Alaska Hwy
- Status
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
Joined
·
7,368 Posts
imported post
Last time up, 2005....... about 3/4 paved..........
The highway is supposed to be paved all the way; however..... frequent construction and road maintenance exposes the rider to much dirt and gravel, sometimes for hours at a stretch. Time of travel also matters...... All the motorhomes travel up in late June and July, if you go in August, it gets pretty potholed and they don't fill them again until next year, until the spring, before the motorhome parade. After the motorhomes pass, they leave the road like it is.... Last time Red and I went, it was in early August, and we got rained on a lot and the potholes were formidable, especially around Tok........
Regardless, the road should be done by every Wing rider at least once!
Last time up, 2005....... about 3/4 paved..........
The highway is supposed to be paved all the way; however..... frequent construction and road maintenance exposes the rider to much dirt and gravel, sometimes for hours at a stretch. Time of travel also matters...... All the motorhomes travel up in late June and July, if you go in August, it gets pretty potholed and they don't fill them again until next year, until the spring, before the motorhome parade. After the motorhomes pass, they leave the road like it is.... Last time Red and I went, it was in early August, and we got rained on a lot and the potholes were formidable, especially around Tok........
Regardless, the road should be done by every Wing rider at least once!
Attachments
Joined
·
3,707 Posts
imported post
The last time the wife and I went up we went up the Cassiar Highway which was paved about 50 % of the way and we came back the AlCan Highway - about 75% paved. (2004)
There is a lot of construction each summer that works 24 hours a day. The construction season unfortunately overlaps the tourist season. On many of the roads they were putting down very large rocks that would make it tough on a wing.
The "MilePost" is a great travel guide and trip planner for the highway. See the motorcycle section of their website .... http://milepost.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=192&Itemid=1
If you are interested in riding around up in Alaska you might want to visit the GWRRA Alaska Chapter website for info (or ask the others here
.) http://www.goldwingsofthenorth.com/
Either way if you do decide to go, take a spare set of tires and extra gas. Some of the stops are farther apart than your tank will take you.
Henry
The last time the wife and I went up we went up the Cassiar Highway which was paved about 50 % of the way and we came back the AlCan Highway - about 75% paved. (2004)
There is a lot of construction each summer that works 24 hours a day. The construction season unfortunately overlaps the tourist season. On many of the roads they were putting down very large rocks that would make it tough on a wing.
The "MilePost" is a great travel guide and trip planner for the highway. See the motorcycle section of their website .... http://milepost.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=192&Itemid=1
If you are interested in riding around up in Alaska you might want to visit the GWRRA Alaska Chapter website for info (or ask the others here
.) http://www.goldwingsofthenorth.com/Either way if you do decide to go, take a spare set of tires and extra gas. Some of the stops are farther apart than your tank will take you.
Henry
Joined
·
1,485 Posts
imported post
Any of you guys who have been up there know the answer to this? The Hag and I are dreaming of maybe riding the Wing up to Alaska (from Michigan) and then catching a tour boat. Is it impossible to try to time something like that, not knowing travel conditions/time/so-forth? Could we go up through Canada and across or better to go west through the USA then turn north? Thoughts anyone?
Any of you guys who have been up there know the answer to this? The Hag and I are dreaming of maybe riding the Wing up to Alaska (from Michigan) and then catching a tour boat. Is it impossible to try to time something like that, not knowing travel conditions/time/so-forth? Could we go up through Canada and across or better to go west through the USA then turn north? Thoughts anyone?
Joined
·
7,368 Posts
imported post
The first time we went, with a sidecar and a six year old boy, we rode up the Highway, and then caught the Alaska Maritime Ferry down (down the Inside Passage).... we caught it at Skagway and got off at Bellingham,Wash. I think it took us three days and four nights, or some such. You can also catch it at Haines, which I would recommend. The 140 mile stretch of road from Haines Junction to Haines is one of the best roads on the North American continent, and you would get to ride it if you catch the ferry at Haines!
It was beautiful but spendy! In l992, to transport2 people, a happy little boy, and a bikewith sidecar cost us $880, and we didn't even have a cabin! Slept on the deck on lounge chairsin our sleeping bags! Marvelous, though..... the scenery was indescribable and wewere warm and notuncomfortable, they had good restrooms and showers on the boat, and the young people from all over the world partying 24/7 on the stern of the boatwere very entertaining! It was, in fact, one of the highlights of our traveling lives....... saw Killer Whales, Eagles, and all sorts of other wildlife. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
You do have to make reservations a long time ahead for the Alaska Ferry..... we had made them in February of the year we went in June.....information would be in the Milepost cited above.....
![]()
The first time we went, with a sidecar and a six year old boy, we rode up the Highway, and then caught the Alaska Maritime Ferry down (down the Inside Passage).... we caught it at Skagway and got off at Bellingham,Wash. I think it took us three days and four nights, or some such. You can also catch it at Haines, which I would recommend. The 140 mile stretch of road from Haines Junction to Haines is one of the best roads on the North American continent, and you would get to ride it if you catch the ferry at Haines!
It was beautiful but spendy! In l992, to transport2 people, a happy little boy, and a bikewith sidecar cost us $880, and we didn't even have a cabin! Slept on the deck on lounge chairsin our sleeping bags! Marvelous, though..... the scenery was indescribable and wewere warm and notuncomfortable, they had good restrooms and showers on the boat, and the young people from all over the world partying 24/7 on the stern of the boatwere very entertaining! It was, in fact, one of the highlights of our traveling lives....... saw Killer Whales, Eagles, and all sorts of other wildlife. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
You do have to make reservations a long time ahead for the Alaska Ferry..... we had made them in February of the year we went in June.....information would be in the Milepost cited above.....
imported post
Thanks for the info Jack and Hanko My bud an I have been looking at this for a few years ( he's another H/transplant guy!!)
