Canada & USA 2015

[nick949]

I dunno Austin, that road to Valdez looks a bit dull . Just bloody mountains, trees, rocks - is there nothing else in North America? Better not answer that!

The road down to Haines looks nice too (edit: apart from the road works and the weather)- but careful, you won't be in the land of the free most of the way .

Nick

 

[austin]

Some pics from the past few days....

Most roadworks are preceded by this sign

We have been told many tales of bikers going down in the roadworks as they really are horrible, but we met one today. Harley rider, three days previously about 400 miles south of Fairbanks hit some gravel in roadworks and his front washed out. He then rode to fairbanks where as a veteran he was entitled to a check up at the army base. Broken rib, leg and gravel rash all over his face - which was what prompted our conversation. He was riding back home to Oregon - about 2,000 miles as no insurance cover for an event like that. He was in obvious pain and we gave him some paracetamol to supplement the stuff the hospital gave him for night time use. Hard as nails? Or daft as a brush?

Long range shot of a Moose. Today we saw an Arctic Fox, a Grizzly (a long way off) and a black bear about 50yds away. No pics as they bugger off quick.


Mt Mckinley / Denali


A huge glacier


Worthington Glacier. I got up close to this one








Lots of waterfalls. This one probably best and called the Bridal Veil.


Roadhouse between Anchorage and Tok. Its been modernised but on the site of something dating back to the mid 19th century.


The Bikers campsite


Our abode

 

[austin]

I dunno Austin, that road to Valdez looks a bit dull . Just bloody mountains, trees, rocks - is there nothing else in North America? Better not answer that!

The road down to Haines looks nice too (edit: apart from the road works and the weather)- but careful, you won't be in the land of the free most of the way .

Nick

Quite a lot of Northern Alaska was a bit dull actually, although I am sure exploring the logging or mining trails would be good. The south though is stunning: range after range of snow capped mountains, so many glaciers we don't even comment anymore, every crest and turn opens up new Vistas of mountains and forest as far as the eye can see and loads of the prettiest little mossy banked ponds ever. We expect to find that picture postcard grazing moose or family of grizzlies at every one. But no luck yet. Alaska makes Ontario seem small, but only 210miles down to Haines today so we should be there for lunch if the road is OK.

 

[nick949]

Alaska makes Ontario seem small

Actually, there's not much between them, except Alaska has a lot more surface area because of the mountains and much of northern Ontario is inaccessible muskeg. Alaska takes the scenic prize though - there's no comparison there!. Quebec is bigger than both - although much of it is inaccessible too.

Nick

 

[een705]

Im looking forward to our next ride out you must have loads to chat about really enjoying the posts Thx

 

[Stubbsie]

Hi Austin,
You seem a bit of deflated, but glad to read you bounced back and found some fab places.
NP Rangers are either fab or pants no in between new radio comm a bargain how much would that model cost over here mega £££££££££££££££££££££'s no doubt !

Keep on riding mate still sounds good and the pics are tres bon love the bespectacled Austin too !

 

[austin]

Re: Canada & USA 2015

I suppose we were a tad deflated: the weather has taken a turn for the worse - cool and showery again but not so bad really as in between the showers it's quite pleasant. What was/is really getting me down is the campsites. Mostly they are shite! They are geared for RVs really and are little more than gravel car parks with hook ups for the RVs. Tent pitches are limited and usually still on dirty gravel. The Rvs are noisy with some running engines or generators for some reason until late and it all starts early as they set off on their epic journeys at 6am. Motels have been expensive in Alaska at around $120 each time. Oh, the hook ups usually include 70amp electric, water, sewage, and cable TV. The only good bit is that wifi is often included too although not always with useable bandwidth.

I went to a Hammer museum today

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[austin]

Canada & USA 2015

Oh and I forgot to say we had as close an encounter with a grizzly bear as I would want to have yesterday: it was on the cleared area at the dude of the road in the middle of nowhere in Yukon. Just casually eating dandelions and clover, only stopping to sniff the air when we stopped about 150 yards up the road. It then casually ambled up to within about 50 yards at which point the camera was back in the pocket and bike was in gear ready for a quick getaway. It gave another quick sniff and walked to the trees and stood on its back legs - a good 8' tall and bent a small fir tree over to scratch its head and back. Just like Baloo. We watched for 5 minutes or more before it went. Great stuff. Pics are on the camera so will post when uploaded.


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[nick949]

Oh and I forgot to say we had as close an encounter with a grizzly bear as I would want to have yesterday: it was on the cleared area at the dude of the road in the middle of nowhere in Yukon. Just casually eating dandelions and clover, only stopping to sniff the air when we stopped about 150 yards up the road. It then casually ambled up to within about 50 yards at which point the camera was back in the pocket and bike was in gear ready for a quick getaway. It gave another quick sniff and walked to the trees and stood on its back legs - a good 8' tall and bent a small fir tree over to scratch its head and back. Just like Baloo. We watched for 5 minutes or more before it went. Great stuff. Pics are on the camera so will post when uploaded.

Sent from my iPhone with a smile

I can honestly say, I don't envy you. That's one animal best seen through binoculars (or a TV screen). Remember Austin - no eye contact! It will be interpreted as a possible threat.

Oh yes - and he can cover that 50 yards faster than you can drop the clutch. :respect-047: You were lucky.

