The next adventure....

The next adventure will be riding across America via dirt, well at least 90% dirt from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  The trail is the Trans-America Trail.  Distance is 4,800 miles.  It will take me 3-4 weeks.  Stay tuned for the new blog site, http://crossingamericaondirt.blogspot.com/

Just the facts...

Started: July 1st
Ended: July 18th
Miles: 4,620- solo ride home 3,680 miles
Days on bike: 17
Days camping: 3
Days in rain: 12
Crashes: 0
Bear sightings: 10
States/Provinces ridden: Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska
Sets of tires: 2
Crazy Eights-too many hands played to count, my daughter is the overall champion

As long as I'm on this Earth, I will remember the Daddy Daughter ride and the time that was spent with my youngest daughter.  I'm a blessed individual.  Canada and Alaska are spectacular places to visit and the great people we met along the way will be with us forever.

Now it's time to plan the next adventure :)

We have arrived ....

Day 18...it has happened.  After a leisure start and short ride to Anchorage, we arrived.   We both have mixed emotions about the daddy daughter ride end.  We are extremely excited to see our family after 18 days and spend time together before I ride home.  My route home is the western route, which takes me through Seattle and Reno (stop in to see my oldest daughter) and then SLC.

Thank you for coming along on our epic adventure.

Into the Wild...

Day 17 started in a steady rain for the first 75 miles, then the temperature climbed and by Telkeetna the sky was mostly sunny.  Before we entered the Denali Park area we stopped by the Stampede Trailhead where 'Into the Wild' was based and where Chris McCandless perished during his adventure.  We rode to the first river crossing and called it good.  We weren't equipped to make it to the bus (Magic Bus or 142 Bus) at the campsite.

The low lying clouds hid Denali Mountain (Mount McKinley), so we rode past knowing we'd return with the family later in the week.  We stopped for lunch in a quaint little town of Telkeetna.  After lunch we decided to stay for the night rather than ride on.  We're in no big hurry to ride to the larger city of Anchorage.  Telkeetna is a main street town with small shops and air taxi's for better views of Denali Mountain.  We will bring the family here at the end of the family vacation.

Day 18 is our final ride of the daddy daughter Alaska adventure.

Relaxation

Day 16 was  planned for a mountain top hike after a short 200 mile ride to the south side of Denali.  During the night rain set in and continued through the morning.  After a reality check of 15 consecutive days riding a motorcycle and 3 days to burn before our family arrives in Anchorage, we took the opportunity to stay put, watch the rain fall from inside the hotel and relax.  We caught up on reading  (I finished 'In to the Wild'-great book to read in AK), my daughter watched a couple movies, we did laundry and shopping to replenish the supplies for my 3,500 mile solo journey home.

Rain is forecast throughout the area of Fairbanks and Denali for the weekend, so getting wet may be inevitable.  The only pic to share is of my daughter holding a bouquet of flowers for her mom, sent via text with a message that they are for her and that we miss and love her.

Day 17 we ride rain or shine.  If the weather Gods are on our side we will catch a glimpse of Denali Mountain.

Surreal, AK beauty and daddy-daughter riders

Day 14 and 15 were filled with thought of our journey, the reality that it is nearing it's end after reaching the pinnacle of standing in the Arctic Ocean.   We celebrated our success with steak and reminiscing over the past 14 days of riding.  I also promised my daughter she could sleep in the next day and get a later start for the return ride to Wiseman.  We started our ride at 10:00 am with a grueling 2 hrs of riding through the construction areas outside of Deadhorse, who could have imaged they could be worse, but they had dumped more large rocks and added loose dirt as they continue to raise the road. The ride to Wiseman was pretty quiet, our helmets have 2 way communication, which we used the entire trip, but not so much on the return trip, our thoughts were filled with what we'd accomplished and what lies ahead.  About 160 mile into the ride we pulled over and ate lunch at a river crossing.  I showed my daughter that you can drink glacier water from the river, she is a city girl.  I also had a little local knowledge that the water on the north side of Antigun pass is girardia free.  The water tasted great and was ice cold from the glaciers above us.

We stayed at the Arctic Getaway, a great B&B in Wiseman.  Uta and Berni are great hosts and Uta cooked us breakfast to send us on our way.  While at the B&B smoke encroached from a forest fire, to the point the mountains were barely visible.

Day 15 was full of smoke from the fire and dust from heavy truck traffic on the Dalton Highway.  The road was rough and I hit a couple of transitions and potholes hard/fast which knocked my front wheel out of balance.  We headed to the Fairbanks BMW dealer for a balance and wash.  While waiting we met Darren and Jasmin Modricker, a father and daughter riding a BMW (same make and model as our Beemer) from Pennsylvania.  Jasmin is a year older than my daughter.  We chatted for a while as we are the only daddy daughter riders either has met on the entire adventure.  It was great meeting the Modricker's.

Our celebratory dinner in Fairbanks for surviving the Dalton Highway was sushi and then ice cream.

More to come....

Daddy Daughter Riders

Waiting at the dealer for the repair

We did it!!!!

Dalton Highway survival celebration.

...a little bit crazy?

When telling friends and family about this trip and other adventures that are on my bucket list, I have heard the same reply over and over...'you're crazy'.  To put our adventure into perspective I want to tell you about a few folks we've met along the way and their adventure ride.

Yesterday we met a group of 3 American riders that started in Key West, mile '0', who are riding coast to coast and back in 30 days for their Iron Butt Ultimate Coast to Coast award.

Yesterday we met a Venezuelan rider who is riding around the world, he has been on the road for 6 months.

