Day off in Dawson City.

July 15^th, 2026

Dawson City, Yukon Territory

Slept in a bit today, but not too late.

Got up, got ready and left to go do a few things.

First, I wanted to visit the tourist office to check on what they had on the Dempster.

Walked over the 2 blocks to it, and wandered around a bit checking out the displays.

Then I talked with one of the staff who had some data on the highway, and the next few days weather predictions.

I then walked over to the paddle steamer Keno which was preserved after its retirement in the 1950s.  It now sits up on the shore next to the river and can be toured, though was closed currently.

I then went back to the room to get my other camera and then decided to walk over to the local history museum and the old train hangar next door.

Museum had some nice gardens next door with some old WWI German guns that were brought back and put on display.

The museum itself was in the old city administration building.  A nice set of displays, but not as interesting as I had hoped.

Went next door to the train place, but they were closed.  But could see inside the windows enough to at least see the old locomotives that served the mines in the area back in the day.

Then I walked a few more block over to the Jack London Museum.

Jack London had traveled in the Yukon region in his early life before he was known for writing.  Many of his works were based on his experiences travelling and mining for gold up here.

While the mine was several miles up the canyons and they lived in a cabin nearby, they did come into Dawson City for official business and to get supplies.

The small connection and the fact that it was a local man who in the mid-1960s finally tracked down the cabin from old clues and stories left behind.  They had it dated using the wood and also matched up the wood cut from it by some trappers in the 1930s that had Jack London’s name written on it. 

That board was finally tracked down to the widow of one of those trappers and eventually brought to the cabin where it perfectly matched the spot.  Hand writing experts had also verified that the writing was most probably original as well.

Through some odd partnership, the cabin as eventually retrieved and moved out of the remote area and into Dawson City, but only part of it.

With the partnership, the cabin was cut in half (top and bottom) and the bottom was left here, and the top recreated, and the top when to Oakland California (where London had spent time) and the bottom recreated for display at the Jack London waterfront plaza.

The cabin sits here in Dawson and a building was built to house photos and other history on him and the recovery of the cabin.

Board with Jack London name (Replica, original is in California)

After this, I walked back via the residential roads.  Some really nice old homes built up here.

Saw my first kitty cat in town, who just stared at me for a bit, but did not come over.

Then walked back into town.

Stopped again at the bank, same issue.

Called the Card Services number, and got voicemail!!

Left a message, went over to the other market to buy some stuff, then back to the room.

I then called the regular call center number, talked to them and after 15 minutes of trying, they were also unable to reach anyone in that department!  So, they send an urgent email.

Never did hear back.  I am thinking my time at this bank may be coming to an end, been having lots of issues with them lately.

I then stopped at the local Jamaican restaurant as I was hungry, but the Greek place I wanted to eat at did not open till 5pm.  It was only 3, so figured I would have something light to get me by.

I tried to order a beef pattie (A Jamaican dish), but they were out!

So had tacos with jerk seasoned chicken instead.  Very good food.

I then walked back to hotel and bummed around for awhile working on various things.

Walked back over to the Greek place and had dinner, but ordered a bit too much, so stuff right now.

Back at the hotel I then edited a video and got it uploaded, and now trying to get these blog entries caught up.

I have also packed a bit, but will finish in the morning.

Not in a hurry tomorrow, will get up usual time, get ready and then go to store to buy water, then stop at bank and see if they will exchange US currency (unless my bank calls me back with a solution before then).

Otherwise, will have to hope the credit card will work everywhere up north.  I have heard some places do not take them, and other times they cannot take them due to outages, so a bit concerned here.  Great time for my bank to do have something stupid going on and have such poor service.

I will then load the bike, check out and go get fuel at the only station in town.

That should be enough to get me to the first stop tomorrow, though I will carry the extra fuel as well, and there appears to be an unmanned credit card only stop right at the start of the northbound road, so if that is there, I will top off there again, which should give me enough for sure.

Then we will start heading north.  Going to be a bit uneasy though, it has rained a good amount here in town tonight, so if that same rain hit the Dempster, it could make things interesting, possibly enough that might have to abandon the trip and turn around.

Will need to monitor it as I go, see how things are and make a decision, once I reach a certain distance, I will be committed at least to the next fuel stop.

Catch ya down the road.

Top of the World – Back in Canada

July 14^th, 2026

Dawson City, Yukon Territory

Woke normal time and got ready.

Loaded the bike and checked over the room, then rode around to the front of the place.

It was open, so went inside to check out and spent a bit of time talking with the owners.  

More Arizona connections!  Older guy had grown up in Tucson.  Younger guy spent time in Chandler.  And while we were talking, and RV pulled up, and when they came inside, turns out that family was also from Tucson and had seen my AZ plates on the bike.

Once done talking, I got on the bike and headed east.

The road turns to gravel now and for the first few miles, it was a bit tricky.  Very steep hills, tight corners, and road surface was bit rough, and gravel was random in spots.

Then I came upon a section they were actively grading, which tends to make things worse for a while.  Lots of loose dirt, larger rocks pulled up and laying around.  It can smooth out some sections, either grading them down, or filling the holes with dirt, but still rough.

Finally past that the road started to level out some, and gravel became less, so was able to get speed up some.  Still wash boarded badly, but that 32 MPH trick still worked to keep me from being vibrated to death. 

Speaking of vibrations, while I was stopped to take some photos, I noticed another casualty of the rough roads (either the Dalton or recent road).  My headlight bulb was out.  There are 3 bulbs in the housing, a daytime light (dim), the main headlight (on all the time) and the high beam (manual activation only, cannot be left on). 

The main light, which would be very important if I was in the dark, and which I had just replaced about 8 months ago, was out again.  Assuming the vibration?  I will try to look up inside when I get somewhere I can do that, perhaps the wiring just came loose?

Since we do not get dark up here, I can probably get away with it for now, but will need to try getting it fixed when I get down south again where darkness will come upon me.

I reached the junction for the Top of the World highway, and turned off onto it.

Road was again decent, and then suddenly turned into the most wonderfully smooth asphalt!  The last 8 miles to the border were like this.

I stopped along here at the Top of The World roadhouse.  Just a small collection of buildings, but a gift shop and small bit of food and drink.

Lady came up from behind the area, was cleaning the RV.  But was able to buy a Coke and something to snack on.

Had good conversation and then went out and got back on the road.