Nick

 

[Alba]

Oh yes - and he can cover that 50 yards faster than you can drop the clutch. :respect-047:

That's what I was thinking 150 yds would make me squeeze out buttons ......

 

[Lowflyer]

I suppose we were a tad deflated: the weather has taken a turn for the worse - cool and showery again but not so bad really as in between the showers it's quite pleasant. What was/is really getting me down is the campsites. Mostly they are shite! They are geared for RVs really and are little more than gravel car parks with hook ups for the RVs. Tent pitches are limited and usually still on dirty gravel. The Rvs are noisy with some running engines or generators for some reason until late and it all starts early as they set off on their epic journeys at 6am. Motels have been expensive in Alaska at around $120 each time. Oh, the hook ups usually include 70amp electric, water, sewage, and cable TV. The only good bit is that wifi is often included too although not always with useable bandwidth.

I went to a Hammer museum today

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Did you get "hammered" ???

Take more water in it next time

 

[austin]

Re: Canada & USA 2015

Well we are on the ferry but not going anywhere. We made it to Juneau the capital of Alaska but one engine on the boat is broken and the coastguard umm grounded the the ship. Now 3 days delayed and no sign of the part needed. We have unloaded the bike but as Juneau has no road access to the rest of USA or Canada we are stuck on about 50 miles of road. And it's absolutely pissimg down most of the time (300" a year apparently, almost an inch a day . ). The upside is we got a cabin and are now getting free food on the boat. I am sure we will get there eventually.


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[austin]

A selection of photos from the past few days....

The grizzly bear shots
















View from the Campsite in Haines, Alaska




On the road to Haines


Lunch stop


Moose


Worthington Glacier










Just another two glaciers from the road


What you see when you drive off the ferry


and 24miles later of a road I saw about 3 cars on....


Boats with nets out for salmon, which they catch in TONNES.


Slamon ladder in Juneau, there were thousands waiting to go up.....




Views from Juneau Cable car




There's a little story about our trip to Juneau. We could leave the ferry but the queue at the Ferry Terminal's taxi rank for a cab to downtown Juneau was quite long so we decided to give it 10mins hitchhiking and sure enough a car stopped. Lovely lady, with her 9yo son in the car, who proceeded to give us a 2.5hour guided tour Juneau - up the glacier, down to the fish ladder, the local park and natural swimming pool, the governors house, the local loony building a castle, hints and tips of where to go & eat in downtown Juneau (Tracy's King Crab Shack in the end. King Crab is the best ), and finally insisted and buying and paying for the ride up the Cable Car. Talk about good hospitality. I like Alaskans

I think if you right click the photos you should be able to follow the link to my photobucket albums for this trip. They are public, so heres the link anyway.
http://s1180.photobucket.com/user/austi ... ada%202015

 

[-XP-]

Great stuff, Austin.

 

[Steve T]

Well, to quote Alba " . . . I'd be squeezing out buttons . . . . " if I was that close to the big hairy one (the grizzly, not Austin )

Ace photo's, but those bear shots

Steve T

 

[Philwhiskeydrinker]

Re: Canada & USA 2015

Well, to quote Alba " . . . I'd be squeezing out buttons . . . . " if I was that close to the big hairy one (the grizzly, not Austin )

Ace photo's, but those bear shots

Steve T

Come to think of it, the grizzly probably saw Austin & thought 'f.. that'!

 

[Stubbsie]

Nice one Austin, the bear pics were impressive as were the Elk & Salmon pics.

How many miles have you covered now ?

Catch up on the next episode of Austin & Ann in Alaska

 

[austin]

Re: Canada & USA 2015

Little update...... Now on Vancouver island and planning to spend 3 or4 days here. Currently at Goldstream provincial park campground and about to head into Victoria for a look around.

The Alaska ferry eventually left Juneau exactly 3 days late but by dropping one of the ports and going like the clappers made up time and we were "only" 2 days late getting into Bellingham. The extra nights in the cabin and all the subsidised food made it the best value part of the trip . Oh and the trip is truly fantastic. This should be on everyone's bucket list.

More later

Tents on deck. Not ours fortunately given the weather and delays.

Mileage now just over 7,000. The boat "saved" about 2k and the weather is now hot and sunny, but it goes dark at night. Kinda weird after a month of almost 24 hour daylight.


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[Stubbsie]

Nice one Austin, so you didn't do on board camping, that'd be a first to complete ferry camping, could start a trend there

 

[austin]

Re: Canada & USA 2015

WOW good service from Adrenaline motorcycle co-op in Victoria. We rolled in at 1pm soaking wet and within 10minutes a tyre was being fitted while we went for lunch and our stuff was drying in the shop. Cost was $313 incl taxes, fitting/labour and disposal charge. A bit more than expected (I paid about £90 for a tyre and £20 for fitting in UK) but then I didn't just roll up at a workshop and ask for a tyre so all in all I am happy. The old tyre had done nearly 9,000 miles (14,000km), all done two-up and fully loaded, but once off didn't look as worn as it looked on the bike and easily had another 1,000 miles but handling was awful and noisy as it leaned over. It's another 4,000miles back to Montreal so it needed changing.

(I noticed a typo in the last post - mileage then was actually 8,000)


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