Any ho the plan (Loose) is up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy; BC Ferry to Prince Rupert Alaska Ferry to Haynes and ride back down thru Alberta then the crowsnest home about 2 weeks we figure
Thanks for the info Jack and Hanko My bud an I have been looking at this for a few years ( he's another H/transplant guy!!)
Any ho the plan (Loose) is up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy; BC Ferry to Prince Rupert Alaska Ferry to Haynes and ride back down thru Alberta then the crowsnest home about 2 weeks we figure
Joined
·
7,368 Posts
imported post
ccsailor wrote:
ccsailor wrote:
If there's anyway you can work it in (I'm not sure if I understand your route back!), take the Icefield Parkway from Jasper to Banff -- it, too, is one of the wonders of the North American continent! I don't think there's more beauty in the world than in B.C., the Yukon, Alaska, Alberta, Montana, and Wyoming. Maybe in the Himalayas, huh? We are a people blessed beyond measure.....
Joined
·
6,097 Posts
imported post
This thread, along with some other ones have got me dreaming.. Again....
I've looked at my road atlas and it's not specific on just what is considered the Alaskan Highway.
So for someone who can't get much farther from Alaska,,,, explain the route.
Where is the starting point in the USA and what towns do you go thru in Canada as you head north.
What's the best route North.
This thread, along with some other ones have got me dreaming.. Again....
I've looked at my road atlas and it's not specific on just what is considered the Alaskan Highway.
So for someone who can't get much farther from Alaska,,,, explain the route.
Where is the starting point in the USA and what towns do you go thru in Canada as you head north.
What's the best route North.
Joined
·
7,368 Posts
imported post
lostinflorida wrote:
I don't know if it's the "best route" north, but I can outline for you the traditional "Alaskan Highway" way, which was once known as the Al-Can, a military supply route hastily built by mostly the U.S. Army in the early days of World War II.
Red and I are lucky, as the route goes right through our home town in Ellensburg, Washington, U.S. Highway 97. This primarily two-lane highway goes through Yakima, Ellensburg, and Wenatchee, Wa, and then crosses into lovely Canada at Osoyoos. Traveling almost straight north and northwest, the road then hits Penticton and Kamloops (Dusty Boots's territory), and then Williams Lake, Quesnel (where we once saw a Black Bear crossing with the light!), Prince George, Dawson Creek, Ft. St. John, Ft Nelson, Summit Lake, Watson Lake, Teslin, Whitehorse, Haines Jct, Beaver Creek, and Tok! Great, great ride........ Once in Alaska, you can do the classic loop, with Fairbanks at one tip, Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula on the other, and Tok the third. There are also great rides branching off of this loop..... take a look a the roads to Chicken, Alaska, for example, and to Seward on the Kenai.....
As a legendary road, it has a reputation.... some of it deserved, and some not. Don't be afraid of it: while there are sections of gravel, it is mostly paved; and while there are some long stretches between services, they are not insurmountable and are easily prepared for. Wildlife is abundant, and this abundance sometimes merits caution. On our last trip up, Red and I saw 8 Black Bear,one Brown, sevenMoose, uncounted numbers of Caribou, and some Mountain Sheepall alongside the road-- this weath of wildlife requires special rules, especially when camping. Don't fry up a side of bacon and leave half of it in the pan, for instance! Be prepared for rough weather; the riding envelope is relatively short, June to late July is best, August is marginal. We went in August last time and suffered for it.
Finally, go on, get up there, L.I.F.! You owe to yourself!
lostinflorida wrote:
I don't know if it's the "best route" north, but I can outline for you the traditional "Alaskan Highway" way, which was once known as the Al-Can, a military supply route hastily built by mostly the U.S. Army in the early days of World War II.
Red and I are lucky, as the route goes right through our home town in Ellensburg, Washington, U.S. Highway 97. This primarily two-lane highway goes through Yakima, Ellensburg, and Wenatchee, Wa, and then crosses into lovely Canada at Osoyoos. Traveling almost straight north and northwest, the road then hits Penticton and Kamloops (Dusty Boots's territory), and then Williams Lake, Quesnel (where we once saw a Black Bear crossing with the light!), Prince George, Dawson Creek, Ft. St. John, Ft Nelson, Summit Lake, Watson Lake, Teslin, Whitehorse, Haines Jct, Beaver Creek, and Tok! Great, great ride........ Once in Alaska, you can do the classic loop, with Fairbanks at one tip, Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula on the other, and Tok the third. There are also great rides branching off of this loop..... take a look a the roads to Chicken, Alaska, for example, and to Seward on the Kenai.....
As a legendary road, it has a reputation.... some of it deserved, and some not. Don't be afraid of it: while there are sections of gravel, it is mostly paved; and while there are some long stretches between services, they are not insurmountable and are easily prepared for. Wildlife is abundant, and this abundance sometimes merits caution. On our last trip up, Red and I saw 8 Black Bear,one Brown, sevenMoose, uncounted numbers of Caribou, and some Mountain Sheepall alongside the road-- this weath of wildlife requires special rules, especially when camping. Don't fry up a side of bacon and leave half of it in the pan, for instance! Be prepared for rough weather; the riding envelope is relatively short, June to late July is best, August is marginal. We went in August last time and suffered for it.
Finally, go on, get up there, L.I.F.! You owe to yourself!
Attachments
Joined
·
6,097 Posts
imported post
Thanks for the directions..
Now I can look at the map and get a general idea of where and how..
Thanks for the directions..
Now I can look at the map and get a general idea of where and how..
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
- Status
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!