Pulled up to the Canada border post, the guys came out (2 this time) and while one asked me the usual odd questions, the other reviewed my passport, recorded bike plate and looked over things, I guess.

When done, that guy who seemed a bit more human (other had zero personality and was borderline rude), told me to stop in at the visitor center in Dawson City to get the latest info on the Dempster Highway (I had mentioned that was my first plans in Canada).

I then rolled into Canada and started the last 50 miles to reach Dawson City.

Road was again gravel, but mostly thin gravel on a hard packed base.  Kept decent speed up, though had to be careful with the winds.  There were not many trees up here and when you hit the open spaces the winds would hammer you and push you around.

Finally came down a bit into the trees and things were better.

We then reached the steeper downhill sections that brough you down to the edge of the Yukon River.

Here was the ferry loading zone.

Pulled up into the lane for smaller vehicles.  I could see the ferry on the other side was still unloading, so figured I had a few minutes.

I had noticed a few miles back that the cell service has resumed, so I activated the international data roaming again and was able to get online.

I checked and found a few options for hotels, none of them cheap, so finally booked on and felt a bit more relieved.

Ferry arrived soon after.

The person directing traffic onto the ferry was standing about 100 feet away with a small sign, was difficult to know who she was pointing at.  I started to follow the two cars that she seems to have called forth, but then she got really animated and I finally could see she wanted me to stop.

Then she had a large truck pull into the middle of the ferry, then called me and some bikes farther back in the queue to come up.

We all filled in on the sides of the truck, and then some cars in behind.  The 2 large camper RVs waiting would have to wait till the next ferry.

Pulled out and cross the river in about 3 minutes.

Once on the other side, we all pulled off the ferry and up the hill into town.

I turned off the main highway and went a block over to find the hotel.

Parked in front on the dirt road and went inside. 

Checked in and then found out they really did not have parking like indicated online.

The main parking was just on the streets, but there was a parking lot a block behind that was theirs.

I then found out I was in the annex building across the road as well.

Went out to the bike, saw the building and also noticed it was flatter on that side, and another bike was already in front, so I was able to pull in behind it and park right in front of the doors.

Still had to carry the gear onto the boardwalk, up the stairs, into the entrance foyer, into the main hall, up the stairs and into the room.

So, several trips later I was done and started to cover the bike up.

During that time, the owner of the other bike came out and we talked a bit.  Turns out they had been a group of 3 and things had not been going well.  One of the group members had a death in the family and had to depart sooner. 

This guy and his friend had managed to complete the Dempster, but at a huge cost.

The friend’s bike had broken the frame around the engine, and his bike had blown a fork seal and made a mess of his brake disc and caliper.

He was planning to get his bike fixed down the highway in Whitehorse, but friends’ bike was still a huge unknown.

He asked if I was going to hit the town that night, guess there are quite a few bars and people make the rounds and try to hit the one with the Toe drink challenge. (You have to drink a small glass of whiskey with the mummified toe from ages ago in it and let it touch your lips to get a certificate and belong to the Toe club!) 

I said I might be out tonight, at least would go find food somewhere.

Finished putting the bike away and then went up to change and figure out what I was going to do tonight.

Decided to try a Greek place down the street and also stop at the market to buy some stuff for the room.

Greek place was closed for a private party, but did manage to get my drinks.

Also stopped at the bank to use ATM, as I need to get more Canadian cash. 

But something is preventing my use, keeps telling me my bank declined the transaction.

I will have to deal with it tomorrow since I am staying 2 nights to rest and work on stuff.

Went back to the room, then found that the saloon in the hotel has food, so walked over to that one.  Turns out this is the Toe place as well.

Sat at the bar, tried to order the Nachos, but they were out of them??  Odd thing to be out of since most of the ingredients were used in same foods they were still serving.

Had a chicken sandwich instead and listened to all the people being called up to kiss the toe.  I am thinking I will pass on this, mainly as I do not drink, and not sure I want to alter that just for this odd ritual.

Once done eating, I went back to the room and worked on a few things, but was very tired, so decided to turn in early.

See you tomorrow.

Todays Route:

Heading to the Top of the World

July 13^th, 2026

Chicken, Alaska

Woke normal time this morning. 

Showered, geared up some, had breakfast, and then loaded the bike.

Once ready, we checked out of the room, put on the final gear and set the GPS and got on the road.

Right away I ignored the GPS as I wanted to go take the northern route vs the southern route out of town.  Would add about 3 miles is all, and I had passed a cool field of yellow flowers several times and kept forgetting to stop and photograph it, so wanted to do that before leaving.

This would then allow me to use the same Circle K to fuel up since they seemed to be the cheapest fuel in the area, and it will only go up in price as I head away from the city.

Road up and stopped at the field.  Took a few photos, but did not think to check the signs for the history of the place, but not really that concerned, was just cool looking.

Back on the road we found the faster highway and headed for the fuel station.

Stopped to fuel up and then used the restroom.

Got onto the highway again and headed south.  This road will then branch off and take me south east, back toward Tok, Alaska, near where I originally entered Alaska.

The road was pretty dull to be honest.  First few miles were just more city, and then crossed the Air Force base, though nothing to see there.

Then just more straight roads, few hills, couple of curves and occasional river views.

Stopped a few times for various reasons before reaching the town of Delta Junction.

This was where the highway heading south connects and where I would have come up if I had decided to take the Denali Highway route, but I chose to not take the extra time and milage.  Oddly I did read online a report from someone who just completed it and the road has been mostly chip sealed, so only about 30 miles of gravel left, so might not have been as slow a day as I thought.

Stopped in Delta Junction to use restroom, and was hungry.  They had a Three Bears store there, which I have stopped at often in Alaska.  Convenience store, grocery, fuel, hot food usually, and sometimes full sporting goods as well.

Went in to use restroom, bought a few things to eat and then stood at the bike to eat.

I had seen a large aircraft flying overhead as I came into town, and now it kept circling over the area.  Large gray military plane.  Guessing another base nearby and someone is flying some kind of training.

Back on the road I reached the highway junction and headed east on the road that will bring me back to Tok.

Again, not much to see along here, few nice views, but a lot of the same as well.

Reached Tok and stopped at the Three Bears there to fuel up the tank.  Also went inside to buy some drinks and snacks since I was not sure there would be anything to buy at my destination.

