Roads from hell to Alaska

June 23^rd, 2026

Tok, Alaska

Woke up early, probably 5 or 6 am and it was raining outside.  Looks like I get to tear down the camp in rain at worst, put away wet gear at best.

I stayed in bed as I did not really want to be up till around 8 am anyway.

When my alarm finally went off, I was already awake, and thankfully the rain had stopped, though was still lots of dripping out there.

I got up and started to tear down the inside of the tent (air down the mattress, undo the pillow and roll up the bag and inserts.

I then put away things I had gotten out and changed back into my riding clothes (and doing that inside a tent is a feat of contortion and discomfort!)

Then opened up and crawled outside.  Went to restroom and then started up my mosquito shield again to keep them at bay while I tore down the tent and packed bike.

Got all that done, trying my best to shake off most of the water from things going into bags and then loaded up the final pieces and geared up.

All I had left was to stop at the bear lockers and get my food, which thankfully straps onto the back of the bike without needing any other item in place first! (

Some of my gear depends on other gear to be secured.)

Rode over to the locker and got that squared, then rode up the gravel and back to the highway.

The weather was still cool, but showing signs of warming.  Skies were overcast and the wind was light, but roads were only lightly damp at this point, so we could make better time.

The scenery stayed amazing all the way into Haines Junction where we drove through town and stopped for fuel.

While fueling up I had a conversation with an older couple from Colorado who were also exploring the area and heading in my general direction, they might even had stayed in this town tonight.

Once fueled up I bought a candy bar and ice tea since I had nothing to eat for breakfast as usual.

I rode back down the road toward the highway and pulled off at the other gas station in town which I had a small outdoor garden and seating spot in the corner of the lot. 

I pulled up there and then as I now had internet access again, I started to research my route to figure out how far I wanted to go, where my next fuel might be and how many lodging options were along the way, but at this time did not choose any since I was still not sure I would make the full distance to Tok, which is where I was hoping to get.

I ate my candy and drank my tea while there.

I took a few photos of the majestic mountain range visible across the horizon, then as I needed to use the restroom, and was still hungry, I would go inside the nicer c-store here and buy more food. (Probably should have just used this place for fuel as well).

Rode up and parked under the canopy by the steps into store, then went inside to use toilet, then bought another tea and a chicken and potato pastry from the deli counter.  Bit expensive, but was really good.

I ate outside by the bike and talked with two other bikers that had pulled up for fuel.  The one guy was interested in the YouTube channel, so passed him a card.  They were heading for Fairbanks, so thought I might see them on the road later as we both had to take same highway.

I hit the road and started toward the Alaska border.  Several hours away, and had been hearing several comments for days that road conditions were rough in spots.

For the first hour things were nice, no worse than any other road, but then shortly past the campground I had originally planned to use last night, but was too tired to drive the extra distance, the road started to get rougher, but still manageable.

Made a few stops for restroom breaks or just to get off the bike for a bit.  Some nice scenic views all around.

Then all of a sudden, the road just vanished and became a flat stretch of hard packed dirt with muddy spots, loose gravel and plenty of wash boarding!

Had to slow down to 30-35mph to keep the bike stable in the looser stuff.

Then pavement returned, but riddled with pot holes and “patches” that were worse than the original holes probably were.

Next up was a stop for a one lane road, which was also gravel.  Sat there for 15 minutes waiting for the pilot car and that stretch of road was several miles long and slow going, rougher than most, and much muddier as they were still spraying it down to keep dust under control.  I was in front, so slowing the rest down since I could not keep up speed on this crap.

Once on asphalt most cars passed me, but then we came up on another one lane and again had to wait, and again long stretch of gravel and wet dirt.  This time I was in the middle of the group and has a large semi-truck behind me that was very impatient and riding my ass often until we hit larger hills or very rough spots that I could weave through easier.

Once we finally finished that, the truck passed myself and the two cars that had been in front of me the whole time and vanished, doing at least 25-30 over the posted limit.  But so far, I have seen almost zero law enforcement outside of towns.  Everyone up here speeds like crazy, thought we were fast driving in the USA.

