To Alaska and Back!

[JetSwing]

I'd go with you... but It would be Texas to Virginia to Alaska. I think that comes out ~8000 miles one way.

just say you're scared...

[Alphamazing]

I'm from Texas. I get cold when it's 65 outside.

[Badger]

holy cow, badger, your trip was 20 years ago!!  :mrgreen:

Great.  Now I feel old.    The World's Fair was in Vancouver in 1986 (I have a commemerative yo-yo from the event...somewhere).  I have absolutely no idea what else was going on in the world that summer...I spent the entire time without a tv, radio, newspaper, etc.

[JetSwing]

holy cow, badger, your trip was 20 years ago!!  :mrgreen:

Great.  Now I feel old.    The World's Fair was in Vancouver in 1986 (I have a commemerative yo-yo from the event...somewhere).  I have absolutely no idea what else was going on in the world that summer...I spent the entire time without a tv, radio, newspaper, etc.

:lol: you should have said "once upon a time"...

i don't know...2 month seems like awefully long trip. 3-4 weeks sounds good to me.

[Badger]

I called my Dad to get his impressions of the road, the gas stations, etc from last year.  He said that the whole AlCan is paved, but that there are usually a few spots where construction crews are redoing the road because of frost heaves, etc.  Not major hole-digging, more like resurfacing.

Yep...it was paved when I was there, although parts if it were of dubious quality.  I recall that we got a pamphlet that pointed out that the "recommended" speed was 35mph due to road conditions.  It may be much better in recent years...as it was pointed out, I was last on that road almost 20 years ago, although I was in Whitehorse two years ago, but I came at it from the Alaska side.  

Dad mentioned a nice, big campground (showers, etc) in Watson Lake as you come into town (from the east, I assume).  He said that just about every town has one or more campgrounds ... but that with such short summer nights you can ride as long as you can stand it.

That's exactly where I stayed for about a week.  Nice spot.  They had a volleyball net and everything...running water, showers, and a power outlet (having the power outlet might have cost more).  I distinctly remember there was a snack bar where you could get like a 2 foot chili dog for short money...it was probably the best chili dog I ever ate (although this was after being stranded in the middle of nowhere for the better part of a day, so it might have been attributed to starvation).  Even in the middle of summer, swimming in the lake was coooooold!  There was one other set of campers the week we were there, they stayed for a day.  IIRC, Watson Lake has an impressive collection of road signs on display from all over the world.  I probably have two rolls of pictures of them (hey, there wasn't much else to do).

As far as the GS's performance at higher altitudes, I've "been there, done that" - up to 12,095 at Independence Pass in Colorado - with stock jetting and air filter in my '99.  It would probably handle that altitude a little better now with my drop-in K&N, but I don't remember feeling "crippled" or anything.

I just mentioned this because if I took a normally aspirated airplane up to 10,000 and didn't lean the mixture it would sputter and die on me.

My Dad says you're definitely not crazy.

Definintely not crazy.  I just wanted to encourage caution.  There are a lot of places along the way where if something does go wrong, it can become a really big deal.  Just make sure you have a plan, realize that a lot of the things you might take for granted don't hold up in that area (like cell coverage, repair stations, etc.).  The distances between things can be pretty severe.  If nothing else, I'd recommend carrying basic survival gear...plenty of water, portable shelter, first aid, tire repair kit, that kind of thing.  Just in case.

[jjr_vw]

Jetswing / Kerry

What mapping software is that?  

I'm taking a trip to Vegas this weekend (from Tucson, 800 miles RT) and would like to map/mark some stuff on the way....

Thanks

[Roadstergal]

Don't make me say the S word!  

Kerry has Streets and Trips.  I do, too, and like it muchly.

[Badger]

:lol: you should have said "once upon a time"...

i don't know...2 month seems like awefully long trip. 3-4 weeks sounds good to me.

I was in school, so I had the whole summer.  What better time to pop up to Alaska?  We spent a lot of time hitting amusement parks, national parks, beaches, monuments, landmarks, prairie dog towns, roadside attractions, and that kind of thing.  We also swung south around the Grand Canyon before heading back, so it was a very circuitous route.

If you're going to go, certainly go at least as far north as Denali.  I wouldn't bother with going all the way up to the arctic circle (there's a sign...it's not very interesting), but if you get a clear day McKinley is brilliant.  I could probably dig up some digital pix of my last trip up to Alaska (2003) and post here if folks are interested.

[JetSwing]

post em!

[Badger]

Kerry has Streets and Trips.  I do, too, and like it muchly.

btw: S&T2006 was just released (Oct 6).  Now has voice prompted directions and better integration with GPS units, trip rerouting...

[straightforward]

at the German GS-500 forum, there is a loooong thread that was started by a young guy who just recently returned from a trip which lead him from the city of Dresden, Germany all the way to Egypt, more than 7.500 kms (4.700 mi) on a '89 GS-500.

Some interesting pics can be seen at page 9 of the thread. Although the thread obviously is written in German, the pics are sure self explaining!

[RVertigo]

Love the spare tires...

Not a bad idea considering the "Odd Sized" (according to local moto shops) tires of the GS.

I think doing that trip would be the experience of a lifetime...  Part heaven, part hell, and all adventure...  So, yeah...  You're totally nuts.  Prepare, prepare, prepare, and DO IT!

[Mr.7]

Make it a race like the Cannon Ball Run. GS style  

[Badger]

Just pushed some pics up.

Pics of the Misty Fjords (from floatplane):




You can only get here by floatplane.  We landed on top of one of the lakes.  No roads.  No people.  No noise, but for the cooling of the engine.

Pic of a random mountain in the Yukon (it pretty much all looks like this):

We were in a rented jeep (just came off the mountain behind us).

Pic of the Mendenhall Glacier (Juneau):


While I was at it, I posted a fairly large pic of my GS for anyone interested (after all, this is a motorcycle board, right?) here

[Alphamazing]

Holy crap. Those German guy's pictures are awesome!

Badger, your's are GORGEOUS!

Now I want to do some big long trip.

[poormanracing]

that german guy's trip looks awesome...

the mighty power of the WHITE rims!  :lol:

[RVertigo]

Pics of the Misty Fjords

Fuh-Jords are sweet!


I totally want to go on a trip like this too...  Except when I think about the hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of boring crap.

I just drove (yeah drove, shutup :nana: ) from LA to Lake Havasu City to Las Vegas to Fernley (near Reno) to Reno to Shasta to Olympia to Seattle...

Some of it was really sweet and I'm really happy I was able to see it... The rest was boring and crappy.

[Badger]

[Badger]

Badger, your's are GORGEOUS!

Most of those lake pictures are of lakes on the tops of mountains (note the waterfalls).  The whole area looks like that (Misty Fjords).  There are no roads there, so you can either tool around the base of the cliffs by boat, or you can land on top of the lakes on floats.  Otherwise, it's pretty much completely inaccessible.  I think the glacier picture was taken from the rainforest across the canal.

In case it wasn't obvious...I -highly- recommend going to see Alaska.  Parts of it (the majority that I've seen, actually) are just unbelievable.  Take it for what it's worth, though...I'm not a fan of hot weather and sandy beaches.

[JetSwing]

the cruise sounds like fun but i'd rather be riding and be on my schedule. anyway...why did you skip the big bucks bingo-rama?? :mrgreen:

how long was the cruise? and how long did it stop at each port for?