South, and back country camping.

June 25, 2026

McCarthy, Alaska

Woke early again, so just stayed up and showered and got dressed enough to start loading the bike.

Once loaded and geared up, I checked the room over one last time and then rode up to the office to turn in the key.

I then backtracked about ¼ mile to the Chevron station to fuel the bike.

Once done I went inside and bought a breakfast burrito as I know lunch would be later today.

Pulled into the back of store, same place I ate lunch yesterday, and had my burrito while I setup the GPS and Maps to navigate today’s route.

Once ready, we pulled onto the highway and headed south.

The road was nice for quite a while and as normal around here, the views were stunning.

I stopped at some of the view points to take photos and video and always good to get off the bike occasionally.

Got stopped at a 1-way road again, had to wait a bit on that one, but then road was open again.  It did get rougher, and like other highways had sections that were gravel for a few hundred feet, but over all made good time, though still keeping speed down to maximize fuel usage.

Eventually reach the town of Glenallen where I stopped to fuel up again as the next leg of my trip is long and no fuel along it that I know of.  I also filled up the spare bag as well.

I then pulled over to try and strap the bag down in a different way, but was not going to work, so had to unload half the bike to get my other bungee cord so I could attach it on top again like I did on the Cassiar highway.

I thought about eating at some Mexican food truck, but wasn’t even sure if it was open, so decided to just aim for a pizza place I had seen on map that was about half way to my next turn.

The road here also had some 1-way sections, but both were quite short.  But did have some very rough areas and hit the one bump on edge of bridge must faster than I wanted.

Finally came upon the restaurant, just a beat-up old building on side of road with lots of other stuff around it, signs of a much larger life in the past as many places around here seem to be.

Went inside, small bar and a few tables, plus a big room next to it where live music could be played (probably a weekend or evening thing for the locals, lots of ranches and homes back behind the trees lining the roads.)

Grizzly Pizza was the name.  Older gentleman running the place and 1 customer inside, though eventually figured out they were a regular and knew the family well.

While a pizza sounded good, I thought that a bit much for lunch, especially with the harder roads I had ahead today.  So just ordered a cheeseburger and a soda.

While he was preparing food, the 3 of us had conversations about life choices and things people do that they regret.

Food came and it was very good.  The other customer left to continue on to Valdez where she lives and the guy and I continued to talk while I ate.

When done, I paid the bill (Cash only here, and ATM runs out of money often if I understood the conversation when it did it on the lady that was there), then used restroom and left.

Back on the highway I reached the turn off that heads down to Chitina.  So far, I have not seen any more fuel stops, so will need to make it back out quite a distance when I leave, this could be interesting.

The road here was again filled with amazing views and had a large number of steeper hills to navigate.  Stopped a few times for photos and eventually reached Chitina where there was another restaurant, maybe will stop there on way out of area.  I saw a fuel stop, but sign made me think it might be diesel only, but will swing by on my way out to check, might make things less tight on the trip back out of here.

Shortly past town the road had a short section of gravel on a 1-way road cut through a large rock.

Then it was rough asphalt till the big river crossing, then some more gravel for a mile or so before going back to rough asphalt.  This continued for several miles.  Pulled off for some views, and even turned around when I pass a view point and noticed the large bridge in distance I would ride over shortly, but getting a view from this angle was cool.

Back on road and across this 1 lane bridge and the road then turned to gravel and stayed that way.  It was not thick at least, mostly won off in the wheel tracks, but lots of rocks in road in places, even what looked like tree stumps?  Also spots of bumps and holes and then the ever-present wash boarding.

I found if maintained about 31-32 MPH, then the vibration was minimal, seemed to be the idea speed to go over them.  But some hills, and a few corners needed to slow down and then had to deal with roughness till I could get up to speed again.

Was really needing to find a restroom at this point, even a pull out so I could find a tree! 

Came around a corner on a down hill section and there it was, my rest stop!

But was going around 30MPH and needed to rapidly slow down before I crossed the little bridge and into a tight corner.  Going that far would make turning around difficult as road was bit narrow here.  I managed to get the bike almost stopped just at end of the parking area, and went to put my foot down.

The incline of the lot meant my foot did not quite reach the ground, and the loose gravel slipped what part of my boot did touch, and bike leaned over.  I could not get traction with that foot, and had to let it fall.

Went down about 10 feet before that sign.

Not sure what my left leg impacted when I lifted it over the bike as I stepped away from it, but my shin hurt like hell, and felt like it might be bruised, will check it later tonight.

I went back to turn off engine, though it killed itself about then as well, and turned off the key.

Then stepped away a bit to walk out the shin, and take off gloves and helmet.

Laid them on ground and cursed a bit, then started to figure out best way to unload so I could lift it.

But at that moment a van came around the corner and they stopped.  I knew they were behind me, but not sure how far back and they kept stopping more often.

The guy got out and helped me lift the bike up where it would stand on the side stand.  Smelled fuel, and looked like a bit of wetness on the engine housing, so not sure where that came from?

Bike started back up okay, and I pulled it around next to the restrooms so I could use them and the guy then drove off after I thanked him again for the assist.

Once done, got back on the road, but this time I got stuck behind some slower moving cars and a camper that had passed me as I was getting ready to leave.

They were going too fast, and too close to each other for me to pass them on these roads, but not fast enough to maintain my speed for the wash board. Had to keep slowing down and letting them get ahead and then catch up and repeat.  Any speed between 15 and 30 would vibrate my teeth out of my mouth, so had to slow way down if I could not maintain 31 or higher.

Eventually I got far enough behind them and they also seemed to pick up speed finally.  I then caught up with the guy in the van and followed him for a bit, but they eventually pulled over so I passed them.

After 40+ miles of this dirt, dust and gravel, we arrived on the outskirts of McCarthy.  Basically, we arrived at the foot bridge that crosses the river and goes into town ½ mile away.  The car bridge farther down is private, and no for public use.

People that visit the town park in lots all around the river on this side, and then shuttles take them or they walk.

I think if you are staying at the places in town, you might get a pass for the bridge, but not sure about that.

Most people are here for the Kennecott mine.  I will do that tour tomorrow.

I found the primitive campground that I was looking for.  Not even a camp ground as much as the guy owns lots of empty land and lets people park and camp for a fee and provides a few outhouse toilets.

I went inside, paid my $35 a night for a spot and he told me where I could ride the bike back into the river shore where it was more sand than rock and there were some tables in the area to use.

I rode across the rocky parking lot, then up a small hill, which ended with a rocky grass area that I had to navigate to get down to the small sandy area.  Still about 15 feet above the river at this point, though I would guess it has flooded up here at times to deposit the sand.

Getting back into the spot was a challenge and almost lost the bike again, but this time my foot had enough grip to hold and I kept it from falling.  Getting out will be a fun time.

Once into the area, I was able to find just enough level space to park the bike and use the side stand, but did put my stand food down for better support in the soft soil.

Unloaded the bike, and then setup the tent and got stuff stored away.

Took some photos and video, then sat down and ate a pack of tuna and finished the chips I bought yesterday.  Just have my water to drink, forgot to stop and buy something else.

Put my food over by the table, and put the trash into a crevice of a tree branch, will take it out tomorrow and find a better spot.

Now in the tent typing this up and then will probably just go to bed.  Its about 9pm, but tired and nothing else to do.

Catch ya down the road.

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