Left Tok and backtracked on the same highway I came into Alaska on for about 10 miles, then turned north on the Elliot Highway, which heads up to Chicken and Eagle Alaska, as well as links up with the Top of the World Highway which takes you back into Canada.

This road was smaller, and had some rough spots in it.  Several gravel sections as well, but mostly paved up to Chicken.

Saw lots of vehicles heading south, but only had 1 car pass me and some bicyclists heading same direction as me.

Some great views along the way, but did not stop much, mainly as there was not any good place to stop.

Finally pulled into Chicken, which is really just two RV parks, a small row of buildings and some old buildings and junk left from the mining days.  I think about 10 people live here and not sure any of them stay year-round.  (The road is closed in winter).

Found the Goldpanner RV park, right next to the Chicken Creek.

Pulled up and the place was closed!  But I spied a note stuck on the door and when I walked up it had my name on it.

Directions for getting into the room I had booked.  While I should have camped (much cheaper), I was a bit sore still and wanted a more comfortable sleep, so paid the crazy price for a room, though it was a nice room.

Parked outside the room and unloaded the bike.

Once done I checked the area for anything and there were 2 possible food places that appeared to still be open.

Road the bike back to the road, then back over to the other road which lead to the other RV park (and the airport).

Explored the area first as they had more chicken art work around, and one of the old gold mining dredges was left here and had been restored a bit for tourist visits, though it was closed now.

I then stopped at the “Main Street” which was 3 small buildings, some old abandoned fuel pumps and an area of picnic tables.

The buildings had a mercantile (gift shop), saloon, and café (which was closed).  The saloon had listed a few food items, but when I went inside after exploring the gift shop, the place was just a small bar, dirt floor, ceiling hanging full of hats, bras and underwear, some music playing and lots of people standing around drinking.

Left and figured I would try my luck with the bigger place down by the RV park.

This place, the Outpost, was another large gift shop, and had a small seating area and outdoor patio for dining.  The menu was limited, and I only had about 45 minutes left before the kitchen closed, so went ahead and ordered a sandwich and a coke.

Small sandwich, which appeared made from basic stuff, nothing fancy, and it and the small bowl of soup was $24!  Crazy.  But it was actually very good soup and the sandwich really did hit the spot.

I then bought a sticker for the bike, and rode back over to my place.

Parked up the bike across from the room and secured and covered it.

While doing that, some guy pulled up on a German plated bike asking if I knew where the campground was as he has just paid for a camping spot at the kiosk.

I assumed it was back behind where all the RV slots were (which were all empty oddly).

I went in to grab my phone and using the wireless found it was actually across the creek, and had to find a smaller road and only bikes could go back.  Had a small suspension bridge that went over creek to get back to the main building.

I went out to see if he was still looking, but he was already setup in one of the RV spots.  I did show him what I found, but we both agreed that he would just stay put, not like they were busy or anything.

Went back inside to grab camera and then did some photos for me and some stuff for the cat rescue. (I have an image of the rescue mascot, taking photos and videos in interesting places to post for them).

I then worked on converting videos rest of the night since I could not get the wireless to work anymore, so unable to research places to stay in my next stop tomorrow.  Will just have to wing it.

Finally went to bed as I was exhausted.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Bike repairs and laundry day.

July 12^th, 2026

Fairbanks, Alaska

Woke today at 8am, and immediately went back to sleep.  I was just not feeling it.

Woke later around 10am and decided I had better get up as I did have things to do today.

Showered and took care of the morning stuff, and then put on the riding pants and the new shirt I had bought the other day.

Grabbed the chain guard, tools, and new bolts and went outside to fix this issue.

I first made sure the bolts would go into the holes, but the back bolt (the one that fell out) would not thread.

Guessed it was full of grime, so used a bit of steel wool from my tool kit and clean out the threads, and now it works.

Got both in and was about to tighten them when I realized I had forgotten the Loctite!

Pulled them out and then applied Loctite to the first one and had it mostly in when I noticed another issue.

The hex head of the bolt was barely larger than the hole in the guard, so as I tightened it, it would just push into the hole a bit and after enough vibration would likely just let the guard fall off.  The head of the old bolt was twice as large.

I dug out the spare bolt kit I had brought and found two washers that were the right size for the bolt, and much larger diameter.

I had already pulled the bolt back out, so pulled off the rubber O-rings and put on the washers, then replaced the rings, and then applied Loctite to each as I installed them.

Made sure it was all aligned correctly and tightened the bolts really good using the socket.  So much easier than the Philips screwdriver the old bolt used.

I then oiled the chain as it was dried out from time, dust, and the washing yesterday.

Next, I pulled the shock socks off to inspect the fork seals, they looked good, but decided to clean them one more time.

Pulled up the dust caps and ran the cleaner around the seal, got a small bit of grime on one side, but other was still clean.

Put it all back, and decided to leave the socks off until we reach a good dusty road or some bad weather.  I had read you should not run them all the time, only when conditions required.

Put the chain adjustment guide on and the chain is just slightly loose, but not enough I am going to mess with it today, will see how bad it is after the next big dirt road we will start later this week.

Put everything away, and went inside the room to store it and clean up.

Next was laundry.

Gathered up all the dirty stuff I wanted to wash, only things I would not get clean was the socks and underwear I had on, will sink wash them later today and hope they dry in time.

I wore just my light shoes, no reason to take the boots for the short trip. (I wanted to let them dry a bit, had cleaned them earlier with the brush and it was still wet from its own cleaning, so boots were bit wet on outside).

Loaded up the bike and then grabbed helmet and gloves and riding jacket and left the hotel.

We went back to the same laundry place across town.  Its really expensive, but very nice place with lots of nice decent machines. (unlike the run-down dump on the side of town closer to me I had tried last time I stayed here).

I arrived at the place and took everything inside.

I still had my card from last time with the 20 cents still on it, so figured I would buy just enough to use that 20 cents and zero out the card.

Found the smallest machines and checked the price for a wash ($8).  Would need to do this twice.  One time for all the clothes, then I would change into my normal pants so I could wash the riding gear at that time.

Dryers were $6 still for the middle sized units.  They only have 2 smaller dryers, so of course they were always full since they were only $4. 

I then checked and laundry soap (stuff I brought was gone) was $2.50 a piece, and would need 2 of them.

Added it up and went over to add the money to my card.

