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Deane & Norm's Motorcycle Trip to Alaska | |
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Deane's Alaska Trip Wrap-Up |
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What
a great ride Norm and I had. In
reading magazine articles about motorcycle trips to Alaska, you see those
who would go again and those who wouldn't go again on a bet. As for myself, I'd go again in a minute!! As
we went along, and sent e:mails describing where we had gone and what we
were doing, we got notes from several of you indicating that you enjoyed
our daily commentaries. Thanks
for all of your comments and encouragements.
It was fun to do that. First,
here are some statistics on the trip. Miles
Ridden on the Gold Wing - 10,052 Miles
on Canadian, Alaskan, and Washington State Ferries - About 800 Days
on the Ride - 46 (six and 1/2 weeks) States
and Provinces Ridden In - 9 States and 3 Canadian Provinces Average
gas mileage on the Gold Wing = 41.5 mpg (Hi - 49, Low - 35) The
scenery on this trip was just absolutely splendid, with so many mountain
ranges having beautiful forests, rugged peaks, and so many snow patches to
make them special. It's hard
to say which was more spectacular, the areas in Canada or the areas in
Alaska. If one considers the
boundary lines to be just imaginary to suit political concerns, the whole
of the northwest part of the North American Continent is just awesome! We
considered ourselves lucky to have had quite good weather on the whole
trip. Yes, we got rained on
quite often, but this was mostly showers and we were well prepared for it.
Having good riding clothes and rain gear, good boots and good
gloves makes all the difference in the world.
We met people who weren't well prepared, and they were not having a
good time. I wrote down some
notes about preparing for an Alaska trip, and have attached them as
"Advice on Riding to Alaska" for any
riders who would like to benefit from our experiences. Seeing
the amount of wildlife that we did made the trip very special.
We saw about six Black Bears, one big Brown Bear, and one huge
Grizzly. Also, we saw Moose,
Elk, Deer, Caribou, Fox, Lynx, Canadian Geese and many small animals.
Every day was a fun challenge to see which one of us could spot the
wildlife first. Riding
into and out of the Yukon Territory was really interesting, partly because
of our historical interest in the Yukon Gold Rushes. We now have a pretty good feeling for those times and
hardships. Riding
on the Canadian, Alaskan, and Washington State ferries was fun, and a good
break in the motorcycle road riding.
As we reported before, motorcycles are given real preferences on
ferries, because they are small and can be tucked in anywhere.
Also on the ferries we saw whales, sea otters, porpoises, and sea
lions, so the wildlife viewing there was special, too. Since
Norm and I both like museums, we stopped at many and learned a lot, not
only about the areas we rode in, but about the people and cultures in
those areas. We
visited friends along the way, and found lots of people interested in what
we were doing and where we were going.
This is one of the best things about motorcycle travel - people
come up at every stop; gas stations, restaurants, and motels, and start
conversations with "What beautiful motorcycles - Where are you going,
and where are you from?" You
meet so many people this way, and that makes it so much fun. Overall, this was a trip that will be hard to beat. |
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