The Route:
Day 1: Anchorage to Tok, AK
Day 2 to Whitehorse,YK
Day 3 to Watson Lake, YK
Day 4 to Bell 2, BC
Day 5 to Prince George, BC
Day 6 to Jasper, AB
Day 7 to Cranbrook, BC
Day 8 to Grangeville, ID
Day 9 to Boise, ID
2319 miles from Anchorage to the US border at Eastport, ID in a little under 7 days. As fast as you could comfortably travel this route, I think. No real extended sightseeing stops.
This
is the same distance from Phoenix to New York City.
Continuing from the border to Boise added 500 more miles.
I chose the route based on a few factors:
- Best scenery and motorcycle roads
(curves, not much construction, light traffic).
- Avoiding crossing back into the US south
of Vancouver which would lead to heavy traffic on the Interstate around
Seattle.
- Recommendation of the Cassiar / Dease
Highway 37 as a good motorcycle road. This turned out to be the case.
Choose to travel north or southbound. I chose south for a few
reasons.
- I cruised on the Alaska Highway Ferry system with the bike from Bellingham, WA to Whittier (near Anchorage) Alaska. If you ride the bike north you introduce a time pressure of getting to the ferry on schedule to depart back south.
- The weather in September was good but sometimes chilly with rain. I thought mentally, riding south would help keep my spirits up in the weather - thinking it would get warmer. As it turned out though, the weather and temperature stayed mostly the same until almost Boise.
The Bike:
I rode my own 2008 BMW 1200 RT.
It had 39000 miles when I started and is an excellent cross
country bike.
Mechanically it was flawless through the trip. I had a factory
36K service done with new tires before I left.
This is one of the most important considerations of the entire
trip. A breakdown in the area of Bell 2 leaves you several hours from a tow and
probably days to repair.
The Bike Accessories:
Garmin Zumo 550 GPS recently updated with all Alaska and Western
Canada map data including services, hotels, etc.
XM radio. Though it didn’t work in Alaska or much of Canada, I
got a decent signal south of Jasper, AB for the last 3 days.
Heated seats, grips, cruise control. Can’t imagine not having
these.
The Weather:
Temps starting in Anchorage were in the 50’s. For nearly the
entire trip into Boise, the weather was mostly cloudy and 48 to 60
degrees. There was light rain for about one third of the trip. Every once in a
while moderate rain but nothing heavier. No strong winds ever to speak of.
The time of year:
I rode in mid September - late in the season. I wouldn’t begin
this trip if the temperature was forecast to be less than 45 degrees during the
day. The fall colors in the Yukon were often very beautiful and Alberta was pretty,
too.
Traffic and road conditions and fuel:
Hardly any traffic to speak of. Between Tok and Prince George, the
lightest traffic I had ever seen on good motorcycle roads.
Overall everything is two lanes with excellent conditions. Up to
Watson Lake, the road surface was smooth. Turning south on 37 near Watson Lake,
the road became more narrow and a little rough but still nearly all paved. There was generally no shoulder -
only a very steep drainage channel off the paved surface. I figured good for
preventing an animal from charging out into the road, bad if I wandered off my intended line. In the end, there were no animal problems. And I stayed on the
road.
As I traveled further south on 37 and 16 toward Prince George,
the surface became steadily smoother. Center lines appeared and for a few days
I rode on some of the best highway conditions I have ever seen. Just a few very
short unpaved sections appeared due to construction. Overall it was many hours
of fantastic motorcycle road.
My BMW has a 6 gallon tank with about a 330 mile highway range.
When I saw 150 miles since my last fill up (~180 remaining) I’d search next
station on my GPS and refill. Never a problem.
My USAA Credit Card worked fine for the whole trip. In order to
refuel at the pump, a PIN is required with the card. I don’t have one (maybe a Canada thing?). I
had to go into the cashier and leave my card or pre-pay. Then back in to finish
the sale. Bottom line is - not as easy in Canada as our pay at the pump.
Clothing:
Bottoms:
Thermal layer, hiking pants, rain shell. Waterproof boots with
gaiters.
Tops:
Thermal layer plus up to 3 more layers plus a riding jacket and
then a rain shell. Thin Buff neck warmer plus another fleece neck warmer. Good
gloves sealed at the wrist under the rain shell. Helmet of course. I use an older HJC flip-up.
Other Considerations:
Bose Quietcomfort 20 noise cancelling ear buds for music and audio books.
Essential. Like GPS, a must-have.
I understand motorcycle rentals are available out of Anchorage through Motoquest. That's all the info I have on them.
There's a good test of your motorcycle skill in the Whittier Tunnel Alaska. It's very narrow and you have to keep the bike between train rails for a few miles. Google it. If you can't control the machine well, don't attempt the roads in the Yukon.
Finally:
Overall, the ride through western Canada was one of the great a
motorcycle trips I have ever taken. There are parts of Colorado as
beautiful. There are road conditions just as good on the Blue Ridge Parkway in
the eastern US. But for multiple days of stunning scenery, fantastic curving on
quality roads and an endurance challenge, Alaska through Canada to the Idaho north border is one of a kind. A trip of a lifetime.