Well, guess what, they do not let you add less than $1 increments.  Nice little profit setup they have for people not familiar with the process.  Many of the wash cycles are not whole dollar amounts, so even locals will eventually have left over funds on the card that cannot be used.  While they might use them in time, for all the people like myself (probably half the customer base), many will leave with something less than a dollar on the card.  After a bit of time, I guess those amounts will get forfeited if you never use them.

So, I will lose that 20 cents.

I went over and bought the soap, or so I thought, when I got to machine, I realized it was just stain remover!  Oh well, not going to spend more money, so just used it, should still clean some.

Ran the first wash cycle, and then noticed my balance seemed off.  Ran the numbers and realized I had added $2 more than I needed.  Now I am going to lose that too??

I checked the vending machines and they had cans of soda for $2, so just bought one of them.  Did not really need it, but at least got something for my money, and that price is actually not bad for this area, many charge even more.

I then bought the 2^nd soap, making sure it was correct stuff this time.

Once load was done, I put them in dryer and ran that cycle.

Wash and dryer cycles run about 25 minutes each.

When dryer was done, I pulled out the clothes, sorted and folded everything. 

First thing I noticed was my winter gloves did not dry well.  The inserts of course were all messed up, so going to have fun getting the fingers lined up again.  One of the gloves had the small tab on end of drawstring pop off, though I found both pieces and it was not broken, so was able to put it back, mostly, still not like the other glove.

That glove was still soaking wet inside.  Somehow it had run the entire dryer cycle without drying at all.

I put it aside so I could go change.  Took the pants into the restroom and got out of the riding pants.

Put the riding gear into washer and started it.

Then worked on the glove.

First, I pulled then liners inside out and out of the glove, that way they would dry better than all crumpled up.

For the soaking wet one, I wrung it out over the trash, then grabbed several paper towels and pressed the glove between those layers.  Then set them on edge of table to let dry.

Once washer was done, I pulled out the gear and checked it over.  The pants are still stained pretty bad; this road grime is brutal up here.

Gear cannot be run in dryer, so will have to let them air dry in the hotel, so the fun part will be getting the wet gear back.

I cannot wear it since still very damp, and cool enough outside already.

I will take a back road home to avoid the higher speeds since I will not have any gear but the helmet and gloves on.

I was able to arrange the bag straps in such a way to hold jacket and pants on the back of the bike (rest of stuff goes in the panniers).

Rode back to hotel without issue and hung the gear up in the closet area.

Put the rest of the clothes away where they get stored except the stuff I needed for tomorrow.  I did change into clean underwear, will just use them in the morning.  They joy of long-distance bike travel, cannot be too picky about how clean things are.

Took the other pair and the socks I had on into the bathroom and washed them in the sink and hung them over shower rod to hopefully dry overnight.  Will see if that happens.

Took the wet gloves and put them in the window on the narrow sill and hopefully the sun which will shine in that window for next several hours will help dry them.

I then washed the helmet off as it was still dirty and put a few things on chargers to get them back up to full.

I then rode over to Taco Bell to have a late lunch/early dinner.  Ordered a larger meal than normal to account for it being the only meal I will have today.

Stopped next door at the grocer to pick up a candy bar for a snack later and some more tea to drink tonight.

Back at the room I secured and covered the bike and sat down to work on the computer.

The first task was to get my financials done. 

I balance my accounts, verify all the credit card charges are accurate, make sure hotel security deposits are returned (more on this later), and update my tracking for cashflow and spending. 

Tonight I found that the hotel in Soldotna I left on the 3^rd still had not returned the $200 deposit they took.  Called them up and the lady checked and found that no, they had not processed that return yet.  She promised me she would notify the manager right away and notate it in the books.  She saw the note it was to be returned as no damage was found, but for some reason it was never processed.  Hopefully the manager will take care of it in the morning.

I matched up my receipts and emails to the credit card history online and it all matched up.

Then updated the cashflow and spending records.

Next, I updated the daily spending on Food, Fuel and Lodging I am creating, and another master list with all spending on it.  This record should allow me to show a final cost for the trip and break it out into several categories.

I then paid off the credit card.  (Low limit card, so I need to keep it paid to keep using it.)

Then I was able to toss all the receipts and make my wallet much thinner!

Then we worked on a few images I needed, and uploaded all 4 blog entries that I wrote while out of internet range.

Now just need to finish this one and post it.

Rest of the night I will work on getting video footage converted.  Always need to go through the 360 footage and pick the framing I want to use and export that so it can be edited into the final work.

Tomorrow I will be back on the road, already made my hotel reservation for my destination.  I was thinking of camping (10 times cheaper), but next week may be nothing but camping, so figured one more hotel night would be helpful to finish any charging, online work, and get a good sleep and shower before I end up in campground that may not allow any of that.

Catch ya down the road.

Last day on the Dalton, back to civilization

July 11^th, 2026

Fairbanks, Alaska

Woke at 6:30 am again, bladder again.  Maybe I do not need the alarm on the phone anymore.

After walking to café and back I sat in the tent for a bit and then started packing things up and tearing down the sleeping gear.

Changed into riding gear and then carried stuff to the bike and uncovered.

I tore down the tent and finally had all the gear over at the bike.

This was of course after eating breakfast and with several stops to talk with other campers, so took longer than usual.  Also stopped to buy a t-shirt at the gift shop.

I then loaded the bike up and once done said my goodbyes to the others I had been talking with over the last day or more.  One guy was still heading north, other couple was going same way I was, likely see each other on the road later, I am sure.

Final visit to the restroom and got on the bike and rode over to the highway, across and into the visitor center lot.

They were not open yet though, so used the trash bins to toss some trash I had in my pocket (napkins and old tape from where I re-did the repair job on the pannier, other tape was already peeling off).

I then rode back to the road and realized that I had not driven the ¼ mile of road between the two driveways into the Coldfoot stop.  I used the closest drive each time, so this small section of road was never driven on. 

As we cannot have that, I turned north, rode up to the other driveway, did a U-Turn and came back.  Now I can say I rode the entire route.

Heading south the road quickly turned back to gravel, but this was the stuff you could keep good speed on. 

Day wore on and traffic was light, but road also had its rough sections.  Odd how the north lanes are not as bad as the south, or vice versa in the same section of road.

Did come upon the rougher sections again, and had to slow down some.

Made a few stops for restroom breaks, or to fix something coming loose or resolve an odd issue with maps or the cameras.

