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see scenes from 2004!
2004 Northern Expedition Tour
Road Report and Photos
Nigel contacted me from England almost a year before this tour, and told me that he was looking at doing a two week tour, if possible. After some thought, I put together a dual-purpose itinerary with plenty of adventurous riding, focusing on the northern parts of Alaska. As luck would have it, forest fires pushed our itinerary around to a point that we ended up going all the way to Prudhoe Bay. It was an unforgettable trip which included plenty of fun riding "off the map". The Kawasaki KLR 650s held up fine on the dirt highways all the way to Prudhoe, and were excellent for those days when we were doing stream crossings and exploring rugged mining roads. We saw moose, dall sheep, caribou, and grizzly bear. It was a terrific group of riders who seemed to be like old friends after only a few days. In all, there were more laughs to recount, and the two weeks seemed to fly by. In 12 days of riding, we covered over 3,000 miles, with almost half of it being unpaved. . Truly, it was a world-class motorcycle adventure in one of the most wild and remote places in the world!
(When you look at the map, keep in mind that forest fires prevented us to go to Circle Hotsprings, so we headed all the way to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay), on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Deadhorse is located at the end of the Dalton Highway.)
Here's the group: Johnny, Bill, Nigel, Dave, and Ed. Here we are, checking out Crow Creek Pass behind Girdwood. Christian Neuhauser, the senior editor of Road Runner Magazine, was also with us this week (He was probably off napping at the time of the photo). His article is due out in the February issue of Road Runner.
Here we are at the welcome dinner, enjoying Cajun cuisine at a great restaurant called the Double Musky. From fresh jalepeno cheese bread to French Peppered Steaks, these folks do it right! They don't accept reservations, so be prepared to have a drink or two before you sit down to a great meal.
The first day, we headed down to Seward. We stopped off at Portage Valley to see some dramatic glacial-formed scenery.
Can we go now?
Johnny is having some fun on the way.....
We stayed a night at these comfortable cabins, and barbecued steaks and fresh halibut for dinner. When the weather is clear, you may see Mt. McKinley from here. There are plenty of mining roads to explore in this area, which kept us busy most of the next day.
The riding on the mining roads is very scenic, challenging and fun!!
That same day, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at "The Forks".
We had terrific weather as we headed north. Here we are at the entrance of Denali National Park.
Bill watches a smoke plume from a nearby forest fire off the Dalton Highway.
Nigel fills up his tank at the modern fuel pump near the Arctic Circle.
Christian brought his water-proof pajamas.Can you see him?
Yup, the sign is right, we ARE in the middle of nowhere!
We stopped briefly at the Arctic Circle, before continuing up to Coldfoot.
We are entering the Brooks Range, north of the Arctic Circle. This is the last great mountain range before the Arctic Ocean.
If you look real close, you can see the Dall Sheep near Johnny in Atigun Pass, Brooks Range. They stood out in the road to greet our arrival.
Here is Christian, enjoying the continuous summer sunrise/sunset in Prudhoe Bay.
Dave, our mechanized Sherpa, is enjoying the sun and fun on the often uncrowded beaches of the Arctic Ocean.
Dave and Johnny, proud new members of Polar Bears Club: Prudhoe Bay Chapter.
Tundra and Pipeline: Welcome to the North Slope!
On our way back through the Brooks Range, we had a suprise visit from Dr. Gregory Frazier, on his way around the world for the 5th time.
We found some more fun stuff near Coldfoot....
Enough dust for one day, Nigel?
Bill: Can you see my smile now?
Ed: I am......ENDURO-MAN!!
Dave, ready to ride.
We cleaned the bikes before we came home.
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