Day 19

Day 19 - Tok, AK to Chicken, AK and
back to Tok
Miles today - 162
Total miles - 6320

Today we rode down the Taylor Hwy to Chicken, Alaska. It is a little town that was born during the Gold Rush. There is still mining there today. Here you see downtown Chicken - all three stores. The story goes that Chicken got its name because the miners wanted to name it Ptarmigan, but didn't know how to spell it - so they chose Chicken, the common northern name for Ptarmigan.




Always wanted to ride a Chicken Sled!



We enjoyed a good burger and homemade pie - the thing the cafe is famous for.

Don't get too close!!!

This antique gold dredge is across the road from downtown.

We wanted to go over the Top of the World Highway, which is a very scenic dirt road and leads to Dawson City. Once again we had to change our plans. The Forty Mile River had flooded five days before we arrived. It washed out the road in four places. The locals said this was the first time in over 30 years that this has happened. Several people had to be rescued by helicopter and one man even died when his truck was washed off the road. So.. we had to go to plan B. We returned to Tok and plan to go to Dawson City the long way - from Tok, it would have been 187 miles to Dawson over the Top of the World Hwy. By asphalt, the long way is about 733 miles. Because of lots of construction, it will take us a couple of days.

We got back to Tok and here we are chillin' and having Happy Hour in front of our little cabin. We're sad that this will be our last night in Alaska!

Day 18

Day 18 - Valdez, AK to Tok, AK

Miles today - 348

Total miles - 6158



This is tent city in Valdez. When we got off the ferry, we set up camp here. These low hanging clouds were what we awoke to the next morning.



We saw lots of beautiful waterfalls on the road out of Valdez. This particular one was in Keystone Canyon.

Here is an old railroad tunnel on the Richardson Highway. This sign tells the history.

Behind Chris, you can see the opening of the tunnel.

Another magnificent glacier - the Worthington Glacier.

We were hoping to go to the town of McCarthy. To get there, we had to go through the town of Chitina. From Chitina to McCarthy is a really rough dirt road. We started down it and the weather suddenly turned ominous. We decided we might be able to get down the road, although it would be a really slow process, but if it rained, we might get stuck in McCarthy. So... we decided to turn around. It turned out to be a good decision because it rained all afternoon and night. We stopped in at this little hotel for a snack and then headed on to Tok.

This is the Wrangell St. Elias National Park - the largest in North America. We were actually riding through it most of the day.

Day 17

Day 17 - Seward, AK to Whittier, AK
(by land)
Whittier, AK to Valdez, Ak
(by sea)
Miles today - 91 by land
6 hours by sea
Total miles - 5810 by land

We ate breakfast in Seward here at "The Train Wreck" - old train cars that included a diner, lodge and shops.


This is Portage Glacier - on the road to Whittier.

On the way to Whittier, we went through a railroad tunnel - 2 1/2 miles long - the longest in North America. They only allow one way traffic through so we had to wait an hour for our turn.

We arrived in Whittier to board the Aurora - the ferry we would take to Valdez.

On the ferry, we went through Prince William Sound - many beautiful sights!!!

There were chunks of ice that had come off of a glacier.

Here an otter was taking a ride on an ice chunk.

Day 16

Day 16 - Homer, AK to Seward, Ak
Miles today - 238 miles
Total miles - 5719 miles

We had planned to camp in Homer, down on the beach, but because of the rain, we got a hotel. Turned out to be a good decision as it rained all night. Really no complaints though - this was the first day we had to get out all the rain gear. We got a late start - about noon and it rained until about 4:00. Then the sun came out! Yeah!!!

This picture is in Anchor Point, AK which is the most westerly highway point in North America.


Kenia Lake - another beautiful spot!

Outside of Seward - Exit Glacier. We had to hike up to the glacier - not easy to do in motorcycle boots!

On the path back down from the glacier

Along the path to the glacier, they had sign posts that showed at what point the glacier had come to at that year. This was the first signpost and we saw ones for 1953, 1961 and 1998. After the hike up, we decided they needed to move the parking lot closer as the glacier melts.

A farther away look at the glacier

We got to Seward in time for a late dinner. Seward is a great little town that is a fishing village.

Day 15

Day 15 - Anchorage,AK to Homer,AK

Miles today - 241

Total miles - 5481


We came across this train exhibit outside of Anchorage. This was an old snowplow car. The back car was used to house troops during WWII.



The road from Anchorage to Homer is one of the most scenic drives in Alaska. It combines two of my favorite things - the ocean and the mountains.

Welcome to Homer!
Homer is on Kachemak Bay at the end of the Sterling Highway.

We went down to the historic Homer Spit for dinner and a little shopping. The Spit is the little pennisula outside of Homer. It has cute shops, restaurants and everything to do with the fishing industry.

Day 14

Day 14 - Fairbanks, AK to
Anchorage, AK
Miles today - 370
Total miles - 5240

It was cool and windy when we got to the Danali National Park area. The sights were amazing!


On the side of the road outside the park, we saw this bull moose having a snack. His antlers were huge!

These are some of the smaller mountains along the Denali Hwy. It was too cloudy to see Mt. McKinley, but the view was still spectacular.

Day 13

Day 13 - Fairbanks to the

Arctic Circle and back

Miles today - 404 miles

Total Miles - 4870 miles

At our campground in Fairbanks, we met Kecia from California. She had just been all the way to Prudoe Bay on her KLR by herself. You go girl!

On the way up the Dalton Hwy we stopped for a break at the Arctic Circle Outpost. We had a snack, bought souvenirs and checked out the old taxis.

As you can see, we went dirt biking on the Goldwing again.

There was a lot of construction. Where they wet the roads, it was slippery and slow going. The roundtrip took all day.

The famous Alaskan Pipeline

This is the wooden bridge that crosses the Yukon River.

You only have one shot for gas going to the Arctic Circle. Fancy huh!

Typical summer showers building up.

Here it is - the picture we drove all this way for!

Was it worth it? Absolutely!!!

Although the clouds looked ominous on the return trip, it never did rain.

We came across this gal posing for us in the middle of the road. We stopped and waited for her to decide to cross. Even though it was not our first moose sighting, it was the first that let us take her picture.