I finally reached the Yukon River fuel station, but as I had more than enough fuel, I decided to skip the top off of the tank, mainly as there were already 6 bikes waiting, and this is the place you have to drop off your card, get the key attached to paddle and then photo the price and go back inside to pay.

I did go inside though and bought a Coke and a sticker to put on my new top case when I finally get to install it. (Its sitting back home having arrived about 10 days after I left).

While I was drinking my Coke outside, the coupe from the Coldfoot camp rolled in.  They had left a bit after me, and finally caught up.

Spent a bit of time talking with them and another group that was heading north and asking about the road.

I also talked a bit with a guy who was not having a very good day.  The ignition coil on his BMW bike had failed (or at least that was what he and BMW support had decided).  He was not even sure if there is a BMW shop in Fairbanks which is still 3 hours south, and if he would be able to get someone to haul bike down, or he would have to hitch a ride down, then come back up.

Those are the kind of break downs that create horror stories of waiting and dealing with the remote nature of these kinds of trips.  Not a part one would think to bring along either.

Then about that time I look down at my bike and notice my chain guard is hanging off to the side.  Upon closer inspection, one of the bolts had vibrated itself out and is now part of the road somewhere.

I tried all my spare bolts (a kit for Japanese bikes), but none of them would fit.

I used 3 small zip ties to connect it, hoping that would hold till I got to town in 3 hours.

I finally got back on the bike, and then rode across the street to use the toilet at the visitor center as the café was quite busy at the moment with two small tour vans that had pulled in.

Back on the highway I headed south and not too far down the road came upon road construction.   Took some time, but finally got through that and the final miles of the Dalton Highway.

Of course, once off the Dalton, you still have about 60 miles to go to reach Fairbanks.

But at least most of that route is paved.

Well, it was paved.

In the 3 days between my riding up and now coming back, they had ripped apart several miles of the road to resurface and made a mess of things.

Another one-way construction zone and we had to wait 20 minutes to even start going down it.  Caught up with the other bikers at that point too, though I did not ride up to the front to talk with them as I knew they would go faster than I would once we left anyway.

I also noticed while waiting that my chain guard was hanging off again, all 3 zip ties having broken off.  The roads here are just hell on equipment.

Once through that very long work zone, I caught stuck behind a truck for a while.  He was going really well, but then the hills started, and still lots of loose dirt and gravel from work that had been done in last few days.

I finally decided to just pass him when we were on a larger hill, and did not need to conserve the fuel anymore, would just make it.

Thankfully once I got past him, the roads stayed up and down hills and tight corners, so I could zoom through those and he would never catch up with me.

I finally reached the edge of town and stopped at the Circle K to fuel up as I had about 20 miles of fuel left at that point.

I went inside to use the restroom and wash my hands, and of course no paper towels, and air dryer is broken!

Back outside I had thought I might try to fix the bike, but parking lot was jammed with cars coming and going, seemed to suddenly be a very, very popular place.

I road across the street to the Wal-Mart, which has a huge lot and found a spot with a small amount of shade from a tree.

I found a pin in my spare parts that was slightly larger than the hole, so shouldn’t pull through, and I could bend the pin around the end to at least hold things one.  It was bumping the chain at times, but still better than nothing.

I then checked online to find a hotel for the night, and found nothing cheaper than the $200 a night place I stayed last time, so booked 2 nights there so I could have time tomorrow to do laundry and clean gear.

I rode over to the hotel, which only takes about 15 minutes, and got checked in.

Unloaded the bike, and cleaned my face and hands a bit, then once bike was empty, I did some online updates, and then took the tools out and removed the rear foot peg so I could get the other bolt out of the chain guard and just remove it.

Guard was just caked with mud and grime.

Put it in the shower and cleaned it off so I could attach it again tomorrow.

I then reassembled the bike, took the good bolt with me and rode a block down the road to the Ace hardware store.

I found the metric bolt pretty quick and even found a type that can go on with a socket instead of a screwdriver, so easier to install now, do not need to remove rear foot peg.

I will replace both bolts so its same type.  The old bolt had a small section of metal that fit into the hole of the guard, so we found some small O-rings that should compress into the spot and keep the plastic from rattling or shifting after I bolt them down.

I then picked up some Loctite as well to secure them.

Once done, I rode up the road to the car wash I used last time and just blasted all the bike parts below the seat.  The dirt was caked on nearly an inch think in places and could not even see some parts of the bike. 

Took about 8 minutes to clean everything off of the heavy grime.  Still a ton of dirt, but just surface stuff and a few spots I missed or where grime dripped down from higher parts and dried on.

After the wash I took a short detour to ride about 5 minutes to air the bike out and then stopped at Arby’s for dinner.  Had not eaten in nearly 13 hours.

I then went across the road to the grocery store to pick up more water to refill my supply and a bottle of tea to drink.

Once back at the hotel, I unloaded that stuff, covered and secured the bike and took a long overdue shower.

After moving today’s footage off the cameras, I typed this blog up and will upload it all later as I am very tired and going to go to bed here soon.

Tomorrow I will upload the last few blogs, update some more photos perhaps on Facebook, go do laundry and clean all the cloths and the riding gear (pants are filthy).

Will also put the chain guard back on and oil the chain.  I will also check the chain with my handy chain adjustment tool and tighten in if needed, which it probably does. Assuming I can figure out how to do that, never actually done it before.

Then will try to work on videos tomorrow and plot out the next few days riding.

I was thinking of going back south and riding the Denali Highway, but its 135 miles of gravel, 2 hours south of here, and would take me nearly the whole day to ride and get back to the highway I need to be on to leave Alaska.  And there are not many places to stay along the route, and some quick research during dinner showed most of the campgrounds were booked up, so unless the there are some empty spots in the first come sites the hold back, I would be stuck in the middle of nowhere or having to ride all the way out and even there the hotel options are very limited.

So will just have to skip what I have been told is one of the best roads in Alaska and come back someday for it.

I will just leave Fairbanks and head toward the border, but likely stay the night in a small town before I cross.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Dalton Highway - Southbound - Return to Coldfoot

July 10th, 2026

Coldfoot, Alaska

Woke at 6:30 am and dressed enough to go get breakfast.

Once I had eaten, returned to room, took a shower and got into riding gear.

Packed everything up and then carried it all into the lobby again to avoid the shoe issue.

