is what the bike looked like when I got to Deadhorse.

Hit a pot hole and bent the front rim. Had to get a new rim shipped up to Fairbanks before I could continue.

Stopped at a few places on the way back.

Bridge in Alaska.