We headed out of Deadhorse in the morning chill, temps in the mid-40s, which the locals would call ‘balmy’ conditions. It’s all relative. The first 50 or so miles cut across the tundra on a layered gravel top, relatively hard in the tire wells, with increasing stone accumulation toward the edge of the road. Without any notice, the road turned to deeper gravel, 1-2 inches high, and the bikes became squirrelly. Jun was in the lead, I was right behind, our bikes both started to slalom. We reduced speed and plowed ahead. I looked in my side mirror, and saw everyone behind me had stopped. Someone had gone down.

Jun and I circled back. Everyone was standing when we reached the group, and were huddled around Brady’s bike. Turns out Brady got caught up in the high gravel on the edge of the road, and wasn’t quite able to get out. Brady is an experienced rider who vacations in Baja with his F650, so we knew he must have hit a bad patch and couldn’t squeeze out. Given the conditions of the road, I’m thankful more of us didn’t go down, it was a nasty surprise. Brady was up and standing, no injuries, something else to be thankful for, it was time for damage assessment on the bike.

You can see more of the bike and road conditions in the southbound video, which I’ll embed at the end of this post.

Although the bike was rideable to Fairbanks, we later learned that without a front fender, rain & road spray off the front wheel would come up and hit Brady right on the visor, essentially blinding him with water and mud. So James and Brady rigged a temporary fender that worked through the brief showers we ran into on the remainder of the southbound leg.

We ran into Matt and Jason at the Hotspot Cafe…two brothers from the UK now living in Atlanta. They have their own ride report in production here.

Short three minute video of the southbound ride, including the accident. Check out the skeeter swarm and James’ booties while we assess the bike.

Deadhorse sits on the edge of the continent, in a coastal plain with gray curved roads and few road signs to guide the way. It requires tribal knowledge to get around, and most anyone you ask for directions will point the way with a finger, and you have to figure out how to get over there. To call it a town would be charitable, it is really an industrial construction site built to support the extraction of oil.

First order of business upon arrival: gas up the bikes and spare containers.

Prudhoe Bay is home to the largest oil in the US and North America, which means it’s also a strategic asset – access to the Arctic Ocean requires a background check with 24 hour advance notice, as you must use a guided tour for access. While this appears to be common knowledge among the locals and ADV forum, apparently lots of people continue to show up in town expecting to have immediate beach access & ocean vu.

Tip: 2011 may be the last year for guided tours, as the hosting Arctic Caribou Inn is shutting down after this year due to increasing maintenance bills and competing housing alternatives. When we were there in July, no other hospitality companies had yet committed to picking up the tour for next year. So anyone interested in dipping their toes into the Beaufort Sea in the future should research this ahead of time.

Upon arrival at the Caribou Inn, your name gets checked off on an Excel spreadsheet, you pay the $40 tour fee, view an 10 year old video in dire need of a refresh, and hop on the bus to see the production facilities, local wildlife, and finally the ocean.

We spent the night at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel, complete with excellent wifi, 3G, and an over-achieving buffet. The hotel likes to keep the carpets clean, so guests have to wear baby blue booties over street shoes to prevent grime creep. Very stylish, and disposable. James liked his booties so much he wore them on the southbound trip, as you’ll see in the next video.

Good news for you ride report fans, we took the ‘smell the roses’ approach up and down the Dalton, which meant overnight stays at Coldfoot in each direction. No up-and-back 500 mile days for us, we preferred to dawdle and be eaten by carnivorous mosquitos along the side of the road while we paused for photos and breaks. We timed our trip to perfectly align with the skeeter mating season so we could join their block party.

“Hey, bartender! Bloody Mary, O-positive. ” — A Bug’s Life
 

And they loved my O-positive blood. Two thumbs up for the bug hat net from Outdoors Research. No issues, of course, while bike was in motion, the fun would start about 20 seconds after a stop, and the swarm would begin.

Back to more practical matters: the ride experience on the Dalton has direct relationship with the weather. During our four days up and back, the weather pattern was typically sunny mornings with afternoon thunderstorms in the mountains. Conditions were managable, and we kept it slow in the slick wet stuff, of which there was plenty.

Here’s a quick 3 minute video showing up highlights on the way up…

A few roadie insights along the way up…

• My 1200GS needed an extra 1.5 gallons to make the 250-ish miles between Coldfoot and Deadhorse. Brady made it on a single tank on his F650.
• Road conditions during the construction segments tended to have the worst conditions…slippery, deep muddy gunk or gravel, and typically surrounded by trunks bigger than us.
• My GPS mount rattled off just past Atigun Pass, as the bikes were bouncing off large gravel stones and giving everyone a good vibration shake down. This was the beginning of the end for the GPS on this trip.
• Coldfoot has an awesome all-you-can-eat buffet, as well as bar. It’s also the last stop for any alcohol going north, as it’s not allowed at all in Deadhorse. Handy to know if the skies are wet and you’re not looking forward to camping & eating in the rain.
• After hearing so many horror stories about road conditions, we were surprised to see spanking new blacktop pavement around the Coldfoot area, it’s like an oasis for the tires, and soon disappears without rhyme or reason

The University of Alaska in Fairbanks serves as the unofficial staging & recovery center for riders heading to and fro Deadhorse and the Arctic Circle. School is out for summer, and the college rents out dorm rooms at inexpensive rates cheaper than a motel or B&B. Rooms come with access to free shower and laundry, and you mingle with the summer students. (more details here if interested)

While futzing around and chatting in the parking lot, we hooked up with 3 solo riders to form a caravan for the ride up to Deadhorse…
• James – a long distance rider from London touring the NA continent on a 1200GSA
• Rich – retired Air Force mechanic from Oklahoma on a Concourse
• Jun – retired Mazda mechanic from San Francisco on a Kawasaki

Connecting with other riders was a real highlight of the trip, not only for the camaraderie, there’s also safety in numbers and all that. We’re were well aware that the Dalton could be hazardous, depending on conditions, and that a number of accidents had occurred already this season.

All of us were checking the weather regularly, rain was consistent in all forecasts. Then we heard from a returning rider that road conditions were in good shape, so we packed up, made hotel reservations in Deadhorse, and headed north.

We landed in Dawson City amid overcast skies, and established camp at Gold Creek RV Park, which is the only campground downtown. A little pricey for a 15x15ft plot of gravel, such is the way for most everything far north in the Yukon, and we needed to catch up on showers, laundry, and connections back home.

At this point in the trip, we had been fairly lucky with the weather – mostly dry skies with just a few hours of rain on day 2, and we were hearing from riders coming from the north that they were zipping through steady downpours. As the clouds darkened over Dawson, a steady drizzle kicked in and would continue off and on through the next day. While we were prepared for rain conditions, let’s be blunt…camping in the rain dampens the spirit and makes your tent smell. And we were hoping for great conditions for the Top of the World Highway.

Alas, it was not meant to be as you’ll see in the video, which tracks from the Dawson ferry up to the border crossing at Poker Creek.

Top of the World Highway from craig kerwien on Vimeo.

Road conditions were slippery on the US side and along the descent into Chicken – we saw not one but TWO RVs half off the road, right wheels in the gutter, left wheels in the air. The area had received significant rain in prior weeks, and the road had just reopened due to flooding. We lunched in Chicken under a torrential downpour, and then the skies turned blue along the way to Tok and into Delta Junction where we were greeted by the Alaska Air Force…