Once it was all out, I used restroom and checked over the room, then went out and changed into the riding boots.

Now I could take things out and load the bike.

Went out and it was starting to sprinkle, so things were slightly wet.

Uncovered the bike and slowly loaded up.

While putting on the roll bag on top of the pannier on one side the mounting anchor pulled away from the bad completely!  So now I cannot cinch it down tight.  Yeah, this luggage is going to go, it served light use around town good, but not standing up to heavier usage

I spent a few minutes talking with a guy who had walked past me as I was going back inside and drove off, but then came back few minutes later while I was still loading.  He had noticed the AZ plates when he left, so wanted to know if I had really ridden up from AZ.

Turns out he has family in the Tucson area.  (Actually, lady running the front desk has a place on the west side of Phoenix as well, seem to run into lots of people up here).

I asked the front desk lady if the general store across the way was just food or lots of stuff, and she said it had bit of everything.  I needed duct tape to fix the bag, so figured I could get it there.  I took of boots and went back to room one last time to use restroom and do a final check, then checked out of the room and left.

Rode bike across the road to the store and actually was able to park in front of the sign I could not reach last night.

Went inside and guy showed me the tape, and they actually had gorilla tape which I thought might work better, and would look better as it is black going on a black bag.

Bought the tape and went outside to fix the mounting anchor.  Tape was not sticking as well as I hoped, probably combination of the cold plastic, light moisture and dirt on the bag, will probably need to fix it again later when I can take time to clean it better.

Took a few seconds to take my photos and then left to ride up the road to the fuel station.

The guy from AZ I had talked with had told me there were putting something on the roadway that I would not be able to ride on.  Turns out they were putting large plates across the road, probably to move something heaving on without damaging the road, but they were about 6 inches high and uneven, so had to find a way to ride around them.

Thankfully they still had one lane open on this end, so was able to ride past after they had the front loaders doing the work move out of the way to let me and another truck by.

For the next section, I had to ride through the parking lot of another hotel to get over to the fuel stop.

Took a bit of time to figure out the pumps, but then filled up the bike and my spare bag (I had emptied it into the bike last night to avoid having to store it on the bike full overnight.)

Then I backtracked to the main road via the parking lot again and headed to the highway.

It was cold and raining a bit, thankfully I had put on the rain gear while fueling as the rain was coming down there too.

The ride back was nice on the good asphalt and did not see hardly any cars.  I had left town at 9:00am, so must take a while before the highway traffic picks up.

Soon reach the rougher road and then the dirt.

I had noticed yesterday that the south bound lanes seemed to have less gravel and this proved to be true, far less thick and easier to maintain speed.

I probably made the return trip in about half the time, only having to slow down a few times for the really rough spots that I could not maintain speed in without losing control.

I also only stopped maybe twice to piss or adjust something.  Usually took photos during the stops as well.

I did manage to keep speed up in the lesser spots without the gravel being so thick.

Reach the road works and had to wait again, and this time there was a car in front of me and a semi-truck behind me.

The road was also bit worse today, they had put lots of loose dirt down and steam rolled it, but was still soft and moved a bit under the wheels of the heavier vehicles, and that caused random ruts that were moving my wheels around.

The pass was difficult again as the steep hills and looser gravel kept me in 2^nd gear for much of the trip up and down.

I then was able to get better speed rest of the way till the pavement began again without any real incidents and traffic was still lighter today than yesterday.

Arrived in Coldfoot and fueled the bike up right away.

Then I had to decide.

I had thought about doing a marathon and pushing all the way to Fairbanks tonight.

That would mean another 5-6 hours of riding, and had already been on the bike nearly 7 hours.

Or I could camp in the grass field again, bugs and all and it was warm again, so would be bit stuffy.

But was too tired and while the road south is not as bad as the road north, still not something to ride when tired.

So rode over and setup the tent and loaded gear into it.  Then changed into lighter clothes and went into the café for the buffet.

Sat on the covered deck which was cooler (though still few mosquitos to deal with)

Typed up last night’s blog and tonight’s.

Will have to upload later though, still not internet.

Now I will go back to the tent and put out the air mattress, then maybe sit outside for a bit, or come back and sit in the bar area, have a drink or something.

Then will be in bed early so we can get going tomorrow, though might not push out too soon, have all day and only need about 6 hours.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Dalton Highway – Northbound - Part 2

July 9th, 2026

Deadhorse, Alaska

Woke early this morning, 6:30ish, mainly as my bladder said to get up.

After walking over to the café to use restroom and back, I was awake enough I decided to just pack up and get an early start.

Changed into riding gear (which is not easy in a tent) and packed up the bags.

Uncovered the bike and started to bring bags over, but not putting them on yet.  Tore down the tent, which was a bit damp along the bottom edges from the grass which had been dew covered this morning.

Once everything was carried over to the bike, I started to load it up as usual.

Rode the bike over to the café and went inside to have the breakfast buffet.

Used restroom one last time and then we hit the road.

Turned out of the Coldfoot station lot (which is all gravel) and the road was still paved going north.  It was a rough pavement, with several gravel repair sections and some other just beat up sections, but at least could keep decent speed.

Stopped along the road for some photos and to fix the GPS, and then went onward a bit more till I reached a rest area and had to use it.

Not long after this the road moved to gravel, but mostly hard dirt with light layer of gravel on top, so still keep speed up good.  Few rough sections and some loose stuff now and then.

Started climbing in altitude as we approached the one big pass on the route.  Atigun Pass reaches around 4000 feet (did not see sign, and do not have internet right now to check).

The road up was steep!  And the gravel was bit heavier and looser here, so slowed things down a bit.  We had been on some really rough road the last 10 miles or so and that had also slowed things.

I have noticed with this bike that I cannot find a speed that will smooth out the washboard as easily on this road, mainly because there are also dips, bumps, rocks and just rough rock/asphalt chunks everywhere so there is not rhythm that can be found with the bumps.

And at about 40MPH the bike basically becomes uncontrollable, bouncing all over and the gravel just gets things slipping side to side.  Sadly, you have to stay around 20MPH to keep the vibration to a level that will not kill you or the bike.

I see the other bikes roaring down the roads, so not sure if this is an issue with the Suzuki suspension, perhaps related to the fork seal oil being lower than normal, though I recall similar bouncing on the other gravel/dirt roads this trip, just not as bad.