We met a BMW rider who is riding 18,000 miles from NY to Arctic Ocean to the tip and around Argentina. He will ride 18 different countries.

Jesse from Nebraska, I mentioned him a few posts back riding from NE, to Arctic Ocean to Argentina.

Mike & Mike- riding from PA to Arctic Ocean.  We have not crossed paths with them again.  I thought we would since our routes were the same.

Six Argentinian riders coming back from the Arctic Ocean, all riding new BMW 1200 Adventure bikes, riding back home.

I guess crazy is as crazy does....I feel pretty normal around here...

6 years, and Cold Water

Day 13, where to start? It has took 6 years to make this happen.  This is the pinnacle of the adventure.

About 175 miles into the day we saw a Muskox in the field,which is a rare sighting.  We also saw a young male moose.  Although the road was rough, the construction area outside of Deadhorse was a wild ride.  Deep gravel, soft soil and big, fist sized rocks used for road base. Yesterday a motorcyclist crashed in the construction area, he broke his ankle.

After 244 miles of dirt road we rolled into Deadhorse, rode to the end of the Dalton Highway. We took the photographs under the sign.  We checked into the hotel and rode to the shuttle bus, we were finally headed to the Arctic Ocean.  It was a surreal ride to the ocean.  Sitting next to my youngest daughter, after riding more than 3,700  miles together over the last 13 days, the entire adventure was about to culminate.  WOW!  The water is cold, no surprise, but seeing the Arctic Ice Cap while standing in the Arctic water was a HUGE bonus.  We saw an iceberg as well.  What a day, what an adventure!  We made it!  We rode to the northern most point accessible by road in North America.  We traveled across 4 states and 3 Providences.  In 13 days of riding, today was the 5th dry day...that is 8 days of riding in rain.

Now it's time to start the voyage to Anchorage and meet up with the family in 5 days.  Being away from your loved ones for 18 days isn't easy.  This is the longest period of time I've been away from my wife or my kids.  I want to thank everyone who made this trip possible.  First and foremost my beautiful bride, for allowing our daughter to ride with me.  It isn't easy watching your youngest daughter and husband roll out of the driveway for an 18 day ride to the northern most road to the Arctic Ocean.  It isn't easy putting up with a husband who has the Wanderlust disease either. Second my parents for teaching me anything is possible. And last but not least, the Mesa Family for keeping everything 'moving' during peak season while I'm out chasing a dream.  I feel blessed!

This isn't the final post, over the next 5 days we will find our way to Anchorage.

MuskOx

Not our pic, our  pic isn't that great.

Northern Slope....Arctic Circle

Day 12 started hot and ended hot, no rain, no heated gear and I have a little sun burn on my face.  The sun and heat felt great.  Prior to departing Fairbanks, we left 2/3 of our gear at the hotel, the reduced weight helps with handling difficult or slow speed situations.  Our goal for day 12 was make it to the Arctic Circle and spend the night at the halfway point, Coldfoot (262 miles).  The first 70 miles of the road are paved, at the Dalton Highway sign, we pulled over for pictures, I aired the new tires down to 21 psi front and 25 psi rear for better dirt traction.  Both of us are excited and a little anxious about this last leg of our adventure.  I’ve read numerous ride reports and it is hard to determine fact from fiction.   The Haul Road for the most part is a gravel road, beat up in some places, but in good weather it is easy to navigate if you’re comfortable on gravel.  The dust is the biggest factor so far, installing the amber spot lights on the bike at the last minute paid off.  When the large semi’s roll by the dust cloud is so thick you can’t see the handlebars on your motorcycle…which is a little daunting to say the least.  Thankfully we only encountered 25 or so semi’s.  Interestingly, we saw more motorcycles than cars.  Most riders go to the Arctic Circle and not the Arctic Ocean. 

At 130 miles we pulled into the first stopping point which isn’t on the map, but it is a small building with a work camp restaurant.   While enjoying our cold drinks, we met Jesse from Nebraska, he’s riding a BMW 800, he was on his way back from the Arctic Ocean.   Jesse has been on the road for 2 months and is now headed to the bottom of South America….it was great talking to Jesse, riding from UT to the southern tip of South America is my next bucket list ride.  It has been Africa, but with all the turmoil in the World and especially that continent, South America seems more feasible and safe.  We put our ADV sticker on the restaurant window, handed one to Jesse and said our farewell as we moved up the road. 

Our next stop was the Arctic Circle entry.  We took photos, 15-20 other people were there.  We got our official certificate that we’d been to the Arctic Circle and departed for our next stop, Coldfoot.  The Arctic Region or Northern Slope is a different topography, the frozen tundra keeps everything in place.  It was interesting to learn that this area gets less precipitation than Tucson, AZ.  It is considered a desert, but the frozen tundra keeps all the moisture on the top of the ground, making the ground moist. 

After 262 miles, rough dirt road, eating dust, rattling around and bouncing all over the place, my passenger was ready to get off the motorcycle and stay off for a while.  Coldfoot is a worker’s camp for oil field workers and road construction crew.  It is a rough looking place.  We ate lunch at the camp restaurant, read our books, went for a small hike to the Arctic Observatory and played Crazy Eights.  In the Arctic Circle, the sun doesn’t set.  All night the sun is bright, no dusk.  In addition to thick window covering, we hung our jackets over the window to keep the light out. Day 13 we are going to attempt to make it to the Arctic Ocean, a couple days ahead of our original plan due to an approaching storm.  The Haul Road is nearly impassable via motorcycle when muddy.  

Jesse's motocycle