Destruction Bay, YT >> Tok, AK >> Porcupine Creek State Park (outside of Slana, AK) 290 miles ridden/7 hours
I fell asleep last night to howling winds lashing my tent; it sounded like sails luffing and reminded me of my trip to Cartagena and the Cayman Islands aboard a 125-foot, two-masted schooner. With this white noise and memories of sailing into an El Nino, I drifted off.
Although I should be used to it by now, I’m still not a fan of striking camp in the rain. Speaking of the weather, I’d heard the ALCAN was dusty when dry and slick as oil when wet; neither sound terribly promising.
It took three hours to drive the 130 miles or so from camp to the border of Alaska. For the last few days, at every rest stop and service station, motorcyclists coming from the north have been telling me the horrors of the ALCAN: fissures in the tarmac that’ll throw a rider from his saddle; craters so deep they’ll swallow a man and his bike whole; dust clouds that make the sands of the Sahara look like something you could sweep under the rug; frost heaves that launch bikers into the air like an X Games contestant; and mosquitos so large they’ll pluck you right off your bike and bring you back to their nest to feed on later… It would be dubious driving, indeed. In fact, at the first gas station of the day, I chatted with an RV driver from Maine who ominously forewarned: “The worst is yet to come.”
Truth be told, however, the road really isn’t that bad… Sure, there are frost heaves that will cause your bike to buck like a bronco; and yes, potholes come in S, M, L, XL, XXL, and RV-consuming sizes; and people drive down the center line instead of on their side of the road to avoid damaging their cars; but for the most part, these are readily navigable hazards, and the road’s reputation exceeds the reality of the situation. Admittedly, there are a few road-spanning rough patches that call for caution and low speeds, but it isn’t until ~100km south of Beaver Creek that all these elements converge. That said, anything with more than two wheels will have a tough time navigating this road.
All the chatter makes it seem like it’s the most dangerous place in the world, and sooner or later the earth’s just going to open up and swallow you whole… Maybe this is a mischievous propaganda campaign to scare people away so those that come can enjoy the road all to themselves?
While encounters with cars on these remote roads are still relatively scarce, suddenly sightings of another type of two-wheeler are on the rise… I’ve recently been passing a lot of bicyclists along these northern routes: long-haul bags piled on a luggage rack a bit like my own, and fifth wheels that look like a low-rider shopping cart packed to the brim more than anything else.
Other adventurers on the road less taken
At breakfast, I met a guy and his girlfriend – both from San Francisco – who had just quit their CPA gigs, sold all their stuff, and shipped two bicycles and a bit of camping gear to Deadhorse, Alaska, the northernmost point in the U.S. reachable by road (the same Dalton Highway I was being warned about riding, to be exact). Their mission: to ride and camp their way to Patagonia; to go from the northernmost part of the U.S. to the southernmost tip of South America. Minimum amount of time required: 18 months. “We hope to find a new beginning at the end of the road.” Amen to that.
And people thought my trip was crazy!
This I honestly couldn’t understand. People I knew from home and many I’d meet along the way thought this little adventure of mine was not the sanest undertaking. But the miles I’d travel were primarily paved – it’s not like I was blazing a new trail from coast to coast – and all I was doing was getting up every morning to ride a couple hundred miles, something long-haul truckers do every day for work.
With no radio, I was left alone with my thoughts and the beauty of nature. Over time, I invented two songs – “I Eat a Hundred Clicks for Breakfast” and “Eyes on the Road” (the latter to keep me from getting into an accident for paying too much attention to the astounding scenery) – to keep myself entertained.
To those who questioned the wisdom of taking this trip solo, it was something of a necessity as I didn’t know anyone with 10 or so weeks of vacation… But that wasn’t going to stop me from embarking on the adventure of a lifetime!
Enlightenment in Tok
Although Tok – located at the intersection of the ALCAN and the Glenn Highway – has officially been nicknamed “Main Street” Alaska, I’m dubbing it the crossroads of the state because no one gets in or out over land without passing through, which I supposed makes Tok the center of the Alaskan universe much like Boston is the “Hub of the Universe.”
In Tok, I learned that the road to the Top of the World Highway – the Taylor Highway, which runs north from Chicken to the Canadian border – is still washed out and likely won’t be open for another 2-3 weeks while undergoing repairs.
Rumor has it that the road started disintegrating while people were on it and vehicles were stranded on the tarmac islands that remained intact. There’s also word that a Beemer rider was stuck and had to take shelter with a family in an RV. If you saw Ewan MacGregor plow his R1200GS through the “Road of Bones” in remote eastern Russia on his trip around the world, you can only imagine how dire that situation must have been.
In light of this, it looks like I’ll be heading south to Homer in the interim. And since rain is predicted for the next 7 days in Prudhoe Bay at the end of the Dalton Highway, my trip to the Arctic Circle may be scrapped too… Part of me is disappointed; part of me is prepared to figure it out on the fly.
Email to family and friends:
I’m currently in Tok and the visitor info center here says the Top of the World Highway won’t be rebuilt for another 2-3 weeks; I don’t plan on sticking around that long, so I’m likely going to head south tonight or tomorrow to visit Homer and Seward. Also, I checked the forecast for Prudhoe Bay, and the next week calls for rain and snow. Not planning on doing the ride in those conditions, so we’ll see how that evolves. I’ll keep you posted.