Or is the bike too light to counter the bumps, but heaving enough to feel them all the way?

I know the 50/50 tires are not the best for this type of surface.  They really are better in fine gravel and dirt, but the larger rock gravel just rolls the tires around.  Probably should run a 60/40 or 70/30 offroad tire on this road, but then all the highway miles getting here would suck.  I think this might be why I hear of people putting on different tires in Fairbanks or Dawson City for those running up the Dempster Highway which is very similar (just longer).

Either way, we just went slow, which was a bit of an issue with the cars and trucks which started to pick up on the other side as well.

Once down off the pass, we hit a road works area that was a one lane setup where you had to follow the pilot car through the route.  And it was long, probably 10 miles at least.

Oddly I was the only one needing to go through, so got to run behind the pickup on my own.

Past the road works a bit and the road became hard packed dirt again, and things were nice for a short time, then it went to crap again.

Very washboard, rocks jutting up, large pot holes and bumpy areas, all combined in many cases, and sometimes wet with Calcium Chloride sprayed all over the road.

The gravel became very think as well.  Would just push the bike all over the place, could not keep a straight line in it, and was always having to get over in it for passing trucks.

Had to stop several times along this stretch.  Once to piss, once to see if my tire was flat because I could not keep bike going straight, and a few times just to relax my hands or wait for a truck.

Short bit of rougher asphalt relieved things, but then it was back to the bumps and gravel, just without the wetness this time.

Finally reached asphalt again about 50 miles out from Deadhorse, was rough in many spots, but what a relief!

And then amazingly, after about 10 miles the road became a wonderfully smooth flat road across the tundra!

Finally, could let me hands and arms relax a little and get some speed up. (Still needed to stay under 55, this was longest stretch between fuel I had attempted so far and at this point I was showing only about 30 miles of range beyond what I needed, so was going to be close.

Was not paying close attention and only at the last moment did I see the heard of about 8 musk oxen grazing off to the side of the road.  Got the camera going, but only after I passed, so probably will not see much.

Finally reached the edge of Deadhorse where the highway ended, and we went onto the loose gravel local roads.

I had marked the general store in town as my destination, as they are the place with the Welcome to Deadhorse sign that everyone always gets a photo with.

This meant about 2 miles of local road to reach that place.  I saw the store and the sign and was in the parking lot heading for it and then 2 pickups pulled in from other area and both parked right in front of it!  The timing of it all. (To be fair, the area is a parking spot, and the store had the hardware store in it which I am sure is used often).

I stopped nearby and checked my phone and as I feared, still no service.  So could not research any place to stay.

My idea of visiting and then riding back to the Galbraith campground was not going to happen.  That was 2-3 hours back down the road near the bottom of the pass with all the horrible road slowing things down.

I just pulled across the road to the large Brooks Camp lodging place and inquired about a room there.

All of the lodging in town exists primarily to house the oil workers and other contractors in town for work.  It has only been in the last 20 years or so that they all started to take tourists as well on a regular basis.  They have catered to the hunting and fishing groups that would come up in the region more in the past, but now you have all the highway drivers like myself, going up just to drive the road and reach the most northern spot in North America you can drive to.

The lady at the desk checked and said she did have space, and then spent some time trying to find where to put me.  It was not cheap!  $425 for 1 night in a small room that barely fit the single bed and recliner with some floor space in front of the sink and closet and small shower and toilet in a separate room.  One window, facing the front entrance cover, so basically zero visibility.

But that cost did include meals at the cafeteria and snacks in another room.  Might have included laundry as well, I found the laundry room much later and there was not way to pay for it, so must have been able to use it, but was too late to do so for me by then

I unloaded the bike into the lobby as they did not allow outside shoes in the place without putting booties on, and that would have meant putting 6 or more pairs on to get all my gear in.

Once it was all inside, then I changed into my inside shoes and that was fine to walk around in.

Carried it all to the room, which was thankfully on the first level and just around the corner from the entrance.

Once in the room I got out of the gear and took a shower as I was needing one badly.

I then sorted gear a bit and put some things on the charger.

I then walked up to the cafeteria and had dinner, which was buffet style with lots of options and was actually pretty good.

Had a few deserts and then went back to the room.

Thankfully they had Wi-Fi as well, so was able to get a few things done, then I moved footage to the laptop and then walked up to the snack room, hoping to find a bottle of water or something to drink.  Picked up a fountain drink and bottle of milk, grabbed a bag of chips and then back to the room.

Drank the drinks, but did not want the food by then.  Stacked the bottles over on the sink as you cannot toss any food related stuff in trash in the rooms, then have large bins in hallway for that stuff.

Played online a bit, but was very tired and I wanted to be up early so I could get breakfast before I left, and breakfast was only served till 7:30am.

So, time for bed, tomorrow we get to head south and do this all over again in reverse!

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Dalton Highway – Northbound – Part 1

July 8^th, 2026

Coldfoot, Alaska

Woke at 8am and sat around for a bit to let the body catch up to the time of day.

Showered and geared up, and then packed everything up.

Walked over to the office to get breakfast, skipped the bagel and cheese and instead did the hard-boiled eggs and string cheese stick with a bottle of water.  Grabbed a banana as well.

Uncovered the bike and started loading the bike.

While loading the hotel maintenance man came over to talk.  Turns out he grew up in Tucson, AZ and had seen the license plate the other day.

Spent 20 minutes or so talking with him and then finished loading the bike.

Did final check of the room and brought the rest of the gear out and laid it out on the bike.

Went over to office and checked out of the room and then put on the rest of my gear and connected the devices I use to navigate with.

Left the parking lot and headed across town to where the highway heads north.

I had seen a Circle K there the other day, so figured it would be a good spot to fuel up and then could use restroom and get some food if still hungry.

Arrived at the station and filled the tank, and then filled my spare full bag so I had that extra if needed.

Went inside to use restroom and then bought a breakfast pizza from the deli bar.  Godfathers’ pizza as well, never heard of breakfast stuff, but wasn’t too bad.

Finished the bottle of water from this morning and then got back onto the bike.

Left the station and went down to the highway and then headed north.

The first 10 miles was same route I rode the other day, so familiar.

First thing was the temperature dropped by about 6 degrees from when I was loading the bike.

I pulled over to put on another layer, which involved taking everything off the top so I could put on the under-layer shirt, thought temps might stay for a while, but guessed wrong.