I stopped for a few views along all this, and eventually passed by the Canada custom station, so knew the US stop was not much farther, but again there was a mountain pass, so had a bit of distance between them.

In the middle was the actual border with the welcome to Alaska sign, though this one was not easy to get in front of with the bike, so just did a selfie.

Reached US Border station and was through quickly, only odd question was the guy asking me for my license plate number, which was odd with all the cameras around.

After I pulled over to side of lot to get my passport secured and jackets all zipped, I did a check of the luggage and notices my plate was completely covered with grime from the road, so no wonder they had asked.

Cleaned it and my lights off and then got back onto the road.

It was still about 1.5 hours to get to Tok, so I started looking at other motels along the way, just in case I wanted to stop early, but most were just to run down, or too fancy, and few had any kind of food or other services nearby, so just kept going.

I was starting to feel the miles and hours though.

Finally pulled into Tok and stopped at a Shell gas station to do some checking for motels.

I had seen one on edge of town, but looked derelict, not a car there, so was either not open, or really bad place. Saw the Fast Eddies restaurant (which is somewhat famous in the area, though that can happen when you are the only restaurant) and the had a motel sign, but could not find the contact info on phone, so looked around and found two others on the highway heading south that I will take next.

The one did not look like much on the google maps, but might be newer and not on the image yet.  But the one I chose was a nice place, and while a bit higher cost than I would have liked, was not going to find much cheaper, I am sure.

Called them up and they had a room for me for 2 nights.

As it was late, and I had got nothing done in camp last night, I wanted an extra day to catch up on writing and get all the footage uploaded to the laptop at least.  Also wanted an extra day to dry out the tent as well.  Hopefully will be able to get laundry done again as well.

I went into gas station to buy more to drink for tonight, then rode over to the motel and checked in.

As I was leaving, some people walking up asked me about my trip and then noticed the Arizona plates.  Turned out they lived in Bullhead City.  Truck driver and he had worked out a load all the way to Alaska and brought his wife along making a vacation out of the job as well.

I then got on the bike and rode around to the back of the place where my room was.

Unloaded the bike and shed a few layers of clothing, but wanted to go eat and as the restaurant was a mile away, would ride over, so just left the riding gear on, took my back pack and went out to ride over.

And now I cannot find my gloves.

I then remembered laying them on the back of the luggage when the people stopped my buy the office, and had ridden off without checking.

So, I got on the bike and rode back up front and there both were on the drive way, about 10 feet apart.  Had been roughly 30 minutes, so shocked they had not been run over yet.

Picked them up, then headed to restaurant.

Lot was a bit full, but parked and went inside.  Plenty of space still.

Seated and checked out the menu.  Pricey, but good options.

I decided to just have some boneless chicken wings and fried mushrooms.  Server warned me the mushrooms were big, but did not think much of that and I was starving since I had eaten very little today.

Wow, she was not kidding.  The mushrooms were HUGE.  Golf ball sized on average and light flaky dough instead of the cheap crust you usually find.  Very tasting as well.  Wings were good, nice kick to the sauce.

Spent the time getting all the memory cards and phone data moved to the laptop. 

Once done with dinner, I went out and got onto the bike to ride back.  Had laid wallet and phone on back of bike while trying to get jacket pocket sorted to put wallet back.  Once done with that I got on bike and started down the road, and few blocks down noticed my phone was not in the cradle. 

SHIT!  I immediately stopped and reached behind me and luckily the phone was still in the notch between seat and rear rack.   Last few days I have been losing or forgetting stuff too often.  I need to get better and staying focused on what I am doing when off the bike, seems I burn up all my awareness riding and then mess up when not riding.

Back at the room I got online to work and had a phone call to make, then realized I had left the mushrooms (I could not eat them all) in the bike pannier!

Got them and put into the fridge and then tried to work on stuff, but just too tired, so guess I am heading to bed.

I will get the blogs updated tomorrow and make a few other posts as needed and then hopefully get another video done, and maybe some laundry, oh, after I pull out the tent to dry it off. (Bike cover will dry as I put it on the bike earlier).

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route: