Haines to Tok
The day dawned early. It was sunny and not too cool. The sea birds were making their morning calls. Seagulls sure are noisy. The bay was at low tide.
I packed up and headed for the Chilkat Bakery and Restaurant. They also serve Thai food according to the sign, but breakfast was American traditional. The flower boxes outside were worth a photo. The mountains above the river were brilliant in the morning sun.
There’s a nice little park next to the gas station in Haines, Junction.
I had lunch in Destruction Bay and chatted with a couple coming down from Alaska and heading home. They said the construction sections were horrible. There were boulders, chuck holes, and mud. Great! Here I am waiting for the pilot car before heading to my death in the boulders and mud of the Alaska Highway.
The news of my early death in the construction zone was premature. There were no boulders, just 2-inch rocks. The chuck holes were about 3 inches deep, and the water sprayed on the road kept the dust down. I just followed the pilot car at its speed and made it through. It was no big deal.
I continued north and made it to the border without a problem. There was another pilot car section, but it was just dusty gravel.
It’s drizzling tonight, so I got a bunk in the Arctic Tent at a campground in Tok, AK. (Are you humming the theme from M.A.S.H.?) It doesn’t include Wi-Fi, but Fast Eddie’s restaurant across the street has free Wi-Fi if you eat there. That’s where I am now.
Tomorrow I’ll head toward Anchorage and possibly Seward.
I’d like to write more about the couple I met at lunch. They are from Peoria, IL and ride Harleys. He was on a 2007 Electra Glide Ultra Classic and she was riding an Electra Glide Classic, probably from the same era. We talked a bit about their experience in Alaska. They like Talkeetna and enjoyed the one-day tour of Denali park. However, they were glad to be heading home. Lodging was expensive. They paid an average of $105 per night. The roads were good for the most part, but they found some bad sections. They had to replace a windshield, a headlight, and had a broken latch on a tour pack. They just wanted to get out of there, head down to Washington, and take the Interstates home. They were planning to never come back.
I asked if they had seen this or that. their answer was, “No.” They said they hadn’t done enough planning.
Because of lack of planning they had unset expectations. It’s easy to determine room rates. Construction zones are published on the internet. There are plenty of accounts of road conditions. My guess is they damaged their bikes by going too fast. I find the roads are in great shape for the most part, but you have to be vigilant and slow though areas that are in need of repair.
It’s sad that what should have been a positive experience, a once-in-a-lifetime trip, turned sour in their minds.
Setting up and taking down my tent in the rain is my challenge, but I view it as part of the experience and a topic for future conversations. I’m not leaving here with a sour attitude.
Great attitude, Tim! It’s an adventure – great rocking chair memories… Weather toward Anchorage is holding. Mostly sunny to partly cloudy and no precipitation changes through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday there’s a 70% chance. Seward is also void of rain chance through Wednesday, then 50% chance on Thursday. Highs of 79 today, 75 Tuesday, 73 Wednesday for both. Richardson, Glenn and Seward highways were three of my favorite roads in all of AK (the fourth is parks highway). You will cross glacial run-off streams on the Glenn. Stop and look. The color of the water in unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. So white it’s blue. The one I stopped and flew my video quadcopter over was near the train tracks not too far from where the Glenn and Richardson intersect. If your camera or phone has video, try taking a video clip. I found the still photos wouldn’t capture the color of the glacial water correctly, but video did. It’s 5.5 hours saddle time if you ride from Tok to Anchorage. It’s another 2:15 to Seward from Anchorage. Truly jaw dropping from there to Seward. The ride along the coast south of Anchorage has some pull offs to view the bay. One is called Beluga and another is Bird Point. Bird Point has a neat sculpture. You may get lucky and see some whales breaching off that area.
https://www.alaska.org/guide/glenn-highway
https://www.alaska.org/guide/seward-highway
Thanks for the info. It has cleared and is warm. Hazy in the distance. McDonald’s wi-fi is handy.
Great reporting, Tim. It’s like riding there again! Thanks.
Charlie N.
You’re welcome!
Tim if you are going to Seward from Ankorage & have time? A must see is railroad pass thru the mountains to town of Whittier into Prince William Sound. About a hr or so would be all it takes. The tunnel access is an old railroad access during the war. Very unique & Prince William sound is stunning!! Hope you can see it! Neil Haefner
Thanks
Did you tell the Peoria woman about MM & our convention there next year? I like the bunk tent. Keep plugging along! Love you.
Yes. He said he knew about Motor Maids. She was a deer in headlights and didn’t seem interested. They were focused on getting out of the North.
If you’re interested in taking some time off the bike, Seward offers some options for a Kenai Fjord and/or Resurrection Bay tour. Major Marine and Kenai Fjords Tours operates out of Seward. A local told me that Kenai has the best food; Alaska salmon and prime rib, on some of the longer tours. Between the tour operators, you have many options for duration of cruise and focus of the trip. https://www.kenaifjords.com/day-cruises/
https://majormarine.com/tour-areas/kenai-fjord/
Seward sits on Resurrection Bay. Kenai Fjords national park is situated to the south and west of Seward, and Resurrection Bay is actually part of the fjords but not part of the national park. Kenai Fjords offers alpine glaciers that reach the ocean, abundant wild life, etc.. The Holgate glacier offers a fair amount of calving action. Whales, bears, eagles, puffins, sea otters.
Other options include a dog sled ride, helicopter tour, zipline at stoney creek canopy adventures, Alaska sea life center, and Seward museum.
Today and tomorrow looks good for Fairbanks weather; highs of 65 and only 20% chance of rain. The weather for Chicken (top of the world highway) is wet Wed-Fri with highs in the upper 50’s, but looks to start clearing out on Saturday. If you went back to Tok and headed down TOW tomorrow, you might have a clearing or scattered showers to Whitehorse, YT (Wednesday 50%, Thursday 10%). If you wanted to ride the Denali Highway (AK8) from Paxson to Cantwell, you should position yourself to do so tomorrow. The weather will turn rainy on Thursday and doesn’t clear out until Tuesday of next week for Denali Hwy. So, you have lots of options with cooperative weather. Enjoy the ride!
Thanks. I’m heading for Fairbanks.