Back on the bike we passed the turn I used the other day and was now heading north to the start of the Dalton Highway.  The actual road does not start for about 40 miles; you first travel the Elliot highway which head out to several remote towns around the area.

Roads were decent, other then a few sections of gravel near just before reaching the Dalton.

Stopped to photo the Dalton sign, though so covered in stickers you really cannot see it.

Pavement ended about 200 feet after the road started.  Now 400 miles of gravel road.

Stopped soon after for the bigger Dalton highway sign on the side of the road.

About 20-30 miles in and the road was paved again for a good distance.  Bit of a surprise, but was a nice change and allowed faster travel, though not much faster as it was not the smoothest pavement and lots of pot holes.  You cannot do much looking around, must keep eyes on road, it changes without warning and quite violently at times.

Just before reaching the Yukon River, it was back to gravel leading up to the wood planked 2200-foot bridge over the river.

On the other side was the fuel station, but first I went to the other side of road to visit the restroom at the visitor center.

Once done I looked at some of the signage about the road and bridge and then rode over to the fuel station.

Pump was off in a corner, easily missed.

Pulled up to check price, 7.50 a gallon!

I saw the pump was locked, so rode over to building and went inside.  Like some other places, you have to leave your card with the cashier and then they give you key to pump

Another guy had just taken the key, so she told me to get it from him.

He was filling a large pickup, so took a bit, and then handed me the key, which was attached to a full-size canoe paddle!

Filled up the bike, only about half empty, so at least made the cost bit less.

Rode back to the building with this paddle across my tank bag and turned it back in and paid for the fuel.

Got back on the road and heading north again.

The road condition was much better than I had hoped. Besides repeated sections of pavement, there were some older pavements under a light layer of gravel, so it still allowed faster rate of travel.

Much of the road was just very hard packed dirt, and then a few sections of light gravel, though some loose spots, so still had to be alert.

I was fearing I would be riding 30 mph the entire route, but was able to keep up around 40, and even 45 at times on the gravel parts and up to 50 (the speed limit) on the pavement sections at times.

So far, I had been lucky and there were no cars ahead I had to pass or anyone passing me.

Stopped for a moment at the Finger Mountain viewpoint, mainly for the restroom, but took some photos and talked to some people that pulled in coming south, their truck was covered in mud.

They said it was the road I was heading toward, but not rain related, just where the road had been treated with the crap they put down to control dust.  It leaves road wet and muddy for hours, so knew I get some of that.  Similar to stuff we saw over in Yukon Territory in Canada where road construction was being done.  Makes a mess of your vehicle, that is for sure.

An hour north of the Yukon crossing we reached the stop for the Arctic Circle marker.

Did the obligatory photos and then used restroom before heading back to the road.

Not long after I heard a loud horn and a large truck was passing me.  Road as a bit rough here, but he just barreled down it.

Bit later 2 motorbikes passed me, though 20 minutes later I passed them as they had stopped on side of road.

Few other cars passed me as I made my way north.

One odd thing I noticed as I was heading north, the temperature had continued to go back up not long after I left Fairbanks.  So, while it has rapidly cooled close to down, about 20 miles north it started to slowly warm up, and by time I reached the Arctic Circle marker it was 80 degrees!

It started to rain a bit on my last bit of road, but not too hard.  Enough to get my face shield wet, and could feel few drops getting into jacket, but not enough to bother me or alter the road conditions.  Might have kept dust down a bit, but not much.

In finally pulled into Coldfoot, Alaska, which was my next fuel stop.  Only used about quarter tank, but the next stretch is the longest without fuel, so definitely need to top off again.

Pulled in and like most of these remote places, you cannot pay at the pump, need to leave card with cashier.  At least this place could activate the pump and see it (unlike last place where you had to photograph the read out and take it back inside).

Once fueled I pulled over to the café as I figured I should eat something.  It was coming up on 7:00pm, so been 9 hours now since I left the hotel. 

The campground I was looking to stay at was another 20 minutes or so up the road, so good place to stop for food.

The only have a buffet right now, guess they do that till 9pm, and then you can order from menu till midnight.

I had the $28 buffet, and filled my plate and that included the fountain drink as well.

Sat outside on patio and ate so I could keep eye on bike as this was a much busier place, so never know what some people will do.

Once done eating I was feeling tired, and I had noticed some tents pitched on a grass field between the café and the hotel. (I was going to ask about rooms, but as I was finishing eating, they hung up the no vacancy sign)

So, turns out the grass field is where tent camping is allowed and you have access to the bathrooms in the café or the hotel lobby. (The hotel looks like a bunch of trailer houses connected together, did not go inside yet, but looks pretty basic.)

I asked and it costs nothing to pitch a tent.

So, I decided to just stop here.  Was tired and while 20 minutes is not much, figured I could save that time and get started on pitching the tent.  Also, the other place would have cost me $12, and not exactly sure how to pay, and I did not have exact amount either.

Rode bike over to the edge of lot and walked over small bridge over a creek to the grass field.  Picked a spot and pitched the tent and unloaded the bike.

By time I was done I was drenched in sweat and I still had several layers on and the temps were well over 80.

Got changed into shorts and got out of tent which was like an oven and let the breeze dry me while I dug in a bag for my towel to finish drying.

Put on a light T-shirt and put out the mosquito device and they were starting to gather.  Lots of fly’s and small gnat like bugs as well all over the grass area.  Lots of dragonfly’s as well. (They have been thick on the road, and lots of them getting killed by cars and even on the bike I probably wiped out half a dozen of them).

Setup the camp chair and sat for awhile and talked some with the couple next to me.  They were online doing stuff, but I have zero signal.  Turns out only 1 Alaskan cell network works up here and they must not allow roaming, much like what I saw in McCarthy.

Café does not have Wi-fi either, so will just be offline for a while.

Walked over to café to check out the menu, see if they had something I could snack on, but nothing jumped out at me, and was quite expensive as well.

So came back to the tent and pulled everything inside to upload footage from today and write up the blog, even if I cannot upload it yet.

So stuffy in this tent, hoping the breeze would blow through, but I must have set it up in wrong direction, not feeling much.

Think I will just go to bed now, get some sleep and then perhaps get up very early and hit road sooner.  They do have a breakfast buffet at 5am, so might wait for that at least.

Guess we will see.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route: