" And then there is the most dangerous risk of all, the risk of spending your entire life not doing what you want, on the bet that you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later"
So, about this trip.......
This trip idea originated many years ago when I suggested it to my father while on some other motorcycle venture. Due to our busy schedules, it never materialized, and, quite frankly, I don't really know if it really ever would have. Trying to convince my rather sensible father that riding to Alaska's Arctic was a good idea, may not have been received well anyhow. My father's death several years back rekindled my desire to make this trip a reality, instead of just another idea that never materialized.
" And then there is the most dangerous risk of all, the risk of spending your entire life not doing what you want, on the bet that you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later"
The premise behind this trip is two-fold, foremost being the desire to tour the beautiful Canadian Rockies and Alaska, on a motorcycle with minimal time constraints, a tent and sleeping bag, and secondly, to personally overcome all of the obstacles associated with riding a motorcycle past most of civilization to the most Northern Arctic reaches of the continent.
The two most Northern points of the continent accessible by auto, one being in Alaska and the other in Canada, are the Community of Deadhorse, Alaska and the community of Tuktoyaktuk (TUK), in the Northwest Territories of Canada. A bit of information on both of these locations can be found below.
While I have quite intentionally not developed an "etched in stone" itinerary or route for this journey, I do plan on pointing my motorcycle North once I'm in Montana, and ride through the Canadian Rockies, Banff, Lake Louise, Icefields Parkway, to Dawson Creek, BC, where I will pick up the Alaska Highway to make the trek to the far North city of Dawson, Yukon, (not to be confused with Dawson Creek, BC). In Dawson, YT, there will be a small annual two-day gathering of adventure motorcyclists, such as myself, which has come to be known as Dust 2 Dawson or D2D.
After a couple days with like-minded folks in Dawson,YT, I will push further North past the Arctic Circle to Tuk, NWT, then turn around, and make my way to Fairbanks via the Top Of The World Highway, and then head North past the Arctic Circle again to Deadhorse, AK. Having hopefully now accomplished making it to the Arctic Ocean alive twice, my plan is to then tour Alaska, ultimately continuing South along the Cassiar Hwy. back into BC, and then finally back into the USA, where my plans are to continue the ride down the Pacific Coast Highway through Oregon and California
to San Diego, possibly crossing the Mexico boarder, to make it a three-country trip.
At this point, I have no clue what my path home from SoCal will look like. I guess you'll just have to follow my blog for updates.
Deadhorse, Alaska
The community of Deadhorse, located in North Slope Borough, Alaska, is the Northernmost point in the United states, accessible by vehicle, via the Dalton Hwy. The Dalton Hwy, a.k.a. The Haul Road is a 495 mile hard-packed dirt road (in good weather) that originates near Fairbanks and continues North to the sea . The Alaska Pipeline begins at Deadhorse, the Prudhoe Bay area of the Arctic Ocean. The background picture of this website is a view of the Dalton Highway running parallel to the Alaska Pipeline as it approaches
Tuktoyaktuk, NWT
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Tuktoyaktuk, NWT
The Inuvialuit community of Tuktoyaktuk, located in the Northwest Territories, is the Northernmost point in Canada accessible by vehicle, via the Dempster Hwy. The Dempster Hwy, beginning near Dawson YT, is a hard packed dirt road (in good weather) extending 544 miles North to "Tuk", on the Arctic Ocean.
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