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[Jock]

Well were do I begin…I was supposed to attend the North California Tour this year however matters at work prevented me from attending and I know these folks will have a great time.  After getting over my bitterness of this position I was presented an opportunity by friend to join him in a journey to Alaska.  After reviewing my schedule I was able to determine that this would be a go and perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.

Our course would take us through some very nice terrain and this was very attractive to me.  I started in Savannah, GA and my first real stop to smell the roses was in Sturgis, South Dakota for Bike Week!

[Jock]

Knowing it would be crowed and the road we needed to travel we did not spend a large amount of time in the area.  Especially sine we had planned to return there after the crowd had declined!  While there however we did journey towards Devil’s Tower and relaxed in the area for a while.

[Jock]

From there we journeyed onto Billings, Montana which is a beautiful state and I highly recommend with a large number of areas to visit!  The road we traveled where two lane and given the area you could go FULL SPEED ahead.  One of our gang rode a new Kawasaki Concourse 1400…0 – 180mph in nothing flat…I thought I was standing still!

[Jock]

From here we traveled to Glacier National Park in Montana and the gateway to Canada for us.  There were some great views, good roads, plenty of wildlife and what an adventure.  From Glacier National Park we headed towards Kalispell, Montana for the night.

[Jock]

Now it was time to prepare to enter into Canada and challenge their terrain.  After entering into the Port of Roosvile we headed towards Calgary, Alberta.  Arriving late into the night, as was the case on many days, we headed next door to “The Pub”.  A great steak house and full of beautiful ladies…DAMN!  This is were I learned I could live sober in Canada…a twelve pack of beer was $28!

[Jock]

After leaving Calgary we traveled towards Banff, Alberta and Lake Louise and all of that area….VERY NICE and it has been years since I had been there.  You could spend days on any location but we only had three weeks! 

[Jock]

We headed up towards Jasper and crashed here in Hinton after seeing an abundance of wildlife and beautiful surroundings.

From here we headed towards mile marker zero of the Alaskan Highway…Dawson Creek, British Columbia. 

[Jock]

This is the beginning of the over 1,500 miles of the Alaskan Highway which was built in one year by thousands of people!  Here I had another eye opening experience of how expensive it was to drink in Canada!  The locals stated it was cheaper to buy drugs than alcohol!  Of course that was not an option so it was another $28 twelve pack of beer!

[Jock]

It was morning and it was time to ahead towards our next stop Watson Lake, Yukon!  Along the way within 20 feet of the road were buffalo, moose, elk, bear, deer, antelope, wolf, wild horses, mountain men and so much more. 

[Jock]

It is here that you can experience the Northern Lights which will begin in several months.  Amazing if you have not seen it!  It was here that I met a tracker and he shared his experiences regarding grizzly bear and others.  What a conversation!

[Jock]

From here we headed towards Alaska full speed ahead!  The highway was better than I expected but you could see how it could be difficult.  Cruisers often had small gas cans attached to their bikes.  Gas was as high as $6.59 a gallon.  It was not uncommon to have gas stations without fuel and food/drinks or closed before 9am or after 5pm.  Bottom line…fill up every 100 miles on a cruiser! 

[Jock]

In addition it was not uncommon not to see any other travelers for 45 minutes or more…trucks with BIG GRILLS to prevent damage to trucks when hitting large wildlife.  Plenty of that here and you can reach out and touch it!

Since the Kawasaki Concourse needed tires we traveled to White Horse for a short visit.  The dealer was great there as they had the tires on after a short lunch.  It was now time to make our way to Alaska.  As we arrived to Alaska we were in the clouds and the moisture was high and we could not see 30ft in front of us.  Plenty of tour buses, hikers, bikers, animals to watch out for and difficult to see in these conditions.

[Jock]

We entered into Skagway, AL mostly a tourist and port town for cruise ships and with only a few full-time residents.  The town is open mostly April through September and over wise plenty much shut down outside this time frame.

[Jock]

After spending the afternoon and night there it was time to see some more of Alaska.  We journeyed a few more miles into the state and time was passing us by quickly.

[Jock]

Sadly enough we could not spend any additional time here as we needed to begin our journey back into Canada.