Day 22 the end of an era

Today marks the last day of riding together. We had a warm sunny morning to ride from haines junction to whitehorse....an easy 1.5hr drive. However, we both now had concerns about our bikes so our first stop was at a bike shop who promptly told us it was a 3 wk wait and no way no how could they even look at the bikes. Next stop at the honda dealer, a nice man came out and at least gave us an opinion of what the prob might be. Mine was leaking oil from somewhere (not a great feeling to see that) and del was hearing a clunk in his chain somewhere. (Also not great to hear). However, it was concluded he could manage  with good chain care.  I, on the other hand, had lost about half a litre of oil overnight, and it was pretty concerning, so my next option was to call a very nice guy at the yamaha dealer who told me if I went and washed it down and brought it over he would look at it. (Despite it being a suzuki) long story shorter, he opened up a panel to find a lot of dalton concrete (as we fondly refer to it now) around a seal. After cleaning it.....it seems to be better....fingers crossed.
So we were then able to spend a relaxing rest of the day sightseeing etc in the city. Its quite a pretty little town.
So tomorrow we will head in different directions. Del is staying on the alaska hwy to dawson city and then thru jasper etc as he heads south east towards kansas.
I am headed to skagway where I will catch a ferry down to port hardy on vancouver island and drive home from there.
What an adventure.

"When you see someone put their big boots on,  you know an adventure is about to happen " -winnie the pooh

Day 20 & 22 the journey towards home

We spent a lazy morning cleaning our bikes etc and left fairbanks headed south. Our first stop was north pole where we visited santas house. He wasnt home but we got to see a few of his reindeer.  Then an easy ride in variable weather to the end point of the alaska highway amd on to tok where we stayed with vanessa again in her cute little cabin.

Day 21
We drove north on the "top of the world hwy" to chicken ( im telling you, these towns are for real) for breakfast . But after hearing such poor reports about road conditions amd tires getting slashed on granite etc we decided to call this one a miss and drove down along the alaska hwy instead. Not that it was fantastic roads let me tell you. The minute you cross the border back into yukon, the roads turn to crap. Frost heaves and pot holes galore. And construction.
But near the stunning destruction bay area it evened out a bit and we made it into haines junction for night.

Day 17-19 ...the adventure

Well...where do we even start? We left fairbanks (thanks patty! ) under sunny skies and headed north to the infamous Dalton highway. Now don't be confused with the word highway. There are very few paved miles due to permafrost damage and the road was only built to reach the oil drilling in prudoe bay. Therefore....this road is a mix of just about every surface imaginable and is a constant stream of construction equipment and oil related trucks. And then there are us crazy tourists that try to conquer this road in our various modes of transportation.
Surprisingly and (debatably) thankfuly, we had blue skies and warm sunshine on our way up. The first 60 miles to yukon river crossing were feeling like a breeze...easily riding at 50mph over packed gravle and spotty pavement. The tiring part is constantly dodging the potholes. And we met the examples of getting lazy for a second and breaking a rim on one. So you have to be en par the entire time. We fueled up and fed up at yukon river and met much of the same kinds of roads to the arctic circle. After the obligatory pictures we saw a couple of dudes roll up..one on a shiny big harley. (In case you're wondering, this is NOT the kind of bike you want on this road) He had his bike parked in front of the sign and with no one near it, the thing just fell over. So we all helped to lift it back up with smirks on our faces.
Anyhoo...60 miles of nicer pavement and gravel we made it to coldfoot, thinking this road wasnt so bad when its dry. ;)
We met another adventure biker there who told us about a camp another 100 miles north, and feeling as good as we were, we decided to carry on. That way we could set up camp a little closer to deadhorse and ride up and back without so much gear on. We camped in a beautiful spot near galbraith lake just over the atigun pass, which we would have enjoyed more if it werent for the swarms of mosquitoes that flew into every open orifice. 
That night I tried to get a picture of the midnight sun but unfortunately the clouds had rolled in. :(
By morning the clouds were rolling in but we managed to get to Prudhoe bay dry ..and quite a bit cooler. The bay had only thawed 2 weeks prior and we got our feet in the arctic ocean! ! We saw lots of birds, a couple of Caribou, a fox family but no polar bears (they dont come till aug apparently) or muskox.
By time we left deadhorse after supper the rain had started and our 140miles back to camp turned into a cold wet and very mucky ride.
The rain continued thru the night and after packing up camp wet we inched our way slowly thru this packed road which turns to muck slipperier than snot (the snot theme I carried on thru the whole day). 100 miles took about 3.5 hrs while we constantly tried to keep the bike upright. The atigun pass was completely socked in and we could barely see 2 feet in front of us while our face masks fogged up and we had to ride thru the driving sleet with our faces bare. Then more muck.
We all managed to make it back to coldfoot wet and cold and a little bit shaking.  We enjoyed lunch and hot coffee with a table full of other bikers, swapping stories and getting the scoop on road conditions.
We saw a slight cloud malfunction and made a dash south. The first 60 miles outta coldfoot were drier and more pavement, which felt soooo good. What one thinks are bad roads becomes very relative. ;) on a hill, del noticed his bike was overheating.  We pulled over and he saw his radiator was caked with mud. In the attempt to scrape some clean he also managed to spring a leak. We tried patching it up but even after some help from another couple of bikers it was still dripping. So we loosened the rad cap and limped our way to hotspot...a cafe joint just outside yukon river again. Along the way the silty dirt again had turned to completely amd utterly slimy greasy muck. We both nearly dumped a time or two.. one of mine being right in front of a truck. But we made it to yukon and had a bite to eat at the cafe, where all the truckers hang out. One of whom walked by me and said "I thought you were going down there" (the truck from earlier peril). My reply was "so did I! "
Del also managed to make some friends that had a radiator repair fluid they let him have. So far it works!
So very thankfully, the last 60miles were MOSTLY dry and we hit pavement with huge sigh of relief.  We wound our way along a very nice hwy back into fairbanks where we gratefully showered and slept.
Some TCL for bikes today and we will make our way south again.

Setting off again.. (day 16)

So after a week of finding our own little adventures around anchorage, del and I have set off again....still headed north. We are so thankful and grateful for the searls family that so willingly let us crash at their house, coming and going for a whole week!
This morning we had an appt at the bike shop for a new tire for del. The shop was supposed to open at 10am. So we were there by 0940. The workers showed up at 10 but they didnt start working on any bike until after 11 am.....so we were stuck hanging around there until close to 2pm. But the silver lining is del got a new tire.
We headed north towards fairbanks...hitting a bit of rain which stopped just before Denali but sadly it was under cloud as it is most of the year. :(
However the evening broke into a beauty as we rode thru some gorgeous land of the Denali national park. Del nearly met a moose head on, which has him going thru some PTSD now but hopefully it wont be too severe ;)
We are now enjoying the warm hospitality of a friend connection just outside of fairbanks.
Tomorrow......coldfoot. and the journey to the artic ocean begins.

Remarkable

Yesterday (july 5) I headed down to the little town of seward. The weather in anchorage promised to be another stunner and I headed down a blustery beautiful road along the ocean and surrounded by mtns. By time I arrived in seward a few hrs later the clouds had rolled in and it was cool and raining. This made me hesitant about what kind of day we would have out on kayaks in the morning .
The morning clouds had begun to break and by time we were on our water taxi heading out, the sun was shining!  We saw numerous humpback whales, porpoises, seals, puffins, sea lions and sea otters, all just on the water taxi ride out to the bay! We had perfect weather to kayak our boats out to a glacier, dodging large chunks of ice that always looked like something else (like cloud watching) and barreling thru a small ice field. We saw the glacier calve numerous times and heard the "white thunder" of things shifting. The seals and otters were happy to hang out on pieces of ice too...curiously watching us. The water was an incredible turquois blue and calm as glass. As we approached the beach again at the end of the day, the clouds had started to roll in amd it started raining just after our boat took off back to harbour.

What an incredible day. I only snapped a couple shots with the phone from the boat so you'll have to wait for the rest.

Rest days

So del and I have been in anchorage for two days. His wife michelle has arrived and the two of them have wisked off on their own little adventure.
I have been catching up with the past and stretching my legs.
Yesterday I met up with a childhood friend whom I havent seen in prob 20 yrs! ! We recently reconnected on facebook and I found out she was living up here so we arranged to meet for coffee. It has been so wonderful to "meet" her again and now also meet her new baby and her husband.
Today she showed me the must do hike in anchorage. ..flattop. the afternoon weather was stunning and I got some amazing quiet mtn time out there today when andrea headed back and I went a climbed a second peak in behind flattop. Just cause its there.

And on the eighth day they rested

HAPPY CANADA DAY! !!
We woke up this am to........wait for it.........
Yup.
Rain.
After struggling back into our damp gear we hit the road again. We made a stop at matanuska glacier where we could actually walk up onto the glacier. It was cool and slightly unnerving to see and hear water flowing beneath the blue clear ice!
After some really great mountain curvy roads we finally came down into the anchorage area and low and behold....the sun was shining! It felt so good to have warmer air drying our fingers and toes a little!
Our first stop was the spinard roadhouse to try the 'bacon of the month' ...today we had a caramel apple compote on large chunks of bacon. Then add coffee porter and we were two very happy campers!
Except we're not camping now. Del had some connections here and we are staying at friend's house! Home cooked meal, craft beer, hot showers and stunning scenery